espressoperson wrote:IMO it's the bass ackwards approach that is getting some of us antsy. If the machine doesn't produce amazing espresso then why would we be interested in how it works? Without the results in the cup it's just a mechanical curiosity. But if it produces espresso to die for then you've got a good reason to study its innards.

One doesn't have to tear levers apart to appreciate them and favor them over electrical pump machines. I've owned an Olympia Cremina for over two decades. It produces amazing espresso. And I don't have the least desire to take it apart or know how it is put together. Actually seeing a machine apart with all those little pieces all over the place is a frightening thing But I'll do my best to chill, put up with the vivisection, and wait for the good part to come

Reasonable people can disagree on what is 'bass ackwards'. One can treat the machine as a family sedan with automatic transmission; or one can treat it as a car that's been tweaked at a speed shop. Until you know how a machine works (which is knowing more than how to work it) you cannot know how to make it produce a range of good espressos (ristretto, normale, lungo) on a consistent basis, even if you do manage to get a good shot right out of the box.

As for your irrational fear of small pieces, maybe you could carry some loose screws around in your pocket? Take them out and hold them in the palm of your hand and look at them now and then; remember to breathe deeply and slowly till the terror subsides. And relax, it's a machine, not a puppy; it's a tear-down, not a vivisection.

The only reason I can think of to explain your impatience with the design analysis approach is that you must be really eager to learn whether the machine makes good espresso, because you would buy one if it did. I cannot think of any other practical reason why one would be interested primarily in finding out (second-hand) whether a particular lever machine produces good espresso. So, if that's the case, why not order one from WLL on their buyer's remorse plan and find out for yourself first-hand?

Regards
Timo

P.S. My own main practical concern is whether this machine offers better inter-shot temperature stability than its competitors.

Steaming

Every machine has one or two 'why did they do that?' With the Achille, that happens to be the steam wand, or more specifically the tip. The steam wand itself works wonderfully. It has ball mount so it can be articulated in any direction or angle the user could ever want. The diameter of the steam tube is a little small but well matched to the machine's steaming capacity. It produces a high velocity steam and lots of it:



The velocity of the steam will produce an absolutely wicked turbulence in the pitcher which makes wonderful wet silky microfoam. And then they do this:



Why would you equip it with a frothing aid? I have never been a fan of froth aid devices, but the one on the Achille is not too bad. Unlike most of its contemporaries, this one is constructed of stainless steel with a plastic insert. As with most of these devices, the key is a small air intake on the wand. That air intake injects air into the milk producing foam. If you can surf that hole on the milk's surface, you can control the amount of air injected and produce decent microfoam. The problem is that the froth aid tip is long and the pin-sized air hole is near the top of the froth aid attachment. That means you either need to be frothing a lot of milk, or a little milk in a tall and narrow pitcher.


If you plug the hole, then you can use the froth aid as you would any other steam wand and surf the tip. If you remove the froth aid device you are left with a single hole steam wand. Unfortunately, that wand is not long enough to use for steaming unless you are using a shallow pitcher.

I discussed the froth aid device with Todd Salzman at Whole Latte Love to see if there were any other options. He sent me the frothing attachment from another machine which uses a longer inner tube. I removed the outer shell and just used the inner sheath as an extension. I can produce wonderful microfoam with the machine, but this is a Band-Aid fix at best.


The Achille really soars as an espresso machine. Gaggia has designed espresso capability that's worthy of the most demanding aficionado, but coupled it with a frothing aid meant for newbies. The price point of the Achille clearly targets the serious espresso hound. Why would you hamper it with a frothing aid? In my view, steam wands are not expensive and Gaggia / Whole Latte Love would be well advised to provide a drop-in replacement option that would compare favorably out of the box with less expensive levers like the Elektra Microcasa a Leva that boast legendary microfoaming ease.

NOTE: Steam heating performance numbers will be included in the final Buyer's Guide.

I like the ball joint and finger guard.

I have a Saeco that has their frothing attachment, and it does make good frothing pretty simple, especially with small volumes of milk. On the other hand, it may make great frothing difficult or impossible. I've learned after using more standard 2 or 3 hole tips that great frothing is a bit more difficult, and it requires a large volume of milk that subsequently gets tossed if one is making just one drink. Maybe the Gaggia folks were thinking about the single serving frother?

