EspressoGC Classic PLUS

Everything I thought it would be. Still playing with the grind setting. I love all the things you get with the 'Plus'bundle. No electronics to go bad. A win-win

Great tool. Amazing value. Excellent coffee and safer near children. This is a terrific product. Delivery was quick. Only have good things to write.

We received it yesterday and the in-house coffee addict (aka husband) has remarked “The new ROK is far superior to the old ones” - coming from a long time fan using ROK since 2016.

Well done team on the improvements and thank you for the great service too.

The standard basket is not ideal as it tapers toward the bottom and it also has a ridge line at the half way point, perhaps intended to indicate a suggested dose volume. These details make finding a tamper dependent on the dose you choose; let's say you get a 49.7mm tamper, you wouldn't be able to properly level anything above perhaps 18g. If you get a 50-51mm tamper you might or will run into the issue of not being able to tamp past the ridge line. This is a frustrating and confusing design choice. Speaking of tampers, the included scoop/tamper is outright abysmal. I'd rather it not be included because 1. The scoop portion can be substituted by various kitchen utensils and 2. The tamper portion is rudimentary to a tremendous fault.

The dosing funnel has no implemented technology to adhere to the basket for dosing. This detail isnt absolutely necessary, but it would've been convenient to include a magnetic component to the base of the funnel. (Perhaps substituting the cost of the scoop/tamper for a magnetic funnel would be a better use of spending)

This is a simplifying concept design I thought of. The portafilter could simultaneously be designed to allow a naked look and standard look by making the bottom removable via a twisting function like a screw. Screw on for standard design, and screw off to remove for bottomless. However viable this is engineering wise I'm unsure of, but I think it would make this already popular machine stand out more.

With all the negatives out of the way I can now speak to what I do like. The machine feels sturdy and it is nice to use the handles as it is easier than a single arm for generating pressure. The rubber feet it has also grips nicely for stability when pulling shots. For what it is, it does what it should without fuss.

Last detail to mention.
My order didn't come with the "Clip-on double adapter". It would be nice to have for bigger doses intended for 2 people.

This is a great and sturdy little machine. As an espresso newbie, it took a bit of experimenting to find the best workflow, but that is part of the joy. You can definitely make *great* espresso with the ROK and it's very quick to use once you get the routine down thanks to the portafilter and super easy cleanup.

I've owned this for over 8 years. Originally it had the clear plastic reservoir, then the GC kit came out so I upgraded to it. No matter what I did, keeping the temp correct was a pain. The included portafilter is good quality but an odd size. The tamper was useless and the other accessories were cheap. The machine itself..... very well built! If you look at my included picture you'll see I have seriously modded mine over the years. 58mm adapter, all brass so it retains heat better ect.... It's still a pain to keep temps correct and consistent. Over all I would call this a novelty item. It works if you want to put in the effort, but even then it has only produced a mediocre shot for me. It looks great on display and if your pulling a shot to mix in an iced drink or anything else that may mask the fact that it doesn't make a great straight shot.... then you won't be disappointed. I'm hear leaving a review after 8 years because I think its finally time to put this on the shelf for display purposes only lol. Its time to get a real machine.

Tough to heat up enough before pulling a shot. I'm also glad YouTube exists, because it came with 0 instructions. I'd probably return it if they had a money back guarantee.

Not happy with the pressure as it comes down too easily and don’t feel the pull is strong enough

Overall, nice build and quality. Issue I have is that I can't get great expresso. No crema after multiple tries and adjustments. Will continue to work at it.

Great product.

My rating would be 5 stars if the portafilter basket was engineered to the specifications and tolerances used on the first two ROK espresso machines i purchased (Our family uses them in two home locations). Specifically, the newly designed basket does not stay in the portafilter when knocking the spent grounds out of the portafilter - the whole mess lands in the trash ontainer or knock box. Did anyone at ROK test this before final production and sales? ROK has had many small changes and upgrades over the 15-20 years I have used the machines, most of tne changes have been positive. However, when I notified ROK customer service about this issue, they went silent (they were responsive to a packaging and extra parts question).

Very happy

Awesome manual Espresso maker. The quality of all the parts is super high end. I have pulled some awesome shots with it so far. Definitely takes some learning to be consistent; but the control you have is extremely good. Couple notes: the tamper it comes with is not the greatest and a medium sized scale does not fit under the outlet. Not huge issues but something to consider. Rok offers a really nice metal tamper. I would highly recommend this one!

