Hey all,

I'm a long time lurker on the Lever forum and thought I'd chime in with my experience making espresso at home on a new Cremina. This is not so much a review on the Cremina (As I don't have anything to compare it to), as it is my impressions making espresso for the first time. I'll finish this post with a few questions for all of you who are much more adept at crafting home espresso than I am. My thoughts are fairly disorganized but perhaps this post will be helpful for others who have only brewed filter coffee and are wondering if they should venture into the world of espresso.

About Me

• I've been home brewing with a Kalita, a Moccamaster, and a Comandante for about 7 yrs
• I've been resistant to start the home espresso journey because I've historically enjoyed filter coffee much more then espresso. I've had a dozen or so straight espresso shots over the years at reputable third wave shops and have not enjoyed them. The taste was too powerful, or too acidic, or just too acrid. I liked the standard espresso shots ok during a trip to Italy, but it was nothing that I truly aspired to replicate at home.
• My wife has been desiring espresso based drinks at home for some time and had hinted at a Jura fully-auto machine for Christmas. As a home brewer who very much enjoys spending half an hour in the kitchen on the weekends playing with pour-over variables, I knew that something like a lever machine would be much more enjoyable to me.
• Going with the buy-once, cry-once mentality, I received a Weber Key grinder about six months ago, and then pulled the trigger on a new Olympia Cremina when I saw a small discount from Cerini on Cyber Monday.

Equipment:

• Olympia Cremina
• Weber Key
• Acaia Lunar
• Bottomless portafilter from creativewerk
• Wedge distributer and palm tamper from creativewerk
• Sworksdesign WDT tool

Impressions after my first few weeks of use:

• This is LOTS of fun! Not sure if it's just the novelty of a new brew method? Not sure if it's the multitude of new variables to tinker with? But I have found myself really relishing the time I spend in the morning on the weekends making espresso.
• Manually pulling the lever, while watching the liquid pool from the basket and then coalesce into a nice stream is just...XEN
• How did I pull several shots in a row in the exact same way and some channeled and some didn't? I have so much to learn!
• Did I mention how much fun a manual lever is?

Unexpected (to me) advantages of espresso vs. brewed coffee

• I burn though less coffee and water. My standard kalita recipe was 25g/400. I'd brew several times each morning, trying to dial in the extraction. Or I'd brew a half pot or full pot (for guests) on my moccamaster. I use a ZeroWater filter and Third Wave Water. With filter coffee, I felt like I was always making water and running through 12 oz bags of beans at a fairly quick rate. With espresso, I've been pulling 14g/28. The gallon of TWW I make lasts much longer and so do my bags of beans.
• I feel like espresso making is much more conducive to sampling several different types of beans in the morning. At any given time, I've got a darker roast and maybe a couple different single origins. It's easy to pull 3 or 4 shots and sample each one in the morning. It feels more arduous if I wanted to sample three different roasts by hand pouring them all.
• The coffee flavor notes are much more prominent with espresso then brewed coffee. I had a Honduran coffee from Coava that was *OK* for filter. There was a "pear" note that was elusive. I pulled it as espresso and wow. The flavor was intense, rich, and yep, there was that pear note. A shot really pulls out those flavors that are sometimes more subtle with brew.
• I now enjoy a wider range of roast levels. I find that I'm enjoying darker roasts in a way that I have not before. I've never really enjoyed counter cultures "46" very much as a filter brew for example. But it's quite good as espresso. Darker roasts pulled as espresso just sparkle in a way that they never do for me as filter coffee.
• My wife seems to be over the moon happy with the latte that I make her in the mornings. I use counter cultures 46, some oat milk and some maple syrup for her. Not ONCE has she brought up the cost of the machine since I've dialed in her latte : ) The milk steaming process and pour is actually kinda fun.
• The average house guest seems to really enjoy the milk drinks I make from the Cremina, more so than the filter brews that I used to make them. The lever machine is somewhat novel and is a great conversation piece.

