today we're going to look at the Kafe
lat robot a little manual lever espresso
machine a lot of you have asked for this
review so here it is and this is kind of
a first look review I'm gonna pull some
shots get a feel for it
let you know what I'm thinking now this
review like all my reviews is powered by
patreon thank you to all of you who give
me a budget to go out and buy these
things not owe anyone anything I can be
honest I can tell you the truth about
how I feel and I'm going to give this
away to a patreon backer afterwards this
is I think the the barista model so it
has a little pressure gauge on it it is
a three hundred and seventy dollar
manual espresso machine and it looks
cool
I think this thing looks really really
good this is in the green they do do a
kind of silver version but green all
away from me now when you buy this thing
you get a few more things in the box and
talking you through them it's gonna be a
nice little explainer about how this
whole thing works because it's a little
bit different to some of the other
manual espresso machines out there most
of the magic is going to happen in this
thing here this is your portafilter
basket slash porter filter itself slash
brew chamber slash dispersion screen I
will explain so inside here there's kind
of three pieces you've got this which is
just a holder this is what you can use
to lock in the basket into the machine
and this this is your basket and it's
just like a kind of regular double
basket that you would get from stress
machine except the walls are really long
because it's also gonna act as kind of
your brew chamber so you're gonna put
coffee in here like you would any other
espresso machine basket you're gonna
tamp it down and then this goes on top
which is kind of a dispersion screen so
it sits on top of the coffee now what's
gonna surprise people is that you then
put your hot water straight off the boil
into this basket drop it in there you
lock it into the machine you're gonna
use these to just drive the water
through the coffee to create a delicious
espresso and this one does have a
pressure gauge so you can see how much
pressure you're applying in real time
which is kind of nice
most of what you get you get a tamper
that fits interesting a little designed
it does also come with spouts and this
is a kind of cool little choice so these
this way to explain this
these just gasket on to the bottom of
that now I would say nine and a half
times out of ten people using this thing
I'm going to use this they're going to
want to see that kind of naked
extraction and I would also add there
are a couple of downsides to using the
sort of splitter that I'll talk about a
little bit later on my unit did also
come with a pressurized Porta filter so
here it looks like a regular supposed to
machine basket there but this kind of
one tiny hole and the idea behind this
is that you you add a lot of pressure
through this sort of restriction point
here that your coffee isn't providing
because it's that sort of medium grind
stuff in supermarkets that can make
espresso that's labeled for espresso who
knows what they're thinking but that's
kind of what this is for so if you want
to use pre-ground coffee and get some
decent results then pressurized porta
filters are pretty good for that but if
you've got a good grinder no no no
that's not what we need we want the
proper the proper basket so let's make
some coffee
let's make some coffee that's what we're
here to do I'm gonna talk you through
how I've been making coffee and
hopefully answer a few questions you
might have along the way and I'll kind
of nitpick a few little things and talk
about things that I really like as well
the basket can go from I think about 10
grams all the way up to 20 there are 20
it's gonna be pretty physical I have
been brewing so far about 17 grams so
and we just weigh that out 17.1 should
be fine now this this nearly nearly fits
perfectly on the niche dosing cup but
not quite it's no bad thing though it
works well enough immediately you're
probably thinking about thermal
management in reviews of other manual
espresso makers I've talked a lot about
the challenges of thermal management
with these kind of things
this baskets pretty much cold and that's
okay because essentially the liquid when
it brews is really just gonna pass
through the bottom of the basket and go
straight to the cup so
not a huge thermal loss than there again
once we've tamp this which is slightly
weird but not unpleasant experience and
we've put the basket on top we're going
to put pretty much just off boiling
water on top of this that's rapidly
gonna heat the basket it doesn't weigh
that much it'll pull just a little
temperature off the very very hot water
and we should then be brewing in a
pretty sweet spot in terms of espresso
brewing temperatures now there's a
couple of ways you could approach how
much water to put in you could put in
