Smithy,

I haven't tried the Merlo, but have tried Euroespresso's coffee - and like it very much.

If you want to cut some bitterness, stop your shot after about 15 seconds (ristretto). You will get the sweetest part of the coffee extraction, with little or no bitterness. Experiment between 15 and 25 seconds and see how it differs...

cheers

2sheds

Hi 2sheds,

So this is the trick for more sweetness! When you say "stop your shot", what does it really mean?

Oh on this subject, some experts told me to count to 20 before pulling the handle, so I guess this is about 15 to 20 seconds. My last 10 -15 attempts have been around 15-25 seconds, just my guess, the crema came our rather watery, could be thicker, I thought.

Hi 2sheds,

So this is the trick for more sweetness! When you say "stop your shot", what does it really mean?

Oh on this subject, some experts told me to count to 20 before pulling the handle, so I guess this is about 15 to 20 seconds. My last 10 -15 attempts have been around 15-25 seconds, just my guess, the crema came our rather watery, could be thicker, I thought.

Ristretto means restricted pull. The first water to pass through your coffee brings out the essential oil which give the flavour and crema. The more liquid which passes through the more watery and bitter the liquid becomes. With the La Pavoni, when you lift the lever you will feel the pressure and resistance build as the steam and water enter the chamber. When you feel that resistance, slowly bring down the lever. Try to time it to 15 to 25 seconds before the lever is fully down (and the 'pull' is complete). On a longer pull. notice how the liquid changes colour towards the end (clearer, more watery)

Crema can be effected by the origin of the bean, freshness, tamping and grind size. If the bean is right, the crema will usually come. I suspect that you will struggle to get great crema from coffee which has been ground days or weeks before. The coffee may still taste good. There is an excellent article on crema at CoffeeGeek

cheers

2sheds

Hi 2 sheds,

Really appreciate your explanation, things are getting clearer and making more sense to me now. Thank you and let me make you a cup of Chinese tea when I see you next.

Hi 2 sheds,

Really appreciate your explanation, things are getting clearer and making more sense to me now. Thank you and let me make you a cup of Chinese tea when I see you next.

JCR,

The great aspect of the La Pavoni, is that you will learn a lot more about making coffee, than if you had purchased a fully auto machine. Trust me, it may be disheartening to not pull the perfect shot straight away, but it will come. And you will feel all the better for the journey.

And, I won't say no to a good cup of cha. This gwei lo has a taste for a nice Ti Kuan Yin or even a Keemun or Lapsong Souchong..

cheers

2sheds

JCR,

The great aspect of the La Pavoni, is that you will learn a lot more about making coffee, than if you had purchased a fully auto machine. Trust me, it may be disheartening to not pull the perfect shot straight away, but it will come. And you will feel all the better for the journey.

And, I won't say no to a good cup of cha. This gwei lo has a taste for a nice Ti Kuan Yin or even a Keemun or Lapsong Souchong..

cheers

2sheds

Wow, you seem to know your tea too, I know the TKY but the other 2 are new to me...

Where are you? VIC?

Im pretty sure Lapsong Souchong is made from smoked camel dung....but I do like it myself.

I ordered 4 types to try, 200g each of Riviera, Arriba, Expresso and Private. Only tried the Arriba. Quite strong and little bitter for me, but it was my first cup and might need adjustment in amount to taste.

Of these my fave is the Private blend. I find the Arriba a little bitter as I think youve mentioned later on in the thread. Expresso is good, and Riviera I nevr had much but I think it may have been a little tame for my liking.

Does their mail order coffee seem very fresh to you? Now Im in Gladstone I miss the Merlo and might get some myself.

Cheers,

Jake

Of these my fave is the Private blend. I find the Arriba a little bitter as I think youve mentioned later on in the thread. Expresso is good, and Riviera I nevr had much but I think it may have been a little tame for my liking.

Does their mail order coffee seem very fresh to you? Now Im in Gladstone I miss the Merlo and might get some myself.

Cheers,

Jake

Hi Jake,

You are spot on with the description of each blend.

The whole kitchen is filled with coffee aroma the moment I open the can lid. They are really fresh.

Im pretty sure Lapsong Souchong is made from smoked camel dung....but I do like it myself.

Select aged Afghani camel dung....if you don't mind, Jake

cheers

2sheds

Wow, you seem to know your tea too, I know the TKY but the other 2 are new to me...

Where are you? VIC?

JCR,

A little town called Sydney Inner city - Chippendale, to be exact.

Know my tea? Maybe, maybe not. But I do enjoy tea (as well as coffee) and at one stage worked my way through the entire Twinings range, where I acquired quite a taste for Keemun (Russian Caravan, Prince of Wales, etc) and Lapsang Souchong (and it's smell of cigars ).

It has taken me quite some time to train all the waitresses at my local yum cha restaurant to stop bringing me the jasmine tea and fried dumplings which they figure all us gweilo prefer.

cheers

2sheds

Geez JCR, that was a quantum leap from the request in your original post:eek: The pictured machine is a thing of beauty, full marks, please keep us informed as to you progress as an amateur barrista, I hear lever machines take a little coming to terms with but once mastered the results are fantastic.

And do yourself a favour, invest in a decent grinder soon, I assume you already have a good quality tamper?

Jon.

Hi guys,

After 2 weeks of waiting, finally I received my tamper today. Quite a piece of metal and wood.

Will need to polish my elbow skills on those Pavoni before I go out to get a grinder.

Wow,I'm impressed, as I said before you can get the job done with a plastic thingo but using something like this is an absolute pleasure (it's a tactile thing) use and enjoy.

Cheers,

Jon.

