Ben say:

But after it was all done, I kind of enjoyed it and now I have a good understanding of how the machine works. It feels more like "mine" now. Can't wait to pull some shots this weekend!

I hope after this weekend, or sometime soon, you, like the rest of us, are ready to dominate in the name of lever espresso machines. If so, get a number and welcome!

benvh wrote: I ordered a new seal kit and replaced all the seals as well. Descaling took a while...went through about 3 boxes of Dezcal along with some CLR which really did the trick).
Ben

You must be the same Ben from the Sweet Maria's group!

Good to see you on this side of the lever. How are you coping while the Behmor is down?

Jef

I replaced the motor on Thursday night and roasted a batch last night. Thank god...I was getting desperate. While it was down I went to a local shop and asked what they had in terms of a light roast. She suggested some Harrar. When I got the bag from her it looked like a Vienna roast. I made it one morning and that was it. Almost undrinkable. On the plus side, I can use the remaining beans to dial in my Rocky for use with the La Pavoni.
Ben

New Guy here. just got my Gaggia Achille tonight.... some had a burnt taste but a couple pretty good . not sure what a good one tastes like but i'm liking my shots very much. started off this christmas with a nespresso machine that has alot of crema but the body of the shots seem pretty weak in comparison to some of the better shots from tonight. thanks to wll for the achille and 1st line for the grinder. having lot's of fun. the nespresso is at the office now.
thanks for the great forum
steve

benvh wrote:I replaced the motor on Thursday night and roasted a batch last night. Thank god...I was getting desperate. [snip]
Ben

Hi Ben,
SWEET! Did you get your Lever Machine World Domination Plot number yet?

stevess wrote:New Guy here. just got my Gaggia Achille tonight.... some had a burnt taste but a couple pretty good . not sure what a good one tastes like but i'm liking my shots very much. started off this christmas with a nespresso machine that has alot of crema but the body of the shots seem pretty weak in comparison to some of the better shots from tonight. thanks to wll for the achille and 1st line for the grinder. having lot's of fun. the nespresso is at the office now.
thanks for the great forum
steve

Hey Steve, Welcome aboard! I see you got your number!

What coffee are you using?

Jef

hi jef. bought some black cat from intel. thanks for the welcome
steve

Hi, i am Roeland and i'm hooked on good coffee since my little sister gave me a Moka and with that thing i learned that coffee could taste much much better than i was used to. Some six months later, i was pondering about buying a Brikka which would make my coffee taste even better. A week later when my mom washed my moka with soap (can you believe that!) i caved in and bought the Brikka. And some while afterwards my PeDe followed suit. That was the time my grandmother started asking if i could bring my coffee machinery along when i visited her
Another six months later, after some research here, i started searching on Ebay for a Caravel because i really liked how it looked. After losing a couple of auctions, i found my old style Peppina. At first i didn't look for a Peppina because although i appreciated the valvesystem, i didn't care for the angular design. But, the old style Peppina looked way better, i bid on it and I won! The rebuild turned out to be some sort of a nightmare (see the redux thread), but it really works well now and i'm really happy with it! I've been pulling shots all night and although consistency is woeful i really enjoyed myself.

at first this post was rubbish but i had to go suddenly and afterwards forgot that i had to fully write it Sorry everyone!

I wanted to wait till I finally got a decent pull on my rebuilt LaPav before I signed up for my LMWDP number. I finally did, so count me in!!! I wanted to earn it and I think I did.

After 18 years my Gaggia Coffee died. When I opened it up to see what the problem was, boy was I surprised. I cracked open the aluminum boiler to find it had disintegrated. How much aluminum had I been drinking? The search for a new machine was on. I definitely wanted a copper boiler, steam wand, and no wait for steam. Then I found out about lever machines. Just my style. I decided on a Ponte Vecchio lusso and a lelit grinder and set off on the quest to learn how to make real espresso. After a few weeks of educational over caffination all I can say is what a difference. The posts here have been very helpful. I learned that I enjoy espresso but can no longer take the swill that I used to put sugar in while dining out. I still have a ways to go with my microfoam so no latte art yet but the caps are big hits at dinner parties.

I had been using the spice bottle tamper but I finally had time to turned down an $11 steel cuisinart tamper to fit the 45.5 mm basket. I'll be making one from scratch out of brass soon.

Please accept my application for LMWDP #234

Yey! The ranks are swelling!

Welcome everybody

I started into espresso about four years ago after my son was born and I realized that I needed to have a little something extra in the afternoon to stay awake and employed. It started with frequent trips to the cafe in my building, but I realized that battery acid probably wasn't on the palette of flavors most people look for in a drink. I migrated to tea after he started sleeping through the night. My daughter was born two years ago and I bought two Delonghi pump machines, one for home and one for work. Then I found this site and was completely ruined.

I've used a chemex every morning for the last ten years and really enjoy crafting a cup of coffee rather than having a machine do it for me and only recently have I learned how to really use it the way it's meant to be used. After that I realized that a lever was the only way to go since I wanted to be more involved in what I was making. It's been rather fun to start this journey as a student of espresso making and I have a lot to look forward to everyday when I'm making shots and improving (or not). I started hunting for a peppina or caravel in earnest about a month or so ago and finally landed my gray caravel which sits happily in my office awaiting a hand grinding partner in the not so distant future. Next up will be another lever that steams for home as the boss likes a little cappuccino here and there. She was a barista many years ago and handles all steaming duties and I'm perfectly happy with my short black.

