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Out of the BoxSuperkop Lever Machine
The Superkop is near the top of the hill in terms of environmentally friendly packaging. Almost everything is paper based, from the low-colour cardboard box, to the internal cardboard forms holding things in place during transport, to the use of tissue paper to wrap and protect the machine parts.
So huge kudos for that. This is where our industry needs to go, and Superkop is doing it right.
When you see photos of the Superkop, there’s a tendency to think it’s pretty complicated. In reality, it is not. Though it ships disassembled, there’s literally only five individual “parts”, four bolts, and an anchor plate. The main assembly of the lever, piston and grouphead area is one piece. The “Backbone” of the machine is the second part. The water reservoir and portafilter are the third and fourth. The base, which has the drip tray already installed, is the last piece.
Tabletop Assembly
As they say at times, “some assembly required” with the Superkop, but it’s not all that difficult. For the wood base model, you need to first attach the back stem or backbone of the machine to the wood base, using two hefty bolts and a steel mounting plate. It’s pretty easy, but for some reason, Superkop is using rare torx bolts, instead of hex or philips tooled bolts. The backbone also contains the U bracket (it’s a super long U!) that you’d remove from the black metal if you wanted to wall mount this brewer. But more on that later.
Once the backbone is firmly attached to the wood base, the main brewing and lever assembly is bolted onto it, using two more hefty bolts with torx connections. Again, a fairly easy job and one person can easily do it.
Drop the drip tray plastic base into the wood base, the metal drip tray cover on top, and that’s it, the Superkop is assembled as a desktop brewer.
The wood base itself is a big cut of oak, with the branding burned into it for a nice effect. The wood is “raw” as in uncoated, and will most definitely pick up a patina of coffee stains and water splashes over its lifetime. If you want to look pristine, you might want to consider applying a finishing coat or even a waterproof shellac coat or similar to it.
Detail shots of the wood base, drip tray, etc.
Wall Mount
To wall mount the Superkop, the kit the company sells includes a metal base for the drip tray and cover, and a very handy accurate wall schematic sheet that shows you precisely where to drill the four holes needed to mount the brewer. Decide where you want to mount the brewer, find the wall studs to line things up and give the lever the support it needs, and put the schematic sheet up to pinpoint all your mounting screw holes to drill and screw into.
Superkop, Wall Mounted
The drip tray holder mounts to the wall with two heavy duty wall screws, easy peasy. For the brewing unit, remove the steel u-frame from the main backbone piece (two screws to undo), then bolt the u-frame to your wall with the two included beefy-sized torx screws, lining up with the marks you put on the wall from the paper schematic.
Next, slot the brewing unit onto the u-frame, and attach the smaller bolts. The machine is now fully installed and ready to go, all wall mount style. Again, easy-peasy, but I cannot stress enough that you should screw that u-frame into a wall stud for absolute installation confidence. You might get away with using very heavy duty wall anchors if attaching to plain drywall, but do so at your own risk; finding the wall studs and connecting to those are the much safer way to go.
Stupidly, I forgot to take photos when wall mounting the Superkop. Probably too excited. But here’s a few looks at the setup.
Machine Details
Every thing about the Superkop screams premium. Well, almost everything. The plastic drip tray is a bit budget, but the metal drip tray cover above it looks premium.
The portafilter is stunningly beautiful, and you notice one thing right away: no bayonets! This is because of how the portafilter works and sits in the machine. It is designed to sit on a ledge, with the water reservoir tucked into the top of the filter basket, all snugly in the machine. Once the ratchet lever is engaged and the piston starts lowering, everything is locked in, super secure. This portafilter isn’t going anywhere while the piston is in operation.
Superkop sent me the stock 2 spout portafilter, but also managed to dig up one of their late prototype chopped portafilters (ed.note: they are now selling these chopped PFs on their website). All steel, exceptionally well finished, and well weighted. These are what I’d call super premium portafilters. The stock one weighs 516g with the double filter basket in place. The chopped one weighs 427g with the filter basket.
The water reservoir is quite unique. It is a very thick, polycarbonate reservoir that has an assembled and installed dispersion screen, silicone gasket (that seats nicely inside the portafilter’s filter basket), and a solid, polished steel water dispersion plate above the dispersion screen. This forces all the water in the reservoir to enter the dispersion screen area from the outer diameter, flowing into the middle in a doughnut shape of water flow.
The water reservoir assembly sits snug and somewhat deep into the filter basket. The result is, after your shot pulls, a compacted bed of coffee clearly showing the dispersion screen pattern and indents around the outer edge of the spent puck. This is with the stock 18g basket. For the full review, I’ll try a 21g basket (dosing 18.5g) to see how that performs with the extra headspace between dispersion screen and coffee.
The reservoir has markings on it for single or double shot volumes (the Superkop does not come with a single basket, only a double, though you can use any third party single basket with the portafilter). Because of the super thick polycarbonate construction of the water reservoir, there’s very little heat loss through the sides or bottom of the reservoir when you add boiling water. All the heat loss is through the open top, but once you lock into the machine, the heat loss is minimized. All in all, a very well thought out water reservoir system for an unpowered, unheated espresso machine.
