This looks promising! Any info on the viability of pulling more than one shot in a row?

buddalouie wrote:How is the clean up with this type of machine? Is it wet like a french press or more dry like an espresso puck?

Just like a regular espresso machine. Here it is with the screen still attached.



If you cut the shot short there will be water left in the basket, just pump the handles again and express the last water through the coffee into another cup, you will then get a puff of air and you will know the puck is dry.

And that nicely leads me onto one of the issues I had to solve, multiple pumps or eliminating the need for multiple pumps. I'm not a big fan of doing multiple pumps on lever machines anyway, but on the Robot it does not work at all. The screen gets dislodged on the piston upstroke (and presumably the coffee grounds go all soupy), and the resulting pull is all watery.

So one of the issues I worked on was a one time only lever pull to get at least 45g of espresso bev. weight, and that has now been solved.

Balthazar_B wrote: And since it was brought up, who manufactures that nice porcelain cup? Is it an Ancap Verona?

A local company called Loveramics. As much as I love our own design of cups, I am more than happy to stay away from the ceramics game!

Sevro wrote:This looks promising! Any info on the viability of pulling more than one shot in a row?

Of course you can pull multiple shots in a row. I have done half a dozen or so in a row when testing without issues.

The robot looks very promising. I do like the exceptional design and simplicity! I'm looking forward to ordering the version with pressure gauge - shipped to Germany.

Thanks for the info and all the demos on Instagram. Will extra pf be available for purchase?

Darn you Paul Pratt, I really have no business wanting another espresso maker since I have three levers I'm not using right now but you make that Robot of yours look so darn good I'm tempted, sorely tempted. I could see using this in a cafeteria at work or on the tailgate of my car at a job site. It might even have WAF as it wouldn't take up too much precious counter space.

Paul, I do have a question after rewatching your Instagram vids. Nowhere do I see the early part of your workflow where you preheat the basket in boiling water and then get it into the portafilter. Do you use tongs? Do you thoroughly dry the basket, then ease it into the PF before depositing the ground coffee? I'm trying to envision how I'd do this in an office environment without making a mess.

Oh, one more question: does the dispersion screen leach much heat from the poured water? In which case would it be a best practice to warm it up as much as possible?

Cheers!

For those who've never seen the Faemina, this is a great David Lance Goines poster:



Paul's work never ceases to amaze me. If I were starting out in espresso, I'd be on his waiting list.

Marshall, something tells me you spent some time in Berkeley in the '70s...

Cal '70. Also there's this:

Balthazar_B wrote:Paul, I do have a question after rewatching your Instagram vids. Nowhere do I see the early part of your workflow where you preheat the basket in boiling water and then get it into the portafilter. Do you use tongs? Do you thoroughly dry the basket, then ease it into the PF before depositing the ground coffee? I'm trying to envision how I'd do this in an office environment without making a mess.

Oh, one more question: does the dispersion screen leach much heat from the poured water? In which case would it be a best practice to warm it up as much as possible?

Cheers!

I can't speak for Paul or the Robot, but I've always done what Sam showed in his video on the baby: Tamp, drop in disp screen, pour hot water, pour it out, pour in fresh hot water and go. For darker blends, I just pour off the boil and go. When I want to hit a specific (hotter) temp, I preheat as above.

Paul can straighten it out, but I'm really hoping many of the physical characteristics of the predecessor shine through!