Anyhow, that sums up my LMWDP adventure to date.

NICE shot of your Caravel!!! Welcome to the mad-house

Well I think its time I apply for a number. It started a long while ago when my parents brought home a Saeco Aroma and introduced me to espresso. I thought it tasted okay but was never really big on it. Give or take a few years I've visited tons of cafes and had some pretty good espresso. I moved off to MA for college for a couple years and there were a couple decent cafes that made some decent espresso and I wanted to be able to get some decent espresso at home. So the search was on. I loved the look of lever machines but really didnt look towards them when I was looking for a machine. I started selling off guitar equipment, stereo equipment, and whatever else I could sell on ebay to get me going. I was looking at the Silvia but couldn't help think that it was a $300 machine selling for $700. I could get that and a rocky for $1k but that was over my budget, plus they each have their quirks and problems. Mainly the Silvia seems temperamental and the rocky didnt provide enough calibration. So the search continued to used HX machines and I almost bought an Oscar at one point. Than I stumbled upon the MCAL scam machine on CL for an amazingly low price. I figured I could even afford to referb whatever needed to be done at the price the woman was selling it for. As with the other member here, she screwed me over on the machine. But on the other hand, she got me looking at levers. I figured why do I need to spend a ton of money on a machine full of gadgets, circuit boards, and electronics. If I cut out all that, I could probably save some green. So thats where the lever search began. I just graduated college and am going to grad school in the fall so I've got some time to spend learning the lever. A wonderful member around here, Ed (farmroast), just happened to be from the town I went to college in. To make a long story short hes a great guy and gave me a great deal on some equipment he had around. He also makes some great espresso.

Long story short, I am now the proud owner of a slightly used La Pav Pro16 rebranded for zabars. I'm using a Rancilio MD-50 grinder and a RB tamp. Sorry for the cell phone picture but it was all I had at the time. I'd like a number please

JayKay wrote:I'd like a number please

See the first post of this thread for instructions.

Hello fellow lever fans.

Brief story. Born in London and travelled Europe as a teenager, getting increasingly impressed by the espressos as I journeyed south. Came back to the UK with a Bialetti and suffered because espresso roasts and grinds were impossible to find. Ended up living in Italy, not just because of the coffees I hasten to add, though that certainly played a role

Made my way through a series of variable semiautomticas over the years, none of which lasted more than a year or so before the pump comitted suicide. The last one actually lasted a couple of years but never worked properly with Illy, which it was finally possible to get in the UK (moved back here 15 years ago in a fit of responsible lunacy ). On a hunch I picked up a Pavoni Professional and have never looked back. It's been the single biggest lifestyle improvement I can think of in many ways Not that this will stop me from flirting with a Europiccola a Leva at some point, even if it's just so I can find out if my brain and brawn are really any match for a spring..... and of course bringing an eagle into the home to keep the peacock company would really be an act of charity.

Cheers

Mike

Grew up on fresh ground Chemex and Melitta drip (thanks Mom and Dad). Flirted with various automatic drips over the years until buying a Gaggia Synchrony Digital 4 years ago. Started roasting my own with a Z&D 6 years ago, then graduated to a Behmor when the Z&D's control board started feeling special. Started reading the roasting forums here and on Coffee Geek a while back, mostly lurking, then started reading the other forums. There was something about the lever machine, and most specifically the non-spring, gravity-fed lever machine that spoke to me. Maybe it's because as a musician and writer I've always been curious about process and focus, and the type of ritual performance of hand-grinding and hand-pulling a shot of espresso with the goal being to find that space where everything fits just so, seems to go hand-in-hand with the type of music I make and writing I do. It's about finding the zone and then being there without working at being there. Call me a coffee mystic. A Sulawesi Sufi, if you will. Or maybe that's just the caffeine talking.

Here's Clarabelle (thanks for naming her, Doug and Barb) in her new home. I pulled a couple of shots tonight trying to dial her in with some 6 day old Sumatra Mandheling, Costa Rica Violeta Don Teofilo Estate blend. Nice. Immediately way better than anything I ever managed to find here in the wilds of the San Fernando Valley, but I can tell I've got me some larnin' to do. Here's to learning.

GVDub - your sig had me in hysterics! Is that really a Chinese proverb?

GVDub - your sig had me in hysterics! Is that really a Chinese proverb?

According to a couple of reference works I have, yes. Not reading Chinese, I can't verify first hand, but I'm willing to take their word for it.

Welcome, "Clarabelle" was on loan to me for a while and she is much more capable than I of great shots! I'm happy that she has found a good home!
-Richard

Hello all you beautiful people,

My like for espresso has become an obsession, culminating in the purchase of my very own Gaggia Achille which arrived yesterday. I am also very in to photography, and my love for that art form is very similar to that of espresso: the process of creating what you intend to. I'm on a quest now to perfect the cappuccino for my wife and friends. I have found this very powerful and exciting, long live the plot!

I don't have any pictures yet, but my right hand is bruised from laying on the lever for 4 hours or more yesterday. Worth every minute of it, in my opinion. I'll probably throw up a picture of the machine with the first work of art I'm proud of. If this bruise gets worse, maybe I'll throw up some pictures of that too

Consider this my application for LMWDP #239

-Andrew