Expobar Minore IV
10 reviews
- Daily
Serious machine – Had this for almost a year and loving it. Serious machine that brews serious shots. Only just found out you can easily adjust the brew pressure (9 bar) without having to open up the machine. That along with temp control & the manual lever brewing makes it perfect for the espresso hobbyist that likes to tinker, adjust & experiment. The milk… Read more
steaming is also powerful and fast. Saves so much time being able to pull a shot and steam milk at the same time with a dual boiler like this
Well designed, well built, pulls incredible shots – Double boiler version, purchased from Coffee-A-Roma.com in Melbourne. Shipped the day following order and arrived the next day. Came with a free Mota Competition tamper. Operation checked before shipping and the boiler pre-filled which was a nice touch. This meant I could plug it in and start brewing straight away. Fantastic service from Lawrence.… Read more · 1
What I like: *Solid, all stainless steel build, thicker steel than almost everything else *The Expobar proprietary brew head is brilliant. Creates a slower ramp up to pressure so in effect, a pre-infusion. *I prefer the Ulka vibratory pump over the rotary as it builds up to pressure more slowly and helps prevent channeling *The large twin 1.5L copper boilers, better than stainless steel for heat transfer and retention. The largest boilers of its class. Both well insulated with neat fitting jackets. Most other twin boilers utilise a smaller brew boiler. The larger 1.5L Expobar brew boiler makes for better temperature stability. *The PID is easy to set and it maintains temperature better than most others I've used. *Ability to turn off steam boiler independently if not required. *Heavy duty toggle switches *Largest drip tray in its class. Thick stainless steel, not plastic like its competition *Easy to adjust brew pressure from the front OPV under the drip tray. *Included Mota Competition tamper *1/2 turn "Fast" steam and water valves *Brew boiler draws hot water from the steam boiler via the heat exchanger. More efficient. *Adjustable feet so that the machine can be levelled *Excellent quality portafilters and baskets *Chrome brass portafilters, not stainless steel. Better heat retention properties. *No need to remove cups from tray to fill reservoir. (Lift off the whole tray, cups and all) *Easy to fill reservoir from side *Water softener canister. Comes with spare. *Large 2.7L reservoir. Easy to convert to filling from a separate tank if preferred. *Well designed packaging. Arrives on its own pallet. *Excellent components and well built. Easy to service. No expensive electronics apart from the PID. *Long running model which means lots of support and spare parts. Cheaper running costs, lower cost of ownership and servicing. *Easy to pull great shots. Less wizardry, means less to learn and go wrong.
What I don't like much: *Pump can be noisy. (Can be solved easily. Look online for solutions) *No automatic shot timer. (I have fitted a Luminaire shot timer at a cost of $140. Operates using an induction sensor. Quick and easy to DIY) *No auto-on/off feature (Solution: use a smart timer that runs off an app to do the same thing, so it's a feature not missed)
This machine is easy to live with and is amazing value for money when compared to its competitors. It has less bling and features for sure, but makes up for this with superior build quality and the thickness of its heavy duty all stainless steel chassis. It's designed with reliability and long life in mind.
Would I buy this machine again? Hell yeah!
Peak Home Coffee but nothing convenient about it – We recently upgraded to a Minore IV and a Sette 270wi from a Breville Dual Boiler and Smart Grinder. Our use case: we live in a regional area (40 minutes from City) and the local coffee is trash. We make 4 cups per day (two cups each), double shot milk-based drinks. Occasionally a fifth, and every week or two have people over and pump out 6 or… Read more
more. We use about a kilo of beans per fortnight. I'm a coffee idiot - the process and ceremony of making coffee is almost as important as the utilitarianism of caffeine. I work from home 50% of the time, so dont need to rush out the door too often. I dont think im insufferable about it, i definitely cant pick up tasting notes from different beans or roasts.
We bought it because the Breville (henceforth called BDB) died a premature death. I dont wanna talk about it - i dropped it in for a service and fuse replacement and it just never came back. We have had the BDB and a Silvia prior to that. We adored the BDB.
