# Unboxing the Bosco



## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

Due to file size restrictions this will be done over multiple posts so bear with me!

After 13 months of waiting after placing my initial order, my Bosco Sorrento finally arrived. As I partially type this out it is currently warming up for the first time without issue besides a slight leak from the manual water knob (if anyone has a suggestion on how to fix that please tell me!).

















A quick recall of how I ended up here today. I lived in Italy for just over five years, where I got into espresso, and due to that I was able to obtain espresso machines for prices that far undercut those in the US. This included purchasing the Bosco, which I got without paying for distributor and shipping costs, the latter occurring due to my affiliation with the US military, which pays for a move. I purchased two machines prior, a La Pavoni Professional and Elektra Micro Casa a Leva that I heavily used in sophomore and junior year in college in New England, and for my senior year I intend to bring the Bosco to my dorm, to the delight of my roommates (in terms of security for the machine I fully trust my roommates and the campus security for my dorm for anyone concerned).

My Bosco is a 110V one group Sorrento with orange panelling and wooden knobs/handles as add ons

Now to the fun part and namesake for the thread: the unboxing.

The crate my Bosco was held in is quite durable and well built. There are 12 screws each holding the top cover and part that connects the upper wall to the secured bottom pallet. The machine is protected first by layers of inch thick styrofoam followed by bubble wrap. Finally there is cellophane wrapped around the machine that also secures the box containing the accessories for the machine. In the machine itself all removable panels (drip tray, grill for drip tray, and cup holder) had pieces of bubble wrap placed to prevent scratches from wobbling during transport.


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

The accessories I received are:



1 single portafilter


1 double portafilter


1 ⅜" threaded cable for the inlet


1 ½" wired tube for the drain


1 instruction manual in English


1 58mm tamper with the Bosco insignia etched on the metal tamp


1 tamper holder in wood


1 Lever with wood handle


















I unboxed it the prior night because I wanted to check if there was a plug already inserted for the machine as all commercial machines I have purchased do NOT include a plug. Just a wire with stripped ends for placing a plug. This did occur, but fortunately today the electrician was stopping by to install some outlets for me dedicated for the machine. The machine uses a Nema 5-20p adaptor and is plugged into a GFCI Nema 5-20 outlet.









Finally setup on its buffet table


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

I purchased a lightly used Flojet 5000 and I hooked it up with a T-connection with a valve for when I wanted to drop the pressure in the hose line. You will need a ¼" to ⅜" John-Guest to BSP connector at the minimum if you do not do anything beyond using what is provided with the Flojet and Bosco. Otherwise I utilized ⅜" tubing using a provided adaptor.

Once the outlet and plug were installed I plugged the Flojet first to utilize the manual water knob. It was only when I saw water on the sight glass that I plugged in the Bosco. Once it is turned on the automatic water level will activate and finish filling the boiler. From heat up it will take over an hour, maybe 90 minutes, before you can attempt pulling a shot. I gauged it by feeling the handle of the lever to see if it was warm to the touch.

I had a temporary setup to check if there were any leaks from the inlet tubes but so far besides the manual knob everything is ship shape so far.

The pressurestat was set pretty high initially, at 1.5 bar. I adjusted it down to 1.1 bar for a starting point. Just of note there is a small yellow plug where you would adjust the pressure. YOU NEED TO REMOVE IT TO ACCESS THIS SLOT. A related issue is my manual water knob will leak where the plastic knob and thread joint meet. I am trying to figure out how to fix it but no dice so far. It leaks more when the pressure is higher or when the pressure is increasing.

For my first shot, I loaded up 14g of Saka Gran Bar on the same grind setting used for my Elektra. I tamped, locked in the portafilter, and pulled. The result: SOUR NASTY SHOTS. In reality it took my until my fourth shot to produce something great, which I think is not bad considering I have never used the machine prior! The final result is 1 'step' from zero on my Lido E and 16g of coffee. I will probably be able to tweak it more but the shot quality produces something that already exceeds my home levers in flavor. The notes are more defining, dominated by vanilla and nuts followed by chocolate and a bit of caramel. These notes are what I expect from my shots and am basically in coffee nirvana right now after six shots of espresso. It will take some time. This is where I am currently at up to now. Totally worth it.

This is that fourth shot

















The tag shows a manufacture number of 589. I believe they reset the manufacturing number when they switched to the modern CMA groups in 2011 but do not know for certain. Being almost 9 years from then this is pretty close to reported 60 machines produced per year at their workshop.