Ordered as gift, recipient loved it

it's beyond my expectations! It's much better than most coffee shops and certainly better than my previous autonomous coffee machines.

The taste was good after the 6th try at it.I tried a number of different levels of grind to no avail.The results were the same. A weak cup of coffee with one compression. 2 compressions would give me a stronger flavor. It requires too many steps to achieve a good cup of coffee.I'm not satisfied with the purchase.

This is my first time with a manual espresso machine. Quite a lovely experience. However the instructions from the manufacturer are a bit lacking, overly simplified as I look at reviews online and tutorials there's a bit more Nuance that could stand to be in the owner's manual. But overall a part of my collection, no regrets.

They could do a lot better of a job explaining what this ships with, because I wound up paying extra an extra 45 bucks for the Naked Portafilter just to get the non pressurized basket it comes with, only to find out one was included in the box alongside the pressurized basket...

The included portafilter's plastic handle is cheap feeling (the metal portions are perfectly fine though), and already developed a crack after ONE use. The brand new naked portafilter I ordered extra arrived with a loose handle. The handles don't use the standard screw, so I cant just swap them with a nicer handle like I can for other portafilters. Given the abnormal portafilter size, I feel like this is a huge setback that the included ones are so bad.

The funnel it comes with is OK but doesn't stay on well. The spoon tamper doesn't fit well, with a bigger gap around it than most tampers. Considering the unusual basket size, ordering the official upgraded accessories winds up bringing the price awfully close to the cafelat robot, arguably a better overall manual brewer.

To my surprise, my 51mm baskets all fit the stock portafilter and the naked portafilter, despite the information saying it's an uncommon 50mm. This allowed me to use my stockpile of 51mm accessories, which makes the machine infinitely better.

The biggest issue I'm having overall though, is the preheating. No matter what I try, the shots come out a few degrees short of what I can get from my other machines. While they aren't exactly cold, the shots are just a little unsatisfactory as a result. This also rushes me to get powdered creamer in before it cools down too much to mix in properly.

...

On the bright side, the main unit feels very well made despite the bad accessories. The metal is smooth, well machined, and thick in most places. The plastic/glass composite materials have a certain sturdiness to them too.

Most of the smaller parts have very reasonably priced replacements, and they even chose to sell retrofit kits to upgrade the older models.

I love the repairability and overall aesthetics of this. The positioning of the (sold separately) pressure gauge is also so much better than the Cafelat Robot, though it's metal housing touches the water and further complicates the preheating.

I love that I can pick this up and rinse it out in the sink as needed. The tray is also big enough for MOST scales, though the recess makes some of my nicer ones trickier to use with it. The recess does catch a LOT of spills from the preheating process. so it's not without benefit.

At least according to the pressure gauge accessory, this can hit and exceed 9 bars with the right grind settings in the single wall/non pressurized baskets. If your idea of espresso requires 9 bars to be considered "real", this can do it.

I'm really enjoying this machine overall, but they REALLY need to overhaul the included accessories, at the very least swap the portafilters to using the standard screw handle, and widen up the spoon tamper just a bit. Would be great if they revised and even sold an upgraded plate to use 51mm portafilters specifically. Between that and the preheating being a messy pain, just to get not-quite-hot-enough shots, I've had to drop this to 3 stars for an "Okay" product.

A LOT disappointed! Paid a decent amount on this espresso maker and it came with absolutely no instructions!! Hard to figure this out on my own!! Quite upset. Tell me - how do I use it??!!!

Yes, it makes good spro- but what are all the extra pieces for? there's a cleaning filter, and a syringe- with no talk about what I do with them. After taking the time to watch many users youTube videos, I'm no closer to dial in my system, and lack the confidence I have with my machine. even a link to manuals would be helpful, but I couldn't find anything for information on how to use, or take care of the machine

I've been making my own espresso for about 40 yrs. Ive tried many brands and styles of Espresso makers. Until the ROK came out all were electric. The last several of those were in the price range (or higher) of the ROK. I bought my 1st ROK not long after they were avaliable. I was very pleased with it and enjoyed espresso at least as good as from the automatic machines i have owned. The 1st version of the ROK did have some issues, though over all it still allowed me to make good espresso. Then came the ROK GC! All the important flaws were addressed by the upgrades and now the quality of my espresso is great every day.
I have tried the other manual machine, Flair and it wasn't much competition with the ROK. I have not tried the latest of that brand which is twice the cost of a ROK GC. I think that one is a much better design the the 1st flairs, but the single lever is not as ergonomic and easy as the ROK double levers.