oldworld_luke wrote: my wife is out of frame grabbing our cleaning towels but ty!

OK;
3. When someone else is getting a rag to clean the SW.

(Note to Self: Must get a significant other that will help with drink production!)

Lol she is an abundance of useful at times!

Got that grinder (the major) for only $500, and I CANNOT complain about it for the price. I love my little garage setup atm, i will have to post more pics in the future.

check out this

www.photoblog.com/oldworldcafe

i love hearing feedback and talking coffee of all sorts, I am about to order http://www.espressovivace.com/intro.html to read these as well, and watch lol!

Greetings!

My lever journey began with an old roommate who would employ a strange little machine for the occasional beverage. I never paid it much attention. However, on one fated Sunday morning, he offered me one rather large and milky concoction to which I added my customary two spoonfuls of sugar. It was then that I became an espresso junkie!

I could go on, but long story short: Roommate taught me machine. Started to use machine more than roommate. Roommate got married. Enter wife exit me. Suffered cappuccino withdrawals. Researched new machine. Decent machines too expensive. Started home roasting! Very happy with results! Espresso takes a back seat. Fast forward. Finally bought espresso machine. Cut teeth for 2.5 years. Visit great NY and SF cafes. Standards are raised. Machine becomes limitation. More research. The only solution? A lever, of course!

Drum roll please...

I will be detailing my ongoing experiences with the Gaggia Factory in the near future. Stay tuned!

thats a beauty you got there square, I love the cone design on the gaggia

I should have gotten a number, but I'm not on the list ... did I aggravate the wrong person ALREADY?

Ah, so it's my own fault as usual. Thank you!

Welcome to the Plot, OldworldLuke, grubinski and rootmeansquare!

I bought my first lever, a new MCaL, a couple months ago. Ordered it direct from Italy & saved enough over U.S. pricing to cover the factory traveling case. It occupies the opposite end of the kitchen from my Vivaldi/Majors. I'll post a pic once I finish restoring the used factory stand I bought off the CG Buy & Sell forum.

The MCaL sees occasional home use & is our designated road trip machine when we load up the Touring & head out of town. It came with the boiler pressure set pretty high so I've been playing with different settings. Currently it is set to cycle between .8-.95 bar which works fine for shots but is a little weak on the steaming end. No issues so far & I've gotten very nice shots from day one.


LMWDP #267

Hi everyone,

I've been hanging around this site for quite some time now, and I realized its long past due to introduce myself. So here's my quick lever story:

Developed a love affair with coffee during time spent in the Pacific Northwest for my undergrad (which looking back now seems quite inevitable). Had an opportunity to work at a few coffee shops, and really enjoyed the feel of all details that are involved in making espresso. Then I ended up in grad school, which left me missing making my own drinks. After doing some reading here and there (this site was a godsend) decided that my enjoyment of details and control would lend well to me liking a lever machine. This led to a rather unoriginal purchase of a La Pavoni Europiccola, and refurbished KYM grinder from Orphan Espresso. And while it isn't the most interesting machine, I really couldn't be happier with the results. It took me quite some time to get the hang of it (and many days I still feel like I have miles to go) but I have really enjoyed that process as well. My journey has been assisted by Lino, who converted my portafilter into a bottomless, and Brooklynshot, who set me up with a single-hole steam tip - so a big thanks to both of them.

I think that's about it, don't have any pics at the moment, my camera has been on the fritz lately.

Thanks for letting me offer my two cents, and joining your great ranks.

-Chris