My colleague has an Olympia at home. I got chance (today actually) to prepare two espressos. He has a large commercial size Mazzer, and beans were from Solerno (Trucillo - about $50/kg). Coffee that I made tasted weird, machine looks beautiful and understated, whereas my technique has a long way to go, before I like to drink what I made. (I was nervous during the downstroke).

good, there is no substitute for actually trying the cremina yourself.

Thanks Doug & Barb!

Got it last week. First chance I've had to try it out.

I'm getting some bubbling on the top of the boiler fill cap. Is that normal?

Congratulations on your new Cremina Craig. That is a nice looking tamp too, where did you get it? & a bottomless PF mod too.

BTW, if you haven't already got some fine digital scales (accurate to 0.1g) costing about USD15 i expect, they will flatten the learning curve for you quite considerably & improve the consistency of your shots out of sight.

Hi Reiss,

Thanks for the recommendation on the scale. I'll be getting one asap. I'm not proud to say the first shot on this was perhaps one of the worst I've ever pulled.

I'm used to a La Pavoni and I think it's going to take a little time to figure this out.

The bottomless portafilter is a Richard Penney from OE that's crafted beautifully. I wish more things in this world were made that way.

The same goes for the tamper, it's an all aluminum Reg Barber that's lovely to hold in your hand.

best,

Craig

Beautiful machine you have. That tamper -- is it nominal 49?

The tamper size is 49.4mm which is as I understand fits the basket on the previous version of the Cremina. That said the naked portafilter is the off the shelf 49mm version from OE.

farmroast wrote:It's truly an heirloom machine by design, build and performance.
Buy new or buy old.
Bob C., '67 "Granny" Cremina is still a babe.

Yep and I still have her safely here on the counter next to the 'C' Lever! Thanks
Still lurk here from time to time. HOpe all is well with the Veterans here.

I must admit the new one is some piece of work. Congrats to the new owners.

Sakae wrote: Then somewhere on the YouTube there is a video of a guy making himself a shot on the Cremina, but he is fighting the lever like a guy who likes arm wrestling. His arm muscles were bulging under strain, then he seems to drop slightly in his knees, using his body weight to help his hand, and I would swear that he took a breather or two on the down stroke.

Ignore that video. If it's the one I'm thinking of, he incorporated 1 if not 2 "Fellini" moves (1/4 strokes down, then back up. ) This obviously produced so much back pressure that his forearms were bulging like Popeye's. Mark Prince's video on You Tube seems like a nice thing for you to take a gander at.

A lever, especially such as a Cremina (49mm) is (IMO) not designed to produce monster 2oz shots, but more to your liking, those sweet smaller shots. Mine (in US measurement) are usually 1.25 oz, or when I want a wee bit more, I use my Elektra MCAL basket (it's deeper and holds 2-3 grams more coffee) and get lovely 1.75oz shots.
Also, unlike my former La Pavoni, making those awesome sweet .75oz restretto's using a single basket are far easier on the Cremina.
To alleviate your concerns, my 16 year diva daughter has no trouble negotiating the lever.
Finer grind, lighter (almost NO) tamp does it.

BTW, thanks Reiss (sp?) for your take on temperature. I've often though of turning my pressure down a wee bit, as I don't prepare milk drinks but maybe once daily for my wife.
I'll try the 8 bar thing tomorrow. I have OE's very inexpensive "over the steam wand" pressure gauge.