Received a new-to-me Europiccola yesterday, and older 200/800 pre-millenium model, and very pretty.

For the first pull I used the setting from my Ponte Vecchio Lusso—too coarse. So I closed up about three notches on my Macap grinder, and pulled a super sweet delicious shot . This was the teaser, it turns out, the shot to demonstrate what is possible and now elusive. Now, this machine is kicking my butt !

As mentioned about 1000 times already, this machine gets hot!

Well, I felt up for a challenge, and it looks like the La Pavoni has delivered.

Progress reports to possibly follow as the week progresses.

The shot I had yesterday that was super tasty was a Brasil Fazenda that I roasted six days ago to FC+. On the PV Lusso this has typicaly produced good body, full flavor, complexity, and generous crema. But with dialing in the new machine, I quickly burned through my stash. In a couple of days my freshly roasted new batch will be rested and ready to try, along with an El Salvador Orange Bourbon.

What I worked with today was Ritual coffee's Hopscotch, roasted three days ago. The local barista was kind enough to pull me a benchmark shot with his tremendous skill. This is a West Coast style of espresso, refreshing and elegant when properly prepared, though I do find it a demanding bean to work with—to my taste buds it has less body than a traditional espresso. The roast is on the lighter side and the flavors are bright and reminiscent of citrus. If it is not properly prepared it can taste a bit thin, and today my efforts tasted thin and hot. Typically, I have to grind this bean several notches finer on my Macap M4 than my home roasted beans that I have on hand, so a very fine grind is in order.

Tomorrow is another day and I will try again.

I'm not yet touching adjustments on the machine, and I don't know what is possible, but I am already wondering if one can turn down the heat on this machine. When it starts to hiss I turn the heat switch to low, and I feel as if I am trying to catch a ride on a sizzling bottle rocket. The cup is hotter than I am used to, though it is entirely possible my inexperience is fully at fault. I am reminded of this when I remember the one sweet shot I pulled yesterday.

When I bought this beauty I thought the description mentioned that the pressurestat had been adjusted to 1 bar, but I am now thinking that this must mean the boiler pressure release valve, at least that's where the steam comes out. So my most obvious heat adjustment controls when brewing are the 800 watt switch until steam spews, then 200 for a lower boil. That's still hot fast, so today I just went from 800 watts to 200 then promptly to off—and pulled a tasty shot with my Ritual Hopscotch roasted earlier this week.

This machine demands that you pay attention all along the way or suffer a hellish brew, and I am just at the beginning of getting to know the ins and outs. I am having fun for sure, and in so doing I have produced more sink shots in one day than I have in three years of using the Ponte Vecchio Lusso. Really it's what I expected, but I have this idea that when the shots are great on the La Pavoni they will be really enjoyable, and perhaps I will have learned something more about espresso along the way.

At one point I thought I might have a leak in the base, as there was water present at the edges. So I took the base apart, dried it, put it back together, and did a test run. The I unplugged the machine and peeked into the base—no water from obvious seals, but an impressive amount of condensation on the metal base stiffener just below the drip tray. So, this seems just a part of the design when operating in any but the driest of climates.

grong wrote:When I bought this beauty I thought the description mentioned that the pressurestat had been adjusted to 1 bar, but I am now thinking that this must mean the boiler pressure release valve, at least that's where the steam comes out. So my most obvious heat adjustment controls when brewing are the 800 watt switch until steam spews, then 200 for a lower boil. That's still hot fast, so today I just went from 800 watts to 200 then promptly to off—and pulled a tasty shot with my Ritual Hopscotch roasted earlier this week.

No pressurestat and the pressure release safety valve pressure is set by a small non-adjustable spring holding a little steel ball against a tiny hole in the boiler. Pretty high tech, eh?

grong wrote:I'm not yet touching adjustments on the machine, and I don't know what is possible, but I am already wondering if one can turn down the heat on this machine. When it starts to hiss I turn the heat switch to low, and I feel as if I am trying to catch a ride on a sizzling bottle rocket. The cup is hotter than I am used to, though it is entirely possible my inexperience is fully at fault. I am reminded of this when I remember the one sweet shot I pulled yesterday.

