-
I don’t know how much you appreciate Hoffmann, but have you seen his review of the robot?
It definitely was a factor in my purchase - his review of 9barista wasn’t up at that time.
I love that the robot is a modern update of a proven maker (faema baby) by a respected rebuilder/espresso guy (Paul Pratt of Cafelat). It’s such a simple and forgiving machine compared to the 9barista, yet it also allows for a wide range in pre-infusion and extrusion approaches.
withered_preacher-
Yeah I think the robot looks really good and I do have a soft spot for lever espresso machines after working on an old Italian one in a food market. I think home espresso is a bit of a dumb thing anyway due to the need to dial in the shots etc but it's also the fact it takes up a fair chunk of counter space. With pour over it all goes straight in a small cupboard afterwards. That's a good part of what I liked the look of with the 9Barista, being nearly the same footprint as a moka pot.
Sumo
I've drank lots of coffee from moka pots but it's the first step above instant IMO, if it was the sole method of making coffee in my house I'd be willing to drop £300 on that when the alternative is an equally expensive Gaggia that takes up 10 times the space