a review about rancillo classe 11 xcelcius

at the international rimini - sigep 2018 gelato, coffee and chocolate fair, "rancilio classe 11 xcelsius" was one of the most impressive machines for me. i followed the introduction of the very dramatic espresso machines at sigep and i tasted a lot of espresso made with them. i was actually impressed from the visual positive impression created by the wonderful espresso machines, but espresso made with them did not impress me. this is related to :

i. the average italian coffee were roasted darkly,

ii. almostly all coffee they used in the fair were stale. for example ground coffee of a neapolitan  family company were about 12 months old.

iii. they were keeping ground coffee within the dozer. i decided that i must  bring my freshly roasted coffee beans to the next fair.

in italy, it is rare to find floral acidity in espresso. therefore, average italian espresso aren't balanced. but the formal espresso presentation and the stable structure in  its cream which is very important for average italian, will make you happy anyway.

anyway, let's go back to rancillo classe 11xcelcius. the temperature measurement unit in europe is celcius and this machine makes its unique skill through temperature control. for this reason, they  named this top model of the rancillo classe 11 espresso machine as "xcelcius". the "x" reinforces the word as a prefix. if they  were to choose  america as the target market,  its name could be "rancillo classe 11 xfahrenheit".

there are 2, 3, and 4 group models. this machine  should be considered as a new top generation of espresso machines. i think it will be a major milestone in espresso history.

it is possible to prepare well-balanced esperesso for good educated, specialized  baristas with a good espresso machine. but such well-educated  baristas  are very few in the world. so, this machine can bring great prestige for special coffee places.

there are 2, 3, and 4 group models. this machine  should be considered as a new top generation of espresso machines. i think it will be a major milestone in espresso history.

it is possible to prepare well-balanced esperesso for good educated, specialized  baristas with a good espresso machine. but such well-educated  baristas  are very few in the world. so, this machine can bring great prestige for special coffee places.

the concept of "balancing" is not a two-legged seesaw, as generally accepted. if the acidity and the bitterness of espresso feel same degrees in your mouth, that coffee is called "balanced" (well-balanced). but it is the nirvana point of espresso is  its sweetness. for me, balancing is a  three-legged trivet. but reaching to sweetness at the espresso is a very difficult and is  almost utopic. the definition of 3-d balancing considering sweetness is that will enter the playground of an extraordinarily equipped, educated, experienced roaster and barista.

rancillo classe 11 xcelcius sets  the balance between acidity &  bitterness by changing the brewing water temperature. you should take a look at the article "brew water temperature and  its effect on espresso taste and extraction" which i have presented to the barista candidates.  baristas have to understand the decisive influence of temperature on balance. i will present a quote from  the above mentioned article :

" ...hotter temps result in increased body and sweetness (with a greater chance of astringency and bitterness), while cooler temps  emphasize less bitterness, body and sweetness (resulting in a sour, bright shot)..."

"... lowering the brew temp will enhance acidity in coffee/raising the brew temp will decrease acidity in coffee..."

now you understand the skill and philosophy of this machine.

of course, there was a need for additional equipment to accomplish this, and rancillo did it with a  micro boiler that integrated into each of the group heads. these  micro boilers can heat more water coming from the main boiler up to 5 degrees.  also this  micro boiler  does it in a very short time

so you whisper that you want to increase the temperature of brewing water to your machine while actually reducing acidity and increasing  bitterness from your flashy led screen.

on the contrary, when your customer orders a live, dynamic or floral-flavored or a little bitter espresso, you need to increase this acidity and reduce bitter taste. you can easily make this balance change from the touchscreen display. perfect, is  it not?

but if you watch rancillo's own promotional video, you'll see that it  also has a timing aspect of balancing. if you look at jim schulman's article "some aspects of espresso extraction" based on ted lingle's famous work which i republished  in my blog, you will see that while compounds with high molecular weight dissolve slowly, compounds with low molecular weight dissolve quickly. therefore the espresso brewing also has a timing dimension.

based on this fact, rancillo created an espresso machine which is setting balance by  graphical interfaces. this is why rancilio became the focus of visitors.

here is some information from producer :

xcelsius temperature profiling

this is why any variation in the water temperature, combined with the physical and chemical properties of the blend, changes the organoleptic properties of the espresso.

xcelsius technology has been designed to enhance the organoleptic properties of each individual coffee blend, acting dynamically on the water temperature during the 25-30

second brewing time : by increasing or decreasing the temperature by up to 5° (9°f), it allows variations in the specific features of the brewed espresso coffee to be achieved, thus significantly improving the quality of the product in the cup". 

i think that a micro boiler, which also accounts for the timing of the  soluble to drop into the cup, will be a new turning point on the road to the top.

touch and floating panel

the highly sensitive, shock-proof and scratch-proof tempered glass control panel with touch

technology is the most visible part of the machine: the tempered glass is screen printed and guarantees long life anj resistance to wear, featuring a clear and user-friendly iconography. the various screens are subdivided by topic and viewable using a simple horizontal scrolling function.

within them, each topic is subdivided schematically to be with a simple touch.

smart navigation and can-bus technology

classe 11 is controlled using quick and simple menus, like a smartphone, featuring a quickly assimilated lexicon of icons, where the display provides real time feedback. furthermore, the can-bus

technology inherited from the automotive sector ensures a totally reliable and efficient transfer of information in real time.

rancilio drive system

the software provides three operation menus. from the "barista" menu, with the main machine functions, including the highlighted pressure gauge, to the password protected menus: the “manager" menu, designed to set functions that may vary throughout the working day, and the "technical" menu, used to set and enable all the classe

you can watch it's video :