Nice to see something "fresh".
The sad thing is that a new Italian espresso machine is just a dream.
I'd like to know something more about the piston group.

Hello There,
Yes Lucio, it is sad the Italian dream isnt coming through. But if they don't do it, I will..
I ve got a lot of respect for the Italian history of espresso. Incredible what they achieved in de 60 / 70. But something went wrong.
But youknow what, we idolize it now, because it is a closed chapter. And that is just the beautifull thing.

But to the ES1, - I call it the ES1 (espressostrietman series no1) Because there will be a lot more machine coming..ES 2..ES 3, till I reach 100, and then we ll see.


And indeed, the thing that is not good now is the temperature, there should be more contact with the kettle.
And it actually has a lit ontop of the kettle, to make it more safe and energy effisient.
But I never use it because my brewgroup needs to be flushed all the time otherwise it will not get up to temperature. So now I keep circulate water back into the kettle...It is a hopeless business.



The idear is that I use the copper funnel on top as main water reservoir. I can suck water into my cylinder, and then when the little tap is open I can fill my boiler. Or I can close it, and the I can push water through the steam pipe, where it gets superheated.
It has a powerfull, 3 bar micro-foam ability now. And because you push the water through the pipe yourself, by moving the lever..well, It is just so cool! You have all the control, you can now start with pressure profilling on you milk foam.

Kudos Wouter - keep it coming. It's exquisite! Please let me know if you travel through Sweden any time soon!

On the "Cremina Crazy" thread peacecup wrote (I love quoting myself ):

The method of extraction of espresso nectar reached it's zenith with the advent of piston-generated pressure being more or less laminarly applied to a basket containing ground coffee beans. All efforts since then share the common roots in commerialization of the espresso experience. The vast amount of effort, from mechanical to bean blending and roasting, expended to achieve excellent extractions with modern espresso machines speaks for itself, i.e., it aint easy. Although I'll concede that these efforts may have led to various highpoints in producing espresso nectar, the ease at which this is accomplished has diminished. I would further suggest that these modern highpoints may in fact be no higher then the original zenith - witness the upsurgence of lever machines at trendy cafes.

Although we here on the lever forum may debate some of the subllties as to which machines might simlify our ascent, those of us who have remained faithful to the fold probably agree that it is the piston that carries the burden. Although I have only tried my hand with a few of the many different lever machines, with patience I've always been rewarded with a view from the top.

It's an interesting design, and I like the looks and metal work. However, he has isolated the cylinder from the hot water source which means that it is unlikely the water will retain enough heat to make good espresso.

Basically, the tube leading to the cylinder is a radiator as is the cylinder itself, so the water will drop from boiling to probably way less than 199 F. I think it might even be less than 190 F. I don't see a way to correct this. Even a thermosyphon design with a return to the boiler will still probably not do it, though it would be worth a try.

That's why the La Peppina, Caravel and Mini Gaggia are so elegant in their design. The water out is almost the same temperature as the water in the boiler. To accurately control the temperature is to simply lower the power to the heating element. No PID is necessary, just a heavy duty dimmer.

You would use a dimmer? Mine has a thermostat, seems to work fine. Maybe out of ignorance, I am a little suspicious of dimmers in appliances that draw a lot of current.

@DJR: Can you recommend a "heavy duty dimmer"? I've been looking, but never found one that was rated for more than 300W. I have a PID for the Peppina at home and really love it, but would not like to buy another one for the office-Peppina if a much cheaper solution is available.

Sorry for OT...

I think a series of boiler-connected heatpipes could be a good solution to keep the grouphead warm. They are ridiculously good in transferring heat. As in "thousand times better than copper".

Hello there

Yeh, I know, it looks so stupid to have such a gap between the grouphead and the boiler.
I m designing a new machine now, it will be totally different. Better!

Because I already made the grouphead I could not find a way to connect them in a proper, aesthetic way, to have more radiant head from the boiler.
This was my graduation project for the Design Academy Eindhoven.
They looked at it from a aesthetic point a view, they didn't care about espresso technique.

And indeed the temperature is to low, around 80 degrees, I think my steam wand saved me, with a micro-foamed cappuccino they didn't noticed that the espresso itself was a bit sour

gr Wouter

Wouter,

It depends what the material and mass of the grouphead is - on the Caravel for example the thin steel wall between the boiler and group allows sufficient heat transfer to keep the brew water warm enough during the extraction. For example, with my kettle at 90 C (measured with a cheap Ikea steel temp probe) I could pull very nice shots of N. Italian roasts like Musetti.

Au contrair, with the MiniGaggia, that essentially has no brew group, kettle water enters the piston chamber and hits the puck directly when the lever is pulled down. It took me a little while to realize that 90 C in the gaggia kettle was a little too hot for my tastes, since the brew water did not cool much if at all.

So, one can design either way, as long as the barista is capable of establishing a working relationship between kettle temperature and brew temperature. I suppose the direct-feed option on the MiniGaggia is the simplest way of doing this, but it raises new issues, such as how to keep coffee grounds from entering the kettle.

If you go for the Gaggia-type design maybe you should test-drive a Mini first just for the experience.

PC