Versalab Espresso

We at Versalab take a great deal of pride in making some of the most advanced espresso making equipment available anywhere in the world. In fact we think that we stay ahead of our competitors with our cutting edge design.

The presently available products - the Grinder and the Press - represent the ideal way to grind and tamp for consistent espresso whether for the high-end coffee shop or for the real espresso connoisseur. Take a look at them on their individual pages.

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Versalab and Espresso - a history

Early in 2001 Versalab once again started new research, this time in the art and science of espresso making. We had become aware that several espresso gurus thought that improvements in brew water temperature control could help make better and more consistent espresso. David Schomer also thought that grinders could be improved. This was a time when espresso machine makers seemed to care little about quality in the cup.

In order to do some initial investigation, John our head designer, headed out to Schomer's town to fit a PID controller to David's two head Marzocco Linea. After getting this running in the ESI lab, making some shockingly superior shots, and then enjoying his first earthquake, he came back quite fired up about the possibilities existing in improving espresso.

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By late summer of 2001 we have a lab model espresso machine. This naturally isn't like any other machine. John examined many of the obvious problems in present day commercial machines and pretty much ended up having to start the design from scratch. Proof of the concept comes when a new friend - with decades of roasting and coffee shop experience - hangs up on a phone call to a friend and sits unmoving for five minutes - after sipping his first shot from the lab model of the soon to be M3 espresso machine.

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A preproduction design is begun in 2002 and by March of 2003 - any machine development process takes a long time - the first shot comes out of the preproduction M3. July of that year we install the second machine, at Kaladi Brothers in Denver. They pay for it pretty quickly since they charge twice the cost of a shot from the Marzocco Linea and people including the staff rave about the M3.

What kind of main features did the M3 have in 2003? 1. The tested ability to maintain brew water temperature to +/- .15 degrees F, around any chosen temperature. 2. The elimination of the three way valve - only clean water comes into the brew chamber. 3. Control of brew pressure to .01 Bar. 4. The elimination of metal flavors in the brew water. It even had a rather handsome and nice to use wood portafilter handle.

April of 2004 the M3 goes to the SCAA show in Atlanta, where eventually it is discovered and a bunch of coffee fanatics really do rave about what comes out.

Little advancements continue just as they have since the beginning. All the details that make our equipment what it is today, after the initial creative process, come step by step every month. And there have been a few months since March 2001.

Later in 2004 we decided to address several of the other things that were interfering with the consistency we felt the M3 capable of.

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Compressing the grounds in the filter basket well and consistently has always been a problem. Here the human must act as a perfect machine in order not to get in the way of the espresso. We did not feel that it was reasonable to continue, since the solution - the Packer (now the Press) was not hard to design. Now there is the possibility to have packing that is not only extremely consistent, but it is possible to use higher packing pressures which reduce the guttering problems of low compressing pressures.

After all this consistency was available, it really became apparent that the grinder was holding things up. We had been using the very unusual grinder preferred by David Schomer and we felt that there was little to gain making a grinder - until one day when nasty beans left a lingering flavor to our shots for the whole of an afternoon! We discovered that the residual grounds left in this grinder dated all the way back to the last time the grinding chamber and path was cleaned, with a few replacement grounds added at every grind. Well it was obvious that we were going to have to make a grinder as well. John once again looked at what not to do, and came up with a design rather unique to the industry. Beans in = beans out. We lucked out and managed to not get too caught with the static problem with the grounds, and the distribution into the filter basket worked real nice as well.

With all this, we were then able to find out a few more things about espresso.

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Lately we wanted to get our equipment more suitable for the commercial market and we have therefore made a few changes. The Press was made more robust and easier to use. The Grinder got a hopper - several in fact - that does not allow beans to be partly ground and then sit waiting for the next shot to be ground. The delivery bar even has bushings that regulate the volume of dispensed beans. And to save time for the barista, a portafilter holder has been added.

Meanwhile the M3 evolved further and is now under a major redesign. Not for function, it functions great, but for ease of manufacture, use, and long distance field maintenance. It will become a modular system, one individually controlled boiler pump and head, that can be joined along side of any number of other heads. All individually programmable, for water temperature and brew pressure profile.