KAZAK ROTA - The Best Manual Machine You've Never Heard Of
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ค. 2024
- As much as I love a classic pump driven machine, there is nothing quite like the manual espresso experience. Each is unique in its design, method, and manufacture, but all of them aim for the same outcome: a proper shot of espresso. Over the last few years I've had my hands on quite a few manual machines, and have come to appreciate them in all of their glory. Yet, one machine that doesn't get a lot of attention in the United States is the Polish designed and built, Kazak Rota.
↓CHAPTERS↓
[0:00] INTRO
[1:00] STANDART SPONSOR
[1:43] QUICK OVERVIEW
[3:20] WORKFLOW & PERFORMANCE
[5:17] QUIRKS & DOWNSIDES
[6:27] FINAL THOUGHTS
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#kazakrota #espresso #sprometheus
I'm a proud owner of Kazak Rota 1 for over 3 years and it is such a realiable brewer. You only have to lubricate it every 6 months and it runs smoothly. While transporting, put extra effort to protect the pressure gauge because I broke one once. Apart from that I had no issues with the machine and it combines nicely with my C40 commandante which allows me to brew delicious espresso everywhere.
Nice! Glad to hear that they have some solid long term reliability. That’s always the one thing I can’t test in these kinds of reviews.
@@Sprometheus that ring which you broke was more sturdy, but I guess after your revive Kazak will produce a new design to that, because there are some major upgrades from version 1 to 2, e.g. new valve design. What is best in those 2 versions that you can buy that new valve design and it is compatibile with 1st version
Did you manage to buy/craft a travel case for Kazak?
@@mankiewiczm no, but I saw some online, when some sponge cases were cut to fit. For my purposes its 99% home brewer but the 1% makes a big difference.
@@mankiewiczm Camera and music stores always have the hard cases to customize inner padding.( B and H in nyc, for example.)
You should check out the Aram manual espresso. It has a similar work flow.
So glad I found this video as I eventually plan to get into the espresso game. This product just shot up to the top of my list for when that day comes.
As a Robot owner, this looks like a very ideal choice and addresses most of the qualms I have with the Robot. However, the Robot seems to still be the best in terms of ease/time it takes to preheat (if you choose to at all, which I find myself not even needing much of the time)
Love manuals. My Flair Signature is the highlight of my every morning. The process, the outcome. Can't imagine a morning without.
I’ll probably [finally] buy this bc of you. Gracias!!
Thanks for the review. This is the second time I have seen this machine and I am loving it more and more. Would love it if a distributor here in the US would catch on to the joys of this little gem. ☕☕
Just got one for Xmas. Thanks for the review.
Thank you my friend.
Of course! Thanks for watching and have a great weekend!
i have one for over 2 years now, mine was upgraded from version 1 (spring-loaded bottom valve) to 2 (manual valve as in the video).
the plastic spider seems indeed the weakest part (i had some problems with mine though nothing as spectacular as completely tearing one apart)
but making it out of plastic is a design choice not cutting corners - it's press fitted into the cylinder and held in position only by the bolt head in the wall. making it out of metal would require a considerable redesign.
as it is there's nothing unheated Flair 58 could offer to me over the Rota. the manual valve offers a lot of flexibility allowing both a short pre-infusion espresso and high ratio sprover type brewing.
last but not least Valerii's customer service is absolutely stellar.
Awesome review! From an engineering perspective and seeing the rest of the way this thing is built, I suspect that the hand-crank stopper piece was intentionally designed to fail first in the case of an overload to prevent damage to the rest of the machine. Sorta like a failsafe to mitigate damage to he crank arm itself (which threaded steel rods are probably more expensive to replace)
Kazak started from making fixed angle knife sharpening stations. I’ve had several models over the years and can attest to the built quality and ergonomics. The owner is a lovely Ukrainian man and a total coffee geek. Just like all of us here. Have no doubt that this is a worthy product.
Great review
Seems like a very well designed piece of machinery
Definitely is, a pleasure to use.
