Olympia Cremina 2002: The evolution of design

[srobinson]

After completing my restoration of the Olympia 67, and the positive feedback we had with that project, I started talking with Dan that it would be interesting to do a review of a new Olympia Cremina compared to my 20 year old machine. One of the things that attract me to these machines is the timeless design of them and I was interested in showing how they have evolved over the past two decades to the Cremina that is on the market today.

So with the power of the HB network, we began discussions with 1st-Line, Olympia Express' distributor in the US and Jim was gracious enough to drop ship us a brand new machine last week, to bring this project to life. So after swinging by Dan's house on Sunday, I can proudly say that I am probably the only lever-addict in the US with this in their kitchen:



These machines have a great following on HB and I am truly excited about having it as our first lever machine to do a bench review. As we saw with Danno's recent post on the Olympia factory, there is a philosophy and passion that goes into these machines as well as the manufacturing objectives of the company...as they state on their website:

Faddish gimmicks never stood a chance at Olympia Express. The design has certainly changed over the decades, but only as necessary to accommodate the desires of its customers and always adhering to the classic design principle: form follows function.

That is why Olympia Express machines are never loaded down with exotic features, but retain a simple, timeless beauty.

Olympia Express has neither the ability nor the desire to compete with lesser quality mass-production; or with overly-sophisticated, failure-prone, automatic mechanisms and electronics.

Instead, we attach a great deal of importance to the use of high-quality materials, dependable craftsmanship, and tried and tested, easily repairable technology. Thus, the current attention paid to "lasting technology," has been faithfully followed for decades by Olympia Express.

So with this as a backdrop, I will take the next couple of weeks to show how the Olympia Cremina compares to other levers, how it has evolved over the past couple decades and whether it warrants its lofty price....and give you a good look at a machine in this day and age, where the employee who built it still signs their name to their handiwork.

[skyryders90]

So with this as a backdrop, I will take the next couple of weeks to show how the Olympia Cremina compares to other levers, how it has evolved over the past couple decades and whether it warrants its lofty price....and give you a good look at a machine in this day and age, where the employee who built it still signs their name to their handiwork.]

In today's world of mass production, generic corporate-speak, and abstraction-to-distraction, there's almost something romantic about a product that is signed by the person who put it together. More products today - from $9 blenders to $500k software - might benefit from this. Not to lapse into the afore-mentioned corporate-speak, but talk about instilling a sense of ownership...

[Teme]

I think the boiler pressure gauge on the new model adds a nice modern touch.

Are the groupheads identical on the two machines? I may be wrong (maybe it's the picture or perhaps it's just my eyes) but the portafilter in the new model seems slightly deeper?

Br,
Teme

[RCMann]

The portafilter may be deeper, but the double basket certainly isn't!

I was shocked last week when I (finally) received my gasket set.

I had added a double basket to the order, anticipating it would be the same depth as the one on my 67.

Surprisingly enough, the one I got from Olympia is exactly the same depth as the double basket on my Europiccola, which means a couple of mm shy of the depth of the 67 basket.

Unless I received an anomaly, I guess Elektra baskets will be the way to go in future.

I know, way OT and I'll say no more.

Rod

[miKe mcKoffee]

Kudos Stunning restoration and such great detail given along the way.

I agree with your choice of letting Thor add at his magic touch. Les really is an excellent craftman. (Though you should see some of his very early model tampers, one of mine is #2 I believe, totally worthless functionally but not complaining, it was a gift and it's a beautiful work of art)

[srobinson]

Based on the comments, I'll hit two topics tonight to cover the discussion on the portafilters and then get back on the normal review. First on the size of the portafilters, RCMann hit it right on the head. The newer model is taller/deeper, but the portafilter is shallower. New on the left, old on the right...sorry the pic is a bit dark. I'll do some compares on the baskets later in the reviews. I am getting very good performance from both on the older machine.



Now the portafilter is a good place to start seeing some of the changes that have happened over the years. On the new portafilter there are several changes:

1) New one will take a clip
2) The spout is not cut-through
3) the spout has a rubber gasket where it meets the base
4) the spouts are spaced a bit wider than on the older machine

New on the left, old on the right.



Now, I am going to be picky. I really think the design of the spouts on the older portafilter is superior to the new one. With the way that I pull, I really like the cut-away spout since it gives me a very early sign on how the pull is going. Like a naked portafilter, you can see the striping of the coffee and I use that indication to slightly adjust my pulls. The new design does not allow me to do that and I must look in the cup....this is a nit to many, but bugged me with the first few pulls.

