The Ascaso Barista T Plus 2024. Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.
Spanish espresso machine brand Ascaso recently added a new high-end commercial espresso machine to its lineup called the Barista T Plus 2024.
At the same time, the company launched its first grinder optimized for single-dose grinding, the H64.
Both machines were revealed at the HostMilano trade show in Italy earlier this year.
Ascaso Barista T Plus
The Ascaso Barista T Plus 2024 is the most advanced machine in the company’s Barista T line.
With a more angular, utilitarian aesthetic than the brand’s flagship professional espresso machine, the Big Dream T, the new Barista T Plus introduces a set of individually heated and insulated groups, a 4.2-inch capacitive LCD touch screen, fully insulated pipes and boilers, and a backlit logo on the back of its case.
Ascaso courtesy photo.
Like the Big Dream and all other Barista-line machines, the new Barista T features a rotary pump, the company’s T Tech water heating technology and an abundance of stainless steel.
“We are sure stainless steel is the best material for food purposes,” Ascaso Export Manager Nieves Tallafigo Diez told Daily Coffee News. “We use SS AISI316, which is the one used in hospital and kitchen industries, in most of the parts in contact with hot water. Stainless steel has no pores like brass and copper do, so lime, which is responsible for 90% of technical issues, does not get stuck, avoiding technical problems.”
Ascaso’s emphasis on stainless steel was solidified in 2018 with the release of its top-of-the-line commercial espresso machine, the Big Dream. As with the Dream, water in Barista machines is in contact with stainless steel from the plumbing to the cup. All of the Barista T Plus 2024’s interior water lines, its heating element, relevant pump parts, heat exchanger, thermoblock tubing, group head and portafilters are stainless steel.
Ascaso courtesy photo.
In the T Tech system, fresh water is pumped first through the heat exchanger for preheating up to 80°C (176°F). From there, the volumetric system delivers programmed quantities to individually PID-controlled thermoblock heaters at each group. These finish heating the water to the user’s designated temps as the water closes in on the coffee.
“Our thermoblock technology allows you to heat the coffee group in one minute, compared to any thermosyphon technology with an E61 group, which usually takes 20 minutes to heat the machine for the first time in the morning,” said Diez. “The thermal recuperation of the group is also quick.”
Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.
Ascaso H64 Grinder
The H64 grinder, described by the company as a “home-pro” grinder, is the company’s first grinder designed specifically to accommodate single-dose grinding.
The Ascaso H64 grinder. Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.
With 64-millimeter flat tempered steel burrs within an aluminum-encased body, the machine ships with both a 300-gram-capacity hopper as well as a bellows/mini-hopper system for grinding one dose at a time.
The package also includes a dosing cup receptacle, and two different receptacle forks — one designed to hold a portafilter and another for the dosing cup. Intended for the advanced home user, the H64 was displayed for the first time at the HostMilano trade show in Milan earlier this year alongside the Barista T Plus 2024, as as well as Ascaso’s latest high-end home espresso machine, the Duo Plus.
The new Ascaso Duo Plus espresso machine. Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.
A family-owned company for its first 50 years, Barcelona-based Ascaso was acquired by Spanish vending and payment technology company Azkoyen last year. That acquisition came roughly a year after the company formalized its ongoing partnership with Espresso Parts to launch Ascaso-USA.
Available now for customers overseas, the Barista T Plus 2024 pricing starts at €7,490 (currently US $8,150.51) for a 2-group machine in black and walnut finishes. The H64 is available for €609 ($669.30 US). Pricing for customers in the United States has not yet been announced.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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