If I were to spend another 2500 € on an espresso machine, it would be for a Decent espresso machine. What's delivered here is a coffee playground that's second to none. The Decent espresso machine could be as disruptive to the ambitious home market, roasteries, and even gastronomic concepts as the Ikawa turned the sample roaster market upside down.
This article was created after a 4-hour test of the Decent. Patrizio Frigeri visited us at the Coffee Academy and walked us through the different functions. Patrizio is a two-time Swiss vice barista champion (2012, 2013) and works as an engineer and roaster. For the past six months, he's been pulling his espresso with the Decent.
Appearance, Standard Equipment, and Options
The Decent rolled up with its own rolling case, including all necessary tools. Anyone who's loaded or reloaded a pro home machine like the GS3 from La Marzocco will miss their workout or turn green with envy. The machine is assembled in just a few steps.
Included: an Android tablet for control, and the software can also be installed on your own hardware.
Two fired ceramic bowls serve as the water reservoir and catch basin. One might argue that these are less stable than a plastic container. But who hasn't wondered how to clean the plastic water container in their Dalla Corte Mini!? The ceramic bowls are open and naturally dishwasher-safe.
A handle that's screwed onto the front of the machine solves a problem – it compensates for the machine's light weight. Very often, lighter espresso machines rotate when the portafilter is locked in.
Finally, a scale that's connected via Bluetooth to the tablet and espresso machine. With this, we later calibrate the milk pitchers and control the machine.
The machine comes in various configurations. The DE1+ variant is designed for private household use. Decent Espresso DE1Pro targets offices, home baristas, and restaurants. With additional kits, the machine is connected to fixed water and external boilers as the DE1XL model, preparing it for heavier gastronomic applications.
The machine has a width of 22.5 cm, a height of 42.5 cm including panel, and a depth of 48.3 cm when including the handles of the holder and portafilter that protrude forward. The machine weighs 13 kg and is delivered in a matching case.
The housing is completely metal and well-crafted. The portafilters and baskets are, unlike many high-quality dual-boiler machines in the price range over 2000 euros, extremely precise and microscopically inspected. Pro-tampers of 58.5 size can be used.
The First Espresso – What's That Rattling?
Technologically, we still need to mention a lot to describe the machine in its entirety. But before we get lost in those details, let's pull the first espresso.
It rattles, stutters, and spits out sounds we've never heard from an espresso machine. What's that? Every vibration pump is loud. But the sounds of the Decent are unfamiliar. It sounds the way specialty espresso tastes if you're used to dark, Italian espressos. But today we don't want to win an acoustics award; we want to evaluate coffee. Incidentally, the reason is that the phase angle control doesn't put the vibration pump under full load, but rather engages it according to the desired pressure curve.
We brew a "classic Italian espresso." But we could also replicate the profile of a lever machine or completely abandon familiar paths. With the control software, you can build pretty much any pressure profile of any espresso machine.
With a few hand movements, the duration of the pre-infusion can be changed or switched off. We start with an increasing curve to 4 bar and then continue with a pressure of 9 bar.
We use our filter coffee Alessandro as the espresso. It's roasted really light and tastes way too sour with this profile. Classically, we would now start adjusting the grind size with a "normal" espresso machine, changing the brew ratio, or switching the coffee. Not so with the Decent.
Switch Profiles Instead of Adjusting the Grinder
Of course, we can also work classically with the Decent. If we continue with the "filter coffee," for example, we could grind coarser and switch from a drink ratio of 1:2.5 (20 grams of coffee in the portafilter, 50 grams of espresso) to 1:3 (20 g in and 60 g out). Adjusting the brew temperature could also help if the espresso machine allows it.
With the Decent espresso machine, we change our approach. We switch from a pressure profile to a flow profile.
Pressure Profile vs. Flow Profile on an Espresso Machine
Most espresso machines work with constant pressure over the brewing period, e.g., 8 or 9 bar. Some have a kind of pre-brew due to their design. Pressure profile machines allow you to control the pressure during brewing. This principle exists in espresso machines for the home market, like the La Marzocco GS3 MP, and of course in gastronomic machines.
The Decent allows a different type of control, namely flow control or flow rate control at the output. Instead of controlling pressure, it's adapted to the effective output speed. If water flows too quickly through the coffee puck because either the grind size isn't fine enough or channeling occurs, the machine reduces the pressure. This results in less aggressive extraction and increases the likelihood that the espresso will be more enjoyable than it would have been with a "normal" pressure profile.
The machine essentially repairs the imperfect grind size or sloppy leveling and tamping. Of course, it can only do this partially, and careful preparation of the coffee is equally essential for really good coffee to happen.
