Tex, another (friendly) question for you along the lines of this thread... While I was researching, some credence was given to my thinking that because I possess almost zero barista skills that I would choose a machine capable of exacting performance so that I became the variable and not the machine.
Would you suggest a SB|DU machine or a HX to a noob? Or would you say it's better to have the noob realize if the shots are 'less-than' because it's them and not the machine.
See what I'm saying? For someone like Pyment who stated it's not about money, would you still stick to your 'do more with less' platform, and risk him losing interest because his skills aren't honed enough to use a machine that may be capable in someone's very skilled hands?
I always recommend a SB/DU machine for the noob. The water dance of the HX is not difficult to master, but it's just another variable the noob doesn't have to take into consideration. And since it's been my experience that ~1/2 of everyone who tries making espresso drops out before mastering the skills that would make use of the more complex machines; I figure why spend the money on something they can't use to its fullest potential?
My reason for recommending simpler machines for noobs is simple; keep the complexity factor low, and the expectation of the results high. I've seen noobs so intimidated by the bells and whistles of their new machines, that they just won't use them. That's how I ended up with a VII to use for nearly 3 months; a friends husband bought it new after having caps at my house. They weren't total novices - they'd used a steam toy for years - but enough so that I strongly recommended one of my PID'd Espresso's as a good starting point. Instead, he let a sales agent at Chris' talk him into the VII.
Longish story made short; He got it, didn't succeed right away, figured espresso wasn't in his future, and pushed it to the back of his counter. Only after my friend got frustrated at having it on HER counter, doing nothing, did he call me for help. I brought him the Gaggia and bottomless portafilter I had, spent an hour showing him how to grind & tamp, and how to judge a shot by what he saw and tasted, then put the VII in my car to take home for testing and tuning (the group pressure was set at 10 bar - too high, and the group temp was 185°F - too low).
My suggestion of a simpler machine has nothing to do with money - heck my wife and I blow way too much at antique auctions to worry about the cost of an espresso machine! I simply want noobs to have a successful 1st venture into espresso. That means having a properly tuned combo of grinder & espresso machine and the minimum skill set to begin the journey. I have an easier time guiding them if they're using a machine that I'm intimately familiar with!