So - at the heart of it the Minore IV makes the best coffee i've ever had at home, and the more i use it it makes better coffee than almost every machine ive ever used working in cafe's throuhgout my early adulthood. I played with and use machines at three shops in researching the purchase, and though I couldn't tell much difference between all the heat exchanger models - I did notice the performance step up in the dual boiler Minore, in particular the warm up and the steam pressure. Now it's dialled in, on a quality stakes it is pipped only by a La Marzocco KB90 (or whatever the precursor was in 2010) I worked with in a cafe some time ago. So let's park the quality side of things - just take as a given that if you care about coffee and have a decent grinder then this machine will absolutely meet your expectations for espresso quality. Plus - it's absolutely beautiful and should last 10-15 years with proper care and maintenance.
Here's the thing - there is nothing convenient about this machine, and this holds true with all HX units i'd wager. The best analogy i can come up with is this - If the BDB was a Toyota Camry, the Minore is an italian track car. Both do the same thing at the heart of it but serve very different markets and experiences. The Breville turned itself on at 6am, heated itself up, had a managed preinfusion, turned itself off, controlled volumetric pulls, PID and told me when to clean it. It was not cheap (neither are camrys for that matter) but it was reliable as all get out and made morning rushes easy to squeeze a coffee in and didnt matter if i forgot to switch it off.
The Minore by contrast is like a roadster kit car. It needs 20 minutes to get to a barely acceptable group-head temp (30 is much better), has no automatic volume measurement, doesn't turn itself off or on and the PID is limited to the main boiler. You need to watch it pull shots and work the lever yourself. It has loads of bare stainless and chrome-plated bronze that heats up to ~80 degrees and singes your skin if you brush past the head. The steam pressure is liable to blow small children off their feet. It's all just a bit finicky and raw - but holy hell, even on poor extractions, you can taste the difference. And that's the heart of this review - coffee is as much a ceremonial cathartic thing for me and i enjoy this level of manual control and interaction. It's just pure luck that this effort equates to coffees that taste bloody amazing. Sure i miss the utilitarian boot space and mod-cons of the camry but at the end of the day the coffee is signficiantly and noticeably better. And my taste is nothing refined or fancy - it just tastes better allt he time and with more consistently.
I don't want to discourage people from buying this sort of machine on the convenience angle alone - you're not pumping steam levers, controlling feed rates and this isn't a locomotive. I can still get out the door with a coffee easily - but i just need to be more organised than with the BDB. When it boils down to it (ha!) the major difference is remember to turn it on when i wake up, dont walk away when im pulling shots and remember to turn it off. That's pretty much the only major compromise. It even turns itself off if the onboard tank is getting low on water to protect the boiler, so there is some modern safety features on it.
Who's it for: People that enjoy cafe-quality coffee at home and either already have a good grinder or plan to get one. Also - some experience with tweaking your grind, tamping, spotting under/over extractions is necessary to work this thing to it's potential. But there is nothing you can't pick up from Youtube and the Cofeesnobs forums these days - if my wife can learn to make great coffees without a serious interest anyone can! Not for: Anyone who appreciates or relies on the convenience of retail branch prosumer machines. If you need it quick, acceptable and able to run out the door than this probably isn't the best value for money for your use case. And that's absolutely fine - coffee doesn't need to be a pretentious fancy thing all the time and especially when you need to get two kids out the door and off to school and work.
So if you've have the Dual Boiler, or a similar $1k - $1.5k prosumer model, and want to upgrade to an HX I can strongly recommend the Minore. Understand the compromise you're making on the experience - but don't let that dissuade you. If you're passionate about good coffee this is worth every single cent.
