The Arrarex Caravel - Page 66

A haven dedicated to manual espresso machine aficionados.
User avatar
peacecup (original poster)
Posts: 3649
Joined: 19 years ago

#651: Post by peacecup (original poster) »

my 888 hb post! :D


Well Pawel, you're half-way there.

I like the straight-walled basket and have never seen one before. I only have one, the double seen in the center. Holds 16g of Italian espresso roast, and has been making some wonderful espresso lately.

I am still looking for a portafilter and basket for my classic VAM, but no luck so far.

PC
LMWDP #049
Hand-ground, hand-pulled: "hands down.."

User avatar
lifeandpeace
Posts: 26
Joined: 14 years ago

#652: Post by lifeandpeace »

Double basket, double pull? Or 1 1/2 pull?

I'm considering having my portafilter machined to be bottomless.

Right now I have only the single basket. I brew only for myself 90% of the time. The shots have been better that I ever could have imagined (after a little learning the machine).

Now I'm considering getting a double basket so I could pull two 3/4 oz singles at once. Is this realistic? If so, I should not machine off the bottom of my portafilter so that I could pull into separate demitasses.

Advice?
LMWDP #303

Advertisement
User avatar
peacecup (original poster)
Posts: 3649
Joined: 19 years ago

#653: Post by peacecup (original poster) »

I only have the double. Recently I have been topping it off with 18+ g of Caffe Agust espresso. That's a lot of coffee, so I use 1.5 pulls to get a nice 30+ ml double ristretto.

In my opinion 1.5 pulls is no problem, but others may have different opinions.

I'm not sure what value there would be in chopping a manual lever portafilter, since its difficult to pull and see the bottom of the PF at the same time. I guess others have done so, or videoed the pull.

PC
LMWDP #049
Hand-ground, hand-pulled: "hands down.."

CoffeeOwl
Posts: 1096
Joined: 17 years ago

#654: Post by CoffeeOwl »

lifeandpeace wrote:Double basket, double pull? Or 1 1/2 pull?

I'm considering having my portafilter machined to be bottomless.

Right now I have only the single basket. I brew only for myself 90% of the time. The shots have been better that I ever could have imagined (after a little learning the machine).

Now I'm considering getting a double basket so I could pull two 3/4 oz singles at once. Is this realistic? If so, I should not machine off the bottom of my portafilter so that I could pull into separate demitasses.

Advice?
If you could get the straight-walled basket, the biggest - then I think it would be reasonable to split the shot to two singles. With the middle-sized basket (which is mostly called double here) there is not much use. You will not get two singles out of it even if you overload it, because the split shot will not taste as your usual singles.
I've been doing overload too until I got the baskets.
As for how many pulls, it depends - there are many ways. If you use preinfusion (active manual in case of Caravel) then you can go for a double too with one pull.
'a a ha sha sa ma!


LMWDP #199

samgiles
Posts: 186
Joined: 17 years ago

#655: Post by samgiles »

Oh Pawel! I am envious of your big basket. I have the other 2 and also the OE double. TBH I've never tried the single basket. I must have a go.
I have made one interesting observation recently. I have both orange and grey Caravels with their differing piston/seal arrangements. Compared to the orange one I find that a single pull on the grey one results in a much shorter shot and leaves an awful lot of water sitting on top of the puck. It seems to me, the piston doesn't travel as far down on the grey one. Anyone else notice this?
LMWDP #169

User avatar
sorrentinacoffee
Posts: 747
Joined: 16 years ago

#656: Post by sorrentinacoffee »

The flat sided double basket is usually found on the Vam machines...

I have all three ;-)

To my way of thinking if you only have the single: get a double! the single is OK but just too small- much better results with the standard double. Does OE still offer their after market doubles? I grabbed a few of these and they work fine.

