Ascaso is a Spanish maker of espresso machines and grinders, with its factory in Gavà, in the Barcelona area. The About us page on its official site tells how it began: J. Ascaso, born in a village in the province of Huesca, moved to Barcelona in the 1950s and went to work making components for espresso machines, including for Gaggia. In 1962 he set up his own company to produce and distribute spare parts for espresso machines of several brands. It was his son, JL. Ascaso, who took the business into building complete machines; the page does not say when.
The current catalogue is split into a home line (Dream, Steel, Baby T), a commercial line (Baby T Plus, Bar Mini, Bar, Barista T, Big Dream) and two grinders, the H64 and P74. The technology page sets out the building blocks of the range: a thermoblock with electronic temperature management, a large-capacity steam boiler with PID control, brew water preheated in a U-shaped tube running through the steam boiler, PID adjustable across up to 8 settings between 90 and 106 °C, and a multi-group system in which each group and the boiler have their own heating and control. The site states more than 4,000 m² of space, 50 people and distribution in over 95 countries.
The site's legal notice names Azkoyen Vending & Payment Solutions, S.L.U. as its owner, and the Spanish Azkoyen group, which started out in Navarre, lists Ascaso among its brands. None of the official pages consulted says when the brand joined the group, so CoffeeSpecs leaves it out.
