How to make Espresso with Cafflano Kompresso

Back in 2020 I was the first human on Earth who opened the potential of this espresso maker. And let's start from the fact that Cafflano Kompresso can make an incredible espresso. And it will be better than in most coffee shops.

In fact it was the beginning of my understanding of espresso making. After learning it, it was way easier to run the shots on any espresso machine.

Pros of Cafflano Kompresso

It doesn't need preheating to make a properly extracted, complex espresso. Even with light espresso roast. You simply use boiling water and it will be enough, even outdoors. I've tried to make espresso in winter and it worked out great.

No hot parts. For me it's a huge thing, because the skin is sensitive. I enjoy coffee from other manual coffee makers, but using them is always painful. Since a metal parts will retain the heat for a pretty long time. Which makes it harder to make another shot in a row.

It is easy to clean. Because you can pour out the water and squeeze out the water from a coffee puck to make it dry - the cleaning becomes very easy. Wiping with a paper towel is usually enough. And taking out a coffee puck is probably the simplest among all of espresso makers I've used.

Manual, silent compact, fast. First of all, you will not waste coffee. You can save the shot and make it tasty by adjusting the pressure. It is easy to make corrections while brewing which is impossible with the regular pump machines. 

Reasonable dose. Maximum dose here is 15 g of coffee. Which is almost "double espresso". I would say it's a golden dose.

Limitations

You should not think about 9 Bar with this espresso maker. While it's possible - I strongly do not recommend brewing with higher than 6 Bar pressure. In fact, you will not notice any improvements when targeting 9 Bar. If you're in a sect which think that "anything lower than 9 Bar is not real espresso" - this brewer is not for you.

Well, that's all for the limitations. Ah, amount of water is also limited. With 14 g dose I can squeeze out 34 g out. Barely 36 g. So for this dose of ground coffee don't expect to get lungo :)

And maybe worth mentioning the pressure decline towards the end. Which makes the shot "less syrupy". But clean and complex instead.

How to get a 9 Bar pressure

This was my main question. The answer is simple - we need to apply the force of around 54 kg. But forget about 9 Bar since the basket will start to fail at some point if you use this pressure for a few months.

How to get a 6 Bar pressure

Well, it's around 38 kg of force. Sounds more doable, right? But still, how we are going to apply such a force? It's actually simple. Squeezing force of human (male and female) is averaging at around 29-46 kg.

Just squeeze it pretty firmly. And if the coffee goes out too slow or not showing up after 5 seconds - you probably need to make the grind size bigger. The problem is for sure not in your grip strength. Don't try to squeeze harder, it will not help.

Is it hard to make?

It is actually not. You will not have a workout load by making espresso. Your body will not notice this at all.

Two techniques - squeezing vs pressing

I personally weigh 80+ kg. For me, pressing technique is perfect since I can lean with half of the body weight. How I trained it? I tried to press on a floor scale and memorized the force from the first try. And that way I can be sure I'm not applying too much pressure.

Squeezing is still usable and even more practical. Because it can be done in any environment. Just don't try to press when squeezing, because that way you can easily produce over 90 kg of force. Luckily the plastic will start to bend excessively and you will feel that you're doing something wrong :)

Anyways, for the squeezing technique - I recommend squeezing the floor scale (preferably not electric ones but mechanical. Because you will need some base for electric ones so that they will show the data. I've placed electric scale on stool to act as a base). That way you can check your strength and memorize how much effort it is. But it's not necessary :)

In both cases you need to remember to not press with the soft area near the thumb. Since there are a lot of nerves. Keep the grip that way so that you apply pressure to the hard area of a palm. 

Making Espresso

I hope you've watched the videos above. Anyways, a good puck preparation is key for any espresso. Kompresso is no exception.

I highly recommend starting with a 14.5 g dose of coffee since it will give you the best results from a "stock" version, without any accessories.

As for the water - use a good one (low calcium etc. RO + minerals is the best). And use boiling water. Fill the brewer to the top, don't watch on marks. If some water escapes when inserting the plunger - it's fine. We just need to not have air in the "system". 

Start to press right away. We don't need to soak the coffee puck. I'm against that at least. Since the water temperature is dropping all of the time, we can't afford to wait here. 

Squeeze till the end and wait 5-10 seconds. That way you will get around 30-34 g of espresso out. But you can use the stand to control the shot precisely. 

Controlling the flavor

Don't judge your espresso by time. Only by color of the crema and the flavor. And ratio :)

Here we just adjust the grind size to dial in the flavor.

Grind size is too small: If you see that the coffee is starting to drip too slow and it takes around 5+ seconds for the first drop of water to appear - decrease the pressure and wait for 10-15 seconds to save the shot. Then gently increase the pressure.

Aftertaste of such a shot will be "dirty" and "burnt". Also, crema will be thin. And the brewing time is over 45 seconds.

Grind size is too big: Shot starts to run very rapidly and finishes in under 12 seconds. Crema is too bright, flavor is not complex and "thin".

Target to have a grind size which creates a noticeable resistance when you squeezing espresso maker.  So that it starts to flow pretty fast, but retains the flow without significant increase of the flowrate. Usually, crema will be pretty thick and have a "tiger pattern" if brewed correctly.

General recommendations

Careful with the gasket. Coffee particles may go inside and damage it. Also, don't screw it too tight when assembly. Be gentle. The gasket will thank you for that.

Don't press when there is no coffee after 5+ seconds. Since it may damage the basket in a long run. 

Preheat the cup with hot water if you're going to use the stand.

Don't drink more than 3 espresso a day.

Conclusions 

It's really not hard to get an incredible flavor from this espresso maker. But yeah, having accessories will elevate it to a whole new level. Because in espresso, precision is key. And by controlling the shot weight and having a WDT for a proper puck preparation - you increasing stability and predictability of the results.

As for the coffee grinder, I would recommend having at least Timemore C3 Esp. Because it does have enough of fine adjustments so that you can find a proper grind size easily. 

I'm using Kinu m47 with around 1 rotation setting when brewing with Cafflano Kompresso. At least for coffee that I've used recently.