# Cherub (£300ish) or l'Anna (£550ish)



## kazoori (Jul 31, 2013)

Hi everyone, here is a quandry!

What would you go for and why? Apparently the l'Anna is a much better deal.. is this true?

Needed for microfoam as well as good espresso and for home use 6-8 cups/day.

To be paired with an Astro 12 grinder


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

This one? Autofill 6 litre boiler ?e61 group head ?

http://www.coffeeomega.co.uk/Iberital%20L'Anna%201%20Group%20Fully%20Automatic%20Espresso%20Machine

Or is it the Manual fill wilth a 4 litre boiler ?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

How old is the cherub , how old is the l'anna. What usage have they had ? Shop ?home?


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## kazoori (Jul 31, 2013)

Handfill l'anna, rotary pump, a few years old (less than four I think because they had vibratory pumps then), 4litre boiler and 2litre water tank e61 group head. It has been reconditioned, apparently it was sitting in somebody's garage for a long time.

The cherub is four years old, hardly used as it was too small for cafe..


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

What leaps out to me there is sat in someone's garage. Machines don't like to be doing nothing. A rotary pump over a vibe is good however that is a good price for a cherub too.

Obviously will be pluses and minuses to both. The availability of parts and service for the cherub is a bonus of owning any fracino. Although if the l'anna is in good condition it's a good shout.


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## kazoori (Jul 31, 2013)

"What leaps out to me there is sat in someone's garage."

Yes a lot of it was replaced due to it being on a concrete floor and the water in boiler freezing over winter! Not good, but all the damage has been sorted now.


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## glevum (Apr 4, 2013)

do you really need a 6L boiler?


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## painty (Jul 25, 2011)

L'Anna's the better machine being a full-on professional, but I'd agree with the post above about the boiler maybe being OTT - depends on your usage pattern and attitude to energy costs. They may well have the same group since Iberital apparently supply those for Cherub. Rotary pumps are nice and quiet, but shouldn't make a noticeable difference in the cup. Parts are available through Happy Donkey.



kazoori said:


> Handfill l'anna, rotary pump, a few years old (less than four I think because they had vibratory pumps then)


L'Anna has always been rotary I believe so it could be older.


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## kazoori (Jul 31, 2013)

It's a 4l boiler compared to the Cherub's 3l so not sure if I'd save that much power?


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

I would also suggest, that a rotary pumped machine will deliver a vastly improved in the cup experience over a vibe pump.


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## kazoori (Jul 31, 2013)

Apparently the l'anna weighs twice as much which helps keep a stable temperature. Or maybe I should get an Australium?!


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## painty (Jul 25, 2011)

I know dfk41 won't believe it, but just to post a quote from HB on disciplined systematic testing of this:



> Rotary versus vibratory pumps: This study is the third independent experiment which compares the output of two nearly identical espresso machines that differ primarily by the type of pump within them, one with a vibratory pump and the other with a rotary pump. As in the other two studies, [1] and [2], no consistently tastable difference was detected. Therefore, all suppositions that rotary pumps produce superior shots to those made by vibratory pumps must be regarded as unproven barring further experimentation.


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## painty (Jul 25, 2011)

kazoori said:


> It's a 4l boiler compared to the Cherub's 3l so not sure if I'd save that much power?


Fair point, it's probably the plumb-in L'Adri that has the 6 L boiler. Though Cherub's is smaller at 2.3 L - a good size for a home machine, IMHO


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

the delivery of a rotary is much smother than the vibratory, also a lot less noisy and rotaries are much more reliable, they are the primary reasons for having one over a vibratory pump. Also it stands to reason that the delivery of the coffee is much better on the better pump, however if that is what the experts on home barista say then it MUST be true....


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

coffeechap said:


> the delivery of a rotary is much smother than the vibratory, also a lot less noisy and rotaries are much more reliable, they are the primary reasons for having one over a vibratory pump. Also it stands to reason that the delivery of the coffee is much better on the better pump, however if that is what the experts on home barista say then it MUST be true....


Hang on. Was it not one of their alleged experts, who also told the world that the Strega was a vastly superior machine to the L1, even though he admits elsewhere that he has never actually seen an L1. It must be true if it is on HB!


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