LMWDP Rollcall - Page 173

A haven dedicated to manual espresso machine aficionados.
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DavinG
Posts: 79
Joined: 9 years ago

#1721: Post by DavinG »

I live in a small Town in Alberta with my wife, daughter, and pet Maltese, Oscar. I've had an obsession with coffee at a very young age. In fact, in my mid-school days, I hid (from my parents) a drip coffee machine in my closet where I would make 3 cups of coffee every morning before school. My coffee obsession has stuck with me and I have taken a huge interest in espresso shortly after finishing College. I still have my cup of coffee every morning and tend to have a shot of espresso in the evenings during the week and several shots on the weekends. Syphon coffee is my favorite way of preparing a cup of joe and enjoy a few cups every weekend morning.

Aside from being a coffee enthusiast, I'm a full-time Planning & Development Officer with the County and a professional lifestyle and wedding photographer on my spare time (http://www.davingphotography.com).

I started off with some very basic drip coffee and espresso makers and have moved my way up over the years to my current lever machine. After using automatic machines since my middle school days, I decided I wanted to move to a fully manual lever machine where I'm able to control everything to create the perfect shot of espresso. I love everything about the espresso process; from the grind, to the tamp, to pulling your shot of deliciousness! With 2 of my previous automatic Breville espresso machines, I've never fully had the full manual experience from pulling a shot of espresso - hence the reason for purchasing the La Pavoni Professional. Now I'm able to manually produce a shot of espresso from start to finish, with any errors in the process being blamed on no one but myself!

My current equipment:
- La Pavoni Professional (wooden handles/knobs) espresso machine
- Rancilio Rocky grinder
- Reg Barber 51mm Tall Bubinga Wooden Tamper with white delron insert. C-Ripple base.
- Hario NXA-5 syphon coffee
- 1 cup stainless steel camping espresso machine
- Airscape Bean Storage
- Breville Knockbox
- Breville BKC700XL Gourmet Single-Serve Coffeemaker


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dominico
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Posts: 2006
Joined: 9 years ago

#1722: Post by dominico »

Didn't your parents smell the coffee coming from your closet and get suspicious?

The wood handles and knobs on your Pavoni give it quite the aesthetic appeal, very nice.

Have you modded your Rocky at all or are you using it stock? A stepless mod would allow you even greater flexibility over your shot preparation with the Pavoni. I ran a Rocky / Pavoni combo for a while (before deciding to switch to a Pharos) and modded my Rocky to be stepless using the "clean stepless mod". I also added teflon tape on the upper burr threads under the advise of other forum Rocky users.
https://bit.ly/3N1bhPR
Il caffè è un piacere, se non è buono che piacere è?

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DavinG
Posts: 79
Joined: 9 years ago

#1723: Post by DavinG replying to dominico »

My bedroom was in the basement so my parent's would rarely come downstairs before heading to work in the morning. However, on occasion they would come downstairs & did smell my morning coffee. The result was them taking away my coffee machine...until I found out where they hid it!

Thanks, I too think the wooden handles/knobs give the La Pavoni a much nicer look. My wife approves of the aesthetics of the machine too which is a plus!

Other than removing the finger guard, I haven't really modded my Rocky yet. I might consider the stepless mod in the future but haven't really had a huge need to fine adjust between settings as of yet. Thanks for the links to the mod!

orduek
Posts: 12
Joined: 9 years ago

#1724: Post by orduek »

So I purchased a new La Pavoni professional, millennium model.

For now I bought a 51mm tamper and I have a simple hand grinder (CoffeMill C1)


I used to have Gaggia Color and wanted to upgrade to something more...well...interesting.
I decided to with La Pavoni as I enjoy the play of coffee making.
LMWDP #516

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kaldi61
Posts: 266
Joined: 9 years ago

#1725: Post by kaldi61 »

Wow - three gorgeous Pavonis added to the list. Welcome all. Beautiful machines - almost makes me want to start combing the auction sites for an ancient europiccola to rebuild....must resist temptation!
-Nelson

LMWDP #506 "It's not just for breakfast anymore."

rittem1
Posts: 232
Joined: 10 years ago

#1726: Post by rittem1 »



After a long time reading this forum and almost pulling the trigger on a Sama Lusso, among others, I was lucky enough to come across a 95 La Pavoni Pro while vacationing in Vancouver, BC. The price, exchange rate, and condition were too much to pass up so she ended up coming home with me, much to my wife's chagrin. She did end up with a nice shopping trip so...

I wasn't convinced she was a 70's Pro, as I was told by the seller, and a quick visit to Francesco's site confirmed it. A peek at the base and I was somewhat relieved to have a pre-millennium. I am hoping that means brass and not Teflon? She powered up nicely and I couldn't resist at least trying to pull a shot with coarsely ground beans from my insufficient, cheap burr grinder. Shots are supposed to be watery and brown, right? Straight to the sink it went.

