CoffeeGeek gets some serious examination time with the official World Barista Championship espresso machine - the WBC-spec Nuova Simonelli Aurelia. First in a two part look.
serifb Senior Member Joined: 1 May 2005 Posts: 9 Location: istanbul Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: Rancilio Classe 10 SDE... Grinder: Rancilio MD 80, Rocky Roaster: Has Garanti 10 SHE
Posted Sat Apr 18, 2009, 5:52pm Subject: Re: The Nuova Simonelli Aurelia, Part 1 by Mark Prince
I'm currently in Atlanta and i used last years Aurelia and also the new Aurelia yesterday at the WBC "backstage" for competitor (I was coaching the Turkish Barista). I just wanted add one thing to the article and also correct you about the weight of the group heads. The advertorial video of Nuova Simonelli with Stephen Morrisey that we watched before the Finalist announcements said that the group heads are 4,7 kg and not 8 kg like in your article or like Breciano told you.
And another thing is; in one of your pictres are "multiple cups" button shown. The cups looking up side down and shows the "cup heater". It is adjustable with an resistans on top of the single boiler and you can turn in off and let the cups heat them self with just the head of the boiler itself.
The machine itself..... i think it never can make it in to the same level with the Marzocco's... but i heard some of $400-480K's for sponsorships over 3 years.... and i guess money thoes matter in the competitions... and not just performance! (hope that a capsul machine manufacturer does not pay more to be the next machine sponsor).
Posted Sat Apr 18, 2009, 6:23pm Subject: Re: The Nuova Simonelli Aurelia, Part 1 by Mark Prince
I was surprised when I first heard that LaMarz wasn't being used this year....but this looks like a pretty cool machine in its own right. i'll be very interested to read your detailed review and experiences pulling shots.
serifb Senior Member Joined: 1 May 2005 Posts: 9 Location: istanbul Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: Rancilio Classe 10 SDE... Grinder: Rancilio MD 80, Rocky Roaster: Has Garanti 10 SHE
Posted Sat Apr 18, 2009, 6:49pm Subject: Re: The Nuova Simonelli Aurelia, Part 1 by Mark Prince
I'm using myself back in my office Heatexchanged machines (a 3grp Rancilio Classe 10 SDE and a 2 grp Rancilio Classe 8). Heat exchanger machines having in my opinion advantages and disatvantages, it depents how busy your cafe is and how many shot you pull one after the other...
The single boiler machines are usefull and good if you DON'T have a busy cafe, because the heat exchanger keeps maximum 300-400 ml water and pumps after each used 100 ml or so FRESH water in to his heat exchangers again and again... so is the Nuova Simonelli.
Double boiler like Marzocco's are more consistent, if you pull several shot in a short time... but if you just pull 10-20 shots in 1 hour, the water stays to long in group head boiler and i think it kills al the minerals of the water... makes it a little "bitter"... please correct me if i'm wrong
I can use the Nuova Simonelli in my office and mabe in my country, because we don't have so many cafes,which are pulling 4-5 kg coffees a day, mostly 10 kg a week or less. But i would like to see the performance of the Nuova Simonelli in example Australia where i was used to work for 6 years and pulling 6-8 kg coffees every day. Would like to see if the steam and the brew is consistent.
wushoes Senior Member Joined: 9 Feb 2006 Posts: 318 Location: Melbourne, Australia Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: La Marzocco Mistral and FB80 Grinder: Compak K10 WBC, Robur Vac Pot: Hario and Yama Roaster: Donnie Lee
Posted Sat Apr 18, 2009, 10:53pm Subject: Re: The Nuova Simonelli Aurelia, Part 1 by Mark Prince
The multiple cups button is most likely for the cup heater element on top of the machine.
Controlling the boiler using pressure input PID for a HX makes sense. But I am with you, I'd like to see tighter pressure control on the PID (if possible).
Thanks for the correction Andy - I ha googled PID for the correct term (I always seem to screw up the P), and I literally cut and pasted it from a PID info website somewhere, but I see elsewhere its proportional.
Re temps... this is in Part 2, but it is 2F on this machine (the 0.5 down or up); I ran a scace on it and documented it with photos. I thought that was pretty huge. I may have to go back and run a more structured test; the one I did was not completely informal, but it wasn't repeated, which i should have done.
MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 5,144 Location: Vancouver Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Frankenstein'ed LM Linea Grinder: Anfim Super Caimano Vac Pot: 1922 Silex Drip: Krups Moka Brew Roaster: Hottop
Posted Mon Apr 20, 2009, 12:05am Subject: Re: The Nuova Simonelli Aurelia, Part 1 by Mark Prince
serifb Said:
The advertorial video of Nuova Simonelli with Stephen Morrisey that we watched before the Finalist announcements said that the group heads are 4,7 kg and not 8 kg like in your article or like Breciano told you.
enveng Senior Member Joined: 24 Apr 2009 Posts: 1 Location: Chicago Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Waiting to get a semi-pro... Grinder: Capresso Infinity Drip: Cuisinart Brew Central
Posted Fri Apr 24, 2009, 7:58am Subject: Re: The Nuova Simonelli Aurelia, Part 1 by Mark Prince
That flaw is the lack of an accurate, instant temperature readout of what the machine is producing in terms of temperatures at the grouphead
Odd that the machine doesn't give grouphead temperature. But isn't it possible that pressure is the best controlling signal for temperature? Funny, though...even if pressure was the best controlling factor, the PID could easily be set up to control pressure off a temperature set point. There are other factors that may have figured into the NS engineers design, though.
When you draw a shot, the tank pressure will always drop before the grouphead temperature responds (although I can't imagine this would take long). It is probable, too, that the grouphead temperature ramps or decays more slowly than does the tank pressure signal. So, theoretically, reading/controlling pressure could result in faster (tighter) process control.
I'd be curious as to your data points when you hook up your temp probe. In particular, could you get the time lag between pressure drop and temperature rise? I'd love to see pressure and temp response plotted on a time scale over several shots drawn.
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