Secondly I like the way that the spout attaches on the old portafilter. As you can see in the picture it is split at the top and this design gives it a slight amount of pressure against the screw, thus is very easy to adjust. On the new design they had to add a washer to allow the spout to get tight. Without the washer you cannot tune the spout..it will just loosely turn until it hits bottom. Now I twiddle quite a bit with the machine, and I have already torn one washer since it is fairly soft. As such I like the older design with this regard.

Finally both Dan and I noticed that the spout itself was not finished to the same degree as other parts of the machine. As I mentioned above there is some shockingly good metalwork on this machine and some of the seams are invisible....extremely well done. Well on the bottom of the spout you find it not smooth finished and some of the casting marks are not buffed on the base of the spout. I wonder if this is one of the parts that Olympia are now outsourcing:



If you look at this pic, it is still the old style, so this must have been a late change. Will have to see from Jim if you can still get the old style.



My final comment on portafilters is that there is another feature that Olympia just got right. On both the Pavoni and Elektra, they are very sensitive to an overfilled basket. Now I am sure that most of the leverheads on this forum are very exact in their routine, but I will admit from time to time I overfill....guilty. Now on the Pavoni and Elektra, what will happen is that they will not let an overfilled basket lock in...thus you waste a shot, or try to remove some which never works. What Olympia got right is that it is very forgiving and I have been able to a good lock on every try, even when I am a bit sloppy and overfill. This is a very small item, but is one of the many little things that differentiate these machines and show how well they are thought out and executed.

[srobinson]

So back to the review. One of the nice things about buying an Olympia Cremina is that they really try to give you close to everything you need to get started right out of the box. Even the box is impressive....it is one of the largest pieces of Origami that I have ever seen. Some serious thought went into how to pack so many accessories into a tiny box. Here is what you will find when you unpack. The only assembly required is to screw in the handle.



Included accessories:
Portafilter handle
One cup filter basket
Two cup filter basket
Measuring spoon
Stainless steel milk pitcher
Stainless steel knockbox
Stainless steel Funnel....that's right, a stainless steel funnel.

The only thing missing is the tamper....but wait, you read the book and find out that the measuring spoon can be used as a tamper as well.



It does work, but due to the way the handle is attached you don't get much travel with it and the rounded corners on the bottom make it hard to get a good edge seal. You are going to need a good tamper.

Finally, once you get it out of the box you finally get to see what color the case is. Now with the older models you have seen the browns, yellows and reds. On the new Cremina, it is actually a silver/grey powdercoat finish, that look black under low light. Not the gloss black of my Swiss Miss.



Also no rear badge. Icon and name are now fully displayed on the front.

[RCMann]

My final comment on portafilters is that there is another feature that Olympia just got right. On both the Pavoni and Elektra, they are very sensitive to an overfilled basket. Now I am sure that most of the leverheads on this forum are very exact in their routine, but I will admit from time to time I overfill....guilty. Now on the Pavoni and Elektra, what will happen is that they will not let an overfilled basket lock in...thus you waste a shot, or try to remove some which never works. What Olympia got right is that it is very forgiving and I have been able to a good lock on every try, even when I am a bit sloppy and overfill. This is a very small item, but is one of the many little things that differentiate these machines and show how well they are thought out and executed.

Hear, hear!

That's one of the first of many things I found that puts this machine above the rest.

The annoying tendency of even slightly overfilling a Pavoni basket prevents locking in the portafilter; so back out, scrape some off the top, retamp, etc.

A slight over/underfill on the Cremina is adapted for much more easily by the machine.

The difference (I assume) is due to the depth of the ears on the portafilter-the Cremina ears are much thinner at the thin end than the Pavoni ears, which are quite a bit thicker.

Anyway Steve, this is very interesting reading, I'm enjoying comparing my 31 year old machine to the latest state-of-the-art.

Rod

[Teme]

I've always been a bit curious as to why the Cremina's portafilter locks in counter-clockwise onto the right (vs the Pavoni's clockwise and to the left). With the Pavoni I like holding on to the pf handle when pulling a shot - it feels the natural thing to do. This does not work with the Cremina if you use your right hand to pull the shot - could the designer have been left handed?

