A visit to Paul Pratt's workshop in Hong Kong

[hbuchtel]

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Paul's workshop in Hong Kong. In spite of being very busy he allowed me to wander about for several hours and bother him with my questions

His place is simply an espresso machine heaven... here are a few photos from the showroom area-

A Faema lever which pulls most of their shots-


The visually stunning LM lever-


It has been a cold winter in southern China so Paul cleverly keeps his plants warm atop the E 61



The GS1 (?) which was making the drinks that day. Excellent shots! I enjoyed the flowery quality which Paul said was the Ethiopian coming through.


I don't remember the brand of this conical grinder-


A GS3 sitting unused by the wall. Paul said it made excellent coffee, but that customers paying that much wouldn't accept the poor level of finishing, usability, etc.


Strange quality issues- the drip tray also required a lot of work to get in place... I can't help thinking there are some strange company politics holding the GS3 back... LM is capable of much better then this!


Here is one of Paul's assistants working the Probat (didn't catch his name!)


And a couple of machines in various stages of restoration-
2 group GS1 (?)


Paul's home LM in for some work. He said he was using the Sunbeam dual thermoblock in the meantime-


I also picked up one of the new bumper milk jugs and some greens. It was great to talk to somebody who didn't seem to develop ADD whenever the subject turned to coffee Thanks Paul!

Henry

[Jasonian]

Very cool!

Loved the pics.

[timo888]

I don't remember the brand of this conical grinder-

Good pics, Henry. They make we want a commercial lever.

The grinder looks to be a Eureka MDL/Lux. http://www.contivalerio.it/

Regards
Timo

[Randy G.]

In every "hobby" you run into some great folks. People who are dedicated, fun to be around, genuinely honest, and always ready to share their knowledge and enthusiasm. The coffee industry is filled with such folks and Paul is certainly one of them. I always look forward to spending a few minutes talking to Paul at the Annual SCAA show.

[Marshall]

Nice photos! Did you ask Paul where he got that cool Bumper knock box?

[hbuchtel]

Nice photos! Did you ask Paul where he got that cool Bumper knock box?

I didn't ask, but he seems to really like them... quite a few lying around

Timo, I think you're right about the Eureka/Lux MDL.. how did you find it? 65 or 75mm conical burrs, according to the web page.

Henry

[ageew]

Nice photos! Did you ask Paul where he got that cool Bumper knock box?

Hi, Paul makes those knock boxes himself! Check out this link:

http://www.coffeebumper.com/main.html

Rgds,

[Marshall]

Hi, Paul makes those knock boxes himself! Check out this link:

http://www.coffeebumper.com/main.html

Rgds,

I think you missed all the smilies!

[samgiles]

Hi Henry.
Is Paul's showroom open to the public? I just happen to be going to HK on holiday for the next 2 weeks and would love to see his machines and perhaps try his coffee. Actually, in preparation for this trip I bought myself a Presso and have found your blog on it's use very useful. Thanks for writing it.
Best,
Sam.

[hbuchtel]

Hi Sam, I don't think that Paul's place is officially open to the public, but you could try sending him an email to see how busy he is. I actually have a suspicion that he has moved again, based on these recent photos on the LM website.

I'm glad you found the Presso page useful!

Regards, Henry