more than you need and just stop your
shot early the challenge with that is
that I've yet to find a set of scales
that that neatly fits under here I've
got like a cheap brand observe Amazon
there's a bit too wide the Akaya luna
espresso scales are a little bit too
wide
so that's harder for me to know exactly
when to stop the shot with a little bit
of trial and error you can kind of work
out how much you want out plus how much
you might lose to the coffee itself and
then just put in as much as you need
I've generally been chasing with 17
grams in about 38 grams out a slightly
longer ratio than two to one and to do
that I've been putting in about 58 60
grams most makes it through but that the
coffee itself does absorb some not as
much as it would do in say a filter
coffee because most of the water is
being squeezed out of those grounds so
they absorb a bit more than a gram per
gram but not a lot more not two grams
per gram anyway about 60 grams in works
really well for me to get 38 grams out
with a 17 gram dose it's bought some
water so this is just off the boil I'm
gonna
about 60 grams there this isn't hot yet
and then this is slightly unusual
feeling when you actually lock it in
because it feels kind of loose but once
you apply pressure you should be okay
I'm going to pull this into the new crew
of espresso glass alright
espresso time
silver around nine bars they're looking
hard
I should have espresso if I take away
the pressure it should stop dripping
there we go
got myself a little double espresso it
smells pretty good and I have to say
tastes pretty good I've had some really
really nice shots from this thing that
is I mean that is a good shot that is
sweet it's well extracted
I think definitely benefits from a
little bit more length I just find
coffee easier to brew at slightly more
than two to one especially in these type
of setups the niche is a grinder that
tends to give you a little bit more
texture than it does clarity you know in
this kind of a setup I think that works
really well a lot of what people like
about levers is having a lot of control
and also quite textural shots that you'd
get from them that was good
mmm a little bit messy but I'm okay I
could have dealt with that before
drinking my coffee but I'm just more
isn't a hurry the clean ups okay
u-dor wipe off the pistol at the bottom
here but very little coffee really comes
in contact with it the shower screen is
in the way your shower screen really
needs to go to the sink
right there's no simpler way to wash
that so put it in a sink give it a wash
it's very simple very easy and then you
get your basket now the top is still
okay to hold temperature-wise so you can
tap it out taps out reasonably clean
again generally speaking the more
compressed your puck is at the end of
that shot the easier it will be to tap
it all out if you're kind of declining
your pressure through the shot which is
totally a thing people do and enjoy you
might have a slightly looser puck but
that's fine you can wipe the rest of it
out with like a towel or give it a rinse
in the sink if you want to your gonna
brew straight away after we clean it out
with a towel and just go again but if
I'm not gonna use it till tomorrow to
the sink and that's kind of it that's
the bits to clean obviously the base if
it gets messy needs a wipe but that's it
I have to say it's it's it's just nice
to use the workflow seems a little funny
to watch right the pouring the water
then given the hot water into the
machine the first few times you do feel
a little conscious of that the more I
use it the lesser think about that
actually I did say I would mention the
spouts again these are lovely well made
but they're very heavy and because of
that they have a large thermal mass
which means if they're not very very
very hot they will pull heat from your
espresso liquid that means that your
shots will brew at a nice temperature
but be cooled on their way to the cup so
you can preheat this you could leave it
in some boiling water and just kind of
clip the brew chamber on top of it to
sort of create that seal and pick it up
and drain it out it's a little bit fussy
most people would want to see a naked
extraction or just are going to drink
the devil out of it there's no huge use
for them it's nice that it comes with it
but just be aware that it will mean a
little bit more work the other sort of
small frustrations that I've had with it
to date the the brewing gage isn't
always the easiest to see it depends how
you're using it I know I'm a little
taller but getting a good angle to sort
of be able to push down and look isn't
the easiest it's not the worst either
like I've certainly been able to see
what pressure I'm brewing at it's
interesting to feel that pressure in a
different way I'm not saying it's harder
the Flair is a little different for
example this you've got two points of
pressure these are a nice length you're
