Buying a lever espresso machine for coffee shop - Page 2

November 11th, 2021, 9:17 am

MarvelousBiorr wrote:3rd wave espresso is much more heavily dependent on the grinder. Can you dial things in a bit more with more input control yes, but with a good enough grinder + burrs I am currently running some of the lightest coffee I have ever brewed on a Gaggia America from 1958 for a small pop-up coffee shop. That thing pushes out delicious berry and floral espresso with ease. That all being said the modern functionality of the Leva X is likely helpful for having several workers properly dial in that type of espresso. However, I run a Bosco one group at home and brew things from Saka level roasts up to greens passed gently over a candle flame and it handles all of it well. Using 98mm HU burrs or a Kafatek's SSW burrs allows for those to be pulled to a balanced shot in traditional ratios but the Bosco can actually pull up to 55g relatively easily so you can even push 1:3 shots if necessary.

TLDR; Any lever should be fine with the proper grinder for the shop + My vote is for the Bosco as I love what Roberta and the team are accomplishing.

Soo something like a ek43 with SSP Hu burrs will work well with Bosco for 3-rd wave and espresso?

November 11th, 2021, 9:51 am

If you're going to have a wide range of coffee selections I would say yes it will be more than sufficient. If you're going to trend on the more medium side of things the EK will be overkill, but those 98mm HU burrs are really versatile for espresso. You can get good stuff with fast and slower flow rates but the traditional spring lever works great with them. I will say make sure your water is a bit on the softer side, only problem I have had with HUs is if your water is Third Wave Water level hard it will produce more astringency. If its softer it will be really nice and work with lots of coffees.

November 11th, 2021, 12:59 pm

Have you looked at the Victoria Arduino White Eagle?

https://www.victoriaarduino.com/en/whi ... a-eng/#top

November 11th, 2021, 2:10 pm

Didn't even know that existed. Looks nice. Seems it has a sane technology as Athena, but modern looks to it.

November 12th, 2021, 3:38 am

MarvelousBiorr wrote:3rd wave espresso is much more heavily dependent on the grinder. Can you dial things in a bit more with more input control yes, but with a good enough grinder + burrs I am currently running some of the lightest coffee I have ever brewed on a Gaggia America from 1958 for a small pop-up coffee shop. That thing pushes out delicious berry and floral espresso with ease. That all being said the modern functionality of the Leva X is likely helpful for having several workers properly dial in that type of espresso. However, I run a Bosco one group at home and brew things from Saka level roasts up to greens passed gently over a candle flame and it handles all of it well. Using 98mm HU burrs or a Kafatek's SSW burrs allows for those to be pulled to a balanced shot in traditional ratios but the Bosco can actually pull up to 55g relatively easily so you can even push 1:3 shots if necessary.

TLDR; Any lever should be fine with the proper grinder for the shop + My vote is for the Bosco as I love what Roberta and the team are accomplishing.

If I go Bosco route, would you recommend installing PID for better control?

#16: Post by **def** » November 13th, 2021, 8:30 am

gavijal wrote: If I go Bosco route, would you recommend installing PID for better control?

I have a Bosco Sorrento single group with PID. I don't know if you get better control or need it, but there is no downside to having a PID. I only adjust mine twice a year by a couple degrees Fahrenheit depending on my room temperature. If you find that a cooler/hotter boiler pressure works better for a particular coffee roast, then the PID is there for you. If your room temperature stays the same throughout the year and you don't change roast, then the PID controls and displays the temperature of the boiler consistently all day long.

Good luck with your cafe.

#17: Post by **Ad-85** » November 13th, 2021, 8:55 am

ACS VOSTOK 3 groups direct from factory would be cheaper and gives you stable temperature controls too. Lagom p100 for light-medium straight espressos only, mahlkonig e80 supreme for fast grinding medium roasts and a niche zero for dark roasts (preferably modified David Schomer's style - hopper and timer)

November 13th, 2021, 9:36 am

gavijal wrote:Soo something like a ek43 with SSP Hu burrs will work well with Bosco for 3-rd wave and espresso?

You can just buy a new EK43s. The factory burrs are aligned now and produce excellent light roast espresso no need for SSP. Plus it will produce a sweeter pourover. It will be a bit of a mess to use it so just RDT and pre measure beans for espresso shots for the day in single dose containers.

Just one critical part of all of this, in most jurisdictions a machine must be NSF certified to pass a restaurant health inspection. I believe the La San Marco part of their line is. Ideally you would get a dual group unit you can service one group if needed while the other runs. The La San Marco it has the safety "Leva Class" slow rise lever mechanism if a baristas hand slips so they don't break their jaw.

November 13th, 2021, 10:49 am

Ad-85 wrote:ACS VOSTOK 3 groups direct from factory would be cheaper and gives you stable temperature controls too. Lagom p100 for light-medium straight espressos only, mahlkonig e80 supreme for fast grinding medium roasts and a niche zero for dark roasts (preferably modified David Schomer's style - hopper and timer)

I was thinking something like ek43s n with burrs for pourowers, maybe one more with HU for Light roast, and Robur S for darker. Also maybe Mythos 2 instead of one ek43. Im in EU, so I prefer equipment produced in a EU to avoid custom services.

November 13th, 2021, 10:50 am

def wrote:I have a Bosco Sorrento single group with PID. I don't know if you get better control or need it, but there is no downside to having a PID. I only adjust mine twice a year by a couple degrees Fahrenheit depending on my room temperature. If you find that a cooler/hotter boiler pressure works better for a particular coffee roast, then the PID is there for you. If your room temperature stays the same throughout the year and you don't change roast, then the PID controls and displays the temperature of the boiler consistently all day long.

Good luck with your cafe.

Yea. Was thinking that PID can't hurt. Ty!