One thing for sure, I've broken the plastic insert once or twice on the Saceo, which puts it out of action until I can get a new one in the mail. NO PLASTIC PARTS PLEASE!

PC

cannonfodder wrote:Why would you equip it with a frothing aid?

That would be a big problem in my view. Most of the time its two cappas here.

And yes, there is interest in an exceptional lever machine.

Waiting for the coffee review.

HB wrote:My personal style is to wait a long, long time before publicly offering such comments as "wow, this pulls some fantastic shots!" because I understand that some readers may be weighing a purchase decision. Subsequently I prefer to build a small mountain of peer feedback and data to support my claims, especially if they are for a new offering or require "unconventional" techniques to obtain. The Elektra A3 was a case in point: It impressed the heck out of me on Day 1, I was still impressed a week later, but contained my public enthusiasm until my observations were independently confirmed by two other local baristas, Steve Robinson and Geoff Corey.

IMO this is disappointing. Sharing only well thought out and validated opinions without sharing progress and opinions along the way. I think we understand the difference between first impressions and final validated conclusions. Why not give us both? Think how much we can learn from sharing the learning process with the reviewer.

I spent the evening pulling shots and trying different recovery times with some mixed results. The lower 1.1-1.2 pstat setting makes a big difference in the cooling flush, it also makes a difference in the steam velocity which goes without saying.

My cursory shot tests appear to favor a short recover after a flush however I was getting a better cup with the higher Pstat setting. That being said it could also have simply been an off day. After sampling 8 different double shots in one hour you tend to suffer sensory overload and everything tastes and smells the same.

One interesting design feature that has a direct impact on the cup is the heat exchanger. Unlike most HX machines, the Achille's HX is coiled in the top of the boiler. It appears to only be heated with steam, no water immersion. That slows the heating rate of the water in the HX. However steam is a more thermally stable medium which means the boiler cycle has less impact.

Jim offered up this gem of information offline. WARNING, scientific content to follow.

another_jim wrote:

1. Steam is far less conductive than water, an HX in steam will draw heat more slowly than in water at the same temperature.
2. A gram of steam releases only 0.58 calories per degree C versus water's 1 calorie, it is less efficient than water if it doesn't change state. However, turning a gram of steam to water releases 540 calories -- this is where all steam engines, including turbines get their energy density -- they drip water out of their output.
3. This extra energy is fairly irrelevant inside a boiler -- the water/steam is at the same temperature so any energy from condensation is immediately reabsorbed by the water vaporizing to fill the space. When one frothes milk, on the other hand, one is getting that 540 calories per gram.

So a steam heat exchanger is slower than a water one. It has more length to get the water to the right temp when it's flowing, and will be slower to overheat when the water is not flowing. This is why some of the really stable designs, like the Aurelia, the Cimbalis, and the La Spaziales, have the water storage of the HX sitting in the steam. However, since this is a home machine, with PF sneeze, I'm not sure what the design point was -- the water will probably get all the way to boiler temp in any case by the time one can pull the next shot. However, the point of the design may show up in the thermal tests.

Being a lever machine, there is no three way solenoid on the Achille. Anyone with a lever machine is familiar with the dreaded portafilter sneeze.

One thing I quickly learned with the Achille is that it holds its portafilter pressure longer than my Factory. I have pulled a shot, drank the shot then gone back to dump the puck and was surprised that the portafilter was still under pressure.

I quickly learned that you can crack open the portafilter with a quarter turn to depressurize it without blowing coffee all over the kitchen. The pressure will bleed around the portafilter and any water/coffee will drip into the drip tray. Using that technique I was able to pull back to back shots using two loaded baskets. Couple that with a 1300 watt heater and you can pull shots almost as fast as a 3-way enabled pump machine. I will shoot a video tomorrow to illustrate. In fact I will go one better and bang out two double shots as fast as I can just to showcase the machine's speedy recovery.

I have often wondered why a manufacturer has never added a manual pressure release valve. They add them to pressure cookers, why can they not add a pressure release to a lever machine?