certainly able to exert high pressures
with it but I did feel like I was doing
some work to hit my nine bars I really
did
don't put in the dishwasher I don't know
if I need to tell you that but but don't
it's really easy to clean I wish this
was a bit wider or I wish it was easier
to get a scale underneath be it having
the legs wider or just finding a scale
that fits I would like to have the
ability to stop a shop based on liquid
in the cup because that's just how I
think about espresso that's the easiest
way to nail your shot time after time
after time I think it's beautiful I
think it's a really well-made solid
feeling thing I think it's absolutely
worth the money I really really enjoy
using this actually maybe I'm slowly
becoming a kind of manual espresso
person you know I enjoyed using things
like the Flair and the rock and and this
I think is excellent I really do I've
really enjoyed the shots the workflow
did freak me out initially but actually
it's not too bad at all there's moments
when I kind of wish that the little
handle piece didn't sit as close to the
lever as it does that's not the end of
the world though overall I'm impressed
as a first-look I'm impressed
I would enjoy having this in my life I
really enjoyed the coffee I've gotten
from it I don't worry too much about
thermal management with it which is kind
of interesting compared to some other
Brewers yeah well done kappa waaat from
my point of view that is a nice little
brewer
so if you're a longtime subscriber or
even a short time subscriber you might
notice that this is a different sort of
place for me to stand and review than
usual this is a kind of new additional
space a space where I can stand up work
standing up get more physically involved
with things like levar espresso machines
and be able to do more interesting stuff
that I could perform it will evolve it's
going to improve we've got lots of work
to do on it still it will look better it
will sound better but this is the
beginning so I hope you join me you know
follow along for the kind of evolution
of this space and these videos but now
it's time to ask you some questions do
you have one of these what do you think
what did I miss what do you like about
it what frustrates you about it how are
your shots do you now want one of these
I could I could understand that it is a
pretty cool little home brewer let me
know down in the comments below thank
you so much for watching and I hope you
have a great day
lat robot a little manual lever espresso
machine a lot of you have asked for this
review so here it is and this is kind of
a first look review I'm gonna pull some
shots get a feel for it
let you know what I'm thinking now this
review like all my reviews is powered by
patreon thank you to all of you who give
me a budget to go out and buy these
things not owe anyone anything I can be
honest I can tell you the truth about
how I feel and I'm going to give this
away to a patreon backer afterwards this
is I think the the barista model so it
has a little pressure gauge on it it is
a three hundred and seventy dollar
manual espresso machine and it looks
cool
I think this thing looks really really
good this is in the green they do do a
kind of silver version but green all
away from me now when you buy this thing
you get a few more things in the box and
talking you through them it's gonna be a
nice little explainer about how this
whole thing works because it's a little
bit different to some of the other
manual espresso machines out there most
of the magic is going to happen in this
thing here this is your portafilter
basket slash porter filter itself slash
brew chamber slash dispersion screen I
will explain so inside here there's kind
of three pieces you've got this which is
just a holder this is what you can use
to lock in the basket into the machine
and this this is your basket and it's
just like a kind of regular double
basket that you would get from stress
machine except the walls are really long
because it's also gonna act as kind of
your brew chamber so you're gonna put
coffee in here like you would any other
espresso machine basket you're gonna
tamp it down and then this goes on top
which is kind of a dispersion screen so
it sits on top of the coffee now what's
gonna surprise people is that you then
put your hot water straight off the boil
into this basket drop it in there you
lock it into the machine you're gonna
use these to just drive the water
through the coffee to create a delicious
espresso and this one does have a
pressure gauge so you can see how much
pressure you're applying in real time
which is kind of nice
most of what you get you get a tamper
that fits interesting a little designed
it does also come with spouts and this
is a kind of cool little choice so these
this way to explain this
these just gasket on to the bottom of
that now I would say nine and a half
times out of ten people using this thing
