The Arrarex Caravel - Page 10

by **IMAWriter** on Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:18 pm

CriticalTodd wrote:Yeah, I'll have to come up with a milk solution - I love a good cappuccino but I figure I can find a solution. I hadn't thought of using a Mr. Coffee for it. An interesting idea, that.

The shots from the Caravel are short, sweet, and ...how can I say this?...very "coffee-like"
They go down before you know it. You might find yourself sneaking more straight shots :lol:

For tamping, I used the back of a small stainless measuring cup thing. Still, I would have loved a real tamper, if only to allow for a bit more uniformity.
Totally agree as to the basket load. As full as you can get it, tap down once to allow a bit more grind in the basket.
No screen issues, so leave only a mm or 2 for clearance.
I'd love to have one of these if I ever get rich enough to afford a cabin in the blue ridge or smokey mountains.
You can rest assured that any machine Doug and Barb @ Orphan sell it will be in mechanically excellent condition.

by **sorrentinacoffee** on Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:52 pm

How i wish there was a caravel with Steamer...

I use my La Pavoni machine for steam... It is ridiculous but I just cant produce as good a shot with the Pavoni as consistently as I can with the Caravel.

to me the Caravel is the ultimate machine for the short black purist.

by **CriticalTodd** on Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:06 pm

IMAWriter wrote:You can rest assured that any machine Doug and Barb @ Orphan sell it will be in mechanically excellent condition.

Great to hear. I got an email saying it's already shipped so I should have it in my hands sooner rather than later. :mrgreen:

EDIT: I found a stovetop steamer (on another site) and ordered it. I'll see how it fares.

by **hbuchtel** on Fri Oct 31, 2008 5:23 am

LuckyTodd wrote:I found a stovetop steamer (on another site) and ordered it. I'll see how it fares.

In case you haven't read it yet- "Learning latte art with steamed soapy water"

by **CriticalTodd** on Fri Oct 31, 2008 8:49 am

hbuchtel wrote:In case you haven't read it yet- "Learning latte art with steamed soapy water"

I hadn't, thanks for the link!

by **sorrentinacoffee** on Wed Nov 05, 2008 2:58 am

just found an interesting Caravel item on the net:

A Caravel Coffee Grinder:

unfortunately I couldn't find a bigger picture.

you can see one here http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/2421152

don't know if this grinder is made by the same people- although the font on the side looks similar. It is listed as Danish. What a beauty it is.

by **SantoSerafino** on Wed Nov 05, 2008 3:15 am

There you go.

by **sorrentinacoffee** on Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:34 am

for some reason I couldn't grab the large image.

I really love the look of this grinder. Very unusual approach- looks like it grinds doserless straight into the portafilter- would go nicely with the Caravel...

by **IMAWriter** on Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:44 am

Wow...thanks for showing this unusual (to say the least) grinder. Looks like something out of "War Of The Worlds!")

by **CriticalTodd** on Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:29 am

That is awesome.

by **CriticalTodd** on Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:26 am

Okay, I've got everything in house finally. Any tips on packing/tamping/generally getting good results?

by **peacecup** on Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:27 am

I've been filling to the top of the basket AFTER tamping, leaving just a mm or two of rim showing. I grind so that at this dose I need to push down on the lever very hard (basically as hard as possible without breaking anything or tipping the machine over). Like my Ponte Vecchio, someone much have given some thought to balancing the machine during the lever pull, because it is surprisingly well-balanced. But don't tip it over and spill boiling water on yourself!!!

Also, I have a digital thermometer with a steel probe that I insert in the kettle. I start brewing when the water is 203F or less, and I remove the probe and seal the boiler in case of tipping.

PC

by **CriticalTodd** on Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:33 am

Thanks. How fine a ground do you use?

by **peacecup** on Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:57 am

PC wrote (I love quoting myself):

I grind so that at this dose I need to push down on the lever very hard (basically as hard as possible without breaking anything or tipping the machine over).

by **CriticalTodd** on Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:03 pm

I missed that. Thanks.

by **CriticalTodd** on Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:33 am

I pulled a couple of shots last night but I'm not getting a consistent crema. I don't have anything good to tamp with at the moment (though I will soon courtesy of Les from Thor Tampers) and I'm still fooling around with the grind fineness. So many variables floating around in the beginning, it makes it hard to determine what to tweak. Any good tutorials out there as far as analysis goes?

by **peacecup** on Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:38 am

As I said, I FILL the basket and grind so that I'm pushing down as hard as I safely can (without breaking the lever or tipping it over). The coffee comes out as a fast drip or very slow stream. Any faster and I don't like the results. I don't mind standing over the machine and pushing down hard for 30-40 sec. Its a Zen kind of thing.

I also do the following preinfusion:
1. Lift the lever until the filling stops (you can hear it)
2.. Push down
3. Lift again
4. Push down
Either lift again or not.

PC

by **CriticalTodd** on Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:55 pm

PC,

I'm trying the same but I haven't dialed in the limits yet so I'm still trying to figure out the edges of what works. I did get the best result last night using your technique but it still wasn't great. With so much going on, it's hard for me to know whether I should grind finer (or coarser), tamp harder (or lighter), fill higher (or lower). It's a work in progress. :wink:

by **hperry** on Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:55 pm

FWIW I've used a slightly different approach than PC which has worked well for me.
Heat water until the thermostat turns off. Start pull about 1 minute later. Pull a shot of water through portafilter to get it up to temperature. Dry portafilter. Overfill portafilter. Wipe mound of coffee off the portafilter top using a NSEW motion until it is level with the top of the portaflter. Gently level the coffee with a tamper or back of a flat coffee spoon. Apply almost no force at all to the tamp. Adjust the grind so that there is significant steady resistance as you pull the shot. However, I'm not a big fan of applying the kind of force that gets you red in the face or makes you lean very heavily on the lever. For me the coffee is overextracted at that point. Bring the lever to the very top and wait for it to stop "gurgling." Then pump it up and down lighly at the top of the arc where there is no resistance until you feel resistance. At that point bring the lever down in one complete motion. I don't like a second pump because I think it dilutes the taste of the coffee. I'd rather pull a second shot over the first.

by **peacecup** on Wed Nov 12, 2008 4:38 pm

to calrify,

I'm only doing repeated lifts of the lever during a "Fellini" pre-infusion. i don't use a second pull on the Caravel, although I tried it once and it wasn't as bad as I thought. I may experiment with it again.

Hal, I've never had any success with any machine and a no-tamp. I should probably give it another try, but I always seem to end up with faster blonding that way. With the Caravel, I was getting early blonding (before the lever got to the bottom) as long as I did not really fill the basket. With the basket totally full, I can take two pre-infusion pulls (very few or no drips during these), and the third pull all the way to the bottom with no blonding.

I don't quite get "red", but I'm putting on as much force as is comfortable.

I should probably note here that I'm using commercially-roasted beans from Italy, roast date unknown. The Italians much be great blenders and roasters, because even with old beans I still get good espresso.

Even when I have fresh beans, however, I still seem to get the best results with the full basket.

PC


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