by Coffeecritter on Fri Nov 16, 2007 5:30 pm I paid a bit of a premium on eBay for her because she came from the original owner and appeared to have been very gently used.
Well! In corresponding with the seller, I found that she was coming from Tunisia!!!
Via diplomatic pouch!
He assured me that she was packed well (in her original carton and a padded outer box). She arrived yesterday at our post office. When I went to get her this morning the clerk looked at the ticket and exclaimed, "Oh! That's that HEAVY one!" and got a cart to fetch the package.
I got home and started unpacking. There were at least 5 different newspapers used. (Fascinating what one can infer about someone by looking at their newspapers!) Everything was tightly wrapped in original packing material
She has some very small scratches on the right side panel, but otherwise shows little wear. Nice deep brown color. I filled her up - no leaks! Flipped the switch and all the lights came on. The boiler made brisk noises. I hauled out the 3-page instructions from the Olympia website and proceeded to load a double basket - same grind as this morning's for the Elektra. No 49mm tamper, so I used a spice bottle to mash down the coffee. Bled the false pressure (a little dried milk shot out of the steam arm), warmed up the portafilter and the group by pulling through about 120 ccs water (a few old coffee grinds there), and pulled .............
a VERY acceptable shot of espresso!
(Sweet, syrupy, nice crema) No leaks!
She came with 6 double baskets, a single, a blind basket, the original plastic frothing pitcher and a cute little knockbox.
Sometimes a gamble pays off.
