Hello D&B, good to hear they are working well! Interesting that you are feeling a difference between the two models.

Any chance of that PF gasket appearing on your website? PC and I would be interested, for starters!

Henry

Hi Henry! PF gaskets are there for both models!

Nice nice nice. Say, its cool that you got a single and double basket with one of your Caravels... would you mind posting pictures of those? I thought they only came with one (mine did, anyway).

Henry

Which do you have the single, or the double? The little single is really hard to use, in our opinion, and we don't get the amazing shots with it like we do with the double. We'll get a pic of them tomorrow & post it.

With yours, do you get a runny, watery puck? We've realized that it seems you have to work the air out of the cylinder by jiggling the lever at the top of the pull, if you don't do that, then at the bottom of the pull the handle creeps back up, indicating you weren't at top pressure.

The method Doug has been using is to slowly move the handle all the way to the top, jiggle until the air bubbles seem to be all gone, pull down on the handle with only the weight of his hand until the first drips appear. Then, release the handle for preinfusion, slowly move back up to the top point to grab a little more water, at this point a few more air bubbles come out, then from the point of the lever completely up, smoothly pull the shot. At the bottom lever stop, it is a beautiful, sweet, thicky, syrupy shot...but very small, ristretto. Putting a cup under the portafilter at this point, produces about the same volume as the original shot. But, to make 2 shots in a row the puck is so soupy! Question is, should he be leaving the air in the cylinder - possibly pushing some, if not all the water out of the puck? Tasting the left over in the cup, even when cold, you can tell that there's a lot of flavor left that isn't in the first espresso pull. Do you use more than one pull? Is the air important?

I would suggest that you accept the the amount of water expelled by one full pull of the lever as your limit, and play with the dose (and grind) until you get the color and taste that you want.

I've never gotten good results from multiple pulls, but if you search for some of Timo's (timo888) older posts you'll see that he recommended doing so. We might just have different tastes!

I usually place the lever in the 'open-internal-piston-valve' position (ie all the way up) for as long as it takes me to dry my cup (about 5-10 seconds). As long as I have a half full kettle (it is a gravity lever after all ), this seems to be enough time to replace all the air in the cylinder with water. (you can hear gurgling when you first open the valve... I've always assumed that when the gurgling stops the cylinder is full)

I used to be happy with a ~12g dose, but found I enjoyed the taste much more with 14g; basically filling the (double?) basket as much as possible.

I get the same wet puck that you mentioned... and have no good way of dealing with it I'm used to rinsing and drying the basket after every shot.

Would you mind weighing a couple of shots next time you have a chance? I'll do so as well. It'll help to compare results.

Henry

sorry to let the thread go stale before posting.

Threads about 50-year old espresso makers that still pull great shots never go stale. My Caravel arrived Monday, and I can tell you the moving van hadn't left the drive before I pulled my first shot. Lavazza preground, roast and grind date unknown. It was great, but not the way I'd hoped to pull my first 220v shot. Yesterday I got some whole-bean 10-day old "T 3.2" from the local cafe here, threw some into my "new" DeVe handmill (thanks Sneaky!!!) and pulled a great "welcome home" shot. Then another. Then two more this morning. Once I get the 220V parts for my Ponte Vecchio the Caravel will move to the office. For now its my one and only espresso machine, and I can't complain!

PC

Congratulations Peacecup! The prodigal Caravel has returned to it's rightful place! What is it like getting 220V right out of the wall?

I lived in Europe years ago, and I have to say, 220V added a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to the taste of the water. Or maybe it was the water itself

P.S. I'm selling my pristine-condition 110V orange Caravel

to buy my wife a sewing machine ... .drop me a private message if you're interested. BTW, I paid over $300 for it.

P.P.S. Has new o-ring in same diameter and thickness as the original, in FDA-grade EPDM, mounted in a groove in the piston chamber.

P.P.P.S. Offer $325 or more and you will get, as lagniappe, a tamper in polished brass and hardwood, in the style of the La Peppina tamper, custom-made by Richard (aka espressme) to fit the Caravel basket. I will ship the Caravel at my expense, carefully boxed, via Fedex Home Delivery, fully insured, to any of the lower 48 states.

P.P.P.P.S. The Caravel and custom Richard Penney tamper have found a new Pacific home.

Timo, nice to hear from you. Your Caravel should fetch a fair price. I like the orange.

Because the Caravel is my only machine right now I've getting a lot of practice. The past two days I've really been pulling some good shots, and I'm getting very consistent. The beans I'm currently using seem to like a smaller dose. This allows me to grind fine enough to get good brew pressure. If I dose fuller the brew pressure is too great and the pour is a little too slow, with a very small volume.

PC

A hearty hello to Jack and to Tim!! I hope you are both well!. I am glad the Caravel is working well for you in the land beyond the Pond!! I have become so occasional here - but fear not, all days that I am not in a airplane headed some where- I am pulling and drinking shots from my Cremina..and enjoying all that I absorbed here and form all of the members.

IT is great that Barb and Doug of Orphan espresso folks have the seals to keep these little machines going! They are like having a1957 Chevrolet on the counter !! that gets you up in the morning!!