Olympia Caffarex

The impossibly rare Olympia Caffarex.  

Sort of a Maximatic on steroids.  But a different enough animal to be it's own endangered species. 

And "rare," in this case, is an understatement.

Olympia didn't make many of these.  And they didn't sell many.

The company seems to have aimed them at competing with other "Club" style European espresso machines of the era, for use in village bars, and small hotels.  A "commercial" machine for limited spaces, or low production environments.

But they didn't seem to find a market, and the Caffarex never came close to selling like the smaller "home sized" Maximatic.   

Maybe the "high" Swiss price point had something to do with it, but by the late 80's Olympia gave up, and the Caffarex became extinct.  

Not only was production low, we're not sure these were offered in the US as native 120 volt models.  Apparently some may have been sold by Zabar's in NY, but we're not sure about that.  What we do know is most Caffarexes were sold in Europe, and those were 220 volts.  (As with all things Olympia, history is sketchy.  The "new Olympia" doesn't seem very interested in documenting the "old" stuff. )

So when we came across this one, even though it was in Europe, we couldn't resist.  We bought it on the "hope" we could figure out a way to convert it to 120 volts.  Impulsive, but we're hopeless suckers for weird vintage machines.

As luck would have it, not only did we find a 120 volt heating element, we found an "old stock" NEW one!   (Don't ask, cuz we're not telling, sorry!)

Then even more luck came our way, when stumbling into a new old stock group!  (49mm.)  Both the heating element and the groups are obviously way out of production now, so these are basically impossible to find.  Maybe we had some built up karma, because we did.  (The new group itself is probably worth more than half the price of the machine!)  

So we're humbly suggesting we're not likely to see a Caffarex like this for sale again.  (Rebuilt, AND converted to 120 volts, with a NEW heating element, AND a new 49mm group!)  It's a Unicorn you'll only find in the Lever Underground. 

This Caffarex has a couple scratches and dings.  But as you can see in the pics, remains quite handsome.  And the reality is, good luck finding a 120 volt Caffarex in any condition!  

Which means part of the value of this machine is in it's sheer scarcity.  But the real value is the careful rebuild.  We wanted to make sure the original Olympia reliability is maintained, and make it a vintage machine that is still totally "usable."   

So this could sit on a collector's shelf, or operate as a "daily driver."  

Looking at the maze of plumbing inside the box might give one a clue about the magnitude of work involved in a rebuild of one of these.  

By packing the features of a "commercial" machine into one of their iconic small footprints, Olympia basically created a Chinese puzzle box for the technician.  Depending on what you're trying to work on, you may need to remove EVERY pipe on the machine to do it!  Don't ask how we know!  After dialing in the heating element swap, we got to be experts in disassembling and re-assembling a Caffarex.  Kind of like a recruit with a rifle at basic training.  (An "expertise" we actuallly wouldn't wish on anyone.) 

So we're happy it's finally done, and safely in the Underground.  

We're also not surprised Olympia stopped making them!

The "man hours" alone on the production line must have made them insanely expensive, low margin products.  (Especially compared to the Cremina!)  

But the bodies do come off with one nut (ok, and a couple extra screws) like the Cremina, if you ever want to get inside.

Speaking of the body, it suffered a small ding on the back during shipping from Europe.  It's a bit hard to photograph and see in the pics, but it's there.  Otherwise, the cool metallic copper powder coat paint is really beautiful and unique.   It really "looks" vintage.  There's a richness and depth to the color we haven't seen on other Olympia machines, so maybe the higher price point made them pay more attention to the paint work.  

(A word of wisdom when shipping any Olympia.  The sheet metal body dings way easier than one might think.  Keep that in mind when packing.)

So what, you may be wondering, are the differences between the Caffarex and the Maximatic?

Well, for starters, the steam boiler is WAY bigger.  Obviously a nod to the "commercial" intent. 

But the brew water reservoir seems the same size! 

Which means you probably won't get any more shots out of it than the smaller boiler Maximatic, before adding water to the plastic reservoir.

But remember there are two separate reservoirs in both the Maxi and the Caffarex.  A brew water (plastic) reservoir, and the steam boiler (filled via the cap, monitored by the sight glass.)  

Which brings us to the strange blue button on the left side of the control panel. 

That's for filling the steam boiler directly with the brew reservoir!  Push the button and a solenoid fires, the pump runs, and water is piped directly from the brew reservoir to the boiler.  Theoretically, that means you don't have to remove the boiler cap.  Ever!  Just replenish the brew reservoir and you could keep filling the steam boiler with water forever. 

The "utility" of this in real life may seem dubious, but aside from not having to wait for the machine to cool all the way down before refilling the steam boiler, this actually makes a lot of sense if there are Americanos staying in your small hotel in the Alps, ordering their infamous watered down espressos with the hot water valve fed from the steam boiler.  (In our case, it's a sales pitch to the skeptical partner who likes tea!) 

So yeah, the Caffarex has a hot water valve, in addition to a steam wand.  

And that's what really puts the "commercial" into the Caffarex.

In the conversion process, we had to change the pump (from 220 to 120.)  So the pump is brand new as well.

The frame was professionally repainted (before we got it) with the classic "Olympia Brown."  (There are some rough spots that were painted over, but there are no frame rust issues at this point.) 

Like the Maximatic, the Caffarex requires some reps before you figure out the dose and grind.  They really don't like "overdosing."  The Olympia pump group has a shower screen that protrudes down into the basket deeper than the similar looking E61, so you need to leave more headroom above the puck (smaller dose) than you may be used to on other pump machines.  You'll also probably end up setting the grind a little coarser.  With both the Caffarex and the Maxi, it's not hard to smash an overdosed coffee puck up into the screen.  Causing the brew to either barely flow, or completely "choke."   

But we're not talking Rocket Science.  After a few attempts, and you'll be pouring crema. 

And if you haven't used a vintage home machine, a reminder that the Caffarex has a "small" 49mm group.  Same as the Cremina.  So the shots may be smaller than your're used to if you're coming from a modern machine.  (But a bonus is any Cremina portafilter will work in it!)

The bottom line is that even though it's "push button," there's a learning curve.

So after some scare talk, we should add one thing.  The machine is a LOT of fun.  Especially if you like "hands on" espresso making. 

Once dialed in, you'll be smiling every morning on the way to the kitchen.  Because you'll know you're not only about to start your day with some amazing espresso, you're one of a handful of people on the planet who makes it with an Olympia Caffarex.

Comes with a double basket, and new 49mm tamper.