If you were mean-spirited your response to this could be, ‘what on earth are CaffeMotive playing at?’, but that isn’t our view. Caffemotive, the manufacturers of the Bacchi get our full support for acknowledging a weakness in an otherwise exceptionally good product and working away at it.
If only all our suppliers were as willing to acknowledge that their products had scope for improvement.
We weren’t aware of this change until our latest consignment of Bacchi arrived just now and the centre point where it has been on a CNC lathe or machining centre was immediately noticeable as a change. It seemed to feel a little heavier too, so we placed it on the scales and confirmed that our suspicions were correct. This third iteration of the base now weighs 263g, up from 240g in the second design and 200g in the first design. This represents a 31% increase in the mass of the base in the latest design over the original. This is going to ensure the heat from the heat source has more mass to spread itself across and it should reduce the maximum temperatures reached in the aluminium base as a result, which in turn should reduce the likelihood of the base distorting.
I think there is more than just an increase in the mass of the casting though. The quality of the casting looks far superior to the first design in particular, with no signs of porosity in the metal on the machined surfaces. A quality casting is one that has been cooled quickly to ensure the metallic structure of the metal is tightly formed with no crystallisation occurring, as it will if the casting is allowed to cool slowly. Any impurities in the metal will also produce a weak casting. These latest ones look good.
There is also a lot less tearing on the machined surface which indicates that whoever did the machining for CaffeMotive is being paid enough to change the carbide tips on the CNC lathe/machining centre at the correct intervals, rather than pushing the tips beyond their service life to save every last penny, which results in a ugly ‘torn’ surface finish.
So, if there is a Bacchi languishing at the back of your cupboard that could be making first class espresso for want of a new base, then order the latest Bacchi base here (part No.28) and get your Bacchi back in service.