By: The Caffeinated Gear Team
When we first heard about the Kafmasino One, our interest was immediately piqued. Two passionate brothers from Madrid had reached out to us, claiming they’d developed something remarkable: a budget-friendly alternative to the legendary Decent DE1 espresso machine. Naturally, we couldn’t wait to put it through its paces.
Upon first inspection, we found ourselves slightly underwhelmed by its visual appeal.
This initial assessment came before the arrival of machines like the Mii Coffee Apex or the Turin Legato. At first glance, the design seemed somewhat conventional – reminiscent of other machines in the market, particularly the Profitec Go. While there’s nothing wrong with its appearance, we felt it lacked distinctive character, following a familiar single-boiler espresso machine template.
But then we switched it on. Everything changed.
For anyone considering this type of espresso machine, we’d suggest shifting your perspective. The Kafmasino One isn’t about aesthetic innovation – it’s about performance and accessibility.
This philosophy traces back to the ZPM espresso machine, which later influenced the Decent DE1’s development (more on this fascinating connection shortly). These machines prioritise technology-driven results – specifically, perfectly extracted espresso.
If you’re seeking both cutting-edge technology and head-turning design, prepare for some serious spending. Recent market entries combining both qualities come with eye-watering price tags. Take the Maro Model 1 at roughly €4,500, or the Unica Pro approaching £7,000 after delivery.
This brings us to our crucial realisation about the Kafmasino One: its true brilliance lies in its affordability.
Creating a unique-looking machine requires bespoke manufacturing – a lesson learned the hard way by ZPM’s founders. They discovered that prototype development costs barely scratched the surface of mass production expenses. Despite securing several hundred thousand dollars in funding, they found themselves nowhere near the required investment for large-scale manufacturing.
As Decent’s founder John Buckman explains in his conversation with James Hoffmann (featured below), thorough research revealed the impossibility of the initial pricing strategy (£200 early bird, £400 RRP).
While Decent initially aimed for a sub-£1,000 price point, reality pushed the final cost to approximately £3,000 (including UK delivery and import duty at the time of writing).
Some coffee enthusiasts criticise the Decent’s appearance too. For those prioritising aesthetics, machines like the Unica might prove more appealing.
We’ve identified two primary approaches. First, there’s the modification route.
The Gaggiuino project exemplifies this method, allowing users to upgrade existing machines with similar capabilities. It’s possibly the most cost-effective solution, with components totalling a few hundred pounds.
(We’re still working on our promised Gaggiuino video – our specialist espresso engineer is finalising the details.)
The second approach involves developing custom hardware and software while utilising an existing machine platform – precisely what Kafmasino has achieved.
Our inspection of the machine’s internals left us impressed. Despite extensive European touring, the build quality remains excellent. The Kafmasino board shows sophisticated engineering, and their app demonstrates years of careful development.
While they could have pursued unique machine design, they wisely chose a different path. Rather than navigating the complex and costly world of manufacturing, they identified a reliable existing platform to house their technology.
Their journey began with a Kickstarter campaign that didn’t reach its goal. However, they persevered, successfully completing two production runs. As we write this, they’re accepting pre-orders for their next batch.
Now, let’s dive into our detailed review.
Let’s begin with the base machine before exploring the app’s capabilities.
While our initial reaction to the machine’s appearance was lukewarm, we’ve come to appreciate its pragmatic design approach. Yes, it shares visual similarities with machines like the ECM Casa 5 & Profitec Go. Some might wish for more distinctive styling, but that would compromise the core mission: accessibility.
The story behind this design choice is fascinating. Brothers Sergio and Jorge Hurtado, Madrid-based espresso enthusiasts, set out to create an affordable Decent DE1 alternative. Their breakthrough came when they realised they could focus their innovation on perfecting their app while finding an ideal base machine requiring minimal modification.
After testing numerous models, they discovered their perfect match. Jorge shared with us their enthusiasm for the 550ml stainless steel brew boiler and impressive thermoblock performance. Our tests confirm this – we achieved excellent milk steaming times of around 30 seconds for 200ml, exceptional for a thermoblock system.
