For those who don't know... the La Marzocco GS refers to a series of historic machines. Beginning with the original GS (the "paddle group" machine) and then moving on to the semi-auto GS2 - the Marzocco GS line represented a breakthrough machine at the time. These machines are still in use and many people feel that they still represent some of the best machines made.
The folks at LMI (in particular, Bill Crossland and of course John Blackwell and Kent Bakke) began working on a new GS machine a while back. This has been refered to as the "La Marzocco Home Machine" on and off. As time has passed, various details have leaked and various prototypes displayed. Earlier this year better details were finally made public and recently some new prototypes have been released. These are "late model" prototypes given that the launch date for the machine is said to be in this coming year.
After much begging and pleading - and with the help of folks like Bronwen, Terry, Kent et al - I finally got a chance to check out one of the prototypes. So now I have a prototype GS3 sitting in my kitchen. Incredible!!!
This is a single group, 110v, automatic machine. It's a reservoir machine rather than a plumbed in one. It has an internal rotary pump. It's dual boiler and it's PID controlled.
It is sick.
After four days of testing it is very clear that:
1 - this is really not a home machine in the same way that an 8 burner Viking Stove is not a home range. Yes, it can be used in your home and yes, it would be amazing in your home -- but to say it's overkill is an understatement. If money were no object... sure, I'd have both in my home!
2 - this is a true, no-compromise dream machine. It takes everything that Marzocco has learned and applies it all in one, small, box. And it throws in a few new twists as well. The tech geeks are going to get all hot and bothered over this machine --- but at the same time, the coffee freaks are going to seriously flip out when they taste the results in the cup.
It's incredible. Truly incredible.
I'm actually having a hard time accurately measuring temp stability due to standard deviation with my measurement rig. I mean - sure, I can easily conclude that we're looking at stability of equal to or less than 0.5F. Beyond that... I'm having to jump through some ridiculous hoops.
And in the cup... I'm getting espresso with all the clarity I dream of - the definition and distinct flavours of a shot from a PID'ed Mistral or Synesso or GB5. And at the same time I get incredible concentration and a super dense and syrupy mouthfeel. Shots are incredibly intense and focused.
I've pulled shots with five different coffees now. I'm starting to see some commonalities in character of shot. Reproduction of flavour is fantastic, clarity is amazing and mouthfeel is just plain sick. I'm wondering if the incredible temp stability is resulting in a higher amount of emulsified oils.
Life is GOOD.
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