Another thing I have noted is that the Cremina weighs about twice as much as a Pavoni Pro. Both have 1.8 L boilers and are roughly the same size. I guess the shell on the Cremina contributes towards the increased weight - a more robust build might be another reason?

I saw a picture of the piston of a current Cremina on their German website http://www.olympiaexpress.de and it did not have the 4 holes shown and discussed in the Restoration of an Olympia Cremina thread. I wonder why Olympia would have abandoned this design?

..and a couple of further points I have been pondering:

- In the Pavoni there is some sideways play in the lever handle. How is the Cremina? More precise finish is apparent but is there still some slop with the lever?
- What is the approximate volume of the grouphead comparison to the Pavoni? I.e. short of double pulling the lever and all other things being equal, are the respective shot volumes for the Cremina about the same or larger than those from a Pavoni?

Br,
Teme

[KarlSchneider]

Now the portafilter is a good place to start seeing some of the changes that have happened over the years. On the new portafilter there are several changes:

1) New one will take a clip
2) The spout is not cut-through
3) the spout has a rubber gasket where it meets the base
4) the spouts are spaced a bit wider than on the older machine

Hi Steve,

As you know I am among the many who are reading your latest story word-by-word. Each of us seems to have our own questions. When I read the above I immediately asked, "How much wider are the spouts spaced?" Or, more concretely, can one pour into a single "standard" espresso cup with this pf? I can do this with my Elektra pf as long as I am careful to place the cup on center. Alternatively I wonder if there is a single spout available.

A related question of interest to me is whether I can use my Elektra baskets in the Cremina pf.

[srobinson]

I want to thank everyone for the comments and interest in the reviews. Let's clean up the questions and we'll get onto another post on the machine.

Rod, thanks for the comments. I think a few of the features of the machine are just not obvious unless you have pulled a lot of shots on other makes. I'll try to keep pointing these out as I go, but if you have any specific questions..such as "Does it do this?", then i will gladly run a test.

Teme, to get to your questions:

1) Lock-in. This was a concern to me with I first started using the Olympias. Have spend nearly a decade on the Pavoni, I thought I was going to have to learn either to pull left-handed or learn a new technique. Another great feature of this machines is that you don't need that second hand on the portafilter handle...it does not slide and with the new feet on the 2002, does not even budge. Just place your left hand on the counter top and you are good. These simply do not dance.

2) Additional weight. Basically the whole machine is built like a tank. I own a Pavoni and I would say the metal on the Olympia is anywhere from 2x-3x thicker. It reminds me of the old hand-made Mercedes, where everything was a little thicker, higher quality and meant to last a long time. I'll show some internal pictures this week and you will really understand.

3) Piston design. I have not popped the head off yet, but I will give you some first hand looks at the design and do some compares.

4) No slop in the lever...there is some slight sideways movement in my old one, but not on this new one. They have added allen bolts that screw into the yoke and have spacers added so everything is done to high tolerances. They have moved away from the free floating handle pins like you see on other machines and older versions. Here is a detail for you:



5) I have not measured yet, but the pull seem very close in volume to other levers.

Chuck, here is a picture of the spouts with an Illy cup. You will be fine.



Since I am always moving machines around, I never seem to have the right parts together when some of the comparison questions come up. I think you will do fine with your Elektra baskets. I think I tried this on my older machine and they were fine. I have never run into the retooling issue that some of the guys on the forum seem to have run into. My test were always with the stock Elektra baskets that came with Dan's machine. I have ordered extra baskets from the Olympia factory and they are identical to the ones that came with the new machine.

[srobinson]

In this post I wanted to finish talking about some of the external features of the machine before we started making coffee and began discussing the internals. There are quite a few neat features that I wanted to point out that may be of interest.

As I stated in some of the other posts, Olympia has added a few very nice little features that can only be appreciated if you have dealt with the designs of other machines. Some are very subtle, such as the way they put a vertical cut on the neck threads:



This is one of those features that you never appreciate until you are half awake, have forgotten to fill the boiler and in your noncaffeinated state make the stupid mistake of unscrewing the cap under pressure. This little channel will give you enough warning to bring you back to your senses before you really do yourself some damage.

As we focus on the cap, you also see the new pressure relief valve that they added to the machines in the late 80s moving the safety valve from inside the machine to the cap.



On this machine the gauge will run up to 1.1 bar, then you will hear this valve kick in and bring the pressure down to .8.

Moving to the front of the machine you will notice a slight change in the water level tube. Max level has been silk screened on the front panel instead of a second indicator mark as on the older machine.





