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Quick Mill Anita
jimoncaffeine
About 6 months ago I bought a Quick Mill Anita from ChrisCoffee.com

http://www.chrisc...esso/anita

I was looking for a group 61 H/X (single boiler (hot water and steam) with heat exchanger (for espresso)) machine that was well built, easy to service and replace parts when necessary and, most importantly, performed well with little fuss. (Well, as little a fuss as necessary with any e61 heat exchanger machine, anyway.)

After much research I called up Chris's place of business and asked the receptionist to have one of the sales people call me (they were all busy at the time) and that I was wondering about how the Anita compared to an ExpoBar that was about in the same price range. She said "Hold on, I think there's someone who could help you sort it out in the next room." Next thing I knew I was talking to Chris of ChrisCoffee.com himself. He spent about an hour with me going over benefits of the Anita and even offered to sell me the ExpoBar they had used during the development of one of their machines for about $200 less than the Anita. In the end, Chris' customer service won out and I ordered the Anita on the spot. (I received an email ups notification of shipping about 3 hours after placing the order!)

The machine arrived at my doorstep in about 3 days. It seemed massive compared to the Gaggia machines that I'd been using for the last 16 years and suddenly made my giant coffee grinder (a re-badged Rossi RR45) seem like not as much overkill as it had the day before. It was as well made as the reviews I'd read suggested. A bit of water flush through the boiler and I was pulling shots. It took a bit to come to terms with an h/x e61 machine due to the cooling flush and I found that I went through about 3 times as much water as I had with my Gaggias. (Making me partially regret my decision to not just buy Anita's big brother, the Andreja Premium with the direct plumb kit.) In the end, I fill the water tank about as often as I did the one on the last Gaggia I had but it holds about 3 times the water. I adjusted the pressure stat and lowered the brew pressure to just about 9 bar during extraction. I can now successfully make about 10 back to back drinks with the Anita (maybe more but this is as many as I've tried to crowd into my kitchen.).

Things that I like about the Anita and have been reinforced over the last 6 months:

1. Easy to get consistent results once you get a handle (no pun intended) on the e61 cooling flush.
2. You can steam milk and pull shots at the same time.
3. Quality parts! Good quality steam breaker valve, pressure stat, electrics, portafilters ( you get *both* a single and double spout commercial quality portafilter with it!) etc.
4. Pressure gauges for both boiler pressure and extraction pressure.
5. Easy to adjust.
6. Adjustment and work on their machines is encouraged! (A novel idea among most appliances these days!) See the faq where they show you what to do and how to do it: http://www.chrisc...
7. Thoughtful touches - hatch built into the bottom of the housing so that if you *did* have to replace the heating element, you don't have to remove the boiler, reset able overheat switch instead of a thermal fuse so that if the boiler overheats you can correct the problem and just reset the breaker instead of buying a new thermal fuse, circular opening cut into the top sheet metal to allow adjusting the pressure stat with all the body cladding still on, magnetic float switch for water level that disengages only the heating element when water runs low so you can finish pulling the shot you started instead of cutting all power to the machine as most manufacturers do, the list could go on for a long time here! :)
8. Excellent customer service and fast answers to any questions asked.
9. Good steam breaker valve so you can put it on a timer - it needs about 30 minutes to heat up, as do any of the smaller e61 machines I've found.

Differences between the Anita and Andreja Premium:

1. ~$400.
2. Better steam and water valves - replaceable washers instead of replacement valves, though a new valve is only about $25 and as long as they are used sensibly they last a long time (over 18 years on one of my Gaggias and it still doesn't leak).
3. No direct water connection for the Anita. (you can convert the Anita to an auto fill system with a little ingenuity and about $30 though...)
4. The Andreja has a prettier body though the Anita is no slouch and the Anita has only a few screws to remove to get to any of the parts.

Some things to think about before taking the plunge...
- It?s expensive (but actually on the less expensive end of the line for this class of machine)... About $1000.
- The parts are high quality but generic. This sounds strange at first but it is a very good thing - if a pressure stat goes out you don't have to buy a Quick Mill pressure stat, or portafilter, or steam valve, or power relay, or Pump, or,... You can get good quality parts from just about anywhere that will bolt right on!
- It?s got a one year warranty and I think it?s got a one month no questions asked return policy.
- It?s big and shiny. (No one will ever notice your pid'ed, modified popcorn popper, right next to it being balanced on the head of a trained raccoon atop a unicycle...)

Things that you will need:
- A good grinder. (I can't stress this enough and this will make or break any espresso machine.)
- A couple of micro fiber rags for removing dust and finger prints.
- Stainless-Steel cleaner/polish.
- A few extra pounds of coffee to get familiar with it.

So... After 6 months, I am still very happy with my decision to buy the Anita.
 
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