Before I can do much more I will need a quality grinder (more wife convincing), 49 mm tamper (pretty sure the seller gave me a 45 mm), and a lot of practice. I humbly apply for LMWDP.

Eric
LMWDP #517

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dominico
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Posts: 2006
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#1727: Post by dominico »

rittem1 wrote: I was lucky enough to come across a 95 La Pavoni Pro while vacationing in Vancouver, BC.
Congrats!
rittem1 wrote: A peek at the base and I was somewhat relieved to have a pre-millennium. I am hoping that means brass and not Teflon?
With a '95 its a gamble on whether its a brass or teflon piston, they started putting in teflon pistons around that time. No worries though, you can buy a replacement brass piston if you want. Personally, I would buy one and just wait until the next time you have to replace the seals to change it out (or if the teflon piston fails for any reason, whichever comes first).
rittem1 wrote: She powered up nicely and I couldn't resist at least trying to pull a shot with coarsely ground beans from my insufficient, cheap burr grinder. Shots are supposed to be watery and brown, right? Straight to the sink it went.
What burr grinder do you have? Is the problem that it can't grind fine enough? In the mean time with coarser grounds you could try updosing the hell out of the basket (pack it in until you almost can't even lock the portafilter). Even if you don't get good crema at least you should get something with good body. Temperature could also be an issue, too low or too high temp will give you something you described as well.
rittem1 wrote: I will need a quality grinder (more wife convincing)
Have you considered hand grinders? The Pharos or Lido 2 both pair well with your LP Pro and are way more cost effective than motorized grinders.
rittem1 wrote: I humbly apply for LMWDP.
Eric
Taking the plunge with a La Pavoni, you deserve it!
On the very first post on page one of this thread is a link you can click to get your LMWDP number.
https://bit.ly/3N1bhPR
Il caffè è un piacere, se non è buono che piacere è?

rittem1
Posts: 232
Joined: 10 years ago

#1728: Post by rittem1 »

Thanks Dominick!

Funny you should mention the Pharos. I had one for a few months but after multiple attempts at getting the burrs aligned (thanks USPS) I finally decided (still kicking myself) to sell it. I am seriously considering getting back to hand grinders with a Lido 2/3 or going the other way with a Vario.

I went with 14G in the basket with as fine a grind as my costco cuisinart grinder would go. It was a chore getting the portafilter seated into the grouphead. I will need to order some temp strips from OE. Boiler pressure settled in at about 1.0 Bar after relieving false pressure so I may need to adjust that as well.

A lot to do and a lot to learn. Since this is a roll call thread I will hold off on posting more here and wait until I have questions/concerns for the main thread.

thanks again for the warm welcome!
Eric
LMWDP #517

jtrops
Posts: 499
Joined: 9 years ago

#1729: Post by jtrops »

I started my coffee adventure usign a Vietnamese pourover, and condensed milk. That lead to a stainless moka pot, and eventually to a Cafe Simac vibe pump espresso machine. When that machine died, and I couldn't get any info on repair I used it as an excuse to get a La Pavoni Pro that I'd always wanted. As luck would have it the Gaggia Factory was being closed out at the time, and I ended up picking one up for a song. So, now it's been a few quiet years without the vibe, and I couldn't be happier with the coffee.

Huertecilla
Posts: 39
Joined: 9 years ago

#1730: Post by Huertecilla »

My appologies for a bit of a double post with roll call and showing the machine in the sister topic.

Being dutch I am a long time avid stiff coffee drinker.
Having in the late seventies/eighties been to my gf's family in Italy for summer holidays, got to know espresso relatvely early.
Having lived in the south of Andalucia for the past 15 years, espresso has become a pivotal aspect of my daily life.

I live in the mountainous heartland at 2500 ft in an old farm. As has been mentioned in another thread somewhere Spain is the forgotten espresso country. It is second only to Italy and has a thriving own manufacturing industry.
I live near a village with about 3000 inhabitants and it has about a dozen of bars with an espresso machine per 1000.
It is great fun to go down on my 1900 replica fixie and have a cuppa at the square.
Less fun to go up the mountain again but hey, a strong espresso grows hear on your chest :wink:

Bought a 1974 Europiccola totally refurbisched by Francesco Ceccareli for home use.
The grinder is a DeMoka GR203.
Water comes from a Brita model BigWan in the fridge.

Playing with a steam machine to make a proper espresso is a boy's dream for men :!:

Next on the list is to find a neat Arin to take along in my car and run it on an inverter.

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