I did run a quick test with water level at the top of the max mark and you will get a significant amount of water coming out of your steam valve when you first run it, so my suggestion is to fill up to right below the word.

Moving down to the base of the machine, you will see that a lighted power switch has been added and moved from the front panel to the bottom frame.



The only comment about this placement is that you really need to make sure you turn the machine off, since there will be no visual indication on the front panel that it is still on if at pressure. Secondly this locates the switch under the drip tray. While well sealed, I would ensure that you do a proper cleanup with each use to keep corrosion from beginning. You don't want this area to look like my old machine before I started restoration.

You still have a safety reset switch on the bottom plate...well marked on the new machine:



And finally you get another great feature of easy access to the bottom of the boiler.



If you want to see the real benefit of this design, head over to the lever forum and see some of the challenges the guys are having with their Pavonis as they try and remove the boiler from the base. The approach on the Olympias allow you to replace the boiler gasket and the heating element without having to completely remove the boiler from the frame. You will have to trust me that this is a great time-saver, and hopefully will ensure that proper maintenance is done on the machine since this is so well thought out.

Well that cover' most of the external features of the machine. Now let's make some coffee and look at the guts of it.

[srobinson]

Well enough details on the exterior, let's take a break and make some coffee. It is always an interesting period dialing in a new machine and getting used to its nuances. Since the 2002 Cremina was so similar to the Cremina 67, I thought that this would be a snap and in no time I would be pulling impressive shots. While I feel that I am still in learning mode on the rebuilt machine, it is having some great results.

I am using this shot as my reference point for the Cremina 2002. I was fortunate to have Tony from Caffe Fresca send me some of his Ambrosia Espresso Blend right after Thanksgiving and I got to take some glamour shots right at its peak. Believe it or not, this is a single pull on a double basket.



Now unfortunately the Ambrosia barely made it past turkey day, so I started the tests with some really fresh Black Cat from Intelligentsia. The first thing that I noticed between the two machines is that I could go with a much tighter grind on the 67. I was having to dial back 3-4 notches on the new machine to get good flow. An early shot:



I then threw in some week-old Kid O Organic from Intelligentsia and saw the groove coming back:

This is the first pull starting from a cold machine.



Second pull after settling during the same session.



While I'll discuss tasting notes in the future, I was very impressed with a several characteristics of all the shots. First, following the basic directions that came with the machine will give you very good results. Secondly I am very impressed with the consistency of the shots. Good clear flavors on all the shots and outside of one SO coffee that Tony is in the midst of dialing in, I have had no shots that started sour or finished with a bite. Dan was humming with Kid O over the weekend and I commented to him that the crema from the Vetrano had quite a few small bubbles in it which he attributed to the coffee. Yet on the Olympia, the crema is extremely smooth, and I did not see this even using the same coffee.

I also found out that pulling a shot on a lever machine and taking artistic pictures is not my forte...so please bear with me. I think in a few more days I'll have the final adjustments made and I will walk you through the full process.

So with these shots to show that the end results are with the machine, let's look under the covers to see how she works.

[HB]

Dan was humming with Kid O over the weekend and I commented to him that the crema from the Vetrano had quite a few small bubbles in it which he attributed to the coffee. Yet on the Olympia, the crema is extremely smooth, and I did not see this even using the same coffee.

That blend was degassing (three days post-roast) and I used a bottomless portafilter, which accounts for the bubbles you noticed. Usually I "tap tap" the demitasse and swirl to settle them before serving to smooth out the surface, sorry. It's a minor difference, but I prefer the smoother texture (a spouted portafilter will accomplish the same end. I've also noted that "bubbly" crema tastes sharper; maybe it's an effect of the gasses releasing or my over-caffeinated imagination, I'm not certain.

[srobinson]

So as I mentioned in the last post, it's time to pop the top and take a look under the cover of this machine. One of the things that I really respect about the design of this machine is that it is designed to be disassembled. This may sound like a minor point, but in this day an age when you see designs that are optimized for assembly, it takes significant additional work to ensure that it can come apart easily and be maintained.

