EspressoGC Commercial Edition

Great device

It just does it's job, no buttons or dials.
Just great coffee

I love the construction of this machine. It's not hard to use in principle, but you really have to preheat everything (cup, water reservoir, puck holder) and work fast to get a good espresso. Also the bean grind is critical to get the right flow rate. I'm still learning how to do this without making a huge mess, but I'll get there. In the end it can make a great cup of espresso if all goes well.

I have enjoyed my ROK EspressoGC Classic Plus so far, having had it for around two weeks. It is taking a lot of trial and error to figure out the best way to make great espresso, and not quite there yet. It is a bit cumbersome the number of steps needed to get consistency out (pre-heating the portafilter, pre-heating the chamber, etc) but I enjoy the practice of it all. I wish the basket was a more standard size to allow me to augment with more robust tools (tamper, distributor) which fit more perfectly. The 49-50 mm size (size changes with the inner ring in the basket, which is there for no clear reason but impacts ability to tamp consistently) makes getting such tools quite challenging, and I believe does impact the quality and consistency of the pull.

Overall, I do enjoy the manual aspect of the machine, and fact it forces the operator to be really engaged with the process, to understand what makes a great espresso and what makes a mediocre one. So far I am glad I purchased the unit.

The ease and consistency each time makes this head and shoulders above the competition.