That is encouraging to hear. These days I hardly ever steam milk, so I could imagine finding room on the bar for another open boiler machine. This one certainly looks both gorgeous and well designed, and would certainly be on my short list if wanted to buy another direct lever.

Feel like I'm a little crazy suggesting this, but I'd love to see a shot mirror. All of the videos and photos seem to show Wouter straining his neck when pulling a shot looking at the flow of espresso!

The design of the machine is fantastic.

I noticed in some of the photos that there is a frothing thermometer immersed in the kettle. Is there any embedded indicator for water temperature?

I'm not very familiar with all the classic lever machines, but the piston also looks unique. Is this piston similar to any other classic design? The ROK espresso uses a rolling O-ring to open and close the piston so water can enter from the top. In the Strietman machines, water is also fed from the top. So, I'm wondering if the Strietman piston design uses the same principle as the ROK piston.

Guys, when I read the thread title my mind was ready for reports about the taste in the cup as I'm quite curious how this work of art performs.

[anonymized] wrote:The new countertop model has a mirror polished drip tray so when you pull an espresso on it, you are allowed a perfect view of the bottom of the portafilter Still sometimes you want a sideways view!

I second the notion of an integrated polished surface or mirror that allows for extraction viewing during the shot. The cup would of course block the view from the drip tray. I use a mirror on my pavoni and love it.

[anonymized] wrote:the relatively light pressure

How so? I mean, is this simply your choice, to pull your shots at a light pressure, or is it as you suggest in some way a characteristic of the machine? If you ground too fine, by mistake, and had to press 4 or 5 times as hard, wouldn't the ES3 accommodate?

Question (again): are the vertical columns solid rods or hollow tubes? Anyone??

Not sure what the structural difference between thick walled tube and solid rod would be..


But weren't there TWO threads about this new machine? I recall a new thread and the one with the announcement was closed and now suddenly this one is active again and the one called something like ' first impressions' dissapeared? Or is my mind fading fast?

Hello All,

To answer some of the questions.
The tubes are hollow 2 mm thick stainless steel tubes. The pressure profile is sort of the same as with Olympia Cremina, only the CT1 / ES3 has a slightly longer arm and more distance between the pistonarm rod and the leverarm turning point.
If you grind really to fine and press to hard it has a safety catch (W rubber flips out) This happens only above 10 bars. This to prevent the machine from breaking.

I personally like light roasted coffees, mostly I use Kenian or Ethiopian beans for demonstrations.. These coffees can be especially beautiful with a lighter pressure and a slightly lower temp (89c)
Some years ago, when I used the Caravel often I remembered that I also liked these sort of profiles.
Maybe it has to do with the lighter crema development of light roasted coffee's that you assume that you are applying less pressure..?

I really like simplicity of the CT1 design. This will be a great machine for somebody who only drinks espressos, like me .

I've been putting off getting a more robust espresso machine because the market is really flooded with machines that brew and steam. There are only a few espresso-only machines on the market to choose from. I'm glad Strietmn went back to the basics of making a great espresso: temperature-controlled kettle and lever brew head.

Once you get steaming out of the equation, there are fewer compromises in the design.