The box I received today from Poste Italiane contained more than just a cool open-boiler, gravity-fed, manual lever espresso machine. It was also filled with mystery, questions begging to be asked, and grave disappointment.

Have I got your attention now?

Despite the box being labeled 'Zerowatt C.A. 709', the manual calls it a Caravel Ursula and the manufacturer's name on the back of the manual is Giubel S.R.L. in Correggio, which is a fairly small town. So the first question is, "Who was Giubel?" and the mystery is how they happened to be manufacturing Caravels. Was Giubel later swallowed up by Zerowatt who boxed their remaining stock and sold it under their brand?






The manual, btw, is in Italian, English, French, and German, so I don't even need to get it translated. I'll do a scan sometime soon and add it to this thread.



It's in amazingly clean condition. I appears to have been used very lightly, and there was no visible residue anywhere on the dispersion screen, basket, or cylinder interior. The screen was held in with the same type of spring clip as on the Caravel model 2 that I already have. I measured the kettle capacity at 1 liter, although I'll probably fill it with a little headroom left, say to 800ml or so, as anything that might boil over the side could head straight for the power switch and thermostat.






The portafilter is virtually identical to my Caravel, The bottom of the Ursula piston appears identical to the bottom of the Caravel piston, but there are no interior seals in the piston, nor grooves for them, so my assumption is that the seals are on the piston. It doesn't disassemble as easily as the Caravel, so I haven't taken it totally apart yet. The element is external, but sealed to the bottom of the kettle.





Little things: It came with a plastic knockbox, just a little smaller than my Grindenstein, with the Caravel ship logo on the cross piece. The basket doesn't lock into the filter handle, so that'll be a whole new skill set to develop. Drip tray is plastic with a thin stainless cover, and surprisingly capacious. Whoever put the Caravel logo sticker on the front wasn't having a good (or at least not an accurate) day.





The disappointment? It has a 3-prong Italian plug, and my step-up transformer has the wrong receptacle. I have a universal plug adapter on the way from Orphan that should enable me to plug it into 120v for slow heating, and I'm sure I can find a travel store or someplace that has a three-prong to two-prong adapter so I can use it with the step-up.



In closing, a family shot, so you can compare the size difference.

George, don't fret. She looks, well....yellow-ish.
Actually, the contrasting styles are very interesting, and she looks clean as a can be.
Shaped sort of like an "Olympia Caravel."
I hope she pours beautiful shots for you. Just p[our some 205-ishf water in her, maybe after you preheat the insides first, load the basket, and have at it. We all want to know how she's working.

IMAWriter wrote:George, don't fret. She looks, well....yellow-ish.
Actually, the contrasting styles are very interesting, and she looks clean as a can be.
Shaped sort of like an "Olympia Caravel."
I hope she pours beautiful shots for you. Just p[our some 205-ishf water in her, maybe after you preheat the insides first, load the basket, and have at it. We all want to know how she's working.

If I had a decaf blend in the house, I'd do that. Otherwise, I won't be sleeping. I'll preheat water and pull a shot tomorrow morning, believe me.

If I absolutely have to, I can clip the center pin from the plug, but I'd prefer not to.

The manual does, btw, say to use the scoop as the tamp. I quote:

Press lightly by the measuring container bottom on the ground coffee and put the filter holder C in its own seat caring that its rim adheres uniformly under the flat. Tighten firmly turning to the right and holding the machine by the handle B.

The manual is sheer poetry.

The instructions also call for a four to five second fill with the handle all the way up (position 1 in the lower picture on the manual back), then to advance the handle slightly (position 2) and give a 10 second preinfusion (or more, depending on the fineness of the grind) before pulling the shot.

Looks like someone's bagged himself a bargain!

Knocking the puck out isn't hard to do without losing the basket. Just hold the basket with you thumb. Yes, it's hot, but you won't scorch your thumb badly.

You might be able to actually screw that center pin out of the plug...no clipping required, but then again Barb has got the universal on the way, which works quite nicely and is a ground receptacle after all. Many of the center pins do thread out though. Looks like you are the envy of the neighborhood and likely the only person in the USA who is pulling shots on one of these babies!

It looks to me as though there is an o-ring seated in the cylinder wall.

GVDub wrote:The manual does, btw, say to use the scoop as the tamp. I quote:



The manual is sheer poetry.

The instructions also call for a four to five second fill with the handle all the way up (position 1 in the lower picture on the manual back), then to advance the handle slightly (position 2) and give a 10 second preinfusion (or more, depending on the fineness of the grind) before pulling the shot.

George, do you just finish the "pull" from position 2, or re-raise the lever back to the top, THEN pull down?

Bluecold wrote:Knocking the puck out isn't hard to do without losing the basket. Just hold the basket with you thumb. Yes, it's hot, but you won't scorch your thumb badly.

Yes, only second degree burns, not third degree!!

Seriously, the machine looks very nice, kind of a Hummer version of the Caravel.