Wendougee Data S Espresso Machine Review

Introducing the Wendougee Data S

It was June 2025, when I first noticed the Wendougee Data S, at the World of Coffee expo in Geneva Switzerland. In fact, I was quite amazed by all of the products at this Chinese booth, and was surprised I hadn’t heard of them before.

The Data S is a very sleek looking, modern yet traditional espresso machine, with some excellent features. I was very much drawn to the saturated brew group, sitting front and center as the face of the machine. It is encased in a polished metal surround, with Wendougee branded on the black dial of the top.

Adorning the brew group is a hefty switch, actuated via a mechanical lever with a beautiful wooden element, as seen below. To the left and right of this brew switch are the toggle switches for the steam and hot water, respectively.

Looking below the brew group, one can see the polished stainless steel of the brew group housing, and the included bottomless portafilter. I very much like the combination of polished stainless steel, and the various wood touch points of the machine.

Below the portafilter, you will see WENDOUGEE branded on the front, and the manometer and power light on the right side, below the water faucet. The only thing I have to complain about here is that the water faucet often covers the power light, so that you cannot see its condition.

Having a look at the side of the machine, the Data S maintains its elegant beauty. The side panels taper towards the back, giving it a sporty look. As a bonus, these panels are easy to remove, but more on that later.

You will also notice the polished feet at the bottom of the unit. These metal feet are heavy duty, and the front two can be placed within various tapped holes. Nice touch.

The top plate of the Data S is made of stainless, and has slits for the heat to escape. This is also where the heavy duty water tank cover is located, and the black metal handle gives a satisfying ‘clunk’, as you set it back down into its place.

Notice also the hole in the middle, towards the front. This hole allows a slotted screwdriver to access to the set screw on a needle valve. This valve can adjust the maximum flow of the water, which is 12 ml/sec. I should repeat that – maximum flow of this gear pump driven machine is 12 milliliters per second, which is a lot! Most vibration pump machines max out at 7 ml/sec.

You will also notice the Gicar flow meter to the right of the needle valve. This measures the flow in real time, and works much better than the cheap flow meters in economical espresso machines. The €50 Gicar flow meter knows exactly just how much water is flowing to the brew group, and therefore helps the machine to stop volumetrically, in quite a precise manner.

What makes the Wendougee special?

I’m glad you asked. Let’s talk about it below:

Dual Boilers

The Wendougee Data S comes first of all with large stainless steel boilers. The steam boiler has a volume of 1.8 liters, while the brew boiler is 800ml. The steam boiler is cylindrical, and insulated. The brew boiler on the other hand is quite unconventional, being a square shape.

Due to the 2200 watts that these boilers pull, a 20 amp circuit is recommended, although I have only noticed the boilers engaged serially (first one, then the other). First, one boiler runs at 1500 watts. Once that has reached temperature, the other boiler kicks in, and runs at about 700 watts. This is just what I have noticed on my smart plug.

Gear Pump and Gicar flow meter

Maybe the coolest thing about the Wendougee is its gear pump. This allows the machine to pressure and flow profile, as you can adjust the pump on the fly to deliver more or less water. It also sounds really cool. I believe the gear pump is made by Wendougee, although I can’t tell since it’s pretty much hidden (lower left of picture).

Between the gear pump’s flexibility, and the tracking of the flow via the Gicar flow meter, you can expect your shot to stop when expected, which is a game changer for me. In the picture below, you see a solenoid valve from ODE (German company) on the left, a valve to adjust max water flow in the middle, and the aforementioned Gicar (Italian company) flow meter on the right, to know exactly how much brew water is flowing. Nice!

Pressure and Monitoring

On top of water flow monitoring and water temperature, the Data S also has a pressure sensor from the German company Wika, to monitor the pressure coming out of the gear pump. Very nice.

Wendougee went back to Wika to get a manometer as well, to display the pressure of the steam boiler.

Materials

My most popular blog article has to do with plastic free espresso machines. It seems these days, that people want to avoid plastic and aluminum as much as they can, especially in the hot water paths.

Well thankfully, the Data S uses mostly metal in the construction. The boilers are made out of stainless steel, the water distributor and flow block are milled stainless steel, the hot water lines are copper, and the brew group is stainless steel. Only the water tank is plastic, the line from the water tank to the gear pump inlet is silicone, and the pressurized water from the pump to the distribution block is PTFE tubing. All of those however are ambient temperature water paths.

Because the Data S uses mainly stainless steel and copper in the hot water lines, I suspect this machine will tick lots of people’s boxes.