The machine’s few limitations – lacking an overpressure valve and basic PID – become irrelevant thanks to Kafmasino’s custom components and firmware.
You might notice similarities between this machine and the Turin Legato or Mii Coffee Apex.
However, there are subtle differences. While sharing the same case design and many external components, including the steam boiler and LCD display, the Legato and Apex feature a pressure gauge and corresponding front panel cutout.
Jorge explained that their base unit uses a different thermoblock and internal configuration, though it matches the Hungarian AVX DB1, which has established itself in the market over several years.
Kafmasino’s modifications transform this foundation significantly. They install their proprietary main board, replacing the original, connecting controllers to all sensors, the pump, and heating elements. They add a pressure sensor and regulator for stable brewing and puck resistance monitoring. Each machine undergoes flow rate calibration, and comes with Bluetooth scales for precise shot control (Acaia scale compatibility included).
This isn’t simply a generic machine with Bluetooth connectivity – it’s a comprehensive reimagining of what affordable espresso equipment can achieve.
Warranty & Aftersales Support
While the machine’s build quality impresses us, warranty coverage remains crucial, especially for a Spanish-based company shipping internationally.
Their two-year warranty includes complimentary return shipping both ways if servicing is needed. Support begins with email or chat consultation, backed by helpful videos. If issues persist, they offer one-to-one video calls.
For minor repairs like group head gasket replacement, they’ll ship parts free of charge. For more complex issues, they provide pre-paid shipping labels and handle all repairs.
The App Experience
First and foremost: this app makes excellent espresso more accessible than ever.
For those feeling overwhelmed by technical coffee terminology, here’s the brilliant part – while this system enables deep coffee experimentation, it also simplifies the process of brewing fantastic espresso.
Before we dive into the details, our loyal readers can enjoy a 15% discount by setting up a subscription through your online account – pause, modify or cancel anytime. Alternatively, use our standard 10% discount on any purchase.
Let’s discuss what makes this machine truly remarkable. Picture this: you open the app and find a perfectly calibrated profile with the ideal brewing temperature, precise dosing measurements, and exact ratios – all you need to do is follow the guided measurements using the integrated scales, tamp your coffee, and secure the portafilter.
With a simple tap to start, the built-in scales automatically zero themselves. Thanks to the sophisticated Bluetooth connection and precise scale latency compensation, the machine pulls your shot and stops within a gram of your target yield, ensuring perfect ratios every time.
Here’s the brilliant part – you don’t need to understand the technical intricacies of brew pressure, preinfusion, or flow rates. The machine handles all of that complexity behind the scenes. Simply download a profile created by an experienced user who has meticulously refined their recipe and shared it with the community.
And that’s just scratching the surface of what this machine can achieve!
Consider this practical example: for our chocolate brownie blend, we can create multiple profiles. Our team is working on two distinct profiles – one optimised for drinking the espresso neat or as an Americano, and another “Turbo Choc” version specifically designed to shine in milk-based drinks.
The shot history feature adds another layer of community knowledge. When saving successful shots, users can record detailed notes including their grind settings and equipment used. This means you can search for others using the same grinder as you to get an ideal starting point for your own shots.
We’re also developing a specialised profile for our Custard Cream Nicaragua – a challenging light roast that demands precise extraction to reveal its full potential. While the profile incorporates complex elements like bloom phases and temperature curves, you simply need to load it and follow the dosing guidance.
The system offers brilliant flexibility too. If a profile suggests an 18g dose with a 1:2.5 ratio, but you prefer using 17g, just tap the quick edit button to adjust. The machine automatically recalculates the yield to maintain your chosen ratio. Want to experiment with a 1:3 ratio instead? Another quick tap adjusts everything instantly.
For the curious coffee enthusiasts, every profile’s technical details are easily accessible. You can examine the preinfusion pressure, duration, main extraction pressure, flow rates and more. Feel free to duplicate any profile and experiment with the parameters to develop your perfect shot.
