I've had the Londinium Compressa for a little over two weeks and thought I'd share some experiences and reasons for buying it in case it helps anyone else who may be considering a similar purchase. Sorry for the length.

A primary goal for me was a machine I could service myself. I'm nearing 60 years old, with a tricky lower back, so I'd rather not need to lug a 70+ pound dual boiler or lever machine to a shipping company or repair center. As mentioned in the original post, I considered a Decent espresso machine for a while. The light weight and easily transportable nature of the Decent was certainly appealing. But, for reasons mentioned, ultimately decided on a lever.

What I found especially attractive about a Londinium, the Compressa in particular, was how simple and serviceable the machine is. There's not much to go wrong, and the most likely culprits are rather simple and straightforward to service. Apart from the group itself, there's a Gicar module, pressure stat, solenoid valve, anti-vac valve and safety valve. There's really not much more to it, and it has a roomy case to work in (see below). Also, a Londinium comes with lifetime support, and Reiss is well known for providing excellent assistance, even a willingness to have a video chat to help resolve an issue.



One point of uncertainty I had about the Compressa was with the ideal pre-infusion pressure for the roasts I use. Londinium machines are designed with modern roasts in mind, so they can run a little too hot for traditional dark roasts. Because of this, they offer a thermosiphon flow restrictor to lower the group temp for dark roast fans. A different option, for dark roasts, is to lower pre-infusion pressure to somewhere between 1.2 and 2 bar.

Because of the roasts I typically use, medium-dark, I decided to order the machine with a flow restrictor pre-installed, due to concern that my roasts might be just dark enough enough to require a lower pre-infusion pressure than my household line pressure supplies (the Compressa lacks the pump-based internally adjustable pre-infusion pressure found in the R24; it pre-infuses with line pressure). My home's water pressure is 3.25 bar, and I suspected it might be necessary to reduce the pressure to 2 bar or lower with the stock machine. The flow restrictor seemed a cheap and easy alternative to the possible need for a pressure regulator.

After pulling a lot of shots, I came to the conclusion that the flow restrictor was a mistake in my case. Most of the shots tasted good, but on several blends there was a slight sourness I simply couldn't get rid of, regardless of any grind, dose, or output ratio changes attempted. I finally decided that the temperature with the flow restrictor installed must be a little too low for my roasts. And, an earlier comment on this thread from Tom, aka CoffeeMac, lead me to believe my line pressure was probably going to be fine for my roasts even without the flow restrictor installed (Thanks Tom).

After visiting Home Depot to get a couple metric wrenches (24mm and 17mm) removing the flow restrictor (red arrow) was a pretty easy job.



On the very first re-dialed in shot without the restrictor that slight sourness I'd noticed before was gone and the espresso was noticeably richer, more chocolaty, and generally more delicious. Someday, I may add a pressure regulator for the ability to dial the pre-infusion pressure down to 2 bar if using a darker blend, but for now everything seems fine.

Two interesting and unexpected things happened when I removed the flow restrictor. First, and most dramatic, my original grind setting turned out to be way too fine and nearly choked the machine. This confused me until reading a couple articles on temperature and flow in espresso.

The first was from BeanScene Magazine: "How brew water temperature effects espresso extraction" https://www.beanscenemag.com.au/brew-w ... xtraction/

"In conclusion, the largest impact of brew water temperature is its effect on flow rate. Higher brew temperatures lead to a slower flow rate, which, in consequence, results in a more concentrated beverage."

And "Temperature's Hidden Effect" on Barista Hustle: https://www.baristahustle.com/blog/tem ... en-effect/

"In our most recent installment of the Advanced Espresso course, we discussed a surprising finding in the scientific literature: that increasing the brew temperature makes espresso shots run more slowly. We set out to test this for ourselves, and discovered that the truth is more subtle: it turns out that changing the temperature has a different effect on flow rate, depending on which part of the shot you are looking at ... This effect is bigger in fresher coffee and in a darker roast, which leads us to suspect that the effect is caused by dissolved gases in the coffee."

I found that pretty fascinating and worth mentioning. In my case, I am using very fresh beans, about one week post roast.

The second unexpected effect was that the pucks were suddenly much drier and easier to cleanly tap out. I'm using a 20g VST basket, and prior to switching out the flow restrictor my pucks had been a little soupy unless I gave them quite a bit of time (a few minutes) to press all the moisture out. My suspicion is that this is because I was grinding so fine for the cooler brew temps it was hard to squeeze out the remaining water. Anyway, that's also a nice change.

Overall I'm very happy with my purchase. Still much to learn, I suspect, but that part of the fun. Based on my experience, I'd support the advice to only consider a flow restrictor in a Londinium if exclusively pulling shots with very dark roasts.

A few of the topics discussed here have been front of mind for me lately. In no particular order I'll lay them out. I've owned a Londinium R for a number of years, and had a DE1.3 (a few of them actually) for over a year and sold it a while back.

