New (to me) La Pavoni Eurobar Leva on its way!

[Pixelator]

After having a Cremina sniped from me last week on eBay, tonight I'm the successful bidder on a La Pavoni Eurobar Leva and grinder! '
Is anyone familiar with this model? It has a 1.8 liter boiler and was originally purchased in the '80s.


I can't wait until it arrives so I can return the disappointing Krups pump machine I bought at Costco a couple of months ago. Then I can pull some serious espresso and report back.

[prof_stack]

Hey, I almost bid on that lot! At least I didn't play shill and raise up the price.

Congratulations and please post about your experiences with the Eurobar (and grinder).

[Pixelator]

Thanks for not bidding it up Prof. I already paid more than I was comfortable with in the hope that it is as lightly used as the seller claims.

I would have bid more on last week's Cremina, but it had a clogged site tube which made me fearful that there might be corrosion or worse to deal with. Also, the color would have necessitated sandblasting and powder coating. The red Pavoni brings back fond memories of my 1962 Alfa Romeo Sprint!

[mogogear]

Nice set up!! We haven't had this model here. I hope there is nothing wrong with it, but.... we will all love to see under the hood. We will keep our fingers crossed for the delivery of a working, cooperative pair of espresso producers!!

Happy Holidays

[grong]

Excellent looking machine, and matching grinder! Red!

[Pixelator]

UPS is scheduled to deliver on Monday Dec.4!

Ideor was kind enough to inform me that the grinder was manufactured by ANFIM. From what I could discern online, it will be much better than my Infinity that I have to adjust in between steps to get the correct grind.

I hate to get my hopes up too high and expect that everything will work properly right out of the box. But I hope to be drinking a double Sumatra Mandheling followed by a Zimbabwe La Lucie Royale by the early afternoon on Monday!

I'll keep you posted...

[jfcoffey]

Congrats on the machine. I almost bid on this one too. But I got the gaggia lever that was up there from whole latta love instead.

Mine should be here tuesday of next week. Perhaps we will be pulling new shots at the same time.

--John

[Pixelator]

Well, yesterday and today have been frustrating to say the least. I was planning to wait for my shipment to arrive on Monday, but a last minute job fell into my lap. So my girlfriend did the honors of signing for it when it arrived.

Now the sad news ... Due to inadequate packaging, the plastic rail on top was broken into two pieces by the grinder shifting during shipment. That grinder is heavy! The red paint was also scuffed in a few places, possibly during shipping.

Next, after plugging it in, we noticed that the switch didn't work. I tried wiggling the connectors and then resorted to turning it on and off 6 or 7 times before I could get the thing to stay on. Once it was on however, it reached operational pressure in only 5 or 6 minutes!

Sigh, I then noticed that the drip tray that belongs under the grate was missing, along with the wire spring that holds the baskets in the portafilter handle. After thinking about it overnight, we came to the conclusion that we should return it and that we should continue our search.

After these issues were brought to the seller's attention, he graciously agreed to refund the purchase price upon return of the La Pavoni and the ANFIM grinder.

Later this week I'll drop by Vanelli's to check out a new Ponte Vecchio. But after seeing the handsome red Pavoni out of the box, I don't know if I'll be able settle for the plain vanilla, stainless PV! It looks kind of sterile in comparison.

[prof_stack]

Well, yesterday and today have been frustrating to say the least. I was planning to wait for my shipment to arrive on Monday, but a last minute job fell into my lap. So my girlfriend did the honors of signing for it when it arrived.

Now the sad news ... Due to inadequate packaging, the plastic rail on top was broken into two pieces by the grinder shifting during shipment. That grinder is heavy! The red paint was also scuffed in a few places, possibly during shipping.

Next, after plugging it in, we noticed that the switch didn't work. I tried wiggling the connectors and then resorted to turning it on and off 6 or 7 times before I could get the thing to stay on. Once it was on however, it reached operational pressure in only 5 or 6 minutes!

Sigh, I then noticed that the drip tray that belongs under the grate was missing, along with the wire spring that holds the baskets in the portafilter handle. After thinking about it overnight, we came to the conclusion that we should return it and that we should continue our search.

After these issues were brought to the seller's attention, he graciously agreed to refund the purchase price upon return of the La Pavoni and the ANFIM grinder.

Later this week I'll drop by Vanelli's to check out a new Ponte Vecchio. But after seeing the handsome red Pavoni out of the box, I don't know if I'll be able settle for the plain vanilla, stainless PV! It looks kind of sterile in comparison.

Such a sad ending to a promising story! So, good luck in your search for a machine.

Please let us know about the PV. I'm planning to check one out myself next week.

[peacecup]

Too bad about the Pavoni. The up side is that if you buy new you'll be brewing as soon as it gets home.

Why not ask Gene to order you a red one:



The image is from the PV website:

http://www.pontevecchiosrl.it/

Remember, the PV has a 45-mm group, which makes the optimum range for espresso volume at 1-1.5 oz (although the basket will take 15g, providing a relatively high coffee:water ratio). I can get 2 oz pulls with certain roasts if I work a bit to figure it out. But usually I just brew two shots space out a bit in time. I've read somewhere that more frequent smaller doses of caffeine are more effective that less frequent larger doses (but what about more frequent larger doses he asks....)

Peace,

PC