Quick Mill Monza Deluxe Superautomatic Espresso Machine

I wanted a semi-auto machine, my wife, did not. She wants to push a button and be done. So I researched a long time who makes the best full automatic machine. Espresso snobs hate super-autos and they're finicky about their gear (grinders, dosers, tampers, machines).

But I asked a lot of them, including Carl Staub of Agtron fame, this question, "if you had to buy a super auto machine, what would it be?"

My answer 100% of the time was, THE QUICK MILL MONZA. So thats what I bought.

That was over two years ago and this machine is still going strong. Some people say its too expensive but when you do the math it works out that its too expensive not to buy one. It has a counter that shows you how many drinks you've made and mine reads...2133. So do the math, Four-Buck's coffee (starbucks) at now $3 to $5 a drink, times 2133, minus $2600 I paid for the Monza and I've saved (my Starbucks drinks were always around $4) $5,932 over two years.

Quality: this machine exudes quality. Go look for yourself at Jura's and DeLonghi's, and the like, and the first thing you notice is the plastic. It's metal colored plastic, so they look like aluminum, but they're 80% plastic. The brew groups are plastic, the body's are plastic, and the components can't be repaired at home, if something breaks it has to go back to the manufacturer.

The Monza on the other hand is all stainless steel and metal. The only plastic in the entire machine is the small cappucinatore device that auto froths the milk, the bean hopper, the water container and the grounds depository. The entire working mechanisms inside the machine are industrial grade metal components that can be replaced at home. The fittings are all industrial grade copper and metal, the valves are all industrial grade, the boilers are industrial grade, the vibration pump, etc. and the electronics are all individually fuse protected. Its impressive to see.

Functionality: like I said earlier, most semi-auto espresso snobs hate the idea of super auto machines. Usually their largest gripes are that the built in grinders dont grind fine enough. And the temp. of the espressso is too low. This machine has a very nice, fully adjustable, stepless bur grinder built in that allows the grind to be adjusted just as well as any stand alone machine I've come across. And the dual boilers each have their own PID's so you can set the temps to whatever you prefer and the machine will maintain that. It also has a heated, metal, brew chamber so it can maintain a more consistant temperature when brewing. The espresso temps can be dialed in perfectly. The steam unit, has its own boiler, and PID and allows you to dial in temps up to 260+ degrees F and it makes great steam, and has a wonderful 2 hole manual steam arm with interchangeable tips if you prefer 4 hole.

The only other area of the machine that will fall short of a semi-auto is the tamp. You can't manually tamp the espresso, and have to rely on the machine to dump the grounds, slice off the excess, and then tamp evenly. I think if Quick Mill could figure out a way to perfect the tamp and have the espresso run through a bottomless portafilter, they could just about make a full-auto machine that produces just as good a shot as a semi-auto. As designed now, the shot dumps through a small hole in the side of the brew head and then into a small plastic divider with the typical seperator pour spouts. Although the crema that it produces is good, I think it looses some of it while be diverted through the spouts.

My biggest dislike of this machine has nothing to do with the espresso functionality, that works very good. It has to do with their use of a steam driven cappuccinatore device for auto frothing milk. Me personally, I prefer to use the manual steam arm and to do it myself, but my wife, like I said earlier just wants to push a button. The device is a small plastic gizmo that has a steam tube connected to the back, and then has a tube that runs from the bottom of its body to your milk source. When its working correctly it actually produces very nice microfoam, although the temperature is too low for my likes. But the tiny holes inside the device quickly get clogged with milk fats (which is hard to clean) and it looses its suction and wont pull milk from the container and just blows steam. Then I get the "Honey,it wont suck the milk." Its a finicky little device, and its not a Quick Mill only problem, a lot of other manufactures use this exact same device for their auto-frothers too. I've even tried to modify it by drilling out the small holes with micro drill bits just to open them up a bit, and that fixed some of the problem but you cant make them too big or then it wont work again...its an odd little device that I don't fully understand how it works. I assume it blows the hot steam through a tube and then tries to use the little suction that creates to suck the milk from its contaner via another tube, and then mix the two in a little round chamber that swirls it around to make the froth. The suction power of the steam just isn't strong enough and the little holes are very finnicky, almost like they are tuned, and if they clog and get smaller, or if they get to big, it looses suction and wont work.
It reminds me of my Italian motorcycles, awesome machines, but have tiny quirks.

