daniel5791 wrote:Hi All,

Also as a side issue, what would a fair price from a private seller be for one of these in great working condition?

Thanks in advance for your help

Daniel

Around $350 US for a professionally reconditioned unit has been about average. There is an Austrailian vendor who has what looks to be a good one for $595 AU which translates to slightly more.

Thanks!

Yes I saw that one at Sorrentina and it's very tempting....There's two others I have my eye on that are fairly cheap in comparison at the moment, so I will see how they go first.

daniel5791 wrote:Thanks!

Yes I saw that one at Sorrentina and it's very tempting....There's two others I have my eye on that are fairly cheap in comparison at the moment, so I will see how they go first.

I know you're out of the USA, but Orphan Espresso has a Caravel, fully restored for $325 American.
http://www.orphanespresso.com

daniel5791 wrote:Thanks!

Yes I saw that one at Sorrentina and it's very tempting....There's two others I have my eye on that are fairly cheap in comparison at the moment, so I will see how they go first.

My approach has been to buy from vendors who have lots of experience with the product and have the reputation of delivering it in quality condition. That's been my ongoiing experience with orphanespresso from who I've purchased several items. I'm guessing that taking into account the difference in the AU dollar and US plus shipping there isn't much difference in the cost for you between the Sorrentina machine and the one at Orphan. Because it is an exact match with mine I've considered the Sorrentina one myself.

orphanespresso wrote:Danno, you could give a good input on this with your experience with motorcylces. what do you prefer? Original, restored to original, or custom?

Um, well, vintage Italian bikes and vintage Italian espresso machines are Italian, but I don't know if that qualifies me to be knowledgeable.

Until the late '80's, really early '90's, Italian paint and hardware finish on motorcycles was abysmal. Re-paints are common, sometimes desirable. Most moto-Italophiles I know prefer a good-looking bike to one that is 100% original. Only in rare instances does the original finish add much value.

My philosophy is if the thing is yours and you want a different color, paint it. If you end up selling, be prepared for a hit in sale price unless (a) the color is an exact match, (b) it is a very good paint job, or (c) someone else likes what you did if you painted a different color. In my experience, there is always someone who shares another's tastes.

I think the Caravel is simple and elegant enough to warrant painting.

danno wrote:[snipped]
My philosophy is if the thing is yours and you want a different color, paint it. If you end up selling, be prepared for a hit in sale price unless (a) the color is an exact match, (b) it is a very good paint job, or (c) someone else likes what you did if you painted a different color. In my experience, there is always someone who shares another's tastes.

I think the Caravel is simple and elegant enough to warrant painting.

Have to agree there. I can't see why anyone who uses it, even occasionally would want to sell. They are hard to get a hold of, and in the event your triple boiler, gold plated uber machine ever goes on the fritz, you're good to go with your hard to break Caravel.

Hello all. First post here. I've been following the site for a year or so and have benefitted enormously from the forums. Without HB I would still be living in the land of pressurized portafilters and using beans with a "best before" date.

Thanks to this thread, and the good folk at Orphan Espresso, I recently picked up a Caravel to use in my office (I've got an Elektra Semi [thank you Jim Schulman for your review] and a Maccap M4 at home) and was initially experiencing absolutely fabulous shots with it using Intelly's Sumatra SO espresso. What a wonderful machine! The Caravel shots with the Sumatra were of an order of magnitude better than what I was able to get out of the Elektra: they were full bodied and balanced, while the Elektra shots were uncharacteristically thin and fast. The Caravel extractions took 45-60 seconds and required a very heavy pull.

Two weeks later, I'm out of the Sumatra and using Black Cat (roasted at the same time as the Sumatra, received 2 wks after roast (thank you Canada Customs) and kept in the freezer for two weeks after delivery). I cannot pull a decent shot with the BC on the Caravel no matter what dose or grind variations I try (using a KyM handgrinder). The shots are so thin as to not be recognizable as espresso. There is no crema, only an odd oily film. Grinding finer doesn't seem to help, and I can increase the dose without any improvement, to the point of stalling the machine. The beans aren't as fresh as I would like, but yet I have no problem getting heavy, crema laden shots out of the Elektra using the same beans. After four sink shots in a row today with the Caravel, I thought it's time to canvas some opinions.

Is it just a matter of playing around with the dose and grind? Or do some blends work better with levers than others? Or have I perhaps blown a gasket?

I suspect I got lucky with the Sumatra and there's no shortcut in dialing in a blend, but I'd appreciate your thoughts. And thank you all for your contagious enthusiasm and for sharing your love of caffe.

