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"  To the average coffee-loving man, it must seem suspect that an espresso machine can cost as much as an entry-level luxury car. Compared in terms of price-per-pound, you would seize from sticker shock. Worse, the car has GPS, and the coffee machine is as complicated as a leaf blower. Let&amp;#039;s look at the facts: The price of a decent home-machine is derived from the cost of a professional one. The trouble is, those prices are regulated by a system originally imported from Italy \u2014 and although it&amp;#039;s not La Cosa Nostra, it is shady. In that world, the supply line is formed like a fish-feeding funnel, each layer taking a bite of the next until you, the buyer, is nourishing the whole chain. In other words: The rafter-high price that Williams-Sonoma charges you for a fancy home-model stems directly from the price that roasters charges cafes and restaurants for professional machines, like the Linea Padel PID or the Cyncra Synesso. Sure, these devices cause coffee-bar wet dreams and are indeed butt-kicking in every way. Roasters buy them from distributors and sell them &amp;quot;at cost&amp;quot; to retail establishments for, say, $13,000 \u2014 but in truth they pay $6,000 and deep-pocket the difference. All the while, distributors lean on roasters to keep the prices jacked, and everybody wins except the customer. That way the charade continues and you end up paying a ream-load for that home version. As a roaster \u2014 someone who sells machines that I buy from distributors \u2014 I can&amp;#039;t tell you how many times I&amp;#039;ve met machine distributors who press a finger to their lips and say, &amp;quot;Shhh, keep these prices to yourself. These are roaster prices.&amp;quot; So you really want to purchase one? My best advice is, don&amp;#039;t. If you&amp;#039;re Jonesing for an espresso, go to your neighborhood cafe and order one. They could use your business to pay for the machine they got screwed on. Otherwise, use a French press at home and forget the whole thing until someone is wise enough to break the system \u2014 without somebody breaking his kneecaps. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/a7710/espresso-machine-advice-060910/>