Robot Espresso Maker User Manual
What is Cafelat Robot?
- The Robot is a small, high quality manual coffee maker that makes real espresso
- It uses few parts, no complicated electronics and only premium materials like stainless steel - it is completely plastic free
- All you need is ground coffee, some hot water from a kettle and you are all set
- The whole process is simple and takes just a few minutes - no need for any capsule machine and less plastic waste for the landfills
- Features a professional 58mm stainless steel filter basket
- Also has a bottomless portafilter just like pro machines
- Save money on expensive plastic capsules
- Design is registered and barista version is patent pending
What drinks can I make?
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The Robot makes espresso shots only. You can then drink as straight espresso, add water to make an americano or even make milk drinks if you have a milk steamer. You can use fresh ground coffee with the professional basket, or you can use pre-ground coffee (e.g. Illy, Lavazza etc..) using the pressurised basket.
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What do I need to be able to make coffee with the Robot?
Some hot water and some coffee. The Robot has no boiler or heater inside, so you will have to manually fill it with hot water prior to brewing.
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Fresh ground coffee from a coffee grinder such as a hand grinder or an electric grinder. Blade grinders will not work. Fresh coffee is to be used with the professional filter basket. |
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Pre-ground supermarket coffee (e.g. the solid bricks) can be used with our pressurised double wall basket. Pre-ground coffee such as this only really work with the special pressurised basket. |
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How does it work without a boiler and a pump?
What is the coffee quality like?
The oversized filter basket doubles as a brewing chamber. To keep things simple, there is no heating element, so you will have to fill the basket up with hot water from a kettle. As soon as you pour in water just off the boil into the basket, it immediately cools to around 95 deg c, absolutely perfect for brewing killer espresso.
Do not be fooled by the toy-like cutesy Robot looks, the Robot means business and is capable of pulling espresso shots like a professional machine costing 50x more. By pushing down the lever arms, the internal piston forces the hot water through the coffee creating the thick syrupy espresso. The machine is more than capable of producing that magic 9 bar pressure, but lever machines prefer somewhere in the region of 6-7 bar.
It might take some time to practice, but the Robot gives you the tools to produce great espresso shots.
Do not be fooled by the toy-like cutesy Robot looks, the Robot means business and is capable of pulling espresso shots like a professional machine costing 50x more. By pushing down the lever arms, the internal piston forces the hot water through the coffee creating the thick syrupy espresso. The machine is more than capable of producing that magic 9 bar pressure, but lever machines prefer somewhere in the region of 6-7 bar.
It might take some time to practice, but the Robot gives you the tools to produce great espresso shots.
Specifications
58mm filter baskets the same size as professional semi-automatic machines. Our baskets are extremely high quality, they are made by the same factory that makes all the best baskets in the world.
Stainless Steel Tamper 1 piece stainless steel tamper designed and machined to precisely fit snugly in the basket and has tapered side walls to prevent ground being sucked back when you lift the tamper.
Pressure gauge Our Patent Pending system takes the pressure reading from inside the basket. Add to that the manual pressing of the lever arms, it enables you to manipulate pre-infusion, flow and pressure in real-time to get the best from your coffee.
Extraction pressure Ignore the magic 9 bar, that figure originally referred to the pump output pressure of a Faema E61 machine, when in actual fact the pressure at the group will be lower, maybe even 1-2 bar lower. Traditional lever machines (as measured by us) typically extract at 6-7 bars, and since the basket and piston on the Robot are the same size, we suggest you initially aim for 6-7 bars as well and adjust as preferred.
Temperature management The Robot is clearly not going to give you a La Marzocco type flat temperature profile. But water off the boil poured into a gently pre-heated basket will yield approx 95 deg c water, and will give you up to 88 deg c coffee output from the basket.
Extraction ratios Certainly a 2:1 ratio of beverage mass to ground coffee is possible i.e. a 16g coffee dose can easily yield a 32g beverage weight. You can increase the beverage weight up to 40-45g if needed.
Bottomless is best For best results we recommend using the portafilter without the spouts - but when using the pressurised basket it is best to use with the spouts attached.
It's a lever machine Lever machines can be very forgiving thanks to their gentle pre-infusion and the soft ramp up to full pressure.
Stainless Steel Tamper 1 piece stainless steel tamper designed and machined to precisely fit snugly in the basket and has tapered side walls to prevent ground being sucked back when you lift the tamper.
Pressure gauge Our Patent Pending system takes the pressure reading from inside the basket. Add to that the manual pressing of the lever arms, it enables you to manipulate pre-infusion, flow and pressure in real-time to get the best from your coffee.
Extraction pressure Ignore the magic 9 bar, that figure originally referred to the pump output pressure of a Faema E61 machine, when in actual fact the pressure at the group will be lower, maybe even 1-2 bar lower. Traditional lever machines (as measured by us) typically extract at 6-7 bars, and since the basket and piston on the Robot are the same size, we suggest you initially aim for 6-7 bars as well and adjust as preferred.
Temperature management The Robot is clearly not going to give you a La Marzocco type flat temperature profile. But water off the boil poured into a gently pre-heated basket will yield approx 95 deg c water, and will give you up to 88 deg c coffee output from the basket.
Extraction ratios Certainly a 2:1 ratio of beverage mass to ground coffee is possible i.e. a 16g coffee dose can easily yield a 32g beverage weight. You can increase the beverage weight up to 40-45g if needed.
Bottomless is best For best results we recommend using the portafilter without the spouts - but when using the pressurised basket it is best to use with the spouts attached.
It's a lever machine Lever machines can be very forgiving thanks to their gentle pre-infusion and the soft ramp up to full pressure.
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Weight
Approx 2.8kg (6.2lbs), including the tamper Material The main body and bases are aluminium All other parts are stainless steel The piston seal is FDA approved silicone It is completely plastic free Finish Aluminium or Retro Green |
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Safety
A quick recap on safety for the users with pressure gauges. I recommend you using the machine in the 5-8 bar range for extraction. I know it must be tempting to go full blast and try and max out the gauge :) but please don't. Try and keep to a maximum of 8 bar. I routinely test and try and destruct the Robots well over 14 bar but only for brief moment. The stainless arms will no doubt take all you can give them, but the main body is aluminium and you risk breaking it (even though I have yet to do so). If you use it in that range you will get many shots from it as I have done.
If you do not have the pressure gauge, please put a bathroom scale under the machine and pull a shot. When it reads 40lbs (18kg) that is around 7-8 bar and the max you should be pressing down.
I also highly recommend just pushing the arms down, DO NOT use the Robot legs to help you get extra leverage i.e. like squeezing pair of pliers in each hand. That will risk breaking the machine. Just press straight down evenly with both hands.
If you do not have the pressure gauge, please put a bathroom scale under the machine and pull a shot. When it reads 40lbs (18kg) that is around 7-8 bar and the max you should be pressing down.
I also highly recommend just pushing the arms down, DO NOT use the Robot legs to help you get extra leverage i.e. like squeezing pair of pliers in each hand. That will risk breaking the machine. Just press straight down evenly with both hands.