But def. not a deal breaker as Im pretty sure all the other super autos use similar auto frother devices which rely on steam suction.

Coffee quality: awesome! This machine produces phenomenally high quality shots for a super-auto. There is only one very small, eclectic cafe in my town that uses a very high end semi-auto machine with very good Barista's and its the only place that comes close and betters what I can do with the Monza. My parents visted for the holidays, and my dad was dumbfounded at the quality difference from my machine to what he's had elsewhere and as soon as he returned home, bought one too. Friends that come over and try it are amazed at how much better it is over Starbuck's (I know, not hard to better Starbuck's).

It's a worthy purchase and a great durable machine.

(Posted on 10/30/12)

I put off reviewing this til I had about a week with it. Still don't have it dialed in exactly right. To avoid scattering my opinions hitherto, I will relay my impressions in the order experienced chronologically.

-This thing is HUGE! Even bigger than what is conveyed both verbally and visually in Kat/Gail's SCG and Scott's ChrisCoffee videos. We're talking small mini-fridge size and at around 70lbs w/platform, heavier. It demands to be the focal point in the kitchen almost to a fault. Counter/cabinet design would almost have to be premeditated with the Monza in mind in order to place it within the immediate kitchen workspace, otherwise it will nearly require a dedicated Coffee counter somewhere in the house, with water source and drainage if those options are to be used. If the Monza were to be plumbed/drained, ideally it would be at a watered bar or near the kitchen sink and/or Dishwasher to share the lines. That said, they would also likely share electrical breakers, thus if you plan on running the monza at the same time you would run that dishwasher, or any other big appliance, you'd better have your electrical system in order. and plan on installing a GFCI outlet if you don't already have one in the prospective spot.

-No built in water softening filtration solution means that one has to be devised. It is not immediately clear which systems will fit, but apparently BestCup with adapter can be made to work with a modded lengthened hose to allow removal of the tightly fitted tank within the unit for refilling

-Calibration of this machine is VERY involving and requires concentration, patience, organization, and TIME.. As I said, I've had it a week and am still making minor tweeks coming ever closer to max potential. So many settings in conjuction with so many other settings, all affect the resulting output. It's dizzying and requires a tweek->take notes->taste->tweek . . . process. And without profiles, you'd better have an agreed general household consensus on how espresso should taste.

-I have come to the conclusion that this is better suited for an office or commercial enviroment exposed to regular use and attention. After all, it takes the same effort to clean after dispensing 4 lattes as it does 40, so there should be a cleaning effort to espresso's dispensed ratio that should be considered. If one is compulsively clean yet sporadic drinker, this machine will drive them nuts. While the everything stays fairly tidy on the outside, grounds get everywhere around the interior E61 group inside. Going inside to clean inevitably creates fingerprints all over the pristine commercial grade polished stainless creating a vicious cleaning process everytime. This brings up another +/-, the awesome no-burn steam wand has an infinite range of motion, but the pristine polished steel cabinet is well within it's range of movement and could incur dent or scuff if handled carelessly. Budget for a little PC Keyboard mini-vac to clean the interior group and save yourself some headache.

-Gail already pointed out the decafe semi-glitch. You literally have to already be amped up on coffee to have the speed to deliver the pre-ground before the Monza shuts itself off followed by dispensing the just inserted coffee into the dregs upon re-powering, I wasted 4 spoons of coffee on 2 try's before finally getting it to take, but I guess I could have started with a clean dregs to allow re-inserting the same grounds had I thought of it at the time.

-The Monza is not one-touch, in fact, far from it. For those that are looking to get up, place a cup, press a button and come back in 40 seconds grabbing it on the way out the door, better go with a Jura or Saeco. The Monza demands to be cleaned/maintained/polished before any length of layover after use which indicates that it is at it's best when there is very little inactvity or non-at-all.

While, once dialed in, the quality of shot is unparalled among the supers, I am tempted to say that this machine is overkill for any household that has 2 or fewer espresso drinking sessions(Morning, Evening) and/or 10 or fewer drinks per day. Jura Z's, Xelsis, or Accademia would be less headache, effort, and cleaning, albeit inferior results. If a buyer is absolutely set on a super yet unwilling to sacrifice shot and build quality of a commercial semi, the Monza is for them.

Pros:
Semi level customization, Optionally drained, Optionally plumbed, Great Taste, Commercial Grade, Quick Brewing, Large Water Container

Cons:
No profiles, Messy, Hard To Clean

(Posted on 2/4/12)