Lever and ratchet system
The Superkop is a direct lever system, meaning your arm applies the direct pressure to the water being pushed through the bed of coffee. But it is a ratcheted lever system, not unlike an upside down car jack (that thing you use to lift your car when changing tires). Because of the design, a lot less hand pressure is needed to produce the 9BAR of espresso used to brew a shot.
The ratchet has six actuations built into its design, allowing for six pulls during the shot pull process. The first pull kind of just seats the machine’s main piston inside the water reservoir, locking things down and exerting scant additional pressure on the water. The second lever pull ramps up the pressure to around 1.5-2bar, a preinfusion stage. The third pull will fully saturate the group and start the espresso brew running. Pulls 4, 5 and 6 complete the shot process. You can pull fast, or pull slow, controlling the overall introduction of continuous pressure to the brewing water.
After six pulls, the lever’s ratchet is disengaged from the brewing piston – you can crank it up and down dozens of times more, but nothing inside the brewing group happens. Meanwhile, the brewing piston is embedded deep down into the water reservoir. So how do you get it out?
In the backbone of the Superkop sits a hidden, slim hydraulic piston. It gets compressed during the shot pull process, building up its own reserve of “power” to pull… something. What it will pull is that piston, out of the reservoir. So how is it engaged?
You simply click the lever up to its highest position, and it engages the hydraulic piston, which will lift the brewing piston up and out of the Superkop’s water reservoir. The ratchet lever will also be reset, ready to do it’s next six cranks. Pretty ingenious!
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First UseSuperkop Lever Machine
I can’t recall being more excited about an espresso machine in recent memory. I state this because I approached the Superkop thinking I knew everything I needed to know about lever espresso machines and could not wait to immediately dive into using it.
Turns out, the Superkop has a learning curve, and you have to operate it differently from other lever espresso machines. But that’s why you have me, and have this First Look (and subsequent full review): I’m here to tell you the mistakes I made with the machine so you don’t duplicate them.
Very briefly, my first shots with the Superkop (which I documented on Instagram of all places) were not great. I had all sorts of problems: lack of crema, pinhole jets, uneven extraction across the bottom of the filter basket, and shots that were too sour.
I do know enough about lever espresso machines and specifically, unpowered, unheated lever espresso machines to recognize the problem was me, the barista, and how I approached the machine. So I stepped back and looked at the process:
- Lack of crema: too long on the time between grinding and actually pulling the shot. Plus low temperatures.
- Pinhole jets, uneven extraction across the filter basket: I didn’t prepare the coffee good enough (bring in the WDT!), and I didn’t preinfuse well enough.
- Sour shots: that’s all temperature, all the time.
I knew I could remedy the shot prep (and timing), and even the water issue (I’d saturate the reservoir first with boiling water, to get the steel parts blazing hot). The preinfusion, on a ratchet lever machine, would take some attention and doing. So let me get into that next.
The Superkop lever espresso machine is a rather exclusive beast, which I hope I’ve already outlined. How it delivers and pressurizes water to the bed of coffee is particularly unique, because it is a stepped flow up and down on pressure, based on the ratchet lever system. Each time you depress the lever the piston is pushed down, applying water pressure. Press harder during this phase, and you increase the pressure. Press more gently, and you maintain a lower pressure.
At the bottom of the lever press the lever ratchet system will audibly click, and the piston is now locked at whatever position it is at, no longer lowering, no longer continuously applying pressure. The next stage is raising the lever to the top of its arch, re-engaging the ratchet and once again giving the lever arm power to push the water piston down, creating new pressure. Got it? Maybe this video will help.
This whole lever action works just six times before you have to reset the device. Press down, lift up, re-engage the ratchet, press down again, for six times. If you try pressing on the seventh time, the ratchet will no longer engage.
So you have two control points during those six lever presses. On the downward press, you can go fast or slow, which controls how much pressure is built up in the piston and water reservoir area. As you move the lever back up, the pressure in the reservoir is declining, so if you do it slow, it declines a lot. Do it fast, and the decline is minimal.
See, learning curve! And lots of new stuff for an espresso nerd to play with! Having the chopped portafilter also helped a lot with the overall process. I also video recorded a lot of the shot pulls so I could analyse them later. Here’s one example. If you watch closely, you can see I still have some issues with full saturation of the entire filter surface.
Longer Term UseSuperkop Lever Machine
It took me a little while to realise this, but the unique way the Superkop Lever Espresso machine works with pressure gives a whole new set of parameters and controls to play with in experimenting with shot pulls. You could control preinfusion to whatever times (and pressures) you want. You could experiment with that declining pressure (on the upward arc of the lever) or minimize its effect just by resetting the lever as fast as possible. You can definitely pressure profile shots on this beast.
The only hindrance here is there’s no active readout to see what the pressure is at any given time. I would love to see Superkop design and sell a new water reservoir that actively displays the pressure inside the reservoir, reading it around the dispersion screen area.
I took to pairing the Superkop with the Lagom Mini grinder, which produces an excellent espresso grind, albeit slowly. This resulted in much better shot pulls. If I were buying the Superkop new today, the Lagom Mini would be a nearly perfect grinder to pair up with it, as both are so unique and well made.
