Why so few lever espresso machines at coffee shops - Page 2

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Randy G.
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#11: Post by Randy G. »

I would assume that liability could also entered into it. A spring lever machine when not handled with due attention can cause severe injury. Pull down and release the lever when there is no coffee in the group of the portafilter is not tight and the lever can spring back with great force. Teeth have been lost. A manual lever machine is slow, but can also lead to repetitive stress injuries.

Beyond that, as has been mentioned, they both take a skilled barista that cares about the quality of the coffee and has the skill to adjust the grind and dose as the day wears on. The public just generally wants a half-caf, caramel latte with three pumps of pumpkin spice and two splenda packets.
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Lambretta58
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#12: Post by Lambretta58 »

Red Canoe coffee in the Hershey Pa area has a commercial spring lever. It was their only machine along with a Deidrich roaster, I think the lever was a La Pavoni Went there on a road trip with a couple of friends, just before covid hit, for other things and stopped for a coffee. We were surprised to see it.

That is the only lever I have ever seen in a coffee shop.

That experience convinced me to look for a commercial spring lever. I now have a early Faema Lambro I use daily and haven't looked back. I enjoy what it makes and the experience way more than the Bianca I was using.
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beanman
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#13: Post by beanman »

A small shop in the town where I work upgraded to a Profitec Pro 800 a couple years ago when a different machine became unserviceable.
He wanted a minimum maintenance machine, and being plumbed in, he said the pump doesn't even run.
The main part of his business is picture framing, and he has a simple coffee bar in the back. So taking a bit more time isn't a concern since its not a high demand business. And with no other employees, the safety factor noted above is minimal.
It does make nice shots, and is fun to watch.

mathof
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#14: Post by mathof »

In Naples, where Bosco is located, practically every coffee shop (at least, in my memory) uses multi-group lever machines. In Venice, where I go for a week or more nearly every year, lever machines are gradually creeping into use in local coffee bars. I'm not sure why, but when I have asked baristas whether they like using them, the answer has been negative. They're probably more trouble for a busy employee knocking out the daily drinks than a push-button pump machine.

Marcelnl
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#15: Post by Marcelnl »

I know a few shops with levers, and there is no apparant relation between quality in the cup and using a lever. I suspect quite a few shops buy one based on looks...
I while ago I saw a KvdW Lever in a shop and went in to order a doppio, the enamel on my teeth is still recovering...the coffee splattered out in approx 10 seconds, when I asked some questions and told them this was no good it was clear the 'barista' had no clue other than where to put the coffee in and how to operate the lever.

Naples, YESSSS, in one of the large hospitals there was (is?) a barista who must have seen the lever machine installed as a youngster, I estimate his age as 70-ish a couple of years ago.
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Oskuk
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#16: Post by Oskuk »

mathof wrote:In Naples, where Bosco is located, practically every coffee shop (at least, in my memory) uses multi-group lever machines. In Venice, where I go for a week or more nearly every year, lever machines are gradually creeping into use in local coffee bars. I'm not sure why, but when I have asked baristas whether they like using them, the answer has been negative. They're probably more trouble for a busy employee knocking out the daily drinks than a push-button pump machine.
I have noticed the poshbutton-machines are creeping in in Rome, but Naples really vast majority is lever-ones still.
On those blingbling-colourful busbuttoners, they seem to change on high rate. It seem that service is so difficult, time and money consuming that they alway change the whole machine. So the modern pc-gamelooks pay the high bill. If bar has lever, it is the same there was 10 years ago...
and yes, the lever-machine is much slower, you need a 4 group one for 2-group pump speed, but I guess this 4-goup one is still plenty cheaper to keep and buy...

But what goes to these dangers, I bet 87% all injures are burns with steam.

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dominico
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#17: Post by dominico »

Another thing to note: in Italy an espresso pull serve 2 customers, so 2 lever pulls make 4 shots.
Contrast this to the US where each customer is served a double, and its usually also a milk drink, the slower operating speed of a lever shot has more of an impact in the US than it does in Italy.
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IamOiman
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#18: Post by IamOiman »

Are doubles the norm in the US???
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yakster
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#19: Post by yakster »

Yes, doubles are the norm here in the US.
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mathof
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#20: Post by mathof replying to yakster »

They're not only the norm, they seem to use more coffee than Italian doubles: 18 or more grams in the basket, compared to 14 in Italy.

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