Brad

If you can choke the machine, then back off a little and get those no-crema shots than the beans are bad. Example: I often need to use commercial Italian "best before" beans. These are obviously old, but when they are factory sealed, and stored in the freezer after opening, I can consistently pull drinkable espresso with them. BUT, if the bag was not properly sealed at the factory or had a hole, they are hopeless even right after opening.

I've had the same thing happen even with good, locally roasted beans. If they go past a month or more old, they start to go off.

Both of these would probably still pour better with a pump machine, as least by looks (ie plenty of crema).

if you can stall the machine the seals should be ok.

Thanks very much, Peaceup. A colleague happened to drop by with a 2 kilo bag of donkeyblend, and I'm back pulling decent shots. I wouldn't have suspected that the beans were the problem.

Dan please remove this if it's too "commercial.


But, in these hard economic times, if one can assist a little bit, I would like to.
A while back,Orphan Espressos kindly loaned me a Caravel while they were performing surgery (successful) on my Olympia Cremina.
I loved this little guy once I got into the vibe.
Anyhow, it's over at Orphan, pining for a new home. (Italians are emotional)
Just thought I'd spread the word.


Note...I have no affiliation business-wise with OE. other than spending some bucks with them...always getting more than I paid for.
However, I'm too lazy to post the link.

Hello all. I just wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful information and stories here that led me to a very pleasing purchase. My gray Caravel arrived from Italy yesterday and after a little bit of cleaning I pulled my first shot from some not-freshly-ground kinda stale beans. It didn't taste all that good, but it tasted a whole lot better than what I've been drinking and had way more body than anything I've made before.

I'm fairly amazed at how fast this thing heats up and how well it keeps temperature. I turned the little thermostat one click at a time and the little power light would flash on for a second and there I was another degree hotter and it would just stay there.

I've ordered some seals and what not from Orphan Espresso and soon this little beauty will be joining me on my desk at work. I never would have sought it out were it not for this site. So thanks again all, I'm very grateful! Time for me to really start learning what espresso should taste like. It probably helps that PT's is right in my backyard too.

mikekarr wrote:Hello all. I just wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful information and stories here power light would flash on for a second and there I was another degree hotter and it would just stay there.

I've ordered some seals and what not from Orphan Espresso and soon this little beauty will be joining me on my desk at work. I never would have sought it out were it not for this site. So thanks again all, I'm very grateful! Time for me to really start learning what espresso should taste like. It probably helps that PT's is right in my backyard too.

PT's in your backyard! Not Fair.

mikekarr wrote:It probably helps that PT's is right in my backyard too.

Gizmo blend from PTs is a great blend for the Caravel.

Welcome to CC (Club Caravel)!!!

I just took the last sip of an amazing Caravel doppio (1.5 lever pulls, plus 2 pre-infusion pulls). It was really great, and this with some Italian Musetti espresso, roast date unknown. I have some fresh coffee coming soon from Hal, and I'm really looking forward to it.

BUT; I am usually pleasantly surprised with the Italian roasts I get here. They are really very tasty, and produce good, long-lasting crema. When properly sealed they seem to somehow retain their freshness (its obvious when they go stale). But that's another thread.

I have more to write about the Caravel sometime, which just keeps amazing me, and producing great espresso. But time is short these days,

Ciao,
PC

The wonders of the Caravel are extolled at length here but I don't see the same said about seemingly similar machines of the same era, e.g., La Peppina. Not knowing much about espresso machines, I am wondering if the Caravel is that much better and if so, what (design feature?) accounts for it's fabulousness?

For one, the La Peppoina is a spring lever while the Caravel is a manual lever.

Never used a Peppina, but from reading, here are a few differences:

Caravel:
Manual, less tippy, good thermostat (on some), very easy to overhaul (the piston assembly is designed to be maintained at home), all stainless steel components, NO submersed heating element.

Timo for one, and orphanespresso have both used both, so they could help with a comparison.

PC

seymour wrote:The wonders of the Caravel are extolled at length here but I don't see the same said about seemingly similar machines of the same era, e.g., La Peppina. Not knowing much about espresso machines, I am wondering if the Caravel is that much better and if so, what (design feature?) accounts for it's fabulousness?

I think part of the reason people round here started getting interested in such machines is that Jim Schulman wrote several enticing posts on alt.coffee about his Peppina about 4-5 years ago.

The Caravel seems to be as capable as the Peppina but wins out on looks and flexibility (easily cleaned/fixed, manual lever, etc).

Regards, Henry

I've been pulling some great shots on the Caravel lately, but applying just the right amount of pre-infusion, slowly pressing water into the puck until just one drop falls into the cup, then doing this a second time before pulling the shot.

With the Caravel I can note very subtle differences in grind an dose between shots. This, combined with precise temperature control, make it a really great machine for getting the most from a given coffee.

PC