What an intriging machine. Never knew it existed until your Short this week. Think a redesign of that plastic part or a spare shipped with machine is a good idea. Any thoughts on comparison to (unheated) Flair 58? Hope Kazak do well ! Thank you for the video, as always
Yeah I am always pretty skeptical of manual machines, but this one was a pleasant surprise. The piece is pretty robust, and I literally just thought the resistance was pressure building after having used other manual machines that require a good amount of force. Turns out, the screw mechanism is just easy from start to finish. But including an extra would be a good call.
Nice video. That thing is cool
I have a portaspresso which is made in Australia by Ross Spencer, I think this was the first manual hand wound machine - made from brass and built like a tank. He also offers manual pump pressured machines. The only difference is that you need to invert the machine to add water, then turn it over before winding - unlike the ability to add water from the top in the Kazak. I always find it odd that this machine never seems to be mentioned or reviewed.
The beauty of inverting the machine is you could make it as an open boiler . With an immersion heater and a temperature controller you can decide what temperature to start extraction. A puck screen and spring retainer could also be used if one is concerned the puck may fall off when you turn the machine back to brewing position. I love my Rossa PG.
great review of, as you said, the manual espresso machine we've never heard from. Overall it looks like a great machine. A bit pricier than the entry level Flair, but not that much more than the Flair's top model.
This looks like a very interesting machine. Easier than the Pro and Signature to use and more portable, I’d guess. I love lever machines. I love them so much in fact that if I ever go beyond the Flair 58, I’ll go for the Cremina
The lever espresso scene always feel like a completely different culture in espresso, it’s very cool.
@@Sprometheus I agree! I have used my friends machines and I always find myself having to think about different things when making a good espresso
This is a neat little device! Unfortunate about the plastic part that seems to be critical to it working properly. Great review!
I used to have a Flair Signature Classic. I longly thought to chose in between a Robot and the 58x. I ended up choosing for the robot for his footprint and no pre heating eventhough the Flair Signature was easy to preheat (not so sure about 58x though)
I do also like the feedback of the lever; had a Picopresso too but I didnt like the lack of feedback.
This one has the pressure valve and also the flow valve which I admit is cool but I have s'en on another video that looks like not really stable on its base.
So for the preparation time and no pre heating robot is a winner eventhough some quirks
Also i am quite suprised so far that I didnt make à single ”bad” shot and also no channeling without WDT....looks the robot is quiet forgiving !
I'm amazed that there is no mention of the debt owed to Ross Spencer's Portaspresso in either the review, or the comments.
Indeed, 10 years back wow
I appreciate that this device attempts to innovate things but I still prefer the robot above all other manual espresso makers due to its elegance and simplicity. There is no need for pre heating, workflow is easily repeatable, and let's be honest there is a perceived flair (no pun) with these manual types within your kitchen. The robot looks the best as a talking point.
Looks pretty good. I'm looking at choices to improve my workflow from the Flair Pro, as it's pretty annoying to have to remove a burning hot brewing chamber just to get access to the portafilter. According to your experience, does the Kazak Rota offer a better workflow than the Robot and the Flair 58?
Would be interesting to know how this compares to the Aram as they seem quite similar
I’ve reached out to Aram, as I’m curious as well. Hoping to shed more light on that in the future.
The pressure gauge is a major advantage over Aram
Aram lets you release the water on the puck too, just not as neatly as this one. The pressure gauge is a nice addition as well
Aram's design and overall build quality is far better
How much control does this offer in terms of flow profiling? Can you easily adjust the pressure during making the shot? I think this is one of the biggest advantages the flair and robot have over most pump driven machines.
I've been using a 9barista for over a year now ... i still don't see a machine with how small the footprint is and how easy it is to be consistent. You lose some versatility in that once you dial in the shot you are getting is the shot you are getting but .... its pretty nice for someone who makes 1 or 2 espresso a day.
I have yet to get a go on the 9Barista, but I may just have to pick one up. I’ve heard great things, and in some cases less control is liberating haha.
nice video! have you tried the Aram? I wonder how it compares. Love your content !