First point - while the DE has a profile called "Londinium", it doesn't mean it actually mimics or reproduces the shot from a Londinium. In fact, I spent a long while trying to get the "Londinium" profile to match, or even get close to the shots I get from my LR. I never succeeded, despite a ton of tries and a ton of various settings changes. The theory is that the DE simply cannot supply water at the pressure/temp that a spring lever can at preinfusion. So that's the first point.

The second point is about how easy it is to work on a Londinium. There's very little to go wrong in the first place, and if something does go wrong (or just regular maintenance) its easy to get to it and easy to repair/replace. Reiss is very willing to jump on a video call and walk you through it if you're not comfortable with it as well.

In my case, I received my first DE and it lasted about 2 weeks before it failed. DE support is very good, but the problem wasn't something they could diagnose remotely, so I was asked to send the machine back and they replaced it with another new one. When the second one arrived the legs were all bent out of shape. That second one (after I swapped the legs out) lasted 6 months or so until the mixing chamber cracked and failed. After a LOT of going back and forth with support and a LOT of diagnosing, and finally sending the machine back yet again - the problem turned out to be one of the secondary circuit boards got some drips of water on it from the failed manifold and was in a partial failure state.

So at the end of the day I got the machine back, it was back in new condition and working as it should. At that point I sold it. It was just too much work to try to keep the machine working. All the above said, I realize I may be an anomaly - and I have a lot of respect for what DE has been able to accomplish, they've really pushed the envelope and are pushing the entire industry to get more serious, which is all good. The machine just wasn't for me.

Nice looking Compressa!
i just setup my new ECM Synch last weekend.
CoffeeMac was posting the benefits and his opinion of why levers are better as I was posting about my analysis paralysis. . Maybe I should have taken his advice

Thanks! Congrats on the ECM. I've used an E61 dual boiler for many years, they're great, you'll enjoy it. Maybe you'll try a lever next time around.

retireddude wrote:I've had the Londinium Compressa for a little over two weeks ...
Overall I'm very happy with my purchase.

I'm glad it is working out for you!

beanman wrote:Nice looking Compressa!
i just setup my new ECM Synch last weekend.
CoffeeMac was posting the benefits and his opinion of why levers are better as I was posting about my analysis paralysis. . Maybe I should have taken his advice :wink:

Don't stress too much; the journey is long and I'm sure you will get lots of enjoyment out of your ECM (I started with an ECM too). Learn a lot and get the most out of it you can. This will help you appreciate your future lever even more! :D

N6GQ wrote:A few of the topics discussed here have been front of mind for me lately. In no particular order I'll lay them out. I've owned a Londinium R for a number of years, and had a DE1.3 (a few of them actually) for over a year and sold it a while back.

First point - while the DE has a profile called "Londinium", it doesn't mean it actually mimics or reproduces the shot from a Londinium. In fact, I spent a long while trying to get the "Londinium" profile to match, or even get close to the shots I get from my LR. I never succeeded, despite a ton of tries and a ton of various settings changes. The theory is that the DE simply cannot supply water at the pressure/temp that a spring lever can at preinfusion. So that's the first point.

The second point is about how easy it is to work on a Londinium. There's very little to go wrong in the first place, and if something does go wrong (or just regular maintenance) its easy to get to it and easy to repair/replace. Reiss is very willing to jump on a video call and walk you through it if you're not comfortable with it as well.

In my case, I received my first DE and it lasted about 2 weeks before it failed. DE support is very good, but the problem wasn't something they could diagnose remotely, so I was asked to send the machine back and they replaced it with another new one. When the second one arrived the legs were all bent out of shape. That second one (after I swapped the legs out) lasted 6 months or so until the mixing chamber cracked and failed. After a LOT of going back and forth with support and a LOT of diagnosing, and finally sending the machine back yet again - the problem turned out to be one of the secondary circuit boards got some drips of water on it from the failed manifold and was in a partial failure state.

So at the end of the day I got the machine back, it was back in new condition and working as it should. At that point I sold it. It was just too much work to try to keep the machine working. All the above said, I realize I may be an anomaly - and I have a lot of respect for what DE has been able to accomplish, they've really pushed the envelope and are pushing the entire industry to get more serious, which is all good. The machine just wasn't for me.

Sorry to hear about your trouble with the Decent. I'm guessing that's a pretty unusual failure rate, although reliability is a concern I've had with them. They're very cool machines, probably perfect for some people and no doubt fun to play and experiment with, the techie in me is definitely intrigued, but when I started thinking about what I really wanted in my morning routine I realized the Decent was at the opposite end of the spectrum.

A couple years ago I bought a Cafelat Robot (which I've come to think of as a gateway drug to more expensive lever machines). There was something so unexpectedly satisfying about the simplicity, silence and direct involvement. And the espresso was excellent.

I worked in IT, and have a lifelong interest in technology, but after using the Robot the idea of interacting with tech to pull my morning shots started seeming much less appealing. There were several other reasons I decided against a DE, but that was a significant one.

By the way, you're one of several DE users I've seen make the point that the "Londinium profile" on the Decent doesn't match the real thing. The "water debit" theory makes sense. Maybe there are other factors too, but it certainly adds weight to the perspective that the best way to enjoy a lever profile is with a lever.