Hi guys,

After 2 weeks of waiting, finally I received my tamper today. Quite a piece of metal and wood.

Will need to polish my elbow skills on those Pavoni before I go out to get a grinder.

Another fortnight went pass since I got my "proper" tamper. My first few attempts with the new tamper was embarrassing to say the least. It was either too bitter or too weak.

After a few failures, I tried with less coffee and tamper down with the right amount of pressure, the coffee is now more "respectable" with nice crema.

Now, I am ready to get the grinder, any suggestions from experts here?

The reason I want to wait until I know what I can do without the grinder, that way, I can judge the improvement before and after.

Thanks in advance!

buy the best grinder you can afford - next to the beans it's the most important link in the chain to make good coffee. Everyone focuses on the coffee machine but getting a uniform grind without burning the beans in the process is most important. make sure that you get a conical burr grinder, and buy it from someone who will adjust it for you as IMHO grinders usually come badly setup out of the box. SunBeam make a pretty good entry model grinder, and after that the sky is the limit on cost.

The other issue to consider is doserless v dosed grinder. I think that unless you are making coffee all day, you will waste an awful lot of coffee filling the chambers of a dosed grinder and you are better going doserless.

Check this link http://www.foodwinecoffee.com.au/forums/showthread.php?t=436 in particular the links to reviews.

I've had a Rocky with doser for years, I like the doser, it's very convenient and mycoffee waste is nil, good grinder with conical steel burrs in a brass carrier.

The Mazzer has a great reputation, if cost is not an issue perhaps that would be the way to go.

Cheers,

Jon.

Another fortnight went pass since I got my "proper" tamper. My first few attempts with the new tamper was embarrassing to say the least. It was either too bitter or too weak.

After a few failures, I tried with less coffee and tamper down with the right amount of pressure, the coffee is now more "respectable" with nice crema.

Now, I am ready to get the grinder, any suggestions from experts here?

The reason I want to wait until I know what I can do without the grinder, that way, I can judge the improvement before and after.

Thanks in advance!

Gooday JCR'

Glad to see you are having success with the machine.

I use an el cheapo Sunbeam EMO430 and I have to double grind which is a PITA

Don't know about the better models though.

My mate uses the La Pavoni grinder with his.

I am a bit dissapointed in your choice of tamper - I would have expected you to go for the Shun Mook tamper for $50,000

Just Kidding....

Gooday JCR'

Glad to see you are having success with the machine.

I use an el cheapo Sunbeam EMO430 and I have to double grind which is a PITA

Don't know about the better models though.

My mate uses the La Pavoni grinder with his.

I am a bit dissapointed in your choice of tamper - I would have expected you to go for the Shun Mook tamper for $50,000

Shun Mook tamper? I should have asked Pullman if it is available, I am sure the midrange of the coffee will be just sweet and linger a bit longer in the mouth...

How about this grinder, I guess it should work with my machine...

I use a Rancillio Rocky doserless grinder. It is probably the starting point of a decent grinder. I have heard that the Sunbeams are ok but you will soon outgrow it. I am happy with my choice of grinder but i can already (after 6 months use) see why people would want to upgrade to something a bit better. Next step up would be in the $700+ range of Compak or a bit more for a Mazzer mini. From what I have read these grinders are faster, allow more grind settings and are probably more consistant with the grind. At work we have a Mazzer Mini Electric and it's a very capable grinder.

So depending on your budget I think the $1000 price range is at the sweet spot of diminishing returns for home use.

I use a Rancillio Rocky doserless grinder. It is probably the starting point of a decent grinder. I have heard that the Sunbeams are ok but you will soon outgrow it. I am happy with my choice of grinder but i can already (after 6 months use) see why people would want to upgrade to something a bit better. Next step up would be in the $700+ range of Compak or a bit more for a Mazzer mini. From what I have read these grinders are faster, allow more grind settings and are probably more consistant with the grind. At work we have a Mazzer Mini Electric and it's a very capable grinder.

So depending on your budget I think the $1000 price range is at the sweet spot of diminishing returns for home use.

Hi Mr. Gadget,

Thanks for the advice. I will have a loook at those names you mentioned and compare the Mazzer to Pavoni.

I was browsing the net and saw this...

Nice machine, Smithy. I'll see your La Pavoni, and raise you a Gaggia and a Faema.....

The La San Marco Lollobrigida (1955). It was named after the famous Italian actress which had the same enticing curves as the machine...

A really rare La Pavoni Concorso (1956) also called the "diamante" because of its design. The modular construction allowed to create models in different sizes by using the same case elements. There was no portafilter on that machine.

The first lever machine on the market was the Gaggia Classica (1948)

Similar in the design is the Faema Mercurio

Some beautiful looking designs....

cheers

2sheds

We've been using this little fella for the last couple of years....works a treat.

It's certainly affordable enough (RRP is $169) for a helical grinder and I have no complaints about the consistency of the grind.......

We've been using this little fella for the last couple of years....works a treat.

It's certainly affordable enough (RRP is $169) for a helical grinder and I have no complaints about the consistency of the grind.......

Does a fine job too, I believe. Reports I have seen say there is little to touch it in that price range.

cheers

2sheds

....there is little to touch it in that price range.

Sigh........damned with faint praise.......story of my life.

Andything? Where's your stylus?

Hope the La San Marco Lollobrigida was a better performer than La Lollo 2sheds:D she was certainly a looker but pretty light on in the acting department, did ok though, made a heap of movies.

Jon.

Nice machine, Smithy. I'll see your La Pavoni, and raise you a Gaggia and a Faema.....

The La San Marco Lollobrigida (1955). It was named after the famous Italian actress which had the same enticing curves as the machine...

cheers

2sheds