Felicita Arc coffee scale review – Carnevalestoricocivitonico

Designed for espresso machines but versatile enough to use with pour-overs, the Felicita Arc is the most luxurious coffee scale I’ve ever used. Yes, the price reflects that luxury, but as soon as you see the beautiful device, you’ll understand why. This might be one of the best coffee scales I’ve ever tried.

The Felicita Arc is constructed from aluminum and is IPX5 rated, meaning it is waterproof enough to withstand a low-pressure stream of water. On top of that, the scale is heavy without being laborious, with carefully sealed and polished edges.

If you can wrap your head around the initially confusing feature menu, this is a thoughtfully designed coffee scale with all the bases covered. If I use Arc with one of those best coffee maker or the one best espresso machines, it is versatile enough to give me accurate readings.

I would trust this coffee scale more than any other I’ve tested, given its reliable controls and automatic functions. But is it worth the eye-watering $110/£169 price tag? Find out in this Felicita Arc Coffee Scale review.

Felicita Arc Coffee Scale Review: Cheat Sheet

Who is it for? Professional baristas or serious coffee lovers
What does it cost? $110 on Amazon
What makes it good? The automatic functions are amazing and it is extremely reliable
What do we wish it did better? I can’t lie, $110 is steep for a digital scale

Felicita Arc Coffee Scale review: Specs

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Price	110 USD / £169
Weight	9 oz
Measure	4.1 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
Maximum weight	2 kg/4.4 pounds
My weight	0.1 g
Accuracy	0.1 g
Material	Aluminum
Paint	Black
Battery	USB-C rechargeable
Standby time	5 minutes
Waterproof	IPX5
Timer	Yes
Accessories	Silicone mat, 100g calibration weight

Felicita Arc Coffee Scale Review: Price & Availability

a luxury coffee scale made by Felicita Arc is photographed against a blue background with its weight, USB-C cable and silicone mat

(Image credit: Future)

Felicita Arc coffee scale is available for $110 on Amazon US and £169 on Amazon UKThis is one of the most expensive coffee scales I have ever used. The Premium Timemore Black Mirror 2 is $59 and features a timer, accuracy up to 0.1g and a waterproof dial surface. At the other end of the scale, the KitchenTour Coffee Scale costs $29 and performs just as well — but it’s not waterproof.

Felicita Arc Coffee Scale Review: Design & Features

The Felicita Arc is a premium wave, and boy, does it look like it. The IPX5 aluminum body is waterproof up to a low-pressure stream of water, meaning it should hold up to your daily coffee routine better than something without water resistance, like the Maestri House Coffee Scale ($39) or the Hario V60 Drip Scale ($56).

Since the Felicita Arc is only 5 inches long and half an inch thick, it is compact and easy to store away between uses. While you might think the size makes it incompatible with larger brewers like the Chemex, you can easily use it with large brewers and espresso machines because of its sturdy pad.

a luxury coffee scale made by Felicita Arc is photographed against a blue background with its weight, USB-C cable and silicone mat

(Image credit: Future)

Felicita Arc has a wide range of functions. Accessing these functions relies on a series of confusing button mashing, so don’t do it throw away your user manual – you need it. Once you wrap your head around the feature menu, the range of settings make this scale one of the most versatile and impressive I’ve ever seen.

The scale has standard tare and timing, but it also has auto-timing, auto-taring, and you can measure the total time of a shot including pre-infusion time. I found the auto-timing and auto-tare feature to be a joy when pulling espresso and helped me perfect my extraction.

a luxury coffee scale made by Felicita Arc is photographed against a blue background with its weight, USB-C cable and silicone mat

(Image credit: Future)

The Felicita Arc scale is compatible with the Felicita app. This app is not mandatory to operate the scale, but it is a nice feature considering the price of the scale. You can switch between ounces and grams in the app — you can’t seem to do this via the scale itself. You can also toggle audio and voice notifications in the app and even see live weighing information from the scale.

I was impressed with the specifications of the Felicita Arc Coffee Scale. The waterproofing is superior to that of any other coffee scale I have reviewed. The Subminimal Subscale ($49) is IPX4 rated, but has no timer, so is not recommended for serious espresso extraction. The Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 is listed as “waterproof” but does not have an IP rating, so there are no concrete numbers on its ability to withstand spills. I wouldn’t rinse the Felicita Arc under the sink, but it should be fine if water is splashed on it during the brewing process, and wiping it with a damp cloth won’t cause any problems.

