OK, a little intro here. I'm 19 years old and love to start the day with a cup of coffee. About a year ago, I delved into the world of espressos, lattes, cappuccinos, so on and so forth. I have recently become fed up with paying $5 for a cafe mocha, and decided to figure out how to make one at home. I started with a $40 espresso maker from Wal*Mart... Well I'm sure you can guess how that ended. I was severely disappointed to find out that a good espresso machine costs around $500. Nothing happened for several months, and my mom told me that her church (she works there) in NYC/Manhattan was getting rid of an espresso machine. She had no idea if it was good or even the brand name. All she knew was that it was "big, silver and very heavy." That all sounded good to me.

Well, turns out the machine is a Olympia Cremina, it's pretty old, doesn't feature the gauge on the front or anything. I did my first test run tonight, no leaks, funny smells, or sounds. Did I make out good or what?

Between you and the guy that found one on the side of the street, I'm beginning to doubt my luck. Yeah, you lucked out big time.

Start reading up on how to use it, prepare to spring $200+ for a grinder and you should be set.

Mark

I think you made out good. I wish I had heard of the Olympia Cremina before I purchased the Europiccola. I am too satisfied to make the switch, but it sounds like a slightly better build. As far as your good fortune, I am incredulous. Did you see this recent thread: http://www.home-barista.com/levers/new-to-site-and-to-olympia-cremina-t7448.html. How can two people in New York be that lucky in the same month? A hoax, perhaps. Anyway, enjoy learning the machine.

What can I say, NYC is full of rich people that throw things out when a new model is available!

I found this page to be incredibly helpful, and will soon be watching these videos.

I have a fiend in Manhattan who mentioned her espresso machine and said she put in storage "because it's too complicated" and add that "I bought it 'cause it looked really cool in my kitchen". It's a pretty decent La Pavoni lever machine and has probably been used a dozen times or less. She's too shrewd to put it to the curb or give it away but NYC is full of folks like that with loads of discretionary income and no place to keep things when they tire of them. I'm still working on a way to coax her into giving me the machine....