Bezzera Magica - Worth buying & the service cost?

[mark seeker]

Another espresso machine thread but I can't see one mentioning this machine, I'm toying with buying the Bezzera Magica, I wondered if anyone had any experience of the brand or machine?

I've been looking into the annual service cost but struggling to find anyone (must be looking in the wrong place) - if anyone knows something who services these sort of machines in North London (or within a 50 mile range that would be great.

Cheers

[RobbieTheTruth]

I've never used one - but I hear great things about the Lelit Mara X, which is a similar looking machine at a similar pricepoint.

If you haven't considered that one, maybe look into it too?

[oddman]

I've been researching coffee machines for a few months now and have talked myself into and out of

Bean to cup
Mechanical espresso
Single boiler espresso

and I'm now in the same territory as you ie heat exchange, E61 grouphead. This machine was on my radar a seems to be well liked but a few long term users reporting rust issues.

I'm looking at ECM Mechanika V Slim and Rocket Apartamento. Leaning towards ECM due to large boiler for size, adjustable pressure and downturned portafilter handle (basket is parallel to surface when set down)

Also need to budget for a decent grinder which will be £400 plus. Availability of all machines seems limited (lockdown I suppose) so I'm not hurrying.

Edited by oddman on Sunday 5th July 09:37

[Flying machine]

I can't help you specifically with the Bezzera, but I have a similar type of machine (Rocket R58), which has been entirely trouble free and makes great coffee. I'd certainly recommend one! Perhaps it is just my ignorance, but I haven't 'serviced' it in the 4 years I've had the Rocket.

[RobbieTheTruth]

oddman said:

I've been researching coffee machines for a few months now and have talked myself into and out of

Bean to cup
Mechanical espresso
Single boiler espresso

and I'm now in the same territory as you ie heat exchange, E61 grouphead. This machine was on my radar a seems to be well liked but a few long term users reporting rust issues.

I'm looking at ECM Mechanika V Slim and Rocket Apartamento. Leaning towards ECM due to large boiler for size, adjustable pressure and downturned portafilter handle (basket is parallel to surface when set down)

Also need to budget for a decent grinder which will be £400 plus. Availability of all machines seems limited (lockdown I suppose) so I'm not hurrying.

Edited by oddman on Sunday 5th July 09:37

I went with a Niche grinder. It's £500, but a really really good grinder for that relatively low price point (for a competent espresso grinder). A noticable upgrade would cost £1000 so it's likely going to be my first and only grinder.

A lot of peoples grinder path is Breville Smart Grinder for £200ish, then upgrade to Mignon for about £350 before settling on the Niche, so I thought I'd plunge straight into that.

I'd avoid bean to cup. Convenient, but you're not going to get anything compatible to the ECM/Rocket out of it.

If you went to a coffee shop and they were using a bean to cup machine, you'd be pretty annoyed, so why settle for it at home!

[seefarr]

I've no experience with that brand but I've had an E61 alike Fracino Cherub for a bit over 10 years. In that time I've had to replace the gasket around the group head once and that's it. Apart from that you need to backflush ~ every month (easy) and descale your boiler every year which can be a bit of a tedious process. If I was looking again, I would love to have a valve that would allow you to dump all the water from the boiler in one go, instead of gradually running small amounts out of the siphon. Note that not all descaler is created equal so make sure you get ones specifically for _espresso_ machines, not just _coffee_ machines.

At this semi-professional end of the market, all parts will be replaceable so there's no reason for them not to last forever!

[mark seeker]

oddman said:

I've been researching coffee machines for a few months now and have talked myself into and out of

Bean to cup
Mechanical espresso
Single boiler espresso

and I'm now in the same territory as you ie heat exchange, E61 grouphead. This machine was on my radar a seems to be well liked but a few long term users reporting rust issues.

I'm looking at ECM Mechanika V Slim and Rocket Apartamento. Leaning towards ECM due to large boiler for size, adjustable pressure and downturned portafilter handle (basket is parallel to surface when set down)

Also need to budget for a decent grinder which will be £400 plus. Availability of all machines seems limited (lockdown I suppose) so I'm not hurrying.

Edited by oddman on Sunday 5th July 09:37

I think i've convinced myself i need a double boiler, planning to keep the machine for a while. The Rocket Apartamento does look a good machine too, i'm finding a lot of websites have no stock at the minute (I guess the Italian factories aren't back to full output yet). Grinder wise i was toying with a Bezzera bb05, they seem to offer quite a lot for the money?

[mark seeker]

RobbieTheTruth said:

I've never used one - but I hear great things about the Lelit Mara X, which is a similar looking machine at a similar pricepoint.

If you haven't considered that one, maybe look into it too?

That does look a good machine actually, looks small, simple but I haven't read a bad review.

[Laplace]

I have the Appartamento paired with a Eureka Atom. No complaints about either. If anyone needs more info on those let me know.

I'd say ongoing "maintenance" is more important than an annual service: back flushing, general cleanliness (group head, dispersion screen, steam wand) , descaling if hard water etc.

Depending on use I'd guess you'd be looking at 3-5 years before any internal seals need replaced that might need 3rd party help, but even then probably doable yourself if you can turn a spanner.

I found the learning curve going fully manual quite steep, to get to a stage where I could consistently pull good shots and know how to correct the bad ones took a lot of time and effort. Some lessons from a local coffee shop really helped a lot.

[mark seeker]

Thanks for the message, i'd appreciate any experience good or bad you've had on the Rocket.

I'm slowing coming around to thinking to buy either a Lelit MaraX or a Rocket Apartmento matched with the Niche Grinder...