Odyssey Argos

Recent write up posted on Discord thanks to Shotwell…

Thoughts on the Odyssey Espresso Argos

I feel it’s worth giving a brief introduction here since I think this will go beyond the border of EAF and newer users might not be as familiar with my background. I’m a reasonably experienced home espresso user with a predilection for light to extremely light roast espresso. My taste is fairly demanding, and I’m not often satisfied by what I can find in even top tier cafe settings. I happened to be in Denver for a day and a half, asked Ross to meet up, and he was gracious enough to say yes without hesitation. I picked up a bag of Sweetbloom Hometown on my way in, totally blind, and headed over to the shop in the early afternoon.

For those of you that haven’t followed too closely, it’s important for me to mention that the machine I’ve used is not a production model but a prototype of a machine that is nearing the finish line. There are a huge number of fit and finish updates, a very minor increase in size (if I understand correctly it will be about 13mm deeper and the next metric size up in stock for the top plate, which Ross can clarify dimensionally.) Additionally, it is possible there will be some minor revisions to the control system, which we discussed at length.

The Good
Size. The Argos, even with the minor size update, is absolutely tiny compared to the Cremina Ross had in the shop.
Taste. We dialed quickly to the blend, which I haven’t had before. The balance of the shots was excellent, showing a competent water delivery and sufficient intrashot temperature stability.
Consistency. Ross and I drank 7 shots over the course of about 4 hours. We refilled once as a result of a silly flush on my part. The first shot in each set was ever so slightly brighter than the following shots, something I’m reasonably confident most users wouldn’t notice. I’m not remotely confident I could pick them out blind. All remaining shots were close enough that I’m certain I couldn’t pick them out in a triangle test. These first shots were still excellent.
Fit and finish. The parts that I’ve seen, including those on this rough prototype, are all looking quite good. Ross and I talked briefly about some of the potential changes like switches, a push/pull potentiometer with detents, a possible third led depending on steam switch, etc. The selected or potential parts look and feel great. There are some nice updates coming to fit and finish that Ross hasn’t shared yet, some of which came about as solutions to functional updates.
Fill mechanics and lever feel. We only worked with the direct lever configuration. The fill of the group is awesome, with the air actively displaced through the check valve by the water. This leaves the lever pushing on water and feeling extremely premium. A Fellini is simple if more volume is desired, and my assumption is that puck disruption is pretty minimal with the check valve in the piston. The lever is long; even with my injured hand I didn’t have to strain to make amazing espresso. To be clear, I wasn’t trying to achieve high pressure. We didn’t record pressure settings because there are a ton of transducers in the shop and we didn’t want to fuss with picking the right one.
Ross. He’s a mad man. Even at this moment he’s focused on making this machine amazing. We talked about a few potential changes that would require a minor hardware revision that he’s still considering to make it better, had long discussions about what a normal user workflow would look like, and both shared a functional narrative about how this machine works for people. He’s doing wonderful work and the revisions in place are extremely clever.
Atlas. Shop dog is shop dog. He is a good boy.
BIFL. Ross wants to get this thing right, and he wants you to own the Atlas as long as you want it around. The design is simple and robust.

Thoughts on the Odyssey Espresso Argos

The Not so Good
It isn’t on my counter yet. Ross has a realistic view of what it will take to finish this project. I’ve been through some major project delays before, and I’m glad he’s working through them the way he is. I’m not going to share our private discussion about timeline, but I’m confident that the final deliveries will go well and Ross will deal with any issues that arise.
First shot temp. This might bother some people, but I expect it to be revised based on the discussion with Ross. I don’t think it’s remotely an issue given how close the shots were, but an extremely fussy user might run the system slightly hotter for the first shot and at their ‘normal’ set point for subsequent shots. If I had to guess that shot is within 1-2c of every other shot, so not worse than the overwhelming majority of machines you’ll find at home.
Setting Reasonable Expectations

I do think it’s hard for people to separate what they think from what the Argos is, so I do want to lay this out as clearly as I can. The Argos, once delivered, is the absolute best value in the 1k price range, especially for US based buyers. That’s a personal opinion, but not a huge stretch. The temp control is transparent and seemed reliable, it’s easy to use and likely even easier in spring config, and it’s extremely robust. That being said, this is not a machine in the 2k or higher price bracket. It is extremely small, and if not plumbed in will take a daily refill. Some things may be slightly unintuitive, like steam escaping when you fill the group. I somehow couldn’t get my brain to stop wanting to lift the lever after a shot, despite having direct lever experience, which is totally on me but apparently a thing. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to a friend, especially once Ross is shipping.

All that being said, there are probably users that won’t be happy with the Argos. I can’t foresee every complaint, but a few things people may not love that come to mind would be the small boiler, the relative black box temp control, and counter presence. Most of these are related to the extremely simple user interface or small physical size of the machine, but if you accept it for what

it is I think it will be well loved. I don’t know with certainty that I’ll sell my Bianca, but this certainly makes me consider it.

Pretty sure the Streitman will be staying, should be fun to play with the Argos though and there is definitely only enough room on the coffee island for one of them.

First dibs on the CT1 if you sell it? (Potential travel machine 😀)

Yes we do have it easy up here in the North, sunny most days during winter and around 21. But summer can be a tad hot!

Latest photos including two powder coated versions that were on display at Host Milan recently. Note the black powder coasted version has the steam wand on the left and the white version has it on the right.

The Argos is certainly the best “bang for bucks” lever option, assuming the quality is up there with the others.

It’s not just the price advantage that appeals to me though, it’s the versatility that I find tantalising: add a pressure gauge if you like (or not), add the digital Bluetooth transducer (or not), switch from direct to 9 bar spring or to a 6 bar spring (yes please).

The options are quite extraordinary and I don’t know of any lever machine that has that range of features/options for any price, let alone under US$1,000.

Temperature stability is going to be the most interesting feature for me. The Strietman is not as temperate stable as I would like. It requires some temperature “surfing” and whilst it comes up to full heat in under ten minutes, there are significant fluctuations within the first 30 minutes and even after that there is a four degree variance at any given point in time. I can live with that but if I had the choice, I’d prefer not to. If the Argos can deliver better temperature stability in addition to all of the options I’ve listed above, that would be a simply amazing “icing on the cake”.