This looks like a very nice machine, never heard of it before. When it comes to modifications, though, and the ability to create different and interesting pressure profiles, my bet is on the Flair, Robot, or anything else which uses a more direct approach to the application of pressure.
Not sure what you mean by a direct approach to pressure application. But what I can say about the Rota that the Flair, Robot, etc can’t do is stop the water flow easily for the addition of more water. Think blooming espresso for example. The robot needs the portafilter removed completely to add more, and the flair requires you to back off the pressure completely which could cause suction, then remove the plunger add more water and go again. This is just a twist of the valve, back out the lever and then you’re ready. Quick and easy.
@@Sprometheus what the Robot, the Flair, and any machine which uses a traditional type of lever can do better is increase or decrease pressure very, very quickly. I haven't used this machine, or anything with a similar approach, but I'm going to assume you're going to be somewhat limited when it comes to quickly increasing/decreasing pressure. This in turn will limit your ability to create any type of profile which requires you to suddenly drop/ramp up the pressure.
@@johnathanmeerfeld4677 Ditto! ( Robot demos of turbo shots and recipes on ig and yt here!)
Beatiful device, small in size!
Would love to see more in-depth videos on different techniques to pull the shots on this little thing.
Definitely considering doing some like they in the coming months.
As an owner I can see that pulling the shot is straightforward as Spro has shown, only difference from pulling a shot on pump machine is that you have to grind finer, as a commandante owner I grind with Red clix axle on 15-17 setting, on standard sth between 7-8. Put extra effort to heat the machine and then while turbiny the handle, just look at the pressure gauge. You might also use a small mirror to look at the bottom of a basket
@@siwy1382 Are you able to pull the shots consistently at around 6 bar?
@@MrNEMILI sure! Im brewing at 9 bars most of the time, 6 bars is easy for Rota!
@@siwy1382 i want 1zpesso Jmax setting 😅🤣. $400 grinder seemed ridiculous but i was so close to keeping it and opening the box before returning lol !
I'm having a hard time deciding over this or flair 58 I know there both good machines but my concern lies in daily workflow ease of use pros and cons? Thank you in advance
I think a video of this pulling shots with the new mazzer hand grinder would be interesting to see what the results are plus see how good that machine does at grinding for espresso
I’m not sure if it’s technically manual, but my 9Barista Espresso makes the absolute best cup out there. Spent a few months traveling last year and I brought it with me. The shots aren’t the biggest (only 18g of beans) but packed with flavor and consistent.
The “corsets” are a cool touch, it looks like it’s dressed up to go to Oktoberfest 😝
6:23 the fabled "sticky barista paws"
As they prophesied in the scriptures old
@@Sprometheus lol
Really great video thanks for sharing! I started with the ROK brewer myself but the need to preheat got me to finally upgrade to a Flair 58.
I prefer manual machines to avoid the noise in the morning and this machine looks really awesome but don't think I could give up the easier workflow on the Flair 58, especially when brewing back-to-back shots for guests.
Wow
Greetings, First of all, thank you very much for your video. My question is, how many milligrams of Double espresso comes out in the Kazakh Rota machine and is it hot enough?
Think we need a how to brew a standart sample video. Always torn to go sprover, immersion with the v60 switch or the Aeropress. All are a gamble with the grind size.
so its similar to Aram? from Brazil which is also a screw based piston
I love how it looks. I wonder how it’s matching grinder fares. If it’s of equal quality, that’d be a pretty sweet looking brew bar. I wonder if they’re coming to North America and sending a machine to you is the precursor…
It reminds me of bodices, torture devices from the tower, or s and m leather looks.
This was a fantastic review! I feel like if Flair tried to produce something as robust, it would cost $6-700. This might sound naive, but do you feel like you were limited to compromise between rotating quickly to apply pressure, and managing a longer shot time? (It seems like applying pressure is correlated to a shorter shot time on these kinds of machines).
