Sanremo YOU Espresso Machine Overview

New to the Clive Coffee lineup is the Sanremo YOU. Aptly named the YOU is the espresso machine that gives the home barista control over nearly every variable in the espresso-making process. It gives you your own personal espresso laboratory, letting you mad scientist it up! Think a GS3 MP & Slayer hybrid. Best of both worlds: volumetric and pressure profiling machine, promoting experimentation and being able to make your own experience. The YOU opens many doors in specialty coffee for anyone who desires the cafè experience in their home. Let’s dive into the deep end and see what the new home machine by Sanremo has to offer. 

The not-so-basic basics

The Sanremo YOU is an espresso machine with infinite possibilities. Geared toward the home barista that loves to tinker and have control over all of the variables that go into espresso making, the YOU aims to allow the home barista to control the extraction stage, both manually and electronically, fully. The YOU puts you in the driver’s seat of experimentation, giving you total control over your coffee, from setting the pre-infusion parameters to controlling pressure and the quantity delivered during infusion and in post-infusion stages. You are in complete control of your extraction from start to finish, whether using the paddle manually or programming custom profiles to run automatically by pressing a button. While the YOU is geared towards folks with the espresso fundamentals down pat, it can also be ideal for beginners who want to grow and learn with their equipment seamlessly.  It has pre-programmed profiles to get you comfortable with learning and growing with the machine. 

• Programmable timer to set a daily on/off schedule 
• Flow profiling — contains a pre-set profile library and the ability to profile map to create your own profiles and volumetric profiles. 
• Switchable water source — internal reservoir & plumbable 
• Volumetric gear pump
• Cool touch/one activation wands
• Mixing valve for the hot water spout 
• USB for firmware updates
• Easy servicing 
• Touch screen menu 

The touchscreen is your motherboard to Flavortown

Many espresso machines try to blend modern technology and traditional Italian aesthetics. Yet, most of them have mixed results. The YOU truly stands out, forging a unique look and sporting our favorite touchscreen on an espresso machine. We stan this innovation by Sanremo. Leaning into a futuristic and tasteful look is a breath of fresh air in a market saturated by e61 machines. The YOU's touchscreen is responsive and intuitive to use. If you’re used to an iPhone, this is a natural progression. 

The sharp, clear touch screen is above the group head in the middle of the machine. Remember, the ethos behind the YOU is to allow the user to control the extraction stage, both manually and electronically, fully. The You can do this because of its gear pump, allowing you to alter the pump pressure in real-time by setting the pre-infusion parameters to control extraction pressure delivered during post-infusion. The gear pump gives incredibly accurate flow rates as you can program your shots to stop down to the milliliter. You are in complete control of your extraction, whether using the paddle manually or want to program custom profiles to run automatically. 

There’s no OPV on the YOU, so if you move the paddle from right to left, you’ll get the max pump pressure of 12 bars. The machine is great when replicating traditional 9-bar espresso shots, but you’d be wasting the endless potential that the YOU offers. Try modulating the brew paddle to get your desired pressure, 9-bar or not.*
If you’re new to making espresso at home, the YOU has a higher learning curve; thus, we recommend trying some of the pre-programmed automatic lever profiles before experimenting with pressure profiling. 

Pulling a shot for the first time on the YOU

We recommend feeling the machine out first by manually using the brew lever. When you manually move the brew paddle to start pulling a shot, the screen immediately changes to display parameters of feedback of your real-time extraction. The screen displays: 

• The temperature in the brew chamber 
• Extraction time
• Real-time bar pressure of your extraction 
• Espresso yield in milliliters per second

Clicking the right arrow on the screen displays this same information, but in list form, clicking again reveals pressure profile and flow rate graphs. This information gives everything you need to geek out and perfect your espresso extraction. 

Freedom to pull shots your way 

• Stepping up to the machine, you can use the pressure profiling manually by moving the paddle freely, starting with a 2 bar pre-infusion and then moving the paddle to slowly ramp up the pressure, stopping on 8 bar until you reach your desired liquid espresso yield. 

• You can create a custom profile unique to a coffee you’re using and save it as a profile to access again, save it on the screen as one of the three main options on the home screen, and select that to repeat automatically.

• Or, in pressure profiling mode, you can choose from any pre-set profiles to run—6 standard or 12 custom profiles with pre and post-infusion. Pulling different shots and messing with variables than you would with a standard machine. 

Why choose the YOU?

The YOU is the best of both worlds, being a volumetric and pressure profiling machine. It promotes experimentation and can make your own experience. Also, the coffee boiler and group head are heated and controlled independently—heating element in the group head to help with accurate temp stability from start to finish. The YOU has a mixing valve that lets you change the time and amount of steam with cold water—the less steam, the cooler the water. This is ideal if you’re making Americanos. The YOU has a quick touch steam wand purge for pre and post milk steaming. Sanremo thought about all of the details, and they succeeded in making a machine that pushes the limits of espresso experimentation.