Using the Olympia Cremina -- The Movie (Video)

[ladalet]

For our friends in China I am using YouTube to post this video since they cannot get GoogleVideo.

* I just want to identify an error I made in this video. I should have left the portafilter in the group until I was ready to dose. You really want to minimize the amount of time the portafilter is out of the group. Laying it on the tray, as I did in the video, allows it to cool unnecessarily .

[Javier]

Thanks for providing the video, Lance. That shot looked so yummy.

Javier

[chopinhauer]

Hi Lance,

Very enlightening video. I must say, that my procedure is not nearly as complex,multi-stepped or, dare I say, frenetic, as yours. I guess my approach in more minimalist at EVERY stage. I have one specific question. How much water do you go through per shot? Or put diferently how many shots can you get out of a boiler filled nearly to the top of the sight glass? (We are water misers down here in drought stricken Oz).

[ladalet (original poster)]

Hi Lance,

Very enlightening video. I must say, that my procedure is not nearly as complex,multi-stepped or, dare I say, frenetic, as yours. I guess my approach in more minimalist at EVERY stage. I have one specific question. How much water do you go through per shot? Or put diferently how many shots can you get out of a boiler filled nearly to the top of the sight glass? (We are water misers down here in drought stricken Oz).

I know that my steps seem a bit much, but they all have a purpose and yield results. I consistently get beautiful, crema rich, full 2oz double shots on a single pull with no broken pucks, channeling, or blonding (assuming correct grind and fresh beans). I have spent the last 2 years learning by trial and error to get to this point. I think it is worth the extra trouble. My only argument for my procedure is empirical--it works. It works for me that is. I am not at all suggesting that this is how everybody should do it. This is just one way that works that might give somebody just starting or that is struggling a place to begin and hopefully get some good results as they develop there own, possibly better, way.


I have pulled 6 doubles. I could have pulled more; however, the machine was getting hot. Shot 5 was passable, and shot 6 was good enough for a tall latte with vanilla syrup. There was still water left over, although I am not sure how much. With my current process I usually empty or nearly empty the boiler flushing it out at the end. So, I have not been able to determine how many shots it will do as I have to refill each use. I am now, however, curious. I would not be surprised if we get this answered soon.

Thanks for providing the video, Lance. That shot looked so yummy.

It was!


Best wishes,
Lance

[timo888]

(We are water misers down here in drought stricken Oz).

In a drought-stricken land (or not), instead of wasting water to warm the group and portafilter, one could use semi-pumps to circulate water to the group from the boiler, without any of it coming out through the shower screen, and then warm the portafilter with the steam wand.

Regards
Timo

[JB130]

This is great! I am totally new to levers and have been looking for something like this. There are plenty of how-to videos for pump machines, but this is the first I have found for the cremina.

Thanks for posting.

[TUS172]

Nice shot... but Wow... I don't thinnk I have ever 'yarded' on a lever machine that hard to get a decent shot. I mean you could see that you were torking the entire Cremina. With that amount of tork on the Europiccola I would think it would flip off the counter. One can produce some crema if enough hot water is forced through the puck at a high pressure. But like you said it is your technique and it seems to work. I would personally shoot for a less fine grind, adjust the amount of espresso in the filter basket or perhaps a lighter tamp and then go a bit easier on the machine to produce good crema. JMHO

[Cathi]

Hi Lance,

Great work. My e-bay cremina (75) just showed up yesterday and I haven't even had a chace to power it up. Your video was most timely and I'm sure will be very helpful. Not that I plan to actually drink what's produced until I've had a chance to see what it looks like internally, but at least I can verify that its not DOA.

Cathi

[ladalet (original poster)]

In a drought-stricken land (or not), instead of wasting water to warm the group and portafilter, one could use semi-pumps to circulate water to the group from the boiler, without any of it coming out through the shower screen, and then warm the portafilter with the steam wand.

Regards
Timo

Actually, I only used semi-pumps to heat the group and 2oz of water to heat the cup. It was at the end when I was flushing the coffee grounds out of the group that I wasted all of the water.

Nice shot... but Wow... I don't think I have ever 'yarded' on a lever machine that hard to get a decent shot. I mean you could see that you were torking the entire Cremina. With that amount of tork on the Europiccola I would think it would flip off the counter. One can produce some crema if enough hot water is forced through the puck at a high pressure. But like you said it is your technique and it seems to work. I would personally shoot for a less fine grind, adjust the amount of espresso in the filter basket or perhaps a lighter tamp and then go a bit easier on the machine to produce good crema. JMHO

Everyone that watches me pull a shot thinks that I am pulling really hard, "yarding." Actually I am not. I am just trying really hard to maintain consistent pressure throughout the stroke. I am running a slightly coarse grind with a slightly heavy tamp--40#. I have found that if you vary the amount of pressure you put to the lever too much or too abruptly you get early blonding.

[TUS172]

Gottcha... I have noted the difference between the Pavonis and the Creminas... It is a different pull. For some reason the Pavonis are an easier pull for me even though the baskets I use are the same (A Leva baskets) as the Creminas. Go figure...