Taking off the back and rear panel assembly you can more clearly see the inside. As I requested Attilio (black writing) and Giorgio (orange writing) signed the boiler. They went beyond that and also signed my instruction booklet and some pamphlets, and I am grateful they fulfilled this request as I believe what they sculpt is art. You can also see the various connections to the steam wand/hot water and other parts like the safety valve and vacuum breaker. The one capped hole would be where the steam heater would be connected if I added that option since it is not included with the 1 group model.


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

The left side facing from the front has the sirai pressurestat and heating element neatly nestled among the zip-tied wiring. They did a great job with the cable management and is very easy to follow. The auto water fill device is on the right side. Note the heating element appears to be actually screwed in based off the large hex I see on it. This is the first of that type I have seen rather than being bolted on.


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

Looking beneath the drip tray from left to right is the electrical switch to power on the machine, the drainage cup, and finally the manual fill knob. Under the drainage cup is a nut that can be loosened if you wish to reposition/turn where the connection to the drainage hose is located. The knob will slightly leak when the heating element is on and the boiler pressure is beyond 0.8 bar (roughly 25ml every two hours). I will wait and see if it solves itself before taking more action. If you look at the first image in this post you can see an espresso cup to catch the dripping water which I emptied every 3-4 hours while it was on. Overall I am extremely pleased so far and hope to use it for years to come!
























Finally here is a comparison of the Bosco with my Pavoni on the cup holder. It makes the Pavoni look like a toy LOL!


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## iroko (Nov 9, 2012)

Loving the orange paintwork. ?


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

Thank you! I was inspired by Bar Mexico in Piazza Garibaldi with their orange theme and monstrous 5 group La San Marco


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## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

Very nice! Brave taking it to university with you, as a landlord of student houses I would suggest keeping it in the crate.


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

I have no worries for security. To access my dorm you need to go through three card-restricted doors then a unique key for the front door. For transport purposes I probably will use the crate.


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## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

IamOiman said:


> I have no worries for security. To access my dorm you need to go through three card-restricted doors then a unique key for the front door. For transport purposes I probably will use the crate.


 I don't think it will be stolen I was jokingly more implying drunken behaviour. It's a beautiful machine!


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

I think it would be more the risk of OD'ing on caffeine...


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

One week has passed since I first started up my machine, and here are some thoughts after pulling about thirty shots so far:

I heavily recommend investing in an automatic timer for the machine because of the long (70-90 minutes) heat up time without flushing the group. This will allow you to wake up and immedietely pull a shot without sleepily tapping your foot as it warms up. If you are done for the day early you can just switch off the machine and turn it on again after the designated shut off time has passed.

You will use more water with a commercial machine than with a home lever from flushing and frothing. With my Elektra and Pavoni I used around seven gallons total over about 500 shots pulled during my junior year in college. Not counting the initial boiler fill up I already have used a little less than a gallon for the thirty shots in the Bosco.

Using a plastic shelf cover will protect the cup holder from scratches. To ensure the cups heat up with this addition placing towels on them will keep the heat in and heat them up faster.

If you are coming from a domestic machine the commercial steam arm on the Bosco is far more powerful than what you may be used to. I can froth a pitcher of milk in half the time I needed for the Elektra (which I considered a fairly strong domestic steamer). I see no reason right now to switch out the default 4-hole tip. You will also have a hot water arm that is useful for purging water or making americanos. I do not personally see myself using it too much unless I really wanted some instant hot water for Ramen noodles or tea :lol:

The 1 group Bosco can hold 4 espresso cups per row front to back and just barely 3 cappuccino cups. Overall a mean estimate for the tray capacity with just espresso cups is 24. You can double stack the cups if you wish but that is almost overkill for the number of shots you would pull in a session and I do not know what the weight limit is for the tray but I do not want to dramatically find out through failure.








After waiting over a year and finally using my Bosco is a little hard to describe besides maybe Euphoria. Every time I walk by I want to smile when looking at it. It is my own little commercial bar in my house. Where can I find this high quality of espresso near me? Where can I find espresso this cheap, paying 5-9 cents per single shot! Quite difficult to say the least. I also find myself wanting to use it as often as possible. I actually pester my parents to invite friends over just so I can make them a shot. Every single worker that has stopped by our house has received espresso from my Bosco or Elektra. It's fun to use I daresay.

The final question I would ask myself is if the Bosco was worth it. This may be a little difficult to define if you are looking for the best deal. For me I can already answer yes to that question as I already know what I will be getting out of it based off my initial requirements for a commercial machine.