I'm going to use this they're going to
want to see that kind of naked
extraction and I would also add there
are a couple of downsides to using the
sort of splitter that I'll talk about a
little bit later on my unit did also
come with a pressurized Porta filter so
here it looks like a regular supposed to
machine basket there but this kind of
one tiny hole and the idea behind this
is that you you add a lot of pressure
through this sort of restriction point
here that your coffee isn't providing
because it's that sort of medium grind
stuff in supermarkets that can make
espresso that's labeled for espresso who
knows what they're thinking but that's
kind of what this is for so if you want
to use pre-ground coffee and get some
decent results then pressurized porta
filters are pretty good for that but if
you've got a good grinder no no no
that's not what we need we want the
proper the proper basket so let's make
some coffee
let's make some coffee that's what we're
here to do I'm gonna talk you through
how I've been making coffee and
hopefully answer a few questions you
might have along the way and I'll kind
of nitpick a few little things and talk
about things that I really like as well
the basket can go from I think about 10
grams all the way up to 20 there are 20
it's gonna be pretty physical I have
been brewing so far about 17 grams so
and we just weigh that out 17.1 should
be fine now this this nearly nearly fits
perfectly on the niche dosing cup but
not quite it's no bad thing though it
works well enough immediately you're
probably thinking about thermal
management in reviews of other manual
espresso makers I've talked a lot about
the challenges of thermal management
with these kind of things
this baskets pretty much cold and that's
okay because essentially the liquid when
it brews is really just gonna pass
through the bottom of the basket and go
straight to the cup so
not a huge thermal loss than there again
once we've tamp this which is slightly
weird but not unpleasant experience and
we've put the basket on top we're going
to put pretty much just off boiling
water on top of this that's rapidly
gonna heat the basket it doesn't weigh
that much it'll pull just a little
temperature off the very very hot water
and we should then be brewing in a
pretty sweet spot in terms of espresso
brewing temperatures now there's a
couple of ways you could approach how
much water to put in you could put in
more than you need and just stop your
shot early the challenge with that is
that I've yet to find a set of scales
that that neatly fits under here I've
got like a cheap brand observe Amazon
there's a bit too wide the Akaya luna
espresso scales are a little bit too
wide
so that's harder for me to know exactly
when to stop the shot with a little bit
of trial and error you can kind of work
out how much you want out plus how much
you might lose to the coffee itself and
then just put in as much as you need
I've generally been chasing with 17
grams in about 38 grams out a slightly
longer ratio than two to one and to do
that I've been putting in about 58 60
grams most makes it through but that the
coffee itself does absorb some not as
much as it would do in say a filter
coffee because most of the water is
being squeezed out of those grounds so
they absorb a bit more than a gram per
gram but not a lot more not two grams
per gram anyway about 60 grams in works
really well for me to get 38 grams out
with a 17 gram dose it's bought some
water so this is just off the boil I'm
gonna
about 60 grams there this isn't hot yet
and then this is slightly unusual
feeling when you actually lock it in
because it feels kind of loose but once
you apply pressure you should be okay
I'm going to pull this into the new crew
of espresso glass alright
espresso time
silver around nine bars they're looking
hard
I should have espresso if I take away
the pressure it should stop dripping
there we go
got myself a little double espresso it
smells pretty good and I have to say
tastes pretty good I've had some really
really nice shots from this thing that
is I mean that is a good shot that is
sweet it's well extracted
I think definitely benefits from a
little bit more length I just find
coffee easier to brew at slightly more
than two to one especially in these type
of setups the niche is a grinder that
tends to give you a little bit more
texture than it does clarity you know in
this kind of a setup I think that works
really well a lot of what people like
about levers is having a lot of control
and also quite textural shots that you'd
get from them that was good
mmm a little bit messy but I'm okay I
could have dealt with that before
drinking my coffee but I'm just more
isn't a hurry the clean ups okay
u-dor wipe off the pistol at the bottom
here but very little coffee really comes
in contact with it the shower screen is
in the way your shower screen really
