Well, are we having fun yet?



My first plunge into home lever ownership was the purchase of this Grey Caravel which I got on Ebay italy while I was in Florence. The surprise was it came in great condition, with a double and single basket, working, shiny and well packed. It didn't leak until I got started with it and had pulled a few single shots with my wall-mounted PeDe grinder. (the grind was still too coarse and the coffee was-not surprisingly--terrible). But then it started to drip. And drip. So I pulled it apart, wow, is this cool or what! It comes apart like a chinese puzzle without any tools! But cleaning and lubricating didn't help so I did go out and buy the ring clip pliers to pull apart the piston so I could change the O ring. (They seals weren't bad) but I replaced the O ring and the piston seals once I was there and lubed it up with Dow 111. No more leaks.

Now the grinder issues. I have this wall mounted PeDe grinder that dialed all the way down made a rather fine but not powdery grind and was non uniform; some of the grind was powder some was grittier. But despite weighing the beans with a gram scale and trying 7-8g in the single basket I could never get any crema, the coffee was very thin and very bitter (I'm using locally roasted arabica beans 3-4d old). The Italians would call what I got "una brodaglia" (nasty thin broth). I tried packing tighter/more/less/etc but never got anything with anything but a hint of instantly vanishing crema (although waiting for the water to cool a bit before pulling a shot got rid of most of the bitterness and left me with Moka pot flavors).

So, I pulled out plan "B". The commercial, cast iron, volkswagon-beetle sized grinder I bought years ago hoping I could use it to grind wheat for flour.

No luck. It's just too big....the hopper isn't designed to feed beans to the active part by the gram but by the kilo and although I didn't bother to open it up I could never get anything finer that coarse French Press grind.
So back on the table for decorative purposes it went.

Plan "C". I went back to OKE torreffazione (O.K. coffee roasters) just down the street.
They are one of about a half dozen still-active coffee roasters in Florence (although they are tiny they work with La Marzocco to provide beans for their shows/fairs). They steered me to their all-arabica blend (all central and south american coffees)which they let me sample from a pull on their La Marzocco machine they have in the back for testing purposes. They also sold me some of their other "hi quality blend" that includes a small amount of robusta beans (10%) which is more popular with the locals.
They were happy to grind a small amount of each to take home (I bought 100g of each) ground as for their espresso machine. So I raced home to check out a grind I knew wasn't too coarse.

Well, too fine. I choked the machine on the first try filling up the basket and lightly tamping so I went back to my gram scale and 7-8g now barely reached up 2/3 of the single basket (with the PeDe 7g barely fit in the basket.) Still choked the machine.
All that was left to do was mix a bit of this finely ground coffee with the freshly ground stuff I could pull from the PeDe. It wasn't much better than the moka coffee I can get from the stove top.

Plan "D". I'm heading home to california and ordered a hand grinder (from OE). I'm pretty sure it's a grind issue and once I can actually adjust it I'll post back with my results.

I pull consistently great shots on the Caravel with a hand grinder (as you've probably read). With just a 1/4 turn adjustment I can feel a difference in pressure. I'm sure you'll get it worked out.

For me, its been easiest to get consistent shots with a very full basket (up to the rim), but others use less coffee.

On my caravel it will drip if the little o-ring is broken. But, if its in use everyday the drips seem to disappear.

rospobio wrote:I choked the machine on the first try filling up the basket and lightly tamping so I went back to my gram scale and 7-8g now barely reached up 2/3 of the single basket (with the PeDe 7g barely fit in the basket.) Still choked the machine.
All that was left to do was mix a bit of this finely ground coffee with the freshly ground stuff I could pull from the PeDe. It wasn't much better than the moka coffee I can get from the stove top.

Why not try the double basket with a lower dose (11-12g) of the commercial grind? Seems an unexplored option, unless I've missed something.

I don't see how you can practically grind for espresso without your own quality grinder. Grind changes daily noticably as coffee ages. My suggestion is to go with the quality hand grinder that is made for espresso. The only real reason to go electric is if that tires you with your consumption rate. Goodluck.

timo888 wrote:Why not try the double basket with a lower dose (11-12g) of the commercial grind? Seems an unexplored option, unless I've missed something.

Agreed. Singles are tough on this machine. Jack's recommendation for dosing has worked well for me.

I did try to use less coffee in the double basket. But the 45mm tamper I have fits the top 5mm of the double basket but then the sides slope and the tamper won't fit. Similarly, the single basket only has sloping sides and the tamper didn't fit at all but to polish the surface. I'll go the hand grinder route once I'm in California again. For the quantity of coffee I drink (2-3d) the slowness of the process will only be an issue while I'm trying to dial in the grinder/dose.

The Caravel is not particularly dependent on a good tamper. The portafilters vary slighly in size. My tamper that works with the Caravel is too tight for the VAM. I've found it satisfactory to use the back of a flat coffee scoop, such as the one Orphan Espresso includes with their machines. You have to "move it around" a bit, but it does a good job. Tamping is needed mostly for leveling and a relatively light tamp is sufficient. Because the Versalab distributes very evenly I have not had any issues with distribution that might modify this suggestion.

Just grind fine- and pack the basket as full as you can. Take the machine close to choking.

Kim or Zassenhaus grinders are good in y experience. the English Spong iron grinders are also a real winner.

Well, I'm back in California and I'm balancing the jet lag of an intercontinental flight with the buzz I'm getting from getting the grinder and caravel pulls mated properly.

As it turns out the Lehnarz grinder I got via OE works great. It's a powerful little grinder that makes short work of the beans and I am working backwards from choke. I don't have a scale but I've found that a shot glass (two TBSP) of beans is giving me a very nice 30cc shot (1:1 ratio?) with one full pull after setting the handle down on the puck for preinfusion. I'm using the double basket, filling it with ground coffee then lightly polishing/tamping with my tamper (dips it down about 3-4mm below the basket rim). How much can you get in the double basket? I can't imagine getting 4 TBSP of beans in for sure!

I will agree with what I've read here that while the volume is small, I'm very happy with the flavor/quality of the coffee in the smaller shots. It's now much better than I was getting from the moka! (Although perhaps if I tried grinding specifically for it the coffee would be better....I never used anything but my inexpensive blade grinder for it.)

While I wish it could froth milk, now I've got something to tide me over.

rospobio wrote:... perhaps if I tried grinding specifically for it the coffee would be better....I never used anything but my inexpensive blade grinder

For sure. Using a blade grinder for espresso is like a surgeon's using a butterknife. A quality burr grinder capable of very fine gradations or even "infinite" adjustment of the grind is a requirement.

Glad it's working out for you. I've been using a Caravel for a few months (sourced from the very good folk at OE) and am astonished at the flavour it can deliver. I've had my best results using a Macap grinder at the same setting that I would use for my Elektra Semi. I haven't yet managed to duplicate those results with a handgrinder (results have mostly been crema-less, thin, and nasty) but because the Caravel is in my office I haven't had enough opportunity to get the handgrinders dialed in. Work can be a pain that way. I'm encouraged by your results with the Leinhartz.

You have a great espresso shop there at the top end of town just across from the target.

Well hidden but well worth it.

-c

timo888 wrote:For sure. Using a blade grinder for espresso is like a surgeon's using a butterknife.

I have seen neurosurgeons use kitchen spoons!