I also used the Baratza Encore ESP, Turin SK40 and Turin DF64 Gen 2 with the lever machine. All had excellent results in the cup.
I got the point where my process for using the Superkop was this:
INSERT BULLET LIST
Writing this out, it seems like a lot, but it really isn’t. It’s a ritualistic, repeatable step, and here’s how it looks in real time.
As I type this I am still evaluating and evolving my use of the Superkop, so my entire technique and method of using the lever espresso machine may change between now and when our full review is published.
What I can say is that I am very happy with the shots I’m currently pulling out of the Superkop, and I haven’t even changed the basket yet. I do plan on using single baskets, 21g dose baskets, and precision baskets like the VST in the machine to see if that improves shot quality even more.
I am at the point where I’m satisfied with the brewing temperatures. This is a First Look, so I have not done any kind of serious temperature tests yet with the machine (Scace tests are planned), but empirically, the sour issues I had early on are gone, and the shots themselves have the “right” range of temperatures when they are tasted.
I still, as of this writing, have issues with uneven extractions out of the filter basket when using Superkop’s supplied chopped portafilter. This is even with a WDT applied, preinfusion performed, and being extra careful with the coffee prep. But it continues to improve. There’s that learning curve again.
Further Impressions
I’ve had the Superkop mounted on the wall in my dining room, off to the side, right near the entrance to the old basement in our 110 year old home for about two months as of this writing (my first few weeks of testing the machine was with its wooden base). It’s not an ideal location by any means: if I were designing a new kitchen or breakfast nook for our home, I’d probably specifically design part of it to act as a showpiece for this machine.
So… out of the way, tucked into a corner. It’s also black on a steel blue painted wall.
In that time, every single visitor to our home has remarked on the machine and marvelled at it. Even the non espresso drinkers. It doesn’t matter that it is tucked away. They all eventually notice it, and want to talk about it. Forget the machine’s espresso ability, the Superkop is a conversation starter!
A big marketing point by Superkop on this machine is that it is a generational product: they built it to last a long, long time. I think that is true, save for one part: the water reservoir and dispersion screen. If I were buying a Superkop today, I would invest in 2 or 3 spare water cups to go with it, maybe even more. Then I could easily see this machine lasting 20, 30 years or longer with daily use.
The Superkop’s lever design also makes it very easy to use, without the need to apply a ton of force to the lever, Think about it: the machine is designed to spread the single lever pull you make with a Flair 58, or a Cafelat Robot across six ratcheted lever pulls. In between pulls, you don’t have to worry about holding the lever down to maintain pressure: it basically is locked into place (the piston won’t be pushed back up by the stored pressure) until you re-ratchet it and pull the lever down once more. It’s so easy, Superkop has posted Instagram videos of a child making espresso with the machine.
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ConclusionSuperkop Lever Machine
I love unique, functional products in the coffee and espresso sphere. The more unique it is, the more functional it is, the more I love it. The Superkop lever espresso machine has a place in both spheres equally.
The Superkop is extremely unique even just as as a tabletop, wood base espresso maker. Even more so if you wall mount it. Even if you use it without much care and attention (grind coffee, dose, tamp, fill water reservoir, lock both into the machine, pull the lever six times equally), you can get a fairly decent espresso with one. Take one extra step of preheating the water reservoir, and you get much better espresso. Take a few extra steps of managing your lever pulls, making sure your dose and tamp are spot on, and you’re getting 4 star shots.
At the current price, it isn’t for everyone. You can buy a Flair 58, which I still think is the best overall manual lever machine you can buy (when quality in the cup is the sole arbiter) for $600; The SuperKop will cost you between $200 and $400 more depending on where you buy it.
I like to think of a product like this as an investment. You’re investing in several things. It’s an espresso machine that should easily be functional for decades, reducing your yearly ownership costs to as little as $50 or less. Second, you’re investing in a finely developed tool that will make you a better home barista. Third, it’s an investment in a statement piece, a work of functional art you can hang on your wall. For some folks, that third thing is very important: for others, not even something they’d consider.
Our full review is going to come soon for this machine: to be honest, about 75% of what I wanted to say about the Superkop I’ve already said in this First Look. In the full review, we’ll do the usual temperature tests, taste tests, write about usability more, and organize a focus group or two to solicit their opinions. And of course, full ratings and scores.
But unlike most First Looks, I think my mind is already made up on the Superkop. I’ve pulled well over 300 shots on the device so far, and I absolutely love it. I love that it makes me think more about the espresso process. I love that it challenges me to be a better barista. I love that it makes me an integral part of the espresso crafting. I love how easy it is to clean up after use.
And, excuse me for my love of beautiful, functional things: I love how it looks on the wall. A functional work of art.
When this review process is all said and done, unlike most of the products I test, the Superkop won’t be boxed up and stored away. It’s going to stay on the wall, and get frequent use. Should my partner and I sell our house and buy a new home one day, one of the many deciding factors will be “does this house have a suitable spot for me to mount the Superkop?”.
That’s just about the highest praise I can give a product.
