La Peppina vs Elektra Microcasa a Leva

[lino]

No taste test comparisons here (yet). I have to say I was *extremely* surprised to see this much difference between springs. Can you guess which is which?

OK, maybe this pic will make it more clear:


Springs and Pistons


That's the LaPeppina on the right. It's one big mamma of a spring, granted it's a bigger diameter piston, but I think it's still running a higher pressure. There is also a HUGE preload on that spring. The Microcasa, granted with a "clapped-out" spring on this one, has almost no preload.

LaPeppina also moves about 2oz per lever pull (measured with no coffee, no PF).

'Nuther neat feature is that there is a check valve on the output of the cylinder going to the grouphead. This means that if you do a double pull, or a half pull for pre infuse, you can pull it as fast as you like because it doesn't put a vacuum on the top of the puck. No chance of breaking its seal. I like that.

I've only run two shots thru after I cleaned it (it's in amazing shape considering it's age), my original intent was just as early "play with it" shots, not really trying to dial it in or do anything carefully.

Coffee is Black Cat (roasted 9/1) and grinder is a doserless SJ

The first run stalled. Probably due to the fine grind and the 130# tamp ( the "1" isn't a typo).
I had to tamp with the small end of a plastic tamper for a Krups, so I guess I over compensated.

The second pull, I made the grind a little coarser and tamped a little looser. Did a 1/4 pull to get a pre-infuse and purge the air in the lines...

Now, I've been drinking swill from a limping, in-need-of-help *$ Barista, so I could be "uncalibrated", but I also have some VERY fine shots of some VERY fine coffee pulled by some very fine HBs, on a VERY nice LM every Friday.

I'd match the second pull up against the best of those.





Now all the above happened over the course of 1 hour.

That's:
unpacking
disassembly
cleaning / degreasing
regreasing
figuring out how to re-assemble
re-assembling
"hot-wiring" (didn't come with a cord)
pumping with vinegar
rinsing out vinegar
heating up
then pulling shots...

I had between 4:46 and 4:57 to pull those before I had to run out the door.
Tomorrow (well, maybe tonight, but I won't drink 'em) I'll pull some more with pics.
The second pull was crema full height until just before the pull ended (I didn't time it).



Hmm,

Can anyone tell I'm excited?

And the MicroCimbali should arrive in less than a week...

ciao

[lino]

Okay,

I couldn't wait.

I made a few more attempts
As I feared, that god shot so early on was mostly luck.
These weren't bad, but they were blonding too early. Didn't taste them. I'm extremely sensitive to caffeine after about 5 PM.

Early on they looked excellent. Here's one:


More tomorrow.

ciao

lino

[another_jim]

Welcome to peppi world -- silly on the outside, serious on the inside.

My main problem with the machine (as well as other levers I've tried) is that except for a rare goshot, there's a tradeoff between optimum crema and optimum taste. The best crema comes from coarser grinds, a long 10 to 15 second preinfuses, followed by a short 10 second pull. Finer grinding and close to stalled shots taste better, but have only thin crema. The perfect grind and tamp zone is very narrow (at least for a klutz like me).

I find I have to pump the lever a few times on the down stroke to fill up; If you don't need to do that (it's in the instructions) maybe your valve is in better shape than on mine. In any case, the lever should work at the bottom of the stroke, not just halfway up.

Have fun -- looks like you got a very good one.

[lino]

I find I have to pump the lever a few times on the down stroke to fill up; If you don't need to do that (it's in the instructions) maybe your valve is in better shape than on mine. In any case, the lever should work at the bottom of the stroke, not just halfway up.

I'm finding that once I load the PF, I pull the lever, let it rise about 1/4 of the way til it slows and the air stops whoosing (system filled with water), then pull down again, pause (pre-infuse?), and release.
Basically it takes about a quarter pull to fill / prime.
If I then let it go the whole way back, I get a 2 oz shot.

The valves are just circular sheets of rubber with a small hole in the center. They could probably be easily duplicated/replaced.

I've tried half a dozen more times and almost always get blonding at about the 1 oz mark.

