What's so good about La Pavoni Europiccola?

[jon]

I recently traded in my trusty Gaggia machine (automatic) for a La Pavoni Europiccola.

I used my Gaggia twice daily for around 4 years without any major problems. I grind my own coffee and made consistently good espresso and cappuccino.

I then traded it in for a brand new La Pavoni of which I had read so much about.

Then the problems started:

1. No crema initially, this situation improved gradually over a number of weeks - total amount of coffee wasted at least 2kg

2. Still unable to produce microfoam - total amount of milk wasted - gallons

3. Coffee often not hot enough

4. At the end of the pull, the crema appears to be boiling but I now think its aerated.

5. Starting to cause significant domestic unrest!


I never had these problems with my trusty Gaggia and in fact feel a bit embarrassed to think that I have got rid of a very reliable machine and bought something for twice the price which has given me nothing but problems - not to mention the copious amounts of milk and coffee which have been poured down the sink.

Admittedly, it looks good sat on the side but that's no good to me.

[odradek]

It's certainly possible to produce good crema and excellent espresso with a pavoni. My experience is that espresso pulled with a lever has a peculiar clarity and richness that i never got with my gaggia (carezza). I'd really advise you to have a look at your grinder, as i only started pulling good shots with consistent crema when i upgraded from a gaggia mm burr grinder. and before that i was a bit sceptical of all these 'the grinder is the most important piece of equipment' claims. i'd say read the various threads on pavoni technique. but i'd also say that if you're really dissatisfied with the machine, you could sell it on ebay, admittedly at a considerable loss, but considering it's still under warranty etc you'd get a good price and enough, probably, to buy a brand new gaggia!

[peacecup]

Posted responses on your "boiling thread". Don't give up, levers can make great coffee:

http://www.home-barista.com/forum...r-video-t3687.html

PC

[Jarno]

Also do you get good steam from the wand tip? It usually comes out pretty forcefully. If your coffee doesn't seem hot enough, I wonder if the boiler pressure control is set too low? I understand that it is sometimes a problem. Mine usually cuts off at 1 atm which makes the water about 120 deg C. Most of us have problems with the water coming out too hot, thus 'burning' the coffee.

[sixtyten]

I've recently started to plug one of the steam wand holes with a toothpick and found my microfoam improved immediately. I read about the technique on another forum. The crema is a hit and miss. I try to make sure I get the temperature up high enough to ensure enough pressure to produce decent crema(I have one of the older two switch model which allows me to adjust the boiler temp).

[jon]

if it doesn't improve the situation is it possible to remove the toothpick?

[sixtyten]

yea.. well at least on the older model the tip can be unscrewed to remove the toothpick. I didn't believe it would work but I've noticed improvements ever since.

Of course follow these milk frothing guides http://www.coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide

[chopinhauer]

Re microfoam, be patient. Given a machine is capable of producing microfoam, then actually getting microfoam out of it is a question of technique. And let me assure you the pavoni can consistently produce fabulous microfoam with the correct technique. So once you hit upon this technique, something that can only occur with practice, you'll produce PERFECT foam.

By way of example, I recently got an olympia cremina, and for the life of me I couldn't produce good microfoam on that machine, even though I was an expert at doing so on the pavoni. So I assumed that the cremina was not good for foaming. After much practice, I can now foam as well on the cremina as the europiccola, so my initial assumption re the cremina was wrong. Hang in there and read the foaming guides. Especially important is to make sure the milk begins to stretch the very second you insert the milk wand. If it doesn't then it will burn.