Not so good for home longevity – The Expobar Minmore3 has done me so well for so many years. Producing the best possible coffees anyone could possibly ask for. Recently it short circuit the house. Off to the repair man we went. He detailed that I was not using it anywhere near enough as a twin boiler machine should be used ( 2 per day on a weekday and 6 per day on a weekend) maybe if I drank more coffee I'd be able to issue this beast a 5. ( RIP Minmore3) Show details
Beautiful machine apart from one persistent fault – I have owned my Minore for just over a year after upgrading from a Rancilio Silvia, The difference was dramatic and it makes a beautiful cup of coffee and can pump out a consistent quality beverage time and time again when you have friends / family over. My only issue has been a fault that has now occurred 3 times necessitating a trip back to the… Read more
store of purchase each time and this thing is really heavy! The pressure stat valve has broken down x3 over the past year, the last one lasting only 3 months before breaking down again. The result is that the steamer tank safety valve blows off continually as it stays on and doesn't turn off automatically as it should when the tank reaches the preset temperature. My most recent visit resulted in an aknowledgement by the staff that they have had a number of units returned with the same problem. To their credit they didn't charge me this time and installed a different model of valve so hopefully (cross fingers) the problem won't recur. Otherwise I'm extremely happy with the machine. It looks great and is easy to use. My only other comment would be that a water tank gauge would be handy to be able to top up the tank before it completely empties.
This product is OK – Good coffee machine, very nice forth if you have sufficient barista skill. Not giving 5 stars because it is time comsuming to clean it if you only make 1 or 2 cups of coffee a day. It’s good for people who really loves making his/her own coffee and has plenty of time to do so. Otherwise, it’s better to grab one at your favorite cafe. Now it stays in my cupboard. Show details
Pro coffee shop at home – Very nice machine. Consistent results all the time. Easy to clean if you not overload it Looks great too. Amazing design It does not take much time to master it. Warms up really quickly. I love this manual coffee machine. The best we ever had. Does not require much maintenance Show details
Poor quality and regretful purchase. 3 Breakdowns in 3 years – What is disappointment. This machine has been nothing but trouble. First problem was a digital display failure at 13 months and the shop wouldn’t fix it. Next a boiler element went and now I’m having continual problems. A really cheap machine and really cheap quality. You get what you pay for and I should have spent more Show details
Expobar Minore – Would have to agree. Have had mine for five years along with an Iberital grinder. I was very lucky to buy the Expobar at half price for a second hand reconditioned model from Abrisca/Coffeetek in East Brisbane. Lucky because they are rarely available second hand. The flat whites that I make are better than any of the coffee shops and apart from 30… Read more
minutes initial training at Abrisca I have never been on any courses.
Forget the cheaper machines sold in department stores, these will not last. Buy a commercial quality machine that will allow you to make great coffee, buy it along with a good grinder and buy them from somewhere like Abrisca/Coffeetek, who not only roast and sell their own beans but sell and service coffee machines. They will show you how to use the machine, clean the machine and also set up the grinder and provide ongoing support like showing you how to change the seal down the track.
Splash out and buy it – We we're sick and tired of buying coffee machines that did not do the job. We wanted a good Latte like the shops make every morning. We bought four different machines and ALL had to be returned because of faults. Take my word for it, if you want a good morning Latte or Cu Pacino splash out, pay the extra bucks and have a great machine that will… Read more
last. I did my homework on this machine... it is all made in Germany and Spain, not that other place. We are so pleased with this machine although took a little getting used to. I am making lattes BETTER than we get anywhere in town. It is so fun tweaking the machine and learning the techniques that the pros' use. I would advise anyone not to buy a Chinese made machine and bite the bullet and get this machine. It is all stainless and obviously well made with exceptional care. You'd think I had shares in Expobar wouldn't you.... I don't . I just LOVE this E61 machine. It's the way coffee should be made not with plastic parts and with a machine that was made to do the job not just look pretty ( although it looks great in the kitchen ).
The owner at the shop where we bought it couldn't be more helpful. They are coffee nuts so it's their job to make us happy. The perfect coffee it makes once you get the hang of it. You can turn the boiler off if you are just doing shots... saves money. Can't think of anything although next time, maybe in twenty years, I'd go for the plumbed one, saves you filling the resovoir .
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