Possepat wrote:Ships, vehicles, machinery, weather, trees etc in my neck of the woods tend to always lean toward the feminine.

That's pretty common, but there's always exceptions. My curvaceous La Peppina is feminine, but the Gaggia Factory bears too much resemblance to the Tin Man to be anything but masculine. Sad to say that I've split the pair up, I'm bringing Peppie in to work and leaving the Tin Man at home.

salvatore wrote: I tend to favor more of a ristretto type of pour, and I am curious if this is possible with the Londinium? Something in the range of a 67-90% ratio. ..

Salvatore, go to a reputable espresso cafe and order a Ristretto at the counter.
Watch how the barista pulls the shot.
A commercial (professional) barista wont mess with his grind settings or make any other adjustments for your order,..he will simply pull the cup early for a classic ristretto.
Most good baristers will pull the cup before the shot finishes (before "blonding") on a regular "espresso",.. even on an volumetric or auto m/c

I'm pretty much set getting the L-I withing the next couple of months. couple of questions,

Does a standard 58mm e61 portafilter fits this machine? if not, too small or too big?

Thinking about placement, how difficult would it be to refill the water on a standard US cabinet config (I think about ~2 feet clearance)? Would I need to slide the machine? How easy is to do so?

I may have missed this in the thread, but how easy is the steam lever to regulate? Is it all on and all off? Or can one modulate it easily. I presume you have to hold it in position while you are steaming? I had a Mini Vivaldi with a steam lever control on it and I like knobs better because they're easy to adjust and stay where you put them while steaming. I had to hold on to the Mini steam lever the whole time while steaming and it was not at all easy to get a fine adjustment.

It can be locked full on or regulated during use. I use smaller 12oz pitchers though so I prefer to hold the pitcher and regulate the steam lever with my thumb. That way I can ramp up the speed during the whirlpool stage of the operation. I much prefer it to the twist type valves I've used on my cremina and other machines. It's very easy to regulate.

Miami_AJ wrote:(1)Does a standard 58mm e61 portafilter fits this machine? if not, too small or too big?
(2)Thinking about placement, how difficult would it be to refill the water on a standard US cabinet config...

1. "standard" is a tricky word. The ears are not perpendicular to the handle and the ear thickness may or may not differ too much from what you have. I just bought the L1 bottomless to accompany it instead of trying to mix and match what I had before.
2. 2 ft is likely enough, but you may end up doing the hose+funnel move

mgwolf wrote:I may have missed this in the thread, but how easy is the steam lever to regulate?

The joystick is fine grained and locks in the full-on position. Because I don't like to hold it, I got the 4x1.0mm tip to replace the monstrous 4x1.5mm that it originally shipped with. I believe all new models ship with the 4x1.0mm as the stock tip. This lets me lock full-on and still steam in a smaller pitcher for a single cappuccino's worth of milk quite well, imho

(Edit, of course possepat replied faster than me! )

redpig wrote:This lets me lock full-on and still steam in a smaller pitcher for a single cappuccino's worth of milk quite well, imho

OK, but has anybody tried to steam even smaller amounts than for a cappuccino; say, 50-60mls for a piccolo in a small 10oz /280ml steaming jug? Or would the L1, even with the modified tip and easy-to-articulate steaming lever, be too powerful for this?
I ask because I am sure a lot of users do drink piccolo lattes from time to time (eg 30-40mls espresso plus 30-40mls milk) and it would be nice not to have to ditch large quantities of milk each time one does so.

chopinhauer wrote:OK, but has anybody tried to steam even smaller amounts than for a cappuccino; say, 50-60mls for a piccolo in a small 10oz /280ml steaming jug? Or would the L1, even with the modified tip and easy-to-articulate steaming lever, be too powerful for this?

I use this 10oz pitcher filled to the "bend" for my drinks usually. 140ml maybe? I'll measure and steam 30-40ml of milk in it in the morning and report back

RoloD wrote:Now there seems to be an assumption here that Londinium I is female -

Although physique would suggest perhaps not...

Proof of quote:





Bling for the basic box

Very nice Stephen...

Are they a stock item or are they lovingly crafted just for/by you?