Relax! I don't think it's possible for milk to enter your boiler after only one attempt. And yeah, the creaking could very well be the spring seating.

For any Canadians out there:

My LI is currently sitting in Hamilton. Just got a call from a DHL employee there asking me to pay the taxes over the phone via credit card number so they could release my parcel to customs.
She said if it cleared customs okay I would deff have it delivered Monday. (Was a bit leery at first but she had my tracking number and other pertinents and I want the effing machine so I went along with it! If it was a phishing scam then they definitely did their research on me:)

So keeping in mind that there has been slight increases in shipping costs here is what my LI cost to get to my door in Halifax.

Standard LI, 110v tank and plumb in kit = $2441 CDN
HST (harmonized provincial and federal sales tax 15% in NS) = $332

Total of $2773.00
She said that there is no brokerage fee, or duties applied to espresso machines in Canada... "Just the applicable Canadian taxes based on the declared value"

Hope that info helps recruit another Canuck or two into the club:)

Cheers,
Pàdraig

Possepat wrote:She said that there is no brokerage fee, or duties applied to espresso machines in Canada... "Just the applicable Canadian taxes based on the declared value"

It would probably be a good idea for future customers to ask Londinium to specify the tariff code 8419.81.00.10 ("Machinery for making hot drinks") on the customs declaration, because "coffee makers" have a 9% duty rate. It isn't something I would want to leave to personal interpretation by a DHL customs agent. Can you please confirm this is what they used when your machine arrives?

Will do, Chris. I'll just have to remember before I go all Tasmanian Devil on the packaging:)

Bob_McBob wrote:It would probably be a good idea for future customers to ask Londinium to specify the tariff code 8419.81.00.10 ("Machinery for making hot drinks") on the customs declaration, because "coffee makers" have a 9% duty rate. It isn't something I would want to leave to personal interpretation by a DHL customs agent. Can you please confirm this is what they used when your machine arrives?

Chris, can you also clarify if that pertains only to inports to Canada or to all of North America?

And does using that tariff code reduce the duty rate a full 9%, or is there a "slightly lower" duty rate on machines using that code?

Thanks!

Based on my experience importing a new Microcasa from Italy a few years ago I'd say you can expect to pay a 4.5% duty plus a Customs fee ($50-$60) when bringing a new machine into the U.S.. This was using Fed Ex & I'd expect the same using UPS. If DHL hands off to the USPS for delivery you could get lucky as the Postal Service is very lax about collecting those same fees.

Thought I'd post quickly (LOTS more to come later).

I received my L1 early this morning, but didn't get to do more than unbox it and pull two doubles (one for a latte) before this evening. I spent a good amount of time (and beans) trying to dial in the grind and get a good shot that doesn't sneeze. I'd never used a lever before and the sensitivity to dose and grind is a whole new world (no 3-way escape hatch ). After I ran out of my non-stale beans, I got a reasonable starting point for dose weight and grind to iterate on. [I'm worried my scale is miscalibrated (off by ~2g), and it was already only 1g accurate.] Once I dropped the dose, sneezing died down.

Initial (unquantified) thoughts:
- Received 1400w 110v normal L1
- Easy to get going
- Shorter and slightly wider than my Cellini Evol; fits very nicely
- Solid build: no give while moving it around, no sharp edges, insides don't look like spaghetti, etc.
- Fast recovery; steams like a beast
- Pulling (literally!) _many_ shots this evening, while some were over/under extracted, none were burned or sour. Temperature stability is mind blowing so far (and without a probe).

Can't wait to buy a lot of beans and get it properly dialed in tomorrow. Let the journey begin!

Good to hear. I'll say this though, stale beans are basically only good for breaking in new burrs. I really can't wait to see more good quality HD home videos of different versions of this beast in use.

What dose did you settle on?

I found doses in the region of 14.8g to 15.8g worked best with all the beans I tried.

If you're getting a sneeze then you're disengaging the portafilter too early. I didn't get any sneezes when using the LONDINIUM I.

Good to hear you're up and running though. Enjoy!

I miss not having one on my bench

That doesn't sound right.I never heard a seal make a noise like that.Must be the springs that are rubbing(friction).I'd open that group if I were you and get to the bottom of it.