Water Distribution

Looking at the photo below, you can see the gear pump on the lower right, being fed via silicone tube from the water tank, and delivering the ambient temperature pressurized water to the distribution block via high pressure PTFE line.

From the distribution block on the right, the steam boiler is fed by two copper lines: one at the bottom of the boiler, and one entering the middle of the boiler, after passing through a 2 way solenoid valve. I’m guessing this switched connection is for topping up the boiler.

Towards the top of the steam boiler, you will notice a thin coiled copper line, which feeds into a Wika manometer. To the left of that there is an over pressure valve from WDG, should the pressure get above 3.0 bar.

The last thing to mention on the steam boiler is the hot water connection. That is on the lower right of the steam boiler, providing hot water via the toggle switch.

The steam boiler then feeds to the brew boiler, where the water temperature is stabilized to the temperature chosen. Both the temperature of the steam boiler and brew boiler are monitored via temperature probe (right side of picture below), and controlled via PID control.

Does this look Chinese to you?

Viewing all the pictures above, does this machine look like a Chinese build or design? Conventionally, I would say no. But Wendougee is showing us that there are some serious companies over there in China, innovating, and make some beautiful equipment.

I don’t care where this machine comes from, I have to give the designers the props they deserve. Aesthetically and functionally, this is a top tier machine, at least in my eyes.

How is the Wendougee Data S for Espresso and Milk Foam?

I am not even kidding you – the espresso and milk texture coming from this machine are the best I’ve tested. I think this has something to do with the saturated group head – everything being at the same temperature. Add the stability of the PID, and the flexibility of flow and pressure control, and you can make some wonderfully textured and aromatic espresso.

The milk texture is also second to none. With other machines, I’ve admittedly gotten some nicely textured milk foam, good enough to pour latte art, and also very tasty.

But the Data S makes the milk even better, like a good cafe can do it. It’s hard to explain, but between the excellent espresso, and the wonderfully textured milk foam, I am getting cappuccinos like from my favorite cafes, where the baristas are actually trained (not like Starbucks and the like).

How is the App?

It needs to be said of course, that this machine is compatible with the Wendougee app. From the app, you can program curves for your espresso.

So for instance, I have a curve for a Cafe Crema, for a 9 bar shot, for a blooming espresso, and much more. It’s pretty easy to create a curve. Just think up a name, enter the total number of milliliters for the shot (about 30ml gets absorbed in the puck, so I generally choose 70ml total), and then choose your steps.

I normally use a fast fill in the beginning, to fill the void above the puck with water, and get it saturated. I will do this at say 10ml/sec for 4 seconds, then wait for a brief pause. Then, I will proceed at for example 8 bars, and taper off at 6 bars towards the end of the shot.

The only thing that’s too bad about programming these curves is that you can only trigger on time or flow amount, not on weight. Hopefully they’ll add a weight trigger in the future. For example, if you’re aiming for a 40 gram shot, maybe you want to taper down the pressure once the shot reaches 30 grams.

Also, you cannot adjust the temperature in a curve, or assign a temperature to a curve at all. Bummer. You only have access to two temperature parameters: global temperature of the brew boiler (i.e. 93 C), and global temperature of the steam boiler (i.e. 130 C).

See the video below for a quick view into the app, and to hear what the gear pump sounds like. Sorry, you can also hear my kids in the background, lol.

Specifications

This is a big frickin’ machine. See the specs below:

• 11.4 ” wide, 19.25″ deep, 14.6″ tall
• 55 pounds!
• 2200/2800 watts
• 1.8 L steam boiler, 800ml brew boiler
• 1.5 L water reservoir
• App control
• 15 minute warm up time for 2200 watt version (2800 watt machine should be faster)
• ODE solenoid valves and WIKA pressure sensor
• Wendougee gear pump
• Conceived and made in China

Pros and Cons of the Data S

While I am quite fond of this machine, of course there are some cons. For one, it’s expensive for most households. Secondly, you have to learn how to use it. My wife for example prefers our Breville Barista Express Impress. Finally, you have to wonder about after sales support and spare parts. But, I guess if you buy it from an authorized retailer, like espressooutlet.com, then they ought to be able to help.

Verdict

I think this machine could be an end game machine for some people. Between its looks, haptics, and capabilities, it offers a lot for its price. What may hold some people back is after sales service and support, or else supporting a Chinese brand. But in the end, I feel we have to give it to their Chinese design team, this is a slick machine.

I’d give this machine an A-for features, and a B+ for value.

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