User avatar
dumpshot
Supporter ♡
Posts: 491
Joined: 13 years ago

#657: Post by dumpshot »

Hi all,
Pete here in rainy Arizona. I have been an espresso enthusiast daily for a long time and am finally gettin' SERIOUS. No more messing around. That means, of course, that I am going to get a Caravel. I have been doing my homework and have read all the stuff on Orphan's site (and already received a very nice and thorough reply from Doug). I have also read all 66 pages of this thread. FASCINATING stuff. I assume that many of you follow ebay.it regularly for Caravels. I know that I am a couple of years too late to probably get any deals on these little gals. That's OK.

I have been looking at the white VAM that is for sale now from the seller in Bologna with the nice italian countryside in the background of his pictures. It seems that other HBers have bought from this guy and he has 100% feedback. True? Good guy? The machine looks to be a desirable VAM with the cool little lever, but the lever handle looks like a replacement, it is a re-paint, and the power switch looks like the kind from the newest Caravels. None of those things bother me, but I guess it makes me wonder if there is any funny business going on with this one. My gut says no, but I also know my judgment could be clouded by my excitement to get a Caravel ASAP. I also don't mean to step on anyone's toes if they were planning on bidding on this one ("The rookie drove the price up on that crappy VAM"). Thanks in advance for your replies and many thanks for all the knowledge I have already gotten from this great site.

Sidebar: I am a vintage electric guitar and amp guy, too, and I really like the spirit of friendliness and community expressed (espressed?) here on this site compared to some others I have been following.

Pete
LMWDP #484

Advertisement
User avatar
peacecup (original poster)
Posts: 3649
Joined: 19 years ago

#658: Post by peacecup (original poster) »

I doubt that one is a secret to anyone here, so its going to find the market value. I know nothing about any ebay sellers, but others might.

I don't know what the going prices have been, but I guess you'll need to pay 200 euros nowadays. At that price you're getting close to a Pavoni or PonteVecchio Export, if steaming milk is important.

If you're set on a Caravel good luck. They are capable of making great espresso, and they are really fantastic little pieces of espresso history.

PC
LMWDP #049
Hand-ground, hand-pulled: "hands down.."

CoffeeOwl
Posts: 1096
Joined: 17 years ago

#659: Post by CoffeeOwl »

dumpshot wrote:I assume that many of you follow ebay.it regularly for Caravels. I know that I am a couple of years too late to probably get any deals on these little gals. That's OK.
Hi!
I don't think anybody can be late. As for watching out for Caravels, once folks get one, they don't probably search any further.
dumpshot wrote: I have been looking at the white VAM that is for sale now from the seller in Bologna with the nice italian countryside in the background of his pictures. It seems that other HBers have bought from this guy and he has 100% feedback. True? Good guy?
Sorry for chiming in late (the auction is over, I found it searching for closed ones). As for the sellers it's always hard to tell much, I think, unless there's some obvious cheat like something sold as being fine and turning out not.
This auction looks to have been excellent deal - the machine is proved to be working (the red heating on one picture), clean on the outside and having the biggest and single baskets. The lever was the original one from Vam - Vams have different lever then Caravels. The power switch is a replacement for sure and the power cord has old plug.
Also there's plenty of photos and honest description - promising.

p.s.
ah yes! the plastic piece on the lever looks like a replacement too.
'a a ha sha sa ma!


LMWDP #199

User avatar
dumpshot
Supporter ♡
Posts: 491
Joined: 13 years ago

#660: Post by dumpshot »

Thanks Jack and Pawel for your replies on the white VAM. The great news is that I did win the auction and we'll be looking for il postino in about a week! After doing some more research and getting a reply from the seller, he struck me as honest and it looks like he has sold a bunch of Caravels recently. He has a good gig going on that. Doesn't sound like he uses them, though. Shame.

My brother is coming to town in a couple of weeks. He is a contractor and is so excited about good coffee that he is going to run a 240 outlet to my coffee area for me. So we will be dialed in, power-wise. I am going to order the necessary supplies from Orphan and then it is time to go to work! I will report my successes and 'areas for improvement' then.

Pete
LMWDP #484

Post Reply