I wanted a machine that was:

-Made in Italy, preferably from Naples
-Is a spring lever
-Has character (ie something beyond the billion steel boxes of e61 machines in the prosumer market)
-Is relatively unique compared to other hobbyists' machines
-Is long lasting
-Is simple to maintain
-Is 'reasonably' priced (my initial budget was £3300 but I got it for less)

The Bosco satisfied all of my requirements. If I did not know Bosco or was forced to select something else brand new I would have selected the Profitec Pro 800. Otherwise it would have been a used La San Marco 85 Leva or vintage machine as my primary selection. To conclude, I am quite one happy customer of Bosco and cannot wait for tomorrow to pull my next shot.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

IamOiman said:


> After waiting over a year and finally using my Bosco is a little hard to describe besides maybe Euphoria. Every time I walk by I want to smile when looking at it.


Isn't that one of the most important bits... we talk about all the bells and whistles, but we brew at home for out enjoyment.

It's been about 9 months since I got my ek43s/LR and I still catch myself just looking at it and smiling.


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## mctrials23 (May 8, 2017)

How on earth are you getting shots for 9c each? In the UK I am paying an average of ~£25/kg for coffee and get probably about 52 shots from that so the average cost per coffee is around 50p. I would literally need to be buying the cheapest, crappest beans possible to get anywhere near what is around 7p (9c) per shot.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

mctrials23 said:


> How on earth are you getting shots for 9c each? In the UK I am paying an average of ~£25/kg for coffee and get probably about 52 shots from that so the average cost per coffee is around 50p. I would literally need to be buying the cheapest, crappest beans possible to get anywhere near what is around 7p (9c) per shot.


I assumed that was electricity costs.


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

Nope that is what I pay for coffee, my selection being Saka Gran Bar. For 6kg I pay €80 which is then dropped off to a friend of mine in Italy with a US address. Shipping from there to here is ~$20 for a total of about $109 converted.

Per pound I will pay $109/6kg for 18.17$/kg. 18.17/2.2=8.26$/lb.

In a best case scenario where I use 7g of coffee with little purging (I use a Lido E as my electric grinders are in storage right now) I can make 454g/7g = 64 shots.

$8.26/64 comes to about 13 cents per shot. Initially when doing the math I got half that number so maybe I just made an error but it's still quite cheap per shot nonetheless.

Electricity costs will run me at 0.10 cents per kWh. Presuming the machine is on a total of 3 hours (once heated up it does not remain on constantly) I would pay $18 per month for electricity over 30 days. It would be $24 if it was 4 hours per day on average but I usually turn it off when I am done early. Usually It runs from 5am to 5pm.


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

All things come to an end, and uni for me is now done. I had to pack everything into a Volkswagen Golf. There was some impressive manuevering in the process and we literally could not fit anymore than what we had. I had to carry some stuff on my lap on the 75 minute trip back! On the way we stopped by a small cafe in Worcester that purchased my Faema E98 acquired a while back. I am excited that machine will see some hard use. The Bosco fared very well during that time and will produce many more shots in the future, even if it has to contend with some other machines ?

I went from this

View attachment 32096


To this


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

I relubed my group today. I had a discussion on how long the piston seals would last and what material they were, and I decided to check it out. I thought I did not need relubing but after applying some (I use Danco food safe silicone grease) in a small amount the difference was startling. Taking out the group required unscrewing 4 allen bolts then grunting and twisting but going back in lubed up it just gently slid in. I realized at the upper group sleeve that it flares open a bit. This allows the piston gaskets to catch the bore more easily and this is also a design feature on the Faema Zodiaco groups. Also taking off the top decorative cap shows grounds making their way in. This was a good time to clean that out. Now that I think about it the group was probably lubed during its construction in October 2018 and I just did not think about it until this week. 
























The piston gaskets are as others have described in the past: silicone but more rigid than Cafelat (I have those on my Gaggia and could compare the two). There are four pistons and the arrangement shown below.


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## tohenk2 (Oct 11, 2017)

I thought the group pretty similar to the one used on the Londinium 1 (minus the cap on top) but now I see the number of seals (gaskets) on the piston also differs.


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

The dining and adjacent rooms were painted, and I had an orange lamp from the 70's installed above the coffee corner. Now I get some nice groovy light over my setup 😎

Next thing to be coming in will be a bigger table to hold my biggie machines more comfortably.


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## IamOiman (Nov 13, 2018)

I finally got my new cabinet that I ordered in April. It was originally made to be 6" taller than my original bargain find and so I could safely plop my bigger two group machines on comfortably but I need to do some rewiring with them first. For now the Bosco gets to breathe and stretch with the extra space!

Specs are 48L x 24W x 36H inches. The cabinet door is a barnstyle roller to hide my water jug, water waste, and pump. The wood is pine so I could move it pretty easily if needed but still holds a hefty amount. I basically tapped danced on top of it to test ruggedness.


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