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What is this all about
If you really want good coffee, then you should go off and get one of those box-shaped espresso machines that rates well and makes an excellent cup every time.
If on the other hand you like shiny things, and the idea of having to fