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Concerning technology, I just see an on/off button and a resistance, no display of any kind. Maybe someone as more information.*

For the force adjustment, what day meant was certainly that it is direct lever rather than a spring lever...

It seems that the new counter-top machine is very close to the wall-mounted ES3 (nice evolution since the first version, that was pretty much a redesigned Caravel).

*Edit: here it is...

«The ES3 features two 320 Watt heating elements integrated in the brew group for ultimate thermal conduction and heat build up. Cold water can be poured in the copper funnel on top, it will subsequently heat up. The red light indicates when it reached brew temperature. The temperature of the water is controlled by means of an adjustable thermostat working within a 4 degrees differential.»

Yes I was very impressed with this machine.
Made some shots on it during the Amsterda Coffee Festival.
The shots were (although grinded only with a Mazzer mini) quite tasty.
And I liked the lever action a lot.
Very smooth and great feedback.
I seemed to have more control over my pull compared to shots pulled with my pavoni and former cremina.
And no air packets and sponginess whatsoever.
Great machine and great craftmanship.
I would love to have one in my kitchen definitely...but then I have to sell my Dalla Corte mini first...
Maybe in the future. Near future?
We will see.

I asked Francesco and receive some more prices from 1961:


[1961 catalog from Francesco Ceccarelli, with his kind authorization]

25800 Lira for a Peppina -> 14.8GBP (1961) -> 465 USD (actualized)
45000 Lira for a Microcimbali -> 25.8GBP (1961) -> 810 USD (actualized)
4900 Lira for Faema baby -> 2.8GBP (1961) -> 90 USD (actualized)

pootoogoo wrote:I asked Francesco and receive some more prices from 1961:
25800 Lira for a Peppina -> 14.8GBP (1961) -> 465 USD (actualized)
45000 Lira for a Microcimbali -> 25.8GBP (1961) -> 810 USD (actualized)
4900 Lira for Faema baby -> 2.8GBP (1961) -> 90 USD (actualized)

This is extremely interesting - thanks!

It is a VERY attractive (to my eyes) espresso only machine. Part of the charm is not having a stream and water wand protruding.
Years ago, I recall a LOT of folks saying they wished someone was making up for the lack of Caravels out there.
Yes, this is more money, but the peace of mind in knowing ANY PART is immediately...well almost immediately replaced, not munged, adapted, gizmoed should appeal to many. I know it does to me.

But right now, I have storm damage, 2 kids in college, and the same myriad of issues many here deal with. So, perhaps SOMEDAY I can have this little beauty to make those lovely 15-19 gram shots.

Tom, or anyone, what is the PF size, 45mm? 49?
Thanks for posting this excellent photo.

Check out his site. I think I saw it in here somewhere.

http://strietman.net/ I think what I saw was the 50mm Tamper.

In a Post a long time ago there was a pretty good description of it, but this one is not as refined as this new one model.

Ever wonder how much a Caravel cost back in the 70s ?
Since this is the equivalent machine to the ES3, technologically speaking...
I may have the answer, thanks to Francesco again: he sent me a price without a date. The brochure says between 46900 and 35900 Lira.


[Image from Francesco Ceccarelli, with his kind authorization]

But if you look carefully at the strike-out price below it reads 38900 and 28900... this means 20% inflation (that certainly happened over one year to be modified on the same brochure). Such inflation rate did not happen before 1974 in Italy (24.5%)... I'm pretty sure that's the brochure date: it also correspond to the design (it's this or 1976 where Italy suffered 20.6% inflation).

This gives the listed prices to be between 370 and 480 actualized USD (for Caravel members club, subscribing to coffee delivery at home, and listed price respectively). Referring to 1976 will bring the price even lower (between 265 and 345 USD).

Did I say that this is really far away from 1600€ ?

This explains why there are so much Caravel out there. You can't easily find parts (well that's not completely true) but you can buy two 40 years later... are you so sure will you be able to find ES3 parts in the future ?

Here is the detailed description of the original version.

http://londiniumespresso.com/forum/stri ... page-4-dp1

Post #2272

As for the cost of it, well it is all relative as has been said before. A new car in the USA would have cost over $2,000 (I believe a VW Bug cost $1600 dollars) dollars so what does a new car cost in relationship to the modern style open boiler system?

I like the comments about the historical prices of other Italian lever machines, but please, start a separate thread about them. This thread is about the Strietman Countertop lever. Further posts off topic will be removed. Thanks.

I love the Strietman Countertop lever machine.
Marvelous piece of design encompassing all the spirit of modern espresso.