Espresso Machine Innovation

Systemic

The espresso machine has been around for 120 years old since Bezzera patented his innovations.

Name one innovation since then you think has, in the pursuit of espresso excellence, has made a difference.

Another thread will be created for grinders which are equally if not more important than the espresso machine in getting the best out of the bean.

dfk41

The Sage Dual Boiler. It is the first machine I am aware of that is genuinely ready to make coffee after 3 to 4 minutes

Systemic

Introduction of PID technology has got to be up there. Back in the days of Gaggia Class and Rancilio Silvia you were on the cutting edge using temp surfing to try and manage the machine’s temp dead band.

DavecUK

I’ll list a few

Rotary pumps in prosumer machines
Dual boilers with proper preheat systems
PIDs with offset controls
Last shot protection (including steam boiler autofill cut out during a shot)
Fastwarm (overheating the brew boiler to warm up the group)
Pressure sensing preinfusion and main shot times on lever machines
Automatic lever release at a defined pressure or time on lever machines)
Dual boiler levers
Accessible drain taps on boilers from under the machine)
Insulation on prosumer machines (Cremina had asbestos, but I won’t count that)
The magic size of brew boiler for E61 group boilers
The dipper tube in an upright brew boiler to prevent thermosyphon lock
The change to the ACS safety system so it works better
The general elimination of permanent thread locker

I came up with most of these ideas and on a few I advised

dutchy101

A 3 way solenoid valve to replace the need for a lever on an E61 group machine

DavecUK

dutchy101 A 3 way solenoid valve to replace the need for a lever on an E61 group machine

Group mounted pressure gauge on this specific style of group….was only done on E61 lever variants before for technical and aesthetic reasons.

chlorox

For me, the single most important development in espresso was the invention of the spring lever in the form of achille gaggia’s machine in 1947. For the very first time in history, true espresso as we know it was created whereby 9 bar and greater pressures were exerted for the first time with declining pressure profile thereby creating the crema containing cup of concentrated coffee flavours we love today. (Interestingly, I understand from hedrick’s museum visit video that the first spring levers had double boilers and if so then double boilers date back to the genesis of the espresso machine…)

There was an aberration in 1961 when the pump machine was invented and then took over the espresso world, but thankfully the lever has always been held as the standardin naples and has made a comeback in the rest of the world in more recent years.

giampiero

IMO, any features that has been applied to a coffee machine surely is an improvement, but not all are for a real espresso in the cup benefit.

Trying to mention some other recent “innovations” strictly for the espresso in the cup benefit, i would say the Slayer shot system, the KVDW E61 mod, the introduction of the gear pump for pressure profiling.

Doram

Bottomless portafilter?

Sham

I wonder how many innovations we could churn out if we designed a machine from the bottom up engineering wise. A lot of professional or prosumer machines have decades of legacy designs/systems. One thing I’m keen on is keeping the total cost low (which is actually the hardest part).

MediumRoastSteam

Sham I wonder how many innovations we could churn out if we designed a machine from the bottom up engineering wise

In my opinion, the Decent is the closest thing to what you described above right now. No boilers. That’s an achievement and a half in my book.

But it ain’t cheap.

giampiero

Sham Why not open a new dedicated thread, i’m sure will be an interesting reading

capuchin

Sham I’ve seen quite a few (and tried building myself) a co2 powered simple espresso machine using a 3d printer primarily. Comes to under $100 and is quite ‘innovative’ i guess. Thias one is cool https://www.fourbardesign.com/2020/10/diy-espresso.html I did consider a 3d printing ceramic burrs on demand too, but its all dried up as I have got a bit consumed by my current project. (Copy scanners are hard to build ok)

It’s easy to motorise hand grinders for example but I think we’re only starting to enter the ability for the consumer to design and engineer as currently metal and ceramic 3d printing and cnc machining is in infancy, and you still need prosumer equipment like kilns and lasers to do things right. In 10 or 20 years we should be able to 3d print a basket or boiler for example, but currently this costs $$$ to buy. Similarly any PCB design needs sent off for manufacture currently and it all adds time and money.

I look at coffee machines sometimes and see a slight disconnect between the information era and the previous one. I know we have a lot of talented engineers here like dave and tompo but most of that knowledge seems mechanical, and sometimes I wonder if other than Sage, any other manufacturers even care about costs insofar as design or they just don’t want to employ the kind of people who might flip the philosophy around.

A lot of the best work seems to be stuff like @hornbyben does (or the guy who made the kit) who are modding older machines to bring expensive functionality. Probably because of the prohibitive cost in ordering pcbs and printing metal parts.

Sham

MediumRoastSteam Decent is pretty good, but too expensive. A lot of their components are actually really cheap, but their development costs were too high hence the high price. From looking at some of their posts their R&D process seemed very inefficient. The actual thermo coil system for the water and steam is sub £100, not sure how long they spent doing fluid heat simulations, but I guess that added a lot to the cost. They have to recoup it somewhere.

Sham

giampiero Might be a good idea, with some input from some experienced members of this forum it might be a fun little initiative. Have to be careful though as some patent trolls might steal the ideas!

Sham

capuchin That CO2 espresso design is quite nice, but a bit wasteful. These guys did it with an air pump instead which seems better, but their design is still quite expensive for what it is.

I like how Sage machines are so cheap for what you get, their Bambino range have gotten really popular with espresso enthusiasts. Cheap sheet metal casings and cheap components, but still pretty good shots and milk steaming. Currently there’s the trend of making everything premium and high-end, mainly because it still sells and you get more profit in the end compared to selling cheap machines…

I want to see some serious work going into making a cheap next gen machine, I guess something as iconic and cheap as the gaggia classic.

capuchin

Sham I still use a bambino plus in the office! Thinking of getting a Sage DB over a bianca to replace it. Sage are probably the only ‘consumer’ company making machines right now, but I do wonder if some of the old school design is getting lost with them. Probably not, but I don’t have much insight into the company itself. I think CO2 is good because essentially its cheap if you can recharge the canisters yourself, and it’s fast. You have me wondering about a design now though - You need to grind the beans anyway so why not get use the motor to compress air at the same time, which can then be used to pull the shot. I suspect it’s a wanting for profits wanting to drive the costs up.

I want a machine that can ‘dial in’ for me, but of the current companies I think only sage could really accomplish that. I’ve messed around with it, but it seems quite complex.

@Norvin I think the co2/air route is best used on the road or elsewhere where you have no access to big amounts of power.

Norvin

I have been following a youtube page called Niti The Craft Shop. They do a lot of conversions based on the Staresso, some CO2 powered from small sodastream type cylinders, some from larger cylinders. I suppose that nitrous oxide gas cylinders would work too.
Here is a video showing a bicycle pump powered version.

Doesn’t look too expensive, I’m tempted to have a go at converting my Staresso.