Yes, the Caravel has been a joy lately. Today I loosened up the grind to the "gentle flow" range because I wanted to pull a full doppio. This worked, but it has a little bitter bite. The bitterness disappeared with a 1/8 turn tightening adjustment on the PeDe for the PM ristretto. Both pulled with a full 16g dose.

My latest discovery is "lever pull ergonomics". With the Caravel this means standing with my head directly over the PF while pulling. This allows me to push down on the lever (with the aid of the horizontal handle) while allowing the aroma of the fresh elixir to rise directly to my senses. My other hand rests on the boiler cap vane, which was clearly specifically designed to stay cool enough to the touch. I find I already begin to "taste" the espresso just before the first drop appears in the cup, the result of the slow, active pre-infusion.

PC

I had to go way back to find this picture, but this is where I stand:

That is a sweet birds eye view drawing of the machine!v Fun to see you still evolving your style and approach to the shots

greg

Huffing espresso fumes may lead to drinking. It is a gateway smell.

mogo wrote.

That is a sweet birds eye view drawing of the machine!v Fun to see you still evolving your style and approach to the shots

Yes, sorrentinacoffee found and posted the patent drawings a while ago, around page 8-9. There was even some discussion of visiting Dr Emidio Salati's (The Designer, caps intentional) wife to discuss the origins of the Caravel. I need to go back a read some of those posts when I have time. Little flourishes, like the ribbed vane on the boiler cover, are evidence of such careful thought and elegant design - almost like Dr Salati knew that I'd be resting my hand there fifty years later.

BTW, if you ever get interested in having another go with it, the Caravel is light and easy to ship.....wouldn't be her first transAtlantic voyage.

PC

Peacecup wrote:There was even some discussion of visiting Dr Emidio Salati's (The Designer, caps intentional) wife to discuss the origins of the Caravel.

Yea, sorry nothing ever came of that... the guy I was in contact with (through youtube) said he had a conversation with his Gramma about the Caravel, but he was too busy when he got back, and now I can't get to youtube (to contact him) as it is blocked here...

Sometime we'll get the full story, I'm sure!

Regards, Henry

That's ok Henry, because I'm in contact with him several times a day. We visited last just a couple of hours ago, when I pulled a beautiful 16g ristretto, double-preinfused, then 11/2 pulls, from a freshly-opened sack of Caffe Musetti. I got into position over the cylinder, where I had the birdseye view from the drawing. The symmetric curves of the base, drip tray, group, and cooling vane were accented with a matching curve from my second-hand Nuova Point demitasse. All this to Itzhak Perlman's rendition of the 2nd movement of Mozart's violin Sonata in E flat major...

PC

How does everyone deal with the suction of coffee back into the boiler? I think this is pretty normal for this machine as the "1-way" valve in the cylinder only really works when there's downward pressure on the handle. This means that usually when filling the cylinder with water it can flow back into the boiler.

The way I've been dealing with this is to time the fill and press down on the lever once it's near completion. I then go back up to the top once that first press has saturated the grounds after a second or two, and repeat the process. If I don't time it right, water can flow backwards, tank goes brown, lever gets spongy and I have a much longer pre-infusion combined with some solids in the tank. I think this results in a slightly overextracted cup.

Usually I have some grounds in the bottom of the tank anyway (but generally no perceivable discoloration), and end up refilling the tank with fresh water each session. Because of this I usually only fill the tank 1/3rd to 1/2 full, unless I'm making Americanos or lots of shots.

Anyone else with suggestions?

I still plan to PID the beast, but with a laptop and a DAQ module rather than a stand-alone unit. Mostly to test out the hardware for a larger project I have in the works.

I've got one of these (from sorrentina's photo on the prior page):



with a hole in the bottom of the piston, and a clip holding the piston to the rod. I'll try to add a photo sometime! Its a VAM, and it is sooo beautifully finished. The piston face is super-high polished chromed steel (I think), and not stainless. Maybe even brass? I need to take a closer look. Anyway, after a very long sleep it awoke today for the first time in a new country and amazingly pulled a nice shot after just a quick cleaning with soap and water.

I'm even more impressed with the VAM then I was with the Caravel, although I can't compare shots yet.

Droshi, FWIW I've never had any backflush problems with my machine. Never a ground in the water or any discoloration. I have the double u-cup aluminum cylinder, and I have yet to replace the gaskets or the valve o-ring as they were in good shape to begin with (I have a set from OE sitting waiting to be used).