Rocket Espresso Appartamento Espresso Machine

Check to see that the top is loaded with your favorite cups on your way to bed and wake up ready with nice warm cups and a brilliantly designed machine to prepare a deliciously elegant cappuccino in mere seconds. What better way to start your day? And then there's Affogato for dessert... Update: Don’t for forget to check/turn on the eco switch (underneath machine on right). Not doing so may cause the machine to over heat. I made this mistake and had to reset the thermostats which meant removing the top panels to access. Easy to do but, it just takes a few minutes. I have subsequently pressure tested my machine and found it at 13 bars - too high. Brought it down to 9 bars. Installed a flow control which gives an extraordinary degree of control when pulling a shot. Last but not least, after testing and adjusting the pressure to 9 bars (which will pretty much remain static), I installed a thermostat as, if left idling too long, the water in the group head can reach almost boiling. The thermostat allows you to purge some of the water until it comes down to about 191-193. I also installed a digital timer device which switches the machine on 30 or 40 minutes before I wake to ensure the machine is ready for me when I get downstairs and shuts off at about mid morning. I can override the device at any time (ie: after dinner, cleaning) by using an app on my phone. Maintenance is very important to any espresso machine, weekly inspections, bi-weekly group head cleaning/back washing, bi-monthly water tank cleaning (This is where I throw in a new filter pod, also very important - Seattle Coffee Gear has them) It has been several months and I can tell you that these are must have mods and they're relatively inexpensive and very easy to install. Additionally, you’ll want to order the really super nice and sturdy SS cup bar Seattle Coffee) to replace the flimsy plastic one that it comes with. Overall, I really love this machine. Update: These machines do require regular maintenance and YouTube has great answers to those problems which may and will present themselves from time to time. A couple of months ago my machine began to overheat and shut down resulting in having to remove the top panel and heat shield to reset the tripped temperature button and reassemble it. After the third time in as many weeks I watched the pressure indicator while testing the unit after reassembling it and noticed the sporadic pressure readings on the dial and realized there was something going on with the pressure and the temperature was merely a symptom. There are several safety redundancies built in to these machines. After reviewing a couple trouble shooting videos, I realized that this was a faulty pressure stat. Disassembled the panels and removed the original and replaced it with a Campini pressure stat on recommendation in the video. Campini is a high end Italian company that makes all manner of parts. I must say that this new pressure stat makes a huge difference! It performs noticeably better than the original and for just 40 bucks! (espressoparts.com) After 2+ years I still love this machine. Further update: It's been a few months since I've replaced the original pressure stat with a Campini pressure stat. Though I'm very happy with all of the upgrades I've done, this has been by far the single best upgrade I've made for this machine. It has actually made my machine more elegant in its operation as well as brought much more stability in maintaining the proper pressure and and there have been absolutely no further issues with it blowing the temp fuse. The stability the new pressure stat has brought to run time and operation is simply remarkable and I have not had any further problems since. It is now as perfect a machine as it gets. Just amazing what has been the result of this simple modification.

