Nice try, skyhook.
Burst my bubble... Another negative here... hahaha.
winegeek.com I think it would be beneficial if one could start... haha
Reminding me of an Aussie's colleague of mine who told me a long while back that Aussie is a very straightforward people...
No, I will not argue with you on champagne, vintage or no vintage, or anything related to alcohol. I did try some and know very little vs. what you family knows and it just wasn't my cup of tea and it doesn't benefit me that much as I don't care about such drink.
Regarding the Aussie, I've never been there myself but, IIRC, some statistics show a very telling story on how popular espresso is in Aussie, how Starbucks can't make it there, which is similar to Italy, the Living Coffee program that you mentioned and my experience at Coco Espresso as they claimed they are from or have significant experience via Australia.
In my life, I will probably not be able to try all things before I could conclude it's good. Not to say that the first hand experience is not good but sometimes, it's not a must and quite often it can't be done. I won't argue with you on Porsche and don't mind if you can spare me one.
Like all those food critics, if you happen to agree with the guy, it implies his taste and yours are quite close. Coupling with other opinion sources which speaks in a similar fashion, one could imply something out of it. Yes, it could turn out to be pure BS but you have to use whatever you have in front of you for something at some time.
BTW, I skimmed through your Crema magazine link. I found nothing new vs. a not so professional website like coffeegeek.com. In fact, there are less info on Crema than a post on coffeegeek, ie pressurized portafilter on Breville which is a no-no for me but the machine is professional recommended... Who am I to know better than the professional who recommend this machine?
But hey, the professional said it's good so it's gotta be good, right. Not really, IMHO. I think both has a place on one's decision. To me, both fit some aspect of a person who are looking for a new espresso gear. The professional may speak professionally or is restraint from saying something or don't care about something. You see that they use a slightly coarser grind than "commercial" setting. They should have further reported that otherwise, the pressurized machine like Breville may choke... No, they didn't tell but probably assume that all readers are professional enough to know that or amateur shouldn't care about it.\
I don't know that Crema Magazine that well to say so but I learn that you shouldn't trust coffeegeek.com for sure. However, it raised an issue, which could be important to someone than others. In that sense, coffeegeek is very beneficial than just saying good mid price machines. People has different preferences and that's why we need all these guys...