the Acaia lunar has long been our
favorite espresso scale and popular
opinion suggests were not alone at a
glance it's easy to get an idea of why
there's a lot more beneath that sleek
aluminum frame that puts the lunar head
and shoulders above its competition
let's start with the simple stuff lunar
is super fast and accurate this is a
huge part of what makes Acaia's
products so popular among coffee
hobbyists and professionals when you're
making coffee multiple times a day or
hundreds you want something that feels
responsive and precise it's like the
difference between using a phone that's
snappy and responsive versus one that
lags through menus the actual difference
in time may just be a second but the
difference in feeling is massive Acaia
also spends a lot of time ensuring their
scales are extremely precise while they
display weight down to the tenth of a
gram they're actually built to be
accurate down to the thousandth even
better Acaia includes a calibration
weight with every lunar so you can keep
it perfectly calibrated in perpetuity
the sleek aluminum shell is meant to
last - to put it in a positive light
weave stress tested the Lunars in our
office over the years and even when
dropped from counter height they still
only suffered superficial damage they're
also water-resistant Acaia stopped short
of saying waterproof but speaking from
our experience we've used these heavily
over the years and have yet to see one
suffer water damage an impressive feat
for something that spends most of its
time beneath what is essentially a
boiling water faucet with all that
covered it's time to start digging into
the software while design helps set
Acaia part it's the features they've
programmed into their scales that really
seal the deal the timer on the left is
started with a single tap of the power
button and weight is displayed on the
right handy functional but let's be
honest a bit pedestrian let's get into
the really cool stuff cycling to the
next mode by holding the power button we
see a new symbol appear it's a water
droplet this is the auto timer mode and
it's something that you won't find on
most other scales
when the scale detects the slow increase
in weight associated with the first
drops of espresso it'll automatically
start the timer likewise when you stop
your shot it'll automatically stop the
timer well we generally recommend
starting your timer right when coffee
and water meet you can account for this
difference in time after a few shots
that makes this an incredibly useful
feature for those in a cafe or coffee
cart that produce high volumes of drinks
by significantly reducing the number of
actions required moving on will hold the
power button down once again to cycle to
the next mode which happens to be my
favorite it has a significantly less
catchy name auto tare auto start timer
mode but it's super useful and reliable
essentially when the scale detects a
stable weight like a cup it'll
automatically tare the weight and start
the timer with this on your drip tray
all you have to do is set your cup down
and start the shop at about the same
time and the lunar handles the rest I
prefer this mode because it counts the
time before your first drops of espresso
while still keeping the process
streamlined lastly we have our auto tare
mode this does exactly what you'd expect
it simply automatically tears any stable
weight placed atop the scale it's best
used with the scale on your drip tray
where it'll automatically tare the
weight of a cup but not that steady flow
of espresso with these 5 modes you have
your pick between dead-simple scale
functionality and smart software that
allows you to streamline your espresso
experience combined with Lunars
durability and good looks we think it's
easy to see why this is our favorite
coffee scale if this video answered your
questions about the Acaia lunar be sure
to hit the like button if it didn't or
if you want to argue about which auto
mode is the best I'd be glad to chat in
the comments below for more coffee
knowledge tamp subscribe and as always
thanks for watching