To remove the case, one simply removes the boiler cap, removes the single nut on the neck and then the top tray and water overflow tray simply lift off. This is the view after this step:



The case will then lift off and you can see all of the internals. While the parts look familiar to my old Cremina 67, you can see that they have evolved quite a bit with the design changes:



The first thing you notice is the size of the tank...it has gone on steroids. The capacity now is up to 1.8L of which 1.1L are for effective use. You will also note that it is now fully stainless steel, compared to the brass boiler on the 67 and has some of the best welds that I have seen. Now to do a quick walk-around:



From the rear on the right side you will find the connection to the steam arm and the pressurestat. The pressure stat looks like it is carved from brass billet, it is so heavy. Also you will note that all connections and fitting are stainless as well. The pressure stat will be set from the factory to operate at .7-.8 bar, but it is adjustable with a screw on top.



On the left side you will see the connection to the pressure gauge, connections to the water level gauge as well as the safety valve moved directly off the boiler instead of on top of the site glass. For a couple quick compares, there are those same two views on the 20 year old machine:





You also realize that the boiler has probably reached maximum capacity since it has some custom machining to ensure that the case will fit.



Notice how it is notched around the frame to allow the case to go on. One last item on the case, while I had mentioned that it was grey, the color is officially Metallic Smoke Black. It is also interesting to note that the the manual states that other colors may be requested and are subject to availability. So there is hope yet to get on in lime green to match that Peppina that we had on the board.

Some final facts on the footprint of the machine, is that it measures at: 7.87x10.62x12.99 inches or 20x27x33cm... and it weighs in at a whopping 10.8Kg or 23.80 lbs.

Next post, I'll pull the grouphead so that we can see that design as well.

[texican]

On the left side you will see the connection to the pressure gauge, connections to the water level gauge as well as the safety valve moved directly off the boiler instead of on top of the site glass. For a couple quick compares, there are those same two views on the 20 year old machine:

Steve, do you think it would be possible to retrofit the Cremina 67 with the pressure gauge that the Cremina 2002 uses?

Steve, in Ft. Worth.

[RCMann]

There's no room inside the 67 to tuck the gauge in as it is on the 2002, but I mounted a gauge on my 67 by drilling/tapping the brass bar between the tank and the pressure relief valve.

I used a back mount Ashcroft gauge, and screwed it right in (I used 1/8" NPT fittings). It works great, and although it sticks out, does not interfere with anything.

The key is to get a decent gauge that looks good, as you'll be seeing the whole thing.

The Ashcroft is 0-30 psi, has a SS body, glass face, and is liquid filled. Even sticking out, it (IMHO) really complements the look of the machine. It's expensive (~$100 shipped) but worth it. You'd probably pay more than that for the gauge on the 2002, which from the peek I could see in Steve's photo, is not a SS gauge and I'd guess is not the same quality as the Ashcroft, which is designed for pretty harsh conditions and simply looks great.

I've been using my machine with all the bodywork off (including the front cover) until I have time to do a complete gasket replacement (New Year's weekend!) and once Les gets me the woodwork, and I'll post some pics.

Rod

[srobinson]

Steve, when I did my restoration, I thought long and hard on it and came to the decision that it would take quite a bit of fab work to make it work. The 67 has a taller water tube and the placement of the pressure valve would mean that I would have to figure out where to move it. As RCMann's solution shows ....you have to do some drilling.

What I decided is that I really did not need a full time gauge. These machines are very stable and I just wanted the capability to check the pressure as I did my maintenance with a temp location. On the 2002 with the gauge, it is fun to watch when it warms up, but it really just tells the same old story every day and shows you where you have it dialed in. As such I decided simply to come up with a way to test. As I showed in another post, I simply came off the back of the boiler:



There are other places you can attach...steam arm, boiler cap.

But for boiler pressure only, I don't need it every day...now if I could get a brew pressure gauge.....Hey Lino!!!

[lino]

Heh,

I can say that the best thing I did for LaPeppina (aside from not getting a green one ) was putting on the brew pressure gauge.

I always look at it. And I am amazed how sensitive the brew pressure is, and how hard it is to train my arm to be repetitive. But then again, I think alot of that is just me...


Hey Steve, can you still buy piston shafts and pistons for your machine? Are they expensive? I have an idea...


ciao

lino

[texican]

There are other places you can attach...steam arm, boiler cap.

Thanks, Steve R. By the way, I'm really enjoying the review of the Cremina 2002. Since you brought up the steam arm, have you thought of replacing the steam tip with something other than an Olympia tip (unless Olympia offers optional tips... hmmm.) Just a thought as I ramble on in a stream of consciousness.

Steve in Ft. Worth.