Fracino Piccino

[markbatey]

Just come across this little machine, which doesn't seem to have surfaced on tmc before. Fracino Piccino, twin boiler one group machine, for around £500+. Anyone got any experience of it? Seems interesting?

[lukas]

Looks like an interesting little machine - the PDF says it has two boilers with ~330ml capacity, two 1.1kw heating elements and an 'authentic professional brass group with three way selenoid valve'. I'd love to get my hands on that machine for a little while, but have really no idea what to expect.

If it holds to it's promise, the price is definitly very nice.

[JonEdwards]

Well this machine has my interest very definitely piqued.

I've been after an upgrade from my Gagg. Classic for a while, but have very limited worktop depth to play with - this fits perfectly.

I dropped Fracino a 'mail asking where I could get my grubby mitts on one, and they quickly pointed me at "The Coffee Machine" on the Kings Road - conveniently close to my office.

I've just paid them a visit, upon walking in - there was one on display, already plugged in and warmed up. John, who was busy serving other customers saw me tinkering with it and presented me with some cups "grinder's over there - get stuck in!". Slightly non-plussed by this very hands-on approach, I did so...

Seems like it does what it says on the tin. First shot was pretty pants - hardly unexpected given the complete lack of experience with any of the kit. Second (a cappa), very presentable.

External build quality is pretty decent – not super heavy duty, but par for the course for a domestic model. The only criticism that both John the shop guy and I had was that if you lean on the group handle, the chassis flexes some – this is something that Fracino are going to change for the next batch apparently.

Water tank is back left and the full height of the machine – complete with water filter.

Portafilter is standard E61 size, so easy to get baskets, naked p/fs etc for.

Drip tray is a reasonable but not enormous size.

Difficult to say how good temp stability is in such a quick play – but it ought to be a fair chunk better than my gaggia! Boilers are 330ml/coke can sized, which should cover my usual needs without needing to do too much refilling.

Steaming is obviously instant thanks to the dual boiler, and very easy to generate a decent foam for the single drink I made. (Apparently that machine had a custom drilled tip on though). The steam boiler has a pressurestat on rather than a thermostat, so as soon as you start steaming, the heater kicks in and maintains steam pressure.

Overall I was quite impressed, and certainly John couldn’t have been more helpful – very decent shop, and well worth visiting for all you London types..

I’m in no rush to buy, so will probably wait for the next batch with the reinforced chassis, but I can see that I will be buying one before too long. John also mentioned that they are going to rework the internals to make it easily PIDable…

[GreenBean]

...Difficult to say how good temp stability is in such a quick play – but it ought to be a fair chunk better than my gaggia! Boilers are 330ml/coke can sized, which should cover my usual needs without needing to do too much refilling.…

It does look attractive but as you say temperature stability may be an issue. I can not see any mention of a PID so I assume the brew boiler is controlled by a temperature switch this would not control temperatures as well as a PID.