needs to go to the sink
right there's no simpler way to wash
that so put it in a sink give it a wash
it's very simple very easy and then you
get your basket now the top is still
okay to hold temperature-wise so you can
tap it out taps out reasonably clean
again generally speaking the more
compressed your puck is at the end of
that shot the easier it will be to tap
it all out if you're kind of declining
your pressure through the shot which is
totally a thing people do and enjoy you
might have a slightly looser puck but
that's fine you can wipe the rest of it
out with like a towel or give it a rinse
in the sink if you want to your gonna
brew straight away after we clean it out
with a towel and just go again but if
I'm not gonna use it till tomorrow to
the sink and that's kind of it that's
the bits to clean obviously the base if
it gets messy needs a wipe but that's it
I have to say it's it's it's just nice
to use the workflow seems a little funny
to watch right the pouring the water
then given the hot water into the
machine the first few times you do feel
a little conscious of that the more I
use it the lesser think about that
actually I did say I would mention the
spouts again these are lovely well made
but they're very heavy and because of
that they have a large thermal mass
which means if they're not very very
very hot they will pull heat from your
espresso liquid that means that your
shots will brew at a nice temperature
but be cooled on their way to the cup so
you can preheat this you could leave it
in some boiling water and just kind of
clip the brew chamber on top of it to
sort of create that seal and pick it up
and drain it out it's a little bit fussy
most people would want to see a naked
extraction or just are going to drink
the devil out of it there's no huge use
for them it's nice that it comes with it
but just be aware that it will mean a
little bit more work the other sort of
small frustrations that I've had with it
to date the the brewing gage isn't
always the easiest to see it depends how
you're using it I know I'm a little
taller but getting a good angle to sort
of be able to push down and look isn't
the easiest it's not the worst either
like I've certainly been able to see
what pressure I'm brewing at it's
interesting to feel that pressure in a
different way I'm not saying it's harder
the Flair is a little different for
example this you've got two points of
pressure these are a nice length you're
certainly able to exert high pressures
with it but I did feel like I was doing
some work to hit my nine bars I really
did
don't put in the dishwasher I don't know
if I need to tell you that but but don't
it's really easy to clean I wish this
was a bit wider or I wish it was easier
to get a scale underneath be it having
the legs wider or just finding a scale
that fits I would like to have the
ability to stop a shop based on liquid
in the cup because that's just how I
think about espresso that's the easiest
way to nail your shot time after time
after time I think it's beautiful I
think it's a really well-made solid
feeling thing I think it's absolutely
worth the money I really really enjoy
using this actually maybe I'm slowly
becoming a kind of manual espresso
person you know I enjoyed using things
like the Flair and the rock and and this
I think is excellent I really do I've
really enjoyed the shots the workflow
did freak me out initially but actually
it's not too bad at all there's moments
when I kind of wish that the little
handle piece didn't sit as close to the
lever as it does that's not the end of
the world though overall I'm impressed
as a first-look I'm impressed
I would enjoy having this in my life I
really enjoyed the coffee I've gotten
from it I don't worry too much about
thermal management with it which is kind
of interesting compared to some other
Brewers yeah well done kappa waaat from
my point of view that is a nice little
brewer
so if you're a longtime subscriber or
even a short time subscriber you might
notice that this is a different sort of
place for me to stand and review than
usual this is a kind of new additional
space a space where I can stand up work
standing up get more physically involved
with things like levar espresso machines
and be able to do more interesting stuff
that I could perform it will evolve it's
going to improve we've got lots of work
to do on it still it will look better it
will sound better but this is the
beginning so I hope you join me you know
follow along for the kind of evolution
of this space and these videos but now
it's time to ask you some questions do
you have one of these what do you think
what did I miss what do you like about
it what frustrates you about it how are
your shots do you now want one of these
I could I could understand that it is a
pretty cool little home brewer let me
know down in the comments below thank
you so much for watching and I hope you
have a great day