Felicita Arc Coffee Scale review: Performance

As soon as I opened the Felicita Arc, I calibrated the scale with the included 100g (3.5 ounce) weight. I’m not sure if this is a fault with the weight or the scale itself, but when I compared the weight of the same item on the Felicita Arc versus the KitchenTour scale, the Hario V60 scale, and the Timemore Black Mirror scale, the Felicita Arc was off by about 0, 5 g each time. Even so, it was consistent with itself.

Since this scale is designed for espresso, I needed to test it with mine KitchenAid semi-automatic espresso machine. I placed the Felicita Arc on the drip tray and placed my mug on top. Since I had activated the “triangle” function (auto-tare and auto-time mode), it automatically takes when the mug was placed on top. As soon as the first drop of espresso touched the cup the timer started, and as soon as the espresso was finished the timer beeped and stopped. I love that it beeps, as this was the only thing missing from my favorite affordable scale, the Maestri House scale ($39).

a luxury coffee scale made by Felicita Arc is photographed against a blue background with its weight, USB-C cable and silicone mat

(Image credit: Future)

The Felicita Arc measures 0.1g, making it an excellent device for precise, hands-free espresso brewing, and is reliable enough that you don’t need to triple its automatic functions to work.

Although the Felicita Arc is made for espresso, I wanted to test its versatility as well. I converted it to ounces from grams using the Felicita app and weighed out 1 ounce of medium coffee in mine Chemex. Using the timer, I brewed the coffee for 32 seconds and then poured in 10 ounces of water. I let this brew for 1 minute and then added the other 10 ounces of water for my third brew. This brewed four small cups of coffee and all my colleagues reported that their drinks were even tastier than usual.

Felicita Arc Coffee Scale review: Storage and maintenance

a luxury coffee scale made by Felicita Arc is photographed against a blue background with its weight, USB-C cable and silicone mat

(Image credit: Future)

Since this is an IPX5 wave, cleaning is relatively easy. You can safely wipe up coffee spills without worrying about damaging the scale. At just 5 inches by 4 inches, this is a compact unit that you can easily place in your kitchen cabinet. And even if you decide to keep it outside, it’s an attractive product that would look great on your kitchen counter.

Battery life lasts for 20 hours, which may not sound like much at first, but if you use this scale for a few minutes each day, it should easily last you over a year. When it runs out, you can charge it with the included USB-C cable.

If you need to recalibrate the scale, you can use the supplied 100g weight to do so. It is very easy to do and only takes a few seconds.

Felicita Arc Coffee Scale Review: How Does It Compare?

In terms of weight comparison, the Felicita Arc was off by about 0.5g when compared directly to other scales. This could have been the result of an incorrect calibration weight, but the Arc was always consistent with its own measurements: something that weighed 10g the first time, weighed 10g every time.

a luxury coffee scale made by Felicita Arc is photographed against a blue background with its weight, USB-C cable and silicone mat

(Image credit: Future)

In terms of waterproofing, this is the best specification I’ve seen on a coffee scale. Only the Subminimal Subscale ($49) comes close to IPX4, but I doubt the effectiveness of this scale due to its lack of a timer. The other premium scale I liked was the Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 ($59), which had a waterproof (but not IP-rated) finish and a live flow meter. While the Arc has a much wider range of features, it’s also $50 more expensive than the Timemore.

If you want to save as much money as you can, I recommend the KitchenTour Coffee Scale ($29). It may not be waterproof or as aesthetically pleasing as the Arc, but it weighs and times just as well.

Felicita Arc Coffee Scale review: Assessment

a luxury coffee scale made by Felicita Arc is photographed against a blue background with its weight, USB-C cable and silicone mat

(Image credit: Future)

This is a luxury wave with a luxury price. If you want a really accurate, versatile scale, you want to spend time mastering, this is the scale for you. But if you want something that literally just weighs coffee times brewing, this might be overkill. The range of functions sometimes got in the way during testing: I accidentally pressed it to go to auto mode but I wanted to start my timer manually, for example.

If you want a simple and/or cheap scale then this is not for you. You’d be better off with the $29 KitchenTour coffee scale, or if you want something basic but pretty, I’d recommend the $39 Maestri House scale. But if you want to go all out with an investment to take your coffee routine to the next level, the Felicita Arc is a great luxury option.

Kaneb

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