Argos Classic Mode
If you’re planning on pulling 3 or 4 shots back to back, keep reading to learn more about Classic Mode!
Now that you’ve learned about the physics of the Argos and how using it is different than other lever machines on the market, we’re excited to talk about what we’re calling Classic Mode.
We highly recommend you read about the physics of the Argos (link here) first if you haven’t! It will make it clear when and why you would use Classic Mode.
As we mentioned as the grouphead heats up, boiler pressure (aka pre infusion pressure) has to go down in order to prioritize brew temp stability. When pulling shots back to back, the experience pulling the 3rd/4th will usually be different. You’ll have to wait longer for the puck to saturate and/or use the mini fellini technique to saturate the puck before pulling your shot.
But what if we’re willing to sacrifice a slightly higher brew temp when the grouphead is hot in order to have a higher boiler pressure/pre infusion pressure to make saturating the puck easier. Well that’s exactly what Classic Mode does! With Classic Mode we set a minimum boiler temp of 112° C. For example lets say you’ve just pulled 3 shots and your brew temp is 92° C and the target boiler temp is 105° C, this might normally mean you would only have 0.75 bar of pre infusion pressure, with classic mode we’ll instead set it to 112° C and then you’ll achieve 1 bar of of pre infusion pressure, your brew temp will be slightly higher (a few degrees).
Here are some plots to paint the picture!
Classic Mode ensures pre-infusion pressure will not drop below one bar, even with a hot grouphead.
Classic Mode maintains a minimum pre-infusion pressure by allowing for a higher deviation from the target brew temperature.
Hopefully these show the trade off of brew temp stability and pre infusion pressure. The important part to note is that this will only affects shots where the grouphead is hot, usually the 3rd/4th consecutive shot. Meaning even with Classic Mode on your first 2 shots will still be stable at the brew temp you specify.
That being said, if you have no issue with the low pre infusion pressure and are able to get shots you like with the standard Argos Mode, there is no need to use Classic Mode and you’ll always have the brew temp stability that we originally designed the machine for!