Level 1
The journey from Nescafe instant coffee to a Rocket machine has been very enlightening. Nescafe Gold and Davidoff were the next best instant coffee options.

Level 2
Fresh grounded beans for making espressos, extracted from commercial machines at malls and cafes became the next stage, when there was a little more cash to splurge.
It then got expensive as you total up the Starbucks and cafe receipts. But the urge was still there. And alas the wallet spoke.

Level 3
Scouting for machines to do your own home brewing was the next step up. Went with Breville as its reasonably priced, all-in-one, sufficient to train, and spare parts aplenty. Attended brewing courses, latte art classes, exhibition to gather more of what this industry is. Malaysia still has a considerable traction to gain as compared to our neighbouring countries.
And which brings me to upgrading the limitation I face on a Breville. Its a fantastic machine, no doubt about it. Much akin to advancing a piano at your grade 4/5 stage. The ability of the equipment needs to change with yours.

Level 4
So the available options were; Gaggia Classic, Rancilio SILVIA and Nuova Simonelli OSCAR 2; because of budget constraints. Those few sit in the range of about RM3-4k. And not forgetting the need to add a separate grinder, another RM2-3k. Narrowed to Eureka Mignon range.
However, was told moving from Breville to Silvia may be too small a jump to see any significant difference because of its single boiler ability. That's where OSCAR 2 option came in for its Heat Exchanger; doing double duty to brew and steam milk at the same time. Yet there's some hesitation because the crazy thought of a shiny, reflective stainless steel piece of a raw manual espresso machine with knobs, levers, switches and pipes glistening all over the kitchen counter top every morning day, just can't seem to shake off.
And so my sudden love for Italian espresso art suddenly expanded with brands like Bezzera, ECM, Profitec, WPM, La Pavoni, Rocket...
Damn... have to add some more budget to an exploding budget already. Getting close to 5 figure range. Shortlisted were Bezzera BZ10, Profitec Pro300, ECM Classika, Rocket Appartamento.

Many videos, forum threads, reviews, and more videos... the narrowed winner to capture the winning trophy of spending my money, is a Rocket Appartamento.
They are built by a team of New Zealander and Italian mens. Very impressive credentials in the espresso lover circle. Nothing to fail me in the next 5-10 years of ownership. Probably I could make full use of it, and sell cafe latte to my neighbours for RM10/cup and recoup some investment.

Here's hoping to more better stories about this interesting journey unexpectedly discovered.

Cheers


.

Much depends on what you want out of the experience.
Some love the chase.
Some love the upgrading experience.
Some love the engineering.
Some love the showing off.
Some have too much money to spend...

Whether a 5 figure machine makes much more difference to a 4 figure setup (in the context of home use, not commercial cafe type) depends on how nitpicky you are about the taste, quality, volume of your coffee.

Every different part that makes a difference costs money, and these translate to more consistency, better reliability, temperature stability, consistent output, aesthetics, materials, etc. All these makes some difference.

For example, plastic casing vs stainless steel casing. Brass boiler vs copper boiler. E61 group head vs normal group head. PID vs pressure gauge. Single boiler Heat Exchange vs Double boiler. Mechanical vs Electronics. Vibratory pump vs Rotary pump.

Still, don't fret too high into the horizon. There's no winner or race. Just an enjoyable journey for your sense and wallet.


Cheers

.

Sharing my unboxing video of an Appartamento

https://youtu.be/sTlf_4tuqD0