Buy a decent espresso machine in France (what a mess ...)

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Buy a decent espresso machine in France (what a mess ...)

Postby bibs69 » Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:10 pm

Hello,

So, i'm looking for a espresso machine. Simple, isn't it ? surfing on forums and specialized web sites, and everything was ok. It will be an Isomac or a Vibiemme or a Quickmill or an Expobar or a .....

But the main problem is not to choose a model but to find a place where I can buy it. Indeed, I'm a poor french man. It's a paradoxal situation. In my country, I can drink fairly decent espressos almost every where (in our famous 'cafés'). But, at home it's quite impossible ... No specialized store, and no french web site selling middle and upper end espresso machines.

Any idea from french (and others :) ) TMC forumists ?

Best regards,

Laurent.
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Re: Buy a decent espresso machine in France (what a mess ...

Postby simonp » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:56 pm

bibs69 wrote:In my country, I can drink fairly decent espressos almost every where


:shock: That's not most people here have found.

There are plenty of online shops in surrounding countries that should be able to help, have a search in the forum. Certainly quite a few in the UK have bought from other countries with no issues.
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Postby Beanie » Tue Jun 14, 2005 5:20 pm

Hi Laurant,

How about: http://www.reneka.com/ - produit de la France

I like the Viva's looks, btw
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Postby Guest » Tue Jun 14, 2005 6:00 pm

If I was French ...

a) I'd have a sexier accent
b) I'd have a better "Gallic shrug" (defined as the look a French men gives that looks like the one you would give when caught pinching the bottom of Miss World)
c) I'd eat better
d) I'd be able to understand better all the French films I have to watch with subtitles

let's stop this it's getting depressing ...

anyway, what I was going to say was that if I was French or looking for a new machine for that matter I'd go the Reneka route. They seem to have put a lot of effort recently into selling themselves better and I think their Viva range is stunning and got great capacity (10 litre boiler for the 2 group!)

Tres bon!!!!!!!

Au Revoir mes amis!!!!!
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Postby pault » Tue Jun 14, 2005 6:01 pm

sorry, didn't realise I was logged on as "Guest"

the above contribution was from petit moi!!
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Re: Buy a decent espresso machine in France (what a mess ...

Postby MKSwing » Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:27 pm

bibs69 wrote:Hello,

So, i'm looking for a espresso machine. Simple, isn't it ? surfing on forums and specialized web sites, and everything was ok. It will be an Isomac or a Vibiemme or a Quickmill or an Expobar or a .....


If you go for an isomac then there is a reseller in Paris, Grimac. Look for them in the yellow page. It's for professional machines but they can order prosumer isomacs. They're overpriced and look at you like if you're the weirdest man on earth when you ask info about one.
Meo is selling some online. Take a look at : http://www.meo.fr/categorie.asp?cat_id=19 I'd go for a miss silvia. You can go for a fully automatic too, you'll find them at Darty. If you want a Reneka, then buy it from New Zealand (almost not kidding), but I'm sure you can contact them directly. At Café verlet in Paris, you'll find a selection of fully auto machines too.

bibs69 wrote:But the main problem is not to choose a model but to find a place where I can buy it. Indeed, I'm a poor french man. It's a paradoxal situation. In my country, I can drink fairly decent espressos almost every where (in our famous 'cafés'). But, at home it's quite impossible ... No specialized store, and no french web site selling middle and upper end espresso machines.


With all respect, that means you don't know what an espresso really is. If you're looking for the kind of coffee sold in bars then you don't need to buy a pricey machine. More important is the coffee you'll buy. You have to buy coffee from a roastery and forget the supermarkets. In the France links of this website you'll find some. If you don't leave in Paris and knows a good roaster near you, feel free to send a little review about it :)[/url]
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Postby Gouezeri » Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:33 pm

Thanks Stéphane, for once it wasn't me criticising the coffee in France! Nice not to play "le diable" for once!
That said, it does coincide with my comments that people (non-coffee aficionados) in France tend to think that the coffee they drink in bars is good. At least in the UK, people know that the coffee they are served most of the time is appalling ;-)
I put more faith in Darty for le météo, than I would for a coffee machine.
Laurent, IMHO the simplest thing would be to decide which machine suits you best from spec/price and then consider ordering it from either holland, italy or the uk. If you know which machines you think you like, then we can provide you with comments on them and possibly places to buy them.
Unfortunately, for most people you simply can't walk into a high street shop and expect to buy a decent machine.
Bref, on peut t'aider, il suffit d'être un peu patient et d'accepter que ton jouet risque de venir d'ailleurs en europe.
D
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Postby jumper » Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:02 am

If you go for an isomac then there is a reseller in Paris, Grimac.

if thats the same machine that i have used in the past i would deffinatly advice against buying one its terribly unstable and more expensive than it should be
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Postby MKSwing » Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:18 pm

jumper wrote:
If you go for an isomac then there is a reseller in Paris, Grimac.

if thats the same machine that i have used in the past i would deffinatly advice against buying one its terribly unstable and more expensive than it should be


Dunno :)
http://www.isomac.it/Scelta.htm
These are isomac machines
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Postby jumper » Thu Jun 16, 2005 6:12 am

oh, then forget i said/wrote anything
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Postby Guest » Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:42 pm

I can highly recommend the Andreja Premium (made by QuickMill). Can only be purchased through Chris at www.chriscoffee.com but then you pay quickmill in italy and its shipped from there. I live in the UK and it took 5 days for the bank transfer and then 5 days for the machine to arrive from Italy. The machine is fantastic.

Bresh.
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Postby jumper » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:21 pm

i'm testing the expobar leva at the moment and although i only had it for about a week it seems to be a very good machine that is just as good and maybe even better then the vbm domobar super and the ecm giotto its also a lot cheaper
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