Thanks Jordan! And yeah I found you can do some unique stuff on this machine that allows you to do more with longer shots, pre-infusions etc. like closing the valve and adding more water mid shot. But it does seem to build pressure quickly yet once you’re there you can slow down a bit to maintain it. Since I generally prefer 6 bar shots it seems to work well for me in that range, but 9 bar shots may go a bit quicker and would maybe need to be adjusted finer to find that pressure/time equilibrium.
Hi, saw you have Silvia pro X in the background, thinking of purchasing an expresso machine but just for Americano and milk drinks. Was thinking of getting this or used LM LM which is twice the price or similar VBM Domobur Super electronic with digital profiles. I guess you have first two in shop and a manual profiling machine. Maybe you can give some feedback regarding how do they compare to each other?
Thanks. Very insightful review! I am rather new to the coffee brewing rabbit hole, but I'm jumping in headfirst. Is this particular item available in the US? The company website only appears to show Poland and Indonesia.
For manual espresso I'd be interested in something I can travel with easily like the picopresso.
Did you brew the full 16g the basket holds or less?
I always dig manual espresso machines/grinders and the like, and will certainly add this one to the list of ones worth checking out.
If I picked one up, about the only thing I'd redo is the leather sleeve. I might just stitch up a replacement out of some wetsuit material or thick felt, or even 3d print something up in a cool honeycomb pattern and just slide it right over. It would be fun to tinker with regardless.
Yeah I think they should definitely offer a couple different sleeve styles as the lace detail isn’t for everyone, and leaves a little space for heat to escape, etc.
Is pre-heating required? Feels like a lot of water you have to go through if you have to pre-heat multiple times.
It looks a lot like Aram Espresso Maker
A lot of things in coffee look similar. The Aram also looks like every hand grinder, and it wasn’t the first screw driven hand pressed espresso machine.
A definitely copy of Aram
Enjoy the process, hand grinding for espresso, and hand brewing espresso :D
It is a good time. I didn’t hand grind on this one yet, but the Lagom Mini is kind of like a hand grinder haha.
@ Sprometheus
Not really in a rush to get a espresso machine, but that price point makes it a little interested in considering getting one of these: Thanks for another detailed review Spro! :)
This might be worth more than my Flair Signature, with its wider basket and fancy valve, but egads not that much more. Not more than twice as much. Thank you for showing it though!
Absolutely. Would love to see this one get more love. A manual favorite of mine moving forward.
This is a really neat-looking machine with some major benefits over the Aram. I do leather work, so I know how frustrating it is to walk around with leather dye on your hands. Good call on choosing black leather as brown dye looks like, well... good call on choosing black.
Yeah I haven’t had a chance to use the Aram yet, but I feel like that little valve to allow water to make contact with the coffee is a game changer for most manual machines on the market. And yeah, with the leather, I just preferred the black look and overtime it’s gotten less and less in terms of stains.
@@Sprometheus The Aram has a valve on the piston, so the water doesn't contact the coffee before you start cranking up. The two major problems with it though are the preheating (because it's made almost entirely stainless steel, which isn't the best conductor of heat) and the lack of a pressure gauge.
@@Sprometheus you can allow the water to touch the coffee in Aram. And Aram is older than this one. I have one from the kickstarter version. It’s a good machine, but the newer versions are improved
@@victorbarroscoch na Aram a água toca o café sim. Você põe a água com a manivela fechada. Quando vc abre ela até em cima a água entra em contato com o bolo. Quando vc rosqueia de volta a pressão é aplicada e vc extrai o café.
@@buiux Sim, eu disse que só toca quando começa a abrir a manivela, mas não toca imediatamente no despejo de água. Se não fosse pelo problema de temperatura seria mais consistente que a Flair. Eu coloquei uma resistência na minha e ficou show!
I use a Flair Pro2 daily. One thing I like (once I figured it out) is I can preheat the chamber by leaving it on top of my kettle while it boils. This machine, as well as something like the Robot, seems a bit more of a chore to preheat.
Yeah, that is the benefit of a removable chamber that’s for sure.
Not having a heater built in is what puts the Flair 58 far above any of the others IMO.
