Appartamento

HX machines have to manage a 50°F/30°C temperature drop from the steam boiler temperature to brew temperature. That's a tall order and none do it perfectly. Traditional HX machines such as the OG Rocket Appartamento (not the new TCA version) tend to overheat while idling, and need a cooling flush pr

Not exactly true because the boiler size plays a role as well as the general construction of the machine. If there’s more mass to heat up, it will take longer. The Linea Micra needs like 5 minutes if I remember correctly and something like the Rocket Appartamento will be close to 30 minutes.

Besides the pressure, you can also buy a temperature gauge if you have to TCA. I got one gifted and it really helped to get an overview of the 4 levels of controllable temperature and also see when the machine is actually warm / stable enough to pull shots. Unfortunately that made me realise that th

I don't think there's any objective reason to choose the Appartamento over the Pro 500. The PID isn't really all that useful with a HX machine but it is better than a pressure stat. You do still need to flush with the Pro 500, it's pretty equivalent to the Rocket Giotto/Mozzafiato that I have, I hav

In the case of my rocket appartamento, I can only make two 12oz lattes back to back. by the time I make the third one, steam power dramatically reduces to the point where the boiler starts refilling water (in which case pressure drops to less than 1 bar). What could be the reason? The build quality

I’m in the same boat and price point. Like to see what people recommend. Seems like when I find something, I do a search and just see horror stories. I found an open box rocket appartamento TCA for $1700 but when I searched I just read horror stories about low water temp. Just wish there was a black

As a die-hard Rocket Espresso fan: go for the Profitec. I have an Appartamento that got retired to a summer house - lovely machine for ”just making espresso”, but once you want to get a bit more control it doesn’t really allow you (what with the lack of PID etc).