Happy New Year!

Things are going well despite some minor hiccups. We’ve now shipped 146 machines (~order #238). We’re still working on improvements to get a consistent weekly output but that should come soon.

We have no known issues with the new LEDs which is a great sign thus far and a huge relief. A list has been put together of the people who ran into issues with the original LEDs and we will reach out to you all to see what your preferred method moving forward would be. We can either send you all 3 of the new style LEDs to swap in since they have a semi-transparent lens with colored LED instead of a colored lens. Alternatively, we can cycle test a bunch of old LEDs to 50,000 cycles and send out the good ones to prevent the need to replace all 3. We’ve found that if the lights don’t fail within the first 50,000 cycles they seem to be good for the life of the LED. We will have a video showing exactly how to swap these in. Apologies for the continued delay on these.

Testing of the new Restrictor Orifice valves went well and we have started incorporating those into all builds starting with serial 00107 with the exception of 00110 and 00111 (sorry!). Serial 00102 and onward should have received a small ziploc bag with 3 parts in it for the valve included in the box. If this was not in your box please send us an email. Everyone else will receive these parts in the mail. We have the bags all kitted with domestic packages out via stamp and letter and international orders via low cost bubble mailer. We’ve just uploaded a video explaining how to install these parts here: Odyssey Argos Restrictor Valve Installation

Unfortunately we ran into a minor hiccup two weeks ago. When getting into QC, we found that several machines had excessive water leaking out of the anti-vacuum valve. We were able to pinpoint the issue as an assembly error with one of our newer techs not properly tightening the valve. Thankfully this was a simple fix and all machines have now made it back through QC.

Staffing:

We’re training one of our current full time hires on the full build process to help keep up with our build estimates as well as training more staff on the full QC process. We might hire another full time person specifically for QC and any manufacturing warranty repairs that might come back in the future.

Business Growth:

Things have been going extremely well this year. We’re currently averaging about 15-20 new Argos orders per week. We still haven’t sent out any units for review or content as our main priority has been to get our assembly process sorted out and running efficiently to fulfill orders as soon as possible. Now that we’ve got the new restrictor valve parts in place we will start to send out one or two units to be passed around between reviewers. While this is partially to help continue growing the business, the primary goal will be to get some more formal and objective review of the Argos to help set expectations for future customers.

We’re finding a major spread of people who absolutely love the machine and are pulling shots to their liking within the first day as well as people who have struggled to dial in and figure out their preferred workflow. While we won’t expect the Argos to meet everyone’s needs, we do think it is important to set objective expectations early on to help future customers who may be on the fence about a new machine.

Levers are notoriously difficult machines to work with. While it can be as simple as pull the lever, get espresso, there are many factors that we’ve included such as variable brew temperature, unique PID control, and integrated air bleed which all add new variables that can affect extraction.

We’re still working on getting batch 2 parts ordered this week! We will not be making any significant changes between batches 1 and 2. There are several design updates which will make assembly, fit, and user experience slightly better as well as bring part cost down through design for manufacturability changes, but it will mostly be the same product.

-Finger pocket for drip tray cover

-Possible drip tray cover design update to reduce splatter

-Tabs on side of front cover to secure into top and bottom panel for better alignment

-Added chamfers for improved gasket and o-ring installation

-Increased thread length on heating elements to improve ease of installation

-Updated boiler cap design to reduce excess material and bring cost down

We will continue to make improvements with as many being backwards compatible as possible. The plan for a plumb in option is still in the works and we hope to get into testing that design in the next month.

New Merch:

We just received some awesome hats that will be up for sale on our site soon! This is a limited run of 45 hats. Depending on demand we may make more in the future. We had some very cool Argos posters designed over a year ago but didn’t have the logistics sorted out to offer those. Once posted, these will now be drop-shipped from our printing partners around the world since they will not fit in our standard Argos shipping boxes. Future items we plan to add to our store include Argos carrying totes, crew neck sweatshirts, mugs, and espresso shot glasses. Keep an eye out as we add these. Customers will have the option for these to be shipped separately or with your machine!

Filming a milk science and steaming tutorial video

Sincerely,

Ross & William