Would you do a top five mid price brewers and perhaps grinders? Thank you
Have you tried also the manual grinder? It seems very well made but couldn't find any reviews.
Good look Rota.
Have you seen Newton brua ?
This looks like a really great machine but I don’t know if what it is offering is enough for me to replace my robot. Looks like a great option for people wanting to take that first dive into manual espresso though.
Have you ever tried the 9Barista stovetop espresso maker?
Not yet, but it’s been on my list for way too long. I need to get it.
Would you take this over the Flair 58? My thought is that for $50 more you get thermal stability and don’t have to preheat, but is the Kazak a much nicer experience?
It really depends on a lot of factors. I know a lot of people were bothered by the electric function on the 58. And if you really want to be able to use a proper portafilter and some of those wild new tools the 58 is a winner. But I think the Kazak is truly the best of the proper portable machines.
hello i just wanna know what kinnd of coffee are usig
Aesthetically, such a beautiful machine. Would love to own one of these. I wonder what the price in the US would be.
They cost about $520 US, not sure what the customs fees would be. That is the unknown.
@@Sprometheus Thank you.
Hit the link and google exchange rates...
pretty neat, but nothing beats my Cremina for me …
nice review! if I didn't already have a Flair58 I would have have considered the Rota, although seeing that internal part break for you might have put me off. So I have known about the Cafelat Robot & all various Flairs, but I had never seen the Rota, anywhere, so how did they sell them prior to you doing this video? Found their website in Poland, cost $516 US
Thanks, and I appreciate you watching. I’m not sure how they sold, or will sell. I’ve seen there here and there as I researched it before it arrived, but my guess is it’s more popular in Poland or Europe in general.
@@Sprometheus No it's not :) I'm only 1 country away from Poland but never heard about it before you posted one of the shorts.
I see an opportunity for aftermarket entrepeneurs to create a brass bushing to replace the plastic OEM.
This looks amazing but espresso is out of my price league ill stick to the v60 or aeropress for now and love the content
Get a picopresso. Only $120 ish. And about $30ish for puck screen and ims percion basket that helps for turbo shots and maybe regular shots? Worth trying out if u got a electic or manual grinder
I like it as a product, especially that YOU decide when the water will conduct with the puck
The twisting method of creating pressure seems that needs less power from the hand, is it like this?
I would like a faster and easier method to screw the portafilter, maybe something as robot
For the asking price, I would definitely go for the Fair 58, especially because it uses a 58mm portafilter basket, which can potentially make a better cup as compared to the 52mm portafilter basket. With that said, however, if this can make as good a cup as the Flair 58, that would be a remarkable achievement.
What about the flow and pressure control on this machine?
Even though the process of building pressure is slightly different you still have all the control you’d want, by either slowly building, stopping and using the lever and gauge to maintain, increase or decrease the flow and pressure.
Are you planning to do a review on 9Barista? 🙏🏻
Have you tried fitting an Acaia pyxis/cinco underneath? I think this was the intended highres scale for this size of espresso machine.
I had slowly gotten to afford a handgrinder as investment considering savings on home brew. Tinkered and played with various brewers until i saw I was trifling money. Saved for a few years to get a Robot after all that. Had a $30 scale for pour overs. Robot has tiny space for scale too. Got a pocket scale for a few dollars. Keep looking at other small scales for a timer that will go on at first drop, but the money is too hard to go the last mile in my set up after all the investment over time.
Do you feel like this produces a better cup than the picopresso
They could easily sell a scale compatible version/upgrade by the looks of the design
On my flair I find myself backing off the pressure when I get channels - that fast control is very important to me. Do you think you could on this?
Yeah so the pressure builds pretty quickly, so if you wanted to back off you can slow down or stop briefly and that will reduce the pressure immediately.
Did they also send you their grinder for review? I would like to see how it stacks up to some of the other premium grinders out there.
They offered to, I declined as I just wanted to keep it focused on the espresso machine.
Understood. It’s competitively priced and if the build quality and performance is the same as the espresso machines (I’m sure it is) it makes for a nice combo.
