Hi all,

I have recently purchased a Faema Lambro. Before this I used a La Pavoni paired with a Iberitcal MC2 which has been a very good 'price-conscious' pairing for me.

Now I have upgraded my espresso machine I would like to upgrade the grinder and was thinking about a vintage grinder to match.

Is there a particular grinder of a similar era to the Lambro (50's ish) that is still serviceable that I should keep an eye out for? What would have been the 'standard' grinder that would have been used around this time with a machine like the Lambro?

I dont want to sacrifice too much just for old looks as I appreciate the modern grinders probably perform much better so a good compromise grinder would be best.

Advice and opinion always very welcome including this been perhaps a stupid idea!

Thanks,

Tiff.

A picture of the Lambro, I have a thread going in the Lever section.

A HG-1 would be a good fit for a vintage lever (in my opinion of course). It looks and feels 'zen' enough to be paired with a classy lever. It is not a vintage grinder but afaik, none of the vintage grinders would satisfy my need/want (and probably for most on HB, with a few exception such as Jack - Peaceup who is known to be grinding on his vintage hand grinder for years ). Grinder 'technology' has advanced a lot since the old days, but not the espresso machine. The last thing you want is a noisy screeching 'vintage' electric grinder at the Lambro's side.



I know I have a tight space there...

Just today I used a 60 year old KYM with my Lambro:



I use vintage hand grinders only on occasion.That aside, I agree with Sam that HG-1 makes a good pair with the Lambro. You may also look into getting an OE Pharos or Mahlgut Grist MG-1. As far as vintage electric grinders from that era, you may want to look for a vintage Mazzer, Faema, Gaggia, Quickmill, Realto or La San Marco grinder. I think they look very neat and would be a great pair to your Lambro.

A 50's café grinder to be paired with the Lambro would probably be the Faema FP
Faema FP Refurb

I have no idea how it grinds though, but I don't believe burrs back then we're up to "Titan class" sizes yet.

Faema Lambros date back to the early 1960s. Enrico Maltoni's book, Faema Espresso, 1945 - 2010 shows a 1960 Lambro on pages 218-219. Paul Pratt restored a 1962 Lambro. He shows espresso grinders of the 1950s to 60s on pages 93-95. The models were tipo FP, Lusso FL and FM. On pages 96-7 he also shows grocer's grinders that I assume were for other brew methods , the FD/1, which had a bag holder and another without a model name. I wonder if the grocer's grinders could be used similar to the popular Mahlkonig EK43?

If you can find images of any of those it would guide you to the look of grinders of that era.

drgary wrote:Faema Lambros date back to the early 1960s. Enrico Maltoni's book, Faema Espresso, 1945 - 2010 shows a 1960 Lambro on pages 218-219.

Is there a us distributor for this book? Apoligize for the mid thread off topic

It's super expensive on Amazon, but I see it listed on Vanelli's. I just did a web search for that. Purchase price is lower on the Enrico Maltoni Site, espressomadeinitaly.com, but it'll probably be comparable to buying from a U.S. source by the time you get it shipped.

Just give the Italian fleabay site a go, ryping in faema get's you all sort of beautiful vintage stuff, also grinders...Warnin: once you start looking you'll want some of it...

forbeskm wrote:Is there a us distributor for this book? Apoligize for the mid thread off topic

You can get the ebook from Barnes and Noble for about 15 bucks, then decide if you want to go hard copy.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/mobile/w/ ... 8890065255

Vanelis is one distributor in the US, if they don't have it in stock Enrico pointed me to the email of another US distributor from whom I bought "Coffeemakers", one of Maltoni's other books.