Thoughts on the Cremina

• I absolutely love the small footprint. I didn't want a large machine sitting on the counter. My wife agrees that the size is perfect
• I love how quiet the machine is. With young kids in the home, the game is *quiet as possible in the morning* so I can have some time to myself before they wake. The only sound from the Cremina is the whisper from the boiler. The Weber Key is relatively quiet also.
• Temperature management is simple. Thanks to all the work already done on the forum, not least of which the Olympia Cremina Temperature Studies, I find temp management very simple. Turn on the machine for ten minutes then about 8 half-pumps later, the group head thermometer is 80C and I'm off and running. After a shot I soak the group head in a small tupperware container of cold water until my temp reads 70. By the time I've ground, tamped, and am ready to pull the next shot, the group head is back to idling at 80-85C. Very simple.
• The fit and finish is impeccable. For any curious like me, there is a small amount of horizontal and vertical play in the lever arm that is normal (I confirmed this with Johnny Cerini). I have no question that with proper maintenance I'll not need to purchase another machine ever.
• I like the smaller 49mm basket with the accompanying smaller shot volume. It's the perfect amount for how much coffee my wife drinks in the morning and the smaller volume is conducive to sampling two or three roasts in a session. Just a *little* less caffeine than a standard basket size
• I've not felt the need for the pressure piston gage modification. The espresso is tasting good, and I'm just trying to develop muscle memory for the pull. Perhaps a pressure piston gage will be down the line

Remaining questions. Warning: newbie questions

• Tamp pressure doesn't matter? Reading and learning about espresso, it seems like the general wisdom is that one should not be too fussy about the pressure used during tamping. However, I find that *lightly* tamping is a sure fire way to get channeling (I notice spraying from a portion of the basket during the pull, and flow is too quick). And then if I pull the exact same shot with the same parameters, except I tamp very firmly, then I get no channeling. Seems to me like this is an argument for: No, you can't tamp too hard, but YES, you can tamp too lightly?
• Consensus on pre-infusion parameters? The general wisdom seems to be: pre-infuse for 10 seconds then pull. I've read that some folks wait for a few drops then pull. Should seeing drops fall in the cup at around the ten second mark be a good way to judge my grind size? In other words, if I pre-infuse for 20 seconds and see no drops fall in the cup, then does this mean I've ground too fine? And conversely if I see drops in the cup after 2 seconds, then I've ground to course? Or does this not really matter, and I can just pull after 10 seconds or so regardless of drops?
• Does anyone know approximately what an in-the-cup flow rate should be for the Cremina? Using my Acaia scale, it seems like my mechanics are coming together well and the taste is generally good around 0.8g/s to maybe around 1.2g/s, while 2.0 g/s seems a bit fast. Does this seem in the ballpark for flow rate?
• One more question on flow rate. All parameters equal, it seems as though lighter roasts flow faster then darker. I'm sure this is related to fines production. Should I just accept that light roasts will flow faster? Or should I adjust my grind size so that the flow is roughly equal between light and dark roasts? Obviously, the ultimate guide is taste, but as I'm still refining my palate for espresso, it is nice to have some general guidelines
• Distribution tools? I like using the WDT followed by a wedge distributer then tamping. I like the nice flat bed the wedge produces. Elsewhere I've read that wedge distribution is unnecessary... just use WDT and tamp evenly. Does anyone else consistently use a wedge distributer for the Cremina puck prep?
• For those that simply pre-infuse and then pull (no Fellini), do you simply ramp the pressure up right away, or do you briefly pull at 2-3 bar to help pre-infuse the puck a little more, and then ramp up to your max pull pressure?

Finally, is it unusual that within several weeks I feel as though I'm making better espresso then I've had at reputable third wave shops? Must be some kind of bias related to the fact that I'm crafting the stuff myself at home right?

Thanks for reading the ramblings above!