Hi All,

I have been a longtime follower of these forums and after perfecting a process with a Gaggia Classic at home for years, I switched over to the Europiccola to compliment my affinity for manual processes, hand grinding, aeropress, pour over etc etc. I also help/volunteer at my partner's shop which includes a small takeout only espresso bar that uses a 2 group semiauto Elektra Barlume.

With the purchase of this Europiccola machine, came a myriad of questions and after reading a ton of the threads on here and elsewhere, eventually a realized I need to ask some of my own...

I have the OE steam tip and a low end temp strip (60-90) as well as a bottomless portafilter so all good so far on the accessory upgrades. I have also been considering adding the pressure gage to the Europiccola.

My main two (or first two) questions are in reference to shot volume and ideal group temp...

#1: VOLUME Ideally I would like to use around 15-16g of ground coffee and get 30-32 grams of espresso for the classic 1:2 brew ratio. I have experimented with a basic Fellini move on pre-infusion and without the Fellini and seems either way am averaging around 28 g of espresso (On my second shot). Is there anyone who is consistently able to get around 30g+ output or should I lower my dose to 14-15 to accommodate for the 28g pulls I am getting? Also I have noticed that it seems like no matter what I do, my first pull from startup is always a bit spongy and has a lower volume (approx 20g-22g of espresso) and the second is typically a bit more firm (approx 27-28g) and with higher volume... based on on my temp strip I am keeping the starting group temperature consistent in both shots so I am not sure what else could be creating the difference?

#1: BREW TEMP Although the starting point of my group is sitting somewhere between 85c and 90c on the strip as soon as I pull even a 1/2oz of liquid through it to purge the group or preheat a cup, the temp seems to shoot up past the 90c on my strip (I don't have the high end strip as I assumed I wouldn't need it) Is this a problem? What is the average ideal Temp strip reading during a pull on Millennium machines? Does this overshooting even on the first pull seem typical for a millennium machine? Could it be a PSTAT issue? I read that generally new models come with a properly set PSTAT... Or perhaps I am reading the temp strip incorrectly and all this OCD is in vein?


Here is my procedure (borrowed from another user on here)

1. Turn on machine and wait, no consistent timing here anywhere from 7-20 minutes...
2. Weigh beans and grind
3. weight portafilter, dose, distribute and tamp ~30lbs pressure
3. Purge steam wand ~5 sec
4. Purge Group head + preheat cup
5. place cup and tare scale.
6. Raise lever 3/4
7. Lock in portafilter and slowly raise lever all the way to top
8. Hold for 3 seconds
9. Pull until first drops are seen.
10. Hold 1 second, Fellini move (for preinfusion of the puck);
11. Hold for 7 seconds
12. Slowly and very gently lower the lever aiming for a 30s pull or total 40s process.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks and glad to finally post here.

I have never had much confidence in the temperature strips, though others like them. I would consider getting an infrared thermometer. If you have a chrome plated machine put some plastic tape on locations where you want to read temperature. I suspect the best place for these machines from their design is right above the flare. If you have one of the polymer coated brass machines all you need to do is point the IR thermometer at the appropriate location on the machine. You do not have wires all over the place, and the results are reasonably accurate, especially if you calibrate for thermal emissivity. However, I have always thought what is most important is the profile of exiting espresso. Although you only know after the fact, you can do things to correct the next shot. I like the profile to run from about 65 to 93-95 at the very end. This is also best read with an IR thermometer though I made a thermometer well portafilter spout. You will probably need an assistant to point the IR thermometer.

The first and third generation machines have a space between the cylinder walls and the outer group walls that is filled with water. If you raise and lower the handle repeatedly you will bring high temperature water into and out of this space and thus heat up the group. The first generation cylinder walls are made of brass, the third generation (of course) polymer. With my 1964 if I do not pump the handle up and down three or four times before the first shot it will be spongy and too cold unless I wait for a long time after the machine has come up to temperature. (With the 1964, at least, you really do not want to pump the handle up and down for subsequent shots.)

If just before attaching the portafilter and before you put it under the portafilter, you raise the handle just enough to release a bit of steam and then lower the handle just enough to stop the release and then as fast as possible attach and lock on the portafilter, you should not get a spongy shot with any generation of La Pavoni!

Thanks for chiming in and offering me some advice. I have a Thermopop temp probe from Thermoworks which is very accurate and quick readout, so perhaps I can find a way to measure the output flow with that. But you are right in needing some extra hands.

I also have the benefit of somewhat pressure profiling the pulls with the Acaia scale app to track flow rate of the pull...

Thought I would update this as I have noticed a few things that help, at least for me.

#1. It seems only bleeding false pressure with the steam wand only once makes a difference. On previous attempts I was purging the steam wand once before grinding/dosing and then a second time right before purging the group with hot water. This second purge I think creates an issue where the boiler is heating while you are pulling a shot instead of sitting idle. On the past few shots (pulled from cold startup,) I purged the steam wand 1x for about 5-10 seconds before grinding and after the machine gets up to temp and don't touch the wand again until if/when I want to steam milk after a shot

#2. Pumping the arm prior to purging the group seems to also make a difference even with the Nylon group. Pumping the group raises the temp significantly and then with a purge it seems to settle around 90c before the first pull.

Using the previous outlined method with these two changes I have pulled 3 shots in a row 15g in 30g out and they are delicious. Seems I am getting some consistency after a few weeks of hit or miss.

Excellent deal on that pavoni. I have a 2nd gen so it may not translate as well, but I can significantly alter a shots quality by making a 3 degree change in group temp (though it is also important to note the rate the temperature is changing, a significant and repeatable difference though). Larger changes can easily be used to alter a shot, but just a few degrees matters. You may learn how to time a shot to taste good if you do everything in a robotic enough fashion and time it so you land in a close enough window without thermometry. The temp strip would help but just lacks enough accuracy for me. The benefit of having the constant reading is significant imo. I will play with the espresso temperature read outs soon though.

Def read all of rpavlis posts on the topic. I recommend clicking his name and searching his threads for pavoni. He is a valuable resource around here.