[Hehe]

Thought about lever machines because a buddy of mine has a Bosco and the shot from that machine is amazing and incredibly forgiving. But it was hard enough to teach my wife how to make her own americano in the morning and not screw it up. A lever machine just doesn't make too much sense if I don't want to wake up twice a week at 5:30 to make a coffee for my wife.

Went to an acquaintance's house to try out his Decent. The machine is really good... but it lacked a touch of the artistic side of espresso making. Too much electronic control... with profile here and profile there... I think it pushes a decent (no pun intended) espresso machine into much more. However, it lacked that finesse that I seek for a machine in the high 4-figure range. It's like buying a high-end Casio G-Shock... it might tell time extremely well and be super versatile because it's water/weather/dust and whatever proof... but it will never have the finesse of a hand-built automatic watch.

Now, machines in the high 4 figures (or actually low 5-figure with tax in), basically the jump from the R58, seem to be moving toward having control over the flow rate or pressure profiling... much like GS3 MP, Rocket Epica or even Slayer/Synesso and lever machine... which all feature some sort of flow or pressure control. How do you guys find them? How much better can an espresso... say a single-origin from Agro for example, benefit from having this kind of control?