Honestly, I have been enjoying the direct lever so much that I am kind of not wanting to switch to spring lever. With direct lever, I have full control of the extraction pressure I want to pull. With a spring-loaded lever, the pain comes when you are extracting at the wrong grind size. Too fine and the spring will take forever to extract and too coarse the spring will swing up strongly. With manual lever, I can vary my force to suit most grind sizes.
It would be great if you can talk about the force required. (I have difficulty exerting enough force on the Cafelat Robot the get up to 8-9 bar, and am wondering if the Argos is any easier.) 🙏
Would it be possible to fasten the lever machine to the table, so it doesn't move around the surface? I did that with the Faema Faemina, and it worked really well. As you probably noticed, the Faemina is very forgiving when pulling shots. How is this lever compared to the Faema? With these small lever machines, its like learning a new instrument...it takes time and patience, but the reward is great.
There's one M10 thread to secure it to the countertop! I just got my Argos delivered yesterday. I also have a third series faemina. I think the faemina is more forgiving in puck prep, but temp management is harder. Also the steaming power on the Argos is quite a feat. I'm pretty sure the Argos won't stand +60 years the same way as the faemina, though.
Thanks for posting this video… Just wondering if you could expand or talk about the pros and cons of the black powder coat on the Argos…how is the durability of the powder coat, any wear points where powder coat is chipping under the stress and flex of machine when pulling a shot
If I need drink only espresso, do you think a lever machine like Cafelat Robot will be sufficient for me? Or does Odyssey Argos produce far superior espresso in terms of taste?
As said by OP, Argos is doing a better job at temperature control. However, Cafelat Robot do extremely good espresso as it is temperature does drop way less than others lever machines (without boiler and PID of course). Especially true with medium/ dark coffee. As long you have a capable grinder (mine is a Niche Zero), you can't be wrong with either machine. I do have an ECM Classika (single boiler) and will get soon a Cafelat Robot because of its simplicity (no need to pre-heat for 20 or 30 minutes like most E61 machines), very good espresso, minimal maintenance. I will use the Robot for my daily shoots (2) and will keep the ECM for when I do need to shoot several espresso in a short time, like for 6 or more people. Still, getting a second basket for the Robot (around 50$) can allow to produce many espresso quite rapidly, together with the ECM if you want to reduce coffee time production and let people be introduced with both machines. Quite entertaining for those not yet in the wonderful world of espresso :) PS : I never do any coffee latte so no need of steam, hence the single boiler choice for ECM
@lextr3110 no really as precision baskets are usually tuned to the amount of coffee the baskets can contain. And of course I am referring to double basket and not single shot basket as they are differently shaped. I always prefer the ridgeless one.
I've been borrowing the 078s from my friend for about a week (in place of my Craig Lyn HG-1 Prime) and enjoying using it with my argos. Nowhere near four months of use, but I'm enjoying it!
