Espresso From a Cold Machine? I Put a Thermometer in the Cup

Kilo has no preheating step. So I measured what happens in the cup.

Most espresso routines begin with waiting.

You switch the machine on. You wait for it to warm up. Then you wait a bit more, to be safe. By the time the first shot is possible, you've spent a good part of your morning on it.

I built Kilo so that step doesn't exist. No preheating. You temp your puck, you mount it, you turn the handle. That's the whole idea, and I wanted to see it with my own eyes, not just say it.

What I measured

I used two thermometers.

The first is an infrared one. I pointed it at the body of the machine and into the brew chamber, before anything went in. Both were simply at room level. A cold machine, as promised.

The second goes in the cup. That's the one that matters, because the cup is where you drink it. A thin probe sits in the espresso while the shot comes out, and I cut the video so you can watch the measuring and the pulling happen together.

The shot

I like my shots fast and gentle, with low pressure and a light turn of the handle. I mounted the puck, poured the hot water in above the plunger, and pulled.

What the probe showed, you'll see in the video. I'll only say this: it was a real cup of espresso, ready to drink, from a machine that hadn't been warmed up.

What it's for

Fewer steps between you and your first shot. If you could drop the preheating, wouldn't that be nice?

This is one run on one morning, shown on camera. It's a demonstration, not a lab report. I'm planning to measure inside the puck during the brew next.

Mika