The community aspect extends further – you can follow other users whose profiles and shot histories interest you. Speaking of notable users, Lance Hedrick was particularly impressed when first experiencing the Kafmasino. The founders personally delivered his test machine to Porto from Madrid for a comprehensive demonstration.
The Dual Screen feature showcased in Lance’s Instagram post above is particularly clever. It enables side-by-side comparison of consecutive shots and allows users to overlay their extraction graphs with those from other users for detailed analysis.
Regarding temperature profiling capabilities – our team was genuinely surprised by this feature. For context, temperature profiling means adjusting the brewing temperature throughout different stages of the shot, similar to how you might adjust pressure or flow rate. In conversation with Jorge about this capability, we were curious about their technical approach, since machines like the Decent DE1 achieve this through mixing cold and hot water en route to the group head for rapid, precise temperature changes. The Kafmasino’s method intrigued us…
The brilliant minds behind the Kafmasino One have developed a sophisticated temperature control system using their proprietary algorithm and thermal modelling. Through precise calculations of the boiler’s temperature coefficient, the firmware expertly manages heating and cooling to hit target temperatures with remarkable accuracy.
While the Decent DE1 might edge ahead in terms of rapid temperature shifts, the Kafmasino One’s controlled approach suits most brewing needs perfectly. Most coffee enthusiasts rarely require temperature changes beyond 5°C between steps, making this a practical design choice that maintains excellent results.
Like any cutting-edge coffee tech, the app continues to grow and improve. We’ve spent countless hours testing it over several weeks, and we’re genuinely impressed by its stability. In our extensive testing period, we encountered just one app crash and a single connection dropout—both easily resolved with a quick restart.
The app shows tremendous promise, and we’re excited about its future development. Our team has shared several suggestions with Kafmasino, including:
We’ve also proposed an innovative partnership programme with coffee roasters. By offering them special access to the machine, they could create custom profiles for their beans—making it easier for Kafmasino One users to dial in their favourite coffees with minimal waste.
One standout feature we absolutely love is how seamlessly community profiles integrate within the app itself. Unlike other systems where profiles live in separate communities, here they’re right at your fingertips, downloading instantly when needed.
We firmly believe this machine could revolutionise home espresso brewing. Picture this: your monthly coffee subscription arrives with several exciting new beans from different roasters. You open the Kafmasino app, find a profile created by either the roaster or another enthusiast, and within minutes, you’re pulling excellent shots guided by the community’s insights about grind settings for various grinders.
Gone are the days of finishing a bag of beans still struggling to dial them in. Instead, you’ll find yourself looking forward to each new coffee, confident in your ability to bring out its best characteristics.
While the Kafmasino community is still growing, the machine’s accessibility makes widespread adoption entirely possible. Just as the Decent DE1 has transformed our understanding of espresso extraction, sharing insights far beyond its user base, the Kafmasino One could bring this knowledge to an even broader audience.
The real game-changer here is affordability. By making this technology accessible to more coffee enthusiasts, Kafmasino could inspire other manufacturers to embrace similar capabilities. We wouldn’t be surprised to see established brands exploring partnerships to incorporate this technology into their machines.
Imagine if popular machines like the Gaggia Classic, Sage Dual Boiler, Rancilio Silvia, Profitec Go, or Lelit Mara X offered Kafmasino board options. A unified community across multiple brands could democratise exceptional home espresso.
While some might prefer traditional methods, and advanced users might reserve profiling for specific situations, this technology opens up new possibilities for everyday coffee enthusiasts to achieve professional-level results.
The Kafmasino One, much like the Decent DE1, offers both coffee-specific profiles and machine emulation options. These profiles, primarily created by the Hurtado brothers (though we expect more community contributions as the user base grows), replicate the characteristics of renowned espresso machines.
Current machine emulations include:
Speaking of the Fellini move—it’s a fascinating technique named after film director Federico Fellini’s La Strada, where a barista’s unique lever manipulation created an advanced form of pre-infusion that notably improved extraction.