How does this compare to the robot? If you could only buy one, which would it be?
9Barista still wins this duel for me.
Love it except I am concerned it maxes out at 16 grams. That’s too small for a shot for me. I like 18g
I think it's toooooo expensive for what it is. You can get lelit anna with pid or almost rancilio silvia with that money. And even something like flair 58 seems more substantial, because it uses standard portafilter etc. and it's easier to work with.
I guess manual machines would be a nice option for someone who can't afford normal machine if they were cheaper. I guess they should be cheaper if it is only a simple thing like lever with pressure gauge? 🤔 But for the price 95% of the people will buy something that is less finicky to use.
I don't know. I don't want to hate on this product becasue the idea is nice and I like the fact that it is coming from small manufacturwr. But I just don't see many people chosing this product over flair 58 for example.
To me, the finicky-ness of a manual machine is normally outweighed by the cost savings versus an automatic maker.
If I was going to spend over $500 then I'd just get a Gaggia Classic. I'll stick with the Flair.
Pretty sure I'm never going to be fancy enough for bespoke stitched leather.
Looks like a corset.
For the price, how can you beat the Picopresso?
If price is the only factor, than yeah it is hard to beat. If style, build materials, long term reliability etc are considered I’d say something more robust like this is worth the money.
@@Sprometheus
It seems you proved "build materials" to be an issue with the Kazak Rota. As someone who has many years of experience in product development, I can see stress points in the Rota which should have been addressed in it’s development stage but we’re allowed to pass into production. My Picopresso is much more simple and has not disappointed me yet. I could buy two Picopressos for half the price of a Rota. "Style" is a vanity thing which I care nothing about.
Price is not the only benefit of the Picopresso. It is, however, the most glaring detail which separates both.
"there's no signs of corners being cut" what corners??? the bloody thing's round! hehe
Ct2 the best .
$528.00 US Dollars?
Best manual espresso machine for people with arthritis. Also it looks like a manual grinder. Lol
this Kazak looks a lot or even a plagiarism of ARAM, made in Brazil
Go ahead and look up the Portapresso Rossa and then you can accuse Aram of plagiarism as well.
@@Sprometheus OK, you win.
I do leather work and water and leather are rarely a good combo. It was obviously not dyed very well. A coat of resolene should do the trick. Or i can make you a new one.
Cool machine. However, i really don’t like the look of that leather :/
Yeah, I think that is definitely one of those love it or hate things
Same here
First. Noice, I get a cookie
🎉 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻
It's like the aram but better
Putting resistance on mechanism not on your hand is not a plus. You want to feel the resistance and pressure on your hand. That's the whole point of manual espresso control and feedback. If don't want to feel anything why go manual.
Hmm, I see your point, but I feel like you can still get some feedback by looking at the pressure gauge it has, and adjusting the speed of rotation. Manual machines have other advantages such as their portability, low cost, and simplicity of build. In the case of one competitor, Cafelat's Robot, the company had to backpedal and produce an aftermarket fitting for the handles because some users found them so uncomfortable. I understand the Flair doesn't suffer from that problem as much because you can get better leverage with it. Still, you hear about people straining so much that it's hard for them to even pay attention to the pressure gauge. Owners of lever espresso machines such as the La Pavoni still experience some tactile feedback in the form factor of a semi-automatic machine. Personally, I use a manual grinder, but I don't enjoy the stress of doing that everyday so much as I tolerate it in order to get a really good cup of coffee at value, and also in light of the other benefits of a manual grinder (portability, simplicity of build).
$531.
Had a gf who dressed the same way when I was a lad
This is not a unique idea. There is another similar coffee brewer exists. It's Aram Espresso Maker. Rota is much more advanced since it has a pressure gauge and valve to simplify preheating (and not only). But in terms of build quality, Aram is better (there is no plastic it's a fully metal tank).
Also Aram is few years older.
The price is crazy, for the same price you can buy 4 Picopresso's
A pity they use leather for an otherwise non-animal based product.