There are no machine adjustments, so you need to be creative. I'm experimenting with turning the machine completely off at the hiss and then back on before pulling the shot, (don't forget to release false pressure). When I hear the boiler start to gurgle again, I immediately turn off the machine and then pull the shot, (you only need enough boiler pressure to get one ounce of water into the group when the piston is raised). I'll need to get some espressme temp strips from Orphan, before I know exactly how this routine affects the temp of the group. I'm trying to find a way around doing the wet towel over the group maneuver.

Basically its a 1-2 shot machine - totally different than the PV. I had one on loan for a month or two. I just turned it off when it got close to ready. Made sure I had the basket prepared, then turned it on till just ready. No preheating of the group - it gets plenty hot on its own. When I got into a routine I could pull consistent shots - I wrote up a superficial comparison with the Export about two years ago.

The manual lever offers interesting possibilities, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

PC

I appreciate and thank you for the helpful responses. I now feel I have the heat issue more or less under control, largely due to your suggestions. I also read on another thread, posted by someone who had added a pressure gauge to the two-switch Europiccola, that when the machine starts hissing lightly it is around .8 bar and when it lets loose it is around 1. Judging by the gauge on my Lusso and how much water forces through when the lever is engaged at .8 bar this sounds about right.

I did pull a very nice shot today, but that was on my Lusso! As peacecup mentioned, these machines are very different—I am finding that to be true.

My current problem stage to work through is channeling, I think. All today, I am just not getting any good resistance on the lever, though I felt it once yesterday—the lever just pushes down quite easily, no drops too easily. But then the portafilter remains under pressure for several minutes, which I suspect is longer than necessary. So, I am guessing channeling is the problem, allowing a flow that is too easy. Help, please!

I have used grinder settings for what works on the Lusso for a start, and moved up and down step by step, several steps. While I have hit the mark a time or two with the Pavoni, it has only been by accident. The shots that look good started getting drips after about 5 seconds of preinfusion.

I am using a stubby tamper from Orphan Espresso. It has a flat bottom, and fits the basket with minimal clearance, a lovely fit. I am using a light tamp, about 8 pounds, polish, fresh beans, and the puck is clearing the screen so it is not being disturbed.

Advice is appreciated. Thank you!

John,
Tighten your grind, (the Europiccola needs a finer grind than the Lusso, you shouldn't see any drops of coffee during preinfusion), use WDT and make sure your beans are fresh is usually the consensus H-B advice for channeling issues. I'll add down dosing and Jack "peacecup" would surely suggest updosing. Try both.

Raise the lever until you see a few drops of water and lower it a bit until the water stops, then insert the portafilter. Slowly raise the lever all the way up, hold for 4 seconds then pull down slowly and evenly. Shoot for 30 pounds of lever resistance during the shot pull. I know you know a lot of this already because you have been on H-B as long as I have, to the day. An H-B site search of Pavoni techniques and dosing techniques will provide you with a plethora of info.

Dosing

Thanks, Fullsack. I will start fresh tomorrow, and follow your advice.

It's as if I know what to do, but like I am in zero gravity with this machine—with every adjustment I make, I get exactly the same result! It's a funny feeling, and I am sure I am just overlooking something. Thanks for helping me think it through.

I am experiencing a steep learning curve with this beautiful machine.

Raise the lever until you see a few drops of water and the lower it a bit until the water stops, then insert the portafilter.

Yes, I am probably disturbing my puck.

grong-

I have a 2-switch Europiccola with the added pressure gauge. I have found that my machine does not release from the pressure relief until my gauge is topped out, about 3 bar! Much more than the 0.8 you mention. Different machines may have different relief valves, so I would venture a guess that waiting for the hiss in your machine may not be a good indicator of proper temperature. I would try to add the gauge to your machine to get more consistent results.

The gauge also helps to repeat good results and avoid poor ones by allowing you to eliminate at least one variable and pull shots at the similar pressure and temperatures each time you brew. Using the high/low and on/off switches and watching the gauge can also let you keep the machine in the proper temp range and get more shots per session without a serious overheat.

Hope this helps-
Bill