Welcome to the CoffeeCrew forum for registered users. - feel free to make yourself at home. This forum is dedicated to coffee and espresso based issues.
Forum spammers, link referrers, link placement, scam artists, confidence artists, crooks and obvious commercial shilling is discouraged. Violation of this one simple rule will result in you and your immediate geographical region being banned from the site so do not post ads or links to your site here unless approved by me! Violators of this one simple rule will find their firm, employer, and your pitiful self invoiced $1000 per violation of this simple rule. Enjoy!
The coffeecrew guestbook and forum has been alive for more than 10 years! Please consider it your one-stop resource for finding out about all things coffee, espresso, specialty coffee and all associated gear and equipment.
We welcome long posts - there is no word limit in fact. Keep in mind that you can only type for 15 to 20 minutes in the forum-post submit window (session timeout)- so consider composing your posts or responses in a text editor - then cut and paste! Thank you and enjoy the forums!
Atomic differences - 2006/03/05 14:53I've had my trusty Atomic for a couple of years (the most useful birthday present ever), my brother visited me in Sydney recently and wanted one so I purchased one on E-bay for him. Thankfully it's not one of the increasingly "popular" fakes.
Having got it home and comparing it with my own atomic I've noticed a couple of minor differences. My machine has no label but the recess is there so I don't know if there ever was one. The other one has a label but just the Atomic label not a Bon Trading label.
I've also noticed the shape of the base is slightly different my machine is slightly more curved whereas the other has straighter sides. One also has a longer frothing arm than the other.
Obviously there are some very noticable differences with some machines, the "original" as in the patent diagram, those with the second red knob, and the later coloured machines. But does anyone have any information about when these different machines were in production. Frederick, I've read in your articles that those machines with the Bon Trading label aren't "that" old, but just how old is that? And what about the machines with the Bou Trading label, what years were those machines from?
Anyway just curious really, if anyone has any answers, I'd really like to know.
Lex..
| | Forum posting/replies are available to registered users.
Frederick
Admin Admin
Posts: 92
Karma: 31
Re:Atomic differences - 2006/03/05 19:16Talk about coincidences! I made a batch with an earlier one and there is a difference in performance.
As you probably know by now, the owners of Bon and myself have grown very close. We talked for over 5 hours on the last week of February alone. The last batch brought in for Bon Trading was in the early eighties. They were labeled ATOMIC cappuccino maker. The base of the neck is slightly thicker. The small batch of BOU was the first batch brought in Australia with the merchant's name. This dates from the sixties.
If you perused all of the articles or answers given in the archives, you would have a better idea of the chronology of this design. The extra shaft affair was an attempt by the manufacturer to correct the user's inability to successfully froth. As for the straight side of the boiler, it may be that you have a Sassoon made model. These were made in England under license. I will be getting a copy of the agreement with Giordanni. There are some differences all over. Over the years the manufacturer tweaked the original design. In summary: The biggest volume of sales was done in Australia, they are almost inexistant in their place of birth Italy and a coffee table book is in the works as we speak to satisfy the demand for information.
Last note, correspondance is going back and forth between other fanatics and myself. We are doing our best to make the vendors state that they are selling copies. Soon these will be labeled ATOM In the meantime, look for a steel colored shaft for the frother. Those are the fakes, the originals have a brass shaft. I must admit , the photographs that they use are very well chosen and do not show the discrepencies.
DO NOT hesitate to contact us (me) with the number of the article that you are considering. I will get back as soon as possible with a clear verdict on it's authenticity.
FrEdErIcK
I just checked on availability of the copies on the internet auction house. The vendors took off some pictures and it is getting increasingly difficult to verify the authenticity. Nevertheless, the filter that goes into the portafiller (group or coffee holder with the long handle) should have STRAIGHT sides and a perfect finish on the outside, not polished but with no tool marks either. If they show the inside of this filter, a quick giveaway is the random piercing of the holes. F.
Post edited by: frederick, at: 2006/03/05 19:17
Post edited by: frederick, at: 2006/03/05 19:42Frederick Nakos is the Global authority on the Atomic Espresso Coffee maker.
| | Forum posting/replies are available to registered users.
You need to keep in mind the actual number of people that still buy espresso pre-ground and in (shield your eyes!) brick packs!
Yes, it is pretty nasty ass - but this is what people do.
I have s...
For espresso I'd even say an hour is WAY too long. It should go from the grinder to the pf. After 30 seconds I consider my espresso old and dump it. There's just too many chemical changes happening...
GROUND coffee is fresh for about an hour.
Ditch the pre-ground coffee and grind it yourself.
Your espresso is never going to be right if you use pre-ground.
Sad reality....
Milano claims one of the only 11 bean blends for espresso. Colin, any tasting thoughts on their beans? The opening claims live music and 7 different blends to taste from 3 full bars running! The machi...
yes the espresso is preground, but in the store in front of me. I keep it in an airtight container (mason jar) I don't think I'm getting the same taste from my stovetop machine. I'm hoping that some u...
Vancouver's first Espresso tasting lounge and cafe ...
Really?
And the Elysian Room, JJ Bean or 49th Parallel are not espresso tasting lounges too? ;-)
Looking fwd to this newbie....
Even Winnipeg is entering the realm of better coffee - Good thing. When you think about those cold winter days and bracing winds; nothing warms you up like a great cup of coffee....
Any operating instructions for any similar pump powered espresso machine will get you in the groove - other than the placement of buttons, they are all the same.
I have a Proteo Grande right here o...
