If you’re looking for a commercial machine that uses the latest technology to produce consistently great shots and that is classy to the nth degree (or should that be the 9th degree?) then the Rancilio Classe 9 Xcelsius may just be the machine for you. Rancilio has put a lot of work into researching and building this machine, and they have created something really great in their first foray into third wave coffee temperature profiling machines. What is the difference between the Classe 9 and the Classe 9 Xcelsius? In this case, the word Xcelsius does actually mean something and hasn’t just been added the name of the machine in order to make it sound fancier. While the Xcelsius will still do a heat exchange to get water up into the coffee boiler, the machine also introduces an individual coffee boiler at each brew pad. This means no matter if you have two, three or four group machines, there will be an individual 250 watt boiler at each group head. In order to provide even more temperature control, Rancilio has also designed a micro boiler (which they call finishing boiler) and cold water source into the machine. The finishing boiler is very small, and the concept behind it is to use it to inject water up in to the coffee boiler. Next, a heating element inside the coffee boiler is used to either increase or flatten out the water temperature. Finally, the cold water source is used to bend the temperature down. For instance, if we have the boiler temperature at 203 degrees Fahrenheit and want to bring it down to 198 degrees Fahrenheit during the extraction process, we can inject cold water into the boiler, a feature you’re not going to see on any other machine. After we get past the Xcelsius programming, the machine is very much like a typical volumetric machine. However, there are a couple of other features we like on the Rancilio Classe 9 Xcelsius, such as the being able to configure the machine for short or tall drinks by simply sliding out a tray to set shot glasses on for shorter drinks. With this machine you also have the ability to turn off individual group heads and save power by not having them run all night. The Rancilio Classe 9 Xcelsius has the best temperature stability on the market, and is the highest commercial machine Rancilio has created thus far. As such, the Classe 9 Xcelsius is great option for high volume cafes that are trying to do third wave coffee and are brewing a variety of single origin coffees. Especially since the machine’s temperature profiling ability will allow you to pull different characteristics out of Sumatran or Ethiopian coffees. To learn more about the functionality of this machine, watch as Brandon walks us through its features.
Crew Review: Rancilio Classe 9 Xcelsius
Brenna is a dedicated espresso machine reviewer with a keen eye for detail and performance.
