Expobar Athenea

Wife acceptance factor (unbelievable looks), E61 type group, big boiler, plumb in, semiautomatic, no problems whatsoever in >1 year of consistent useage (2-3 double or triple shots a day with occasional parties with up to 30 triple shots)

Price, having to rely on Whole Latte Love if any problems arise, it looks so good that its tough to keep pristinely clean, "not a popular machine, so no one can really compare notes with you on coffee geek discussion forums and such

Aside from the obvious aesthetics of the machine, it has been very reliable so far and quite straightforward to use. I have a small counter top and the cafe itself is fairly small so a machine this size was just what I needed. It's big enough for...

This being a 'semi-commercial' or 'low volume' machine there are a couple of things I don't like. First of all the time it takes to get milk up to temperature seems to be, I don't know, a little long ( never timed it ). Additionally, the time it...