Let’s examine how these profiles work in practice. The La Marzocco Linea profile features three distinct steps:
The Slayer profile offers a semi-automatic approach with three steps:
You control the timing between steps manually, tapping to progress through the sequence.
The Londinium profile showcases impressive complexity with seven carefully calibrated steps:
The Olympia Cremina profile maintains simplicity with four steps:
The Fellini move profile demonstrates remarkable precision, featuring multiple pressure adjustments that would require significant skill on a traditional lever machine like the £4,000 Olympia Cremina. While mastering a premium lever machine holds its appeal, we find the accessibility of these profiles through a simple tap interface particularly attractive.
What truly amazes us about the Kafmasino One is its ability to produce distinctly different flavour profiles from the same beans. We’re not just talking about variations in extraction—these are fundamentally different yet equally impressive expressions of the same coffee achieved through different profiles.
The standard basket delivers excellent results, but Kafmasino has recently introduced four high-extraction baskets that push the boundaries even further:
This basket creates a harmonious blend of flavours while boosting extraction for fruitier notes. It excels in both milk-based drinks and traditional espresso preparations.
Offering enhanced clarity and acidity compared to the Spiralo, this basket particularly shines in milk-based beverages, allowing complex flavours to cut through beautifully.
The following baskets feature variable flow designs, introducing new dimensions to your coffee:
This pattern expertly moderates peak acidity, creating a more balanced experience with brighter coffees.
A higher-flow variation of the Konkava requiring finer grinding, this basket expands the range of achievable acidity without sharp peaks.
While the included basket produces excellent results, these speciality baskets offer exciting possibilities for those wanting to explore deeper. Fair warning: this level of customisation might lead you down the home barista rabbit hole!
You might notice a “tea” profile in the app—and yes, it’s exactly what you think. While you can brew tea using the standard portafilter, Kafmasino offers a dedicated tea portafilter for optimal results.
The machine’s precise temperature control (up to 100°C) and flow rate management make it particularly well-suited for brewing speciality teas. We’ve experimented with loose-leaf tea using the standard portafilter at 91°C and found the results notably less bitter than traditional brewing methods. We’re eager to explore this further with the dedicated tea portafilter.
After extensive testing across our barista team, we’ve found the steam wand’s compact design to be surprisingly effective.
While it might seem shorter than what you’re used to, it’s simply a matter of quick adjustment.
For those working with a 500ml pitcher and steaming the typical 200ml portion, you’ll need to position the wand and jug at a slight angle to properly submerge the tip.
Alternatively, a 300ml pitcher works brilliantly, though we’ve found either option produces excellent results.
Our testing revealed impressively dry steam with minimal moisture during purging.
The steam kicks in within seconds of opening the valve, and we consistently achieved proper steaming temperature (60-65°C) in just 30-32 seconds when working with 200ml of milk.
For a thermoblock system, this speed is remarkable.
Most importantly, the milk texture matches what we’d expect from traditional steam boiler machines, allowing for perfect microfoam every time.
If you’ve been eyeing the Decent DE1 but finding its price tag a bit steep (or perhaps worried about domestic harmony after such a purchase!), the Kafmasino One offers a compelling alternative that doesn’t compromise on quality.
The base machine, which initially raised some eyebrows during its Kickstarter phase, has proven its worth.
Multiple brands now use this or similar platforms, demonstrating its reliability.
When paired with Kafmasino’s technology and app interface, it delivers outstanding performance that exceeded our expectations.
Some initial concerns about the app’s development have been thoroughly dismissed through our testing.
While the profile library may not yet match the Decent’s extensive collection, the app runs smoothly and intuitively.
Based on our experience, we expect the software ecosystem to grow significantly over time.
Our verdict?
The Kafmasino One has earned its place in our recommended lineup.
In fact, we’re so impressed that our test unit’s return will promptly be followed by a permanent addition to our testing lab.
Ready to upgrade your espresso game?
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