Hey all,

My turn for introduction and claim for number 222 please. I found my Pavoni a few months ago on Ebay-as I've been wanting one for quite a while-several years. Even better was that it was located right here in Phoenix. I won it for a ridiculously low amount, but for good reason. It was a 220v with a broken sightglass and numerous missing parts. No matter- as I used this site for good reference. And needless to say after about 2 weeks of waiting for parts from here and there, it's alive again and making pretty good espresso. (look for another post on that later).

I also am partners in a coffee and tea house here in Phoenix, and still hold a day job besides that, which I've been doing for 20 years now... The coffee house thing is odd though as I must admit that growing up and through college I never drank coffee. It was once I started to travel abroad that I got turned on to it and now, well, you know...

Happy New Year
Tom

Welcome! Sounds like fun!

Lusso 2-group is in da house! Thanks to the lever-heads at HB, I decided to upgrade in a big way from my trusty Sirena. My rationale for choosing the Lusso: having been frustrated by the lag time between cappas on a 1-group, I wanted to bang 'em out fast, 2 at a time, with no wait between brewing & steaming. And I wanted steam, STEAM, STEEEAAAMMM!



I could have gotten a 1-group HX or DB and split my double shots into 2 cups, but note our very limited countertop space. My GF & I don't call this flat "The Submarine" for nothing! The Elektra Semiautomatica has the right footprint, but it's too tall. Everything else, well, maybe it could fit on the counter sideways, but naaah... I like the Lusso.

This morning I finally made my first 2 cappas simultaneously, and whooaaa!!! I don't even have my Thor tamper yet, and I got a rockin' ristretto with 2 pulls using the crummy plastic Italian tamper with major NSEW action. I still can't believe it: the milk was churning like a jacuzzi with the steam valve barely half-open! Latte art microfoam, effortlessly! HOO-YEAH!



"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world!"
-- Archimedes

Hi all, I am new to levers. I went with the one that tickled my engineers heart, a Gaggia Achille.
I have only had it since last friday and there is a few things that are still getting worked out. Primarily that goose honk of a squeak that occasionally occurs when pulling cooling flushes, going to put some light machine oil on the pivots to see if that fixes it. Also I want to hurt whomever put that joke of a frothing wand on here, it's like a super model with a missing front tooth. Definitely going to put a Silvia wand on soon.

I am liking the pulls so far, much improved on the hacked PF Breville Cafe Roma I have been using for the last 5 months =)




Sorry about the iphone photo that is all I have right now.

Well I'm finally able to join the ranks. Received my Europiccola (bought through CG) and my KyM 9481 MOKKA (Orphan Espresso) this weekend (see pic below). Very excited. Complete newbie. Been surfing around HB, CG, etc for a few months though. Any help/hints/tips more than welcome. Or even better; anyone in upstate SC want to get together?

That's a nice looking machine. Welcome

(ok truth be told I sold that machine to kaffidrikker).

HB put together a list of FAQs and Favorites where he has listed a collection of popular topics here:

http://www.home-barista.com/lever...vorites-t1552.html

There are also a few sites out there. Here is a good one:

http://pavoni.varnelis.net/

Welcome, Tom

thax wrote:Hi all, I am new to levers. I went with the one that tickled my engineers heart, a Gaggia Achille.
I have only had it since last friday and there is a few things that are still getting worked out. Primarily that goose honk of a squeak that occasionally occurs when pulling cooling flushes, going to put some light machine oil on the pivots to see if that fixes it. Also I want to hurt whomever put that joke of a frothing wand on here, it's like a super model with a missing front tooth. Definitely going to put a Silvia wand on soon.

I am liking the pulls so far, much improved on the hacked PF Breville Cafe Roma I have been using for the last 5 months =)


<image>

Sorry about the iphone photo that is all I have right now.

Hey man, LMAO regarding the "Goose Honk" and "super model" comments!

kaffidrikker wrote:Well I'm finally able to join the ranks. Received my Europiccola (bought through CG) and my KyM 9481 MOKKA (Orphan Espresso) this weekend (see pic below). Very excited. Complete newbie. Been surfing around HB, CG, etc for a few months though. Any help/hints/tips more than welcome. Or even better; anyone in upstate SC want to get together?<image>

I love your choice of grinder... and the classic Pavoni that no one will argue with... Welcome!
Peruse the posts (lots of knowledge and experience) and ask away!

thax wrote:Hi all, I am new to levers. I went with the one that tickled my engineers heart, a Gaggia Achille.
I have only had it since last friday and there is a few things that are still getting worked out. Primarily that goose honk of a squeak that occasionally occurs when pulling cooling flushes, going to put some light machine oil on the pivots to see if that fixes it. Also I want to hurt whomever put that joke of a frothing wand on here, it's like a super model with a missing front tooth. Definitely going to put a Silvia wand on soon.

Wow... Starting out with a real team... the Gaggia and a decent grinder... How are your pulls coming along?