As part of my consideration to purchase this unit (or most other things), I look at the "bad" reviews and take them into consideration. I was a bit worried after reading them given the price of this machine. For whatever reason, I went against my gut and bought it anyways even though they seemed alarming based on what I read/saw online. And... well, I'm glad I did. If you're new to the world of espresso and considering this machine, hopefully you'll find my rambling helpful... First off: if you're considering purchasing an E61 HX machine such as this, do some research first! Do understand the cleaning commitment these machines require: daily (wipe down), weekly (backflush with detergent, break down portafilters, scrub the group head, ...), monthly (wash down the water tank, ...), and quarterly/biannually (descale, deeper cleaning). If you are not willing to follow a cleaning regime and use filtered/quality water (to prevent scale), it is not to say this machine is for you... but do not expect the decade(s?) of life out of it that it is otherwise capable of. Decade(s)? Yeah. That's one of the reasons I invested in this machine. Virtually everything is replaceable and it has a simple design -- very few electronics and simple mechanical design leads to a product that is both built to last and highly repairable. Most things fall into the DIY class and there is certainly no planned obsolescence here. If you are willing to learn/watch YouTube videos, pull out some wrenches, and follow the cleaning regime it requires... this machine will last you a very, very, very long time. Somebody earlier mentioned about how it "leaks and steams". Just open the steam valve for a bit if you haven't made a shot in ~30m+. There's also an attachment you can screw into the E61 stem that will show you the temperature of the brew water that you can use to help guide you decision making here. There's also a green "ECO" button under the lower right side of the unit that you can use to have it shutoff after ~90m (don't quote me) to prevent it from getting out of hand if you are busy and leave it on. Other thing that you will need: PATIENCE, a quality grinder, and a cheap scale (you will need to get a rough idea of how much 9g of coffee is for a single and 18g of coffee is for a double... and then to measure/time how long to produce 18 or 36g of espresso, respectively -- you want it to be somewhere in the range of 20-30s extraction time). Do NOT cheap out on a decent grinder (another $200-300 investment). Do NOT expect to be pulling world-class shots out of this thing on day one or be switching coffee beans all the time. For someone who's brand new to the world of espresso, I thought I understood these things... until I got this machine, and was humbled. The first few shots I pulled had no crema and it was a bit frustrating between all the steps I was trying to internalize and follow. It took me a bit to realize the default suggested grind setting was wholly inappropriate for the bean I was using, and that I had to go way finer on the grind. As soon as I did... I pulled a shot with a ton of crema. From there, the taste and scale/timer let me hone in the grind setting to figure out what was right for the bean, and at that point I was glad that I had invested in a $300 grinder. And honestly, I would not consider myself a coffee snob... in fact, I started with regular, store-bought espresso beans because I figured they would be good to practice on. I really have no regrets with this machine. Probably the most annoying aspect that I did not account for is the grind cleanup. Even if you're fairly neat, you'll be wiping down the countertop of your coffee station daily or at least every few days. I do not mind it... but again, plan for a little bit of a time investment with these machines. The end result is worth it in my opinion. The one "downside" of this particular E61 variant I have seen online is that the brew pressure runs a bit high out of the box. I cannot independently validate this claim. Supposedly you want 9 bars of pressure and these units deliver ~13 bars, which results in bitter shots. You can remove the water filter and some of the screws on the top to expose something adjustable with a wrench, but I have not bothered yet as I did not purchase the add-on to measure the brew pressure before doing so. It still delivers outstanding coffee out of the box compared to what I am used to, though some fine-tuning may be required in the future. Some of the other E61s reviewed do not require this level of tuning if it something you want to avoid... go look at YouTube to see which ones.

This is the perfect option for a home espresso machine. It just took a little bit of time to perfect my grind and now I pull perfect chats every time.

This machine imparts an odd smell into the water coming out of it. I have used the machine for 44-days and the odd smell still lingers in the water and steam emitted by the machine. I have used both filtered tap water and bottled water, yet the odd smell still persists. There are numerous chat posts of people experiencing the same issue. One chat board, from as far back as 2016, referenced a reply that they received from Rocket as follows; “They said that it's probably due to some residual Loctite in the group or due to the brushing they did on the mushroom.” I did some research into Loctite and discovered that it is toxic. Loctite contains a chemical called Cyanoacrylate. Which is toxic. Not sure if 3M makes a non-toxic Loctite product. While flushing the machine, I discovered a new problem. There are tiny black specks in the water coming out of the head. Some of these specks float and appear to be almost rubber-like. While others sink to the bottom and appear to be granular in nature. I am unable to determine what is causing this contamination and have not used the machine since. Based on what I am experiencing, I would not recommend spending this much money on this machine. A machine of this cost should not be tainting the water coming out of it with odd smells and unidentifiable bits.