by RobC » Fri May 12, 2006 9:15 pm
I hope not, there is only room for one lunatic on this forum and I fill that gap (missus) admirably. Anyway, I am not mad, just a bit unbalanced. Bark.
Depends on you classification of commercial demand, the hand filled aspect would be a bind, but a 1 group machine even like the Alex could deal with a great deal of light commercial use, providing it was for traditional italian COFFEE (ie 7floz cappuccino cups with equal thirds coffee, steamed milk, foamed milk) not 12floz mugs of tea and 16oz *$ hot milk with a hint of coffee flavouring.
As for pumps, I would find it hard to descern the taste difference between vibe pump and rotary. If you have the option of plumbing in then there is a wealth of choice in the Rotary bracket, but if you have to have a hand filled machine Rotary is limited. The big difference between the two as I see it is that the Vibe pump machines are regulated at 9 bar brew pressure - and in most cases adjusting the brew pressure is not an option. Rotary pumps all have an adjuster on them (although the Flowtec head is harder then the Procon version to adjust) - so you can set your brew pressure at whatever you desire (should you be that way inclined).
Having seen the Alex (I know what it is called now) in action last weekend, I was most impressed with the build quality and also the shots WallisJ was pulling from it. It would get my vote but I have yet to get hold of a Quickmill AP.
Rob
Long forgotton Tech and Coffee Equipment guru.
Twitter: @c0ff33a
As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I take a look at my life and realise there's none left 'Cause I've been brassing and laughing so long that Even my mamma thinks that my mind is gone