How do you control the temp? I think I read something (you wrote) somewhere about letting it boil then waiting x seconds? I guess putting a temp control on the boiler wouldn't be too hard either.

Mine does seem to be in good shape. with the exception of the rubber parts, excluding the two valves for some reason. But I'm not the least bit surprised that 30 yr old rubber is showing it's age...

The machine is a little enigmatic too. They saved money on lots of stuff, stamped sheetmetal group bayonet, aluminum castings instead of brass, O-ring instead of lip seal on the piston, etc. Then you find things like a cast drip tray cover (never seen that on any other machine), or that monster of a spring, the piston has a little angled hole in it that runs from the edge (near the waterline to the group) down to the pocket in the center of the piston, presumably to help that last little bit of water flow.

Anyway, so far it's been tons of fun and a learning experience.

ciao

lino

[another_jim]

I use a battery driven stick-Thermocouple I got at http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=TPD30&Nav=teml09 for $20 in the lid, and a dimmer. The dimmer is a bit tricky, since the taper is lousy, but the thermometer is key. If you flush the group and empty PF before putting in the basket, the shot will be 1C lower than the tank temperature, and it will be rock solid stable (you noticed the cylinder is heated by the water and the group by the heater).

Here's the set up



I let the machine idle around 80C, crank it up to a boil while I prepare the shot, then turn it down and throw a few ounces of cold water into the tank to get the temperature I want. The process of just adding water to get perfect temperature control is so low tech that it always makes me laugh when I think of machines like the LM or Synesso, where the same level cf control involves somewhat more contortions.

It sounds like your machine primes a bit easier than mine.

The double basket holds about 11-12 grams of coffee. So a full shot, by Italian standards, would be 40 to 43mL. Getting some blonding at 30mL if your going for a 40mL hazel crema shot sounds about right. I like my crema brownish, so I make the shots ristretto, about 25mL to 30mL.

The machine was a very inexpensive (less than the $200 or so they go for now), but well engineered; I'm not surprised they cut corners on things that don't affect the taste. It's sad that something so well thought out didn't find a long run market. I guess aesthetics counts for as much as coffee taste, since the "lever-survivors," the LP and Elektra, are beautiful machines. The Micro-Cimbali hangs in there; and it's, comparatively, an ugly duckling too. So maybe it will pull spectacular shots.

[espressoperson]

I let the machine idle around 80C, crank it up to a boil while I prepare the shot, then turn it down and throw a few ounces of cold water into the tank to get the temperature I want. The process of just adding water to get perfect temperature control is so low tech that it alwys makes me laugh when I think of machines like the LM or Synesso, where the same level cf control involves somewhat more contortions.

What is the advantage of this idling-cranking cycle versus leaving it at operating temp all the time? Or shutting it off after each session? I realize the Peppina is different than other lever machines, but still, are there any ideas or thoughts here that might apply to other kinds lever machines?

I guess aesthetics counts for as much as coffee taste, since the "lever-survivors," the LP and Elektra, are beautiful machines. The Micro-Cimbali hangs in there; and it's, comparatively, an ugly duckling too. So maybe it will pull spectacular shots.

Good point here. It might help explain why the less attractive Cremina (possessing inner beauty but having less outwardly?) is barely hanging on, even though, arguably, it may produce better espresso than these others.



MichaelB
Olympia Cremina
Mazzer Mini
Home Roasted Monkey Blend
LMWDP #24

[another_jim]

I let the machine idle around 80C,

What is the advantage of this idlling-cranking cycle versus leaving it at operating temp all the time? Or shutting it off after each session? I realize the Peppina is different than other lever machines, but still, are there any ideas or thoughts here that might apply to other kinds lever machines?

None, it's just convenience. With the lousy taper on the dimmer switch, keeping it at a precise temperature is out of the question (when I have coffeeheads over, and want to make lots of shots without fussing on the temp, I stick on the PID controller from my roaster). Also, at 700 watts it doesn't warm up fast enough to go to boiling from cold while I grind and tamp. From 80C, it's a breeze. The older La Pavonis had something like this, a full power switch (with escape valve) for coffe making and steaming, and a low power switch for idling.