Mixing Water and Temperature with Decent
Directly above the shower, the Decent controls the water temperature. A built-in temperature sensor constantly communicates with the software and adjusts the mix of hot and cold water to the desired temperature. Only this way does the Decent principle work: controlling and anticipating the supply. Other espresso machines build the control unit shortly after the boiler or thermo unit and program the temperature based on a standard deviation due to the expected heat loss until the water outlet.
The Decent has two thermo blocks installed, one for brewing water and one for steaming milk. This doesn't happen simultaneously, by the way, because the pump used is fully loaded in both cases. The thermo block principle has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include that no large water boiler needs to be heated, making it more energy-efficient and ready for use faster (approx. 5 minutes for the Decent until the first espresso). The disadvantage is often temperature consistency. But this is less due to the thermo block itself; rather, it's because they're often installed in cheaper machines and savings are made on temperature control units and probes.
Decent follows a similar approach as Sage and demonstrates what's possible when you don't leave a thermo block to heat itself alone but flank it with meaningful tools. Used this way, much speaks to me for the notion that the thermo block and related systems (thick film heater) will displace boiler systems as the supposed pinnacle of home espresso machines.
Play with Me – Set and Save Profiles
The machine's adjustment options are virtually unlimited. We brewed an espresso with a brew time of 50 seconds. It was really delicious. Scott Rao, a virtuoso in extraction matters, writes in his blog about extensive brew pauses that he inserts in the middle of espresso brewing. This is reminiscent of brewing filter coffee, where you also insert a degassing or bloom pause.
The possibilities with the Decent in terms of flow, pressure, and temperature are so enormous that you can easily get lost. Fortunately, you can fall back on pre-programmed profiles and also consult the community, which I'll discuss further below.
The Bluetooth scale also plays an important role in the control, which communicates with the software and weighs and inputs the actual espresso amount in the cup. The scale is robust and part of the machine package. The scale is similar in function to an Acaia but looks optically more like a rougher tool. I accidentally threw it on the floor, which didn't cause any lasting damage. The scale enables volumetric control. For example, when 40 grams of espresso is in the cup, the scale sends a stop command to the espresso machine.
You Can Also Steam Milk
If you've just spent many weeks developing a new brewing profile, you might be less interested in the Decent espresso's milk steaming capabilities. But here too, the machine makes a good showing. Thanks to its own heater, steaming can begin immediately after brewing (not in parallel due to pump load).
The Bluetooth scale comes into play again here. The pitcher size for different pitchers can be programmed. You then place the milk amount on the scale. Based on your own preferences, a steaming duration can be programmed. Optionally, a temperature sensor can be used, which also communicates with the software.
In our case, we positioned the pitcher once and inserted the steam wand into the milk. The machine then steamed the milk into a silky, latte art-capable foam. This was slightly too voluminous for Philip's liking, although we didn't make any fine adjustments.
Community and Decent Diaspora
A highlight of the Decent is certainly the community, which congregates on a Basecamp platform. Many users as well as founder John Buckmann provide direct feedback to users and support them with problems and challenges. Some users, like Damian Brakel or Scott Rao, contribute to knowledge, profiles, and further developments. The software has open programming interfaces, and so many mods and skins are available, which provide individual views and functions for the machine.
Errors and improvement opportunities are also collected on the platform. As a result, Decent has since developed further builds and hardware updates itself, such as a grinder stand that weighs the ground coffee and feeds it into the software.
The sharing of profiles is reminiscent of the Ikawa principle or also Artisan. In both cases, roast profiles can be shared with a community, advancing everyone.
Pros and Cons and Conclusion
As you can see from the article, I was thrilled by the possibilities the Decent offers me. The variety of functions is gigantic and the playground enormous. Options can also overwhelm. The machine is only suitable for you if you can also ignore options.
If you're looking for pure, simple functionality and ideally just one button, this machine isn't for you. If you don't appreciate digital formats, you won't be happy with the Decent right now. If you place the machine in a museum or in a noise-sensitive environment, the acoustics will probably be problematic.
If you want to learn something about espresso, challenge yourself, and perhaps discover something new, you're making a big step with the Decent. For coffee schools, roasteries, and coffee aficionados, I can't imagine a better espresso machine in terms of value for money.
As coffee makers, we'll place such a device in our school and integrate it into our courses. We can also write a video or two and a test and guide or two on espresso extractions for you.
To the Decent Espresso website: https://decentespresso.com/
From the failed ZPM Kickstarter to Decent Espresso. Article in Barista Magazine.
We have no economic connection with Decent. As always, we write, test, and tinker freely, in this case after testing the machine of our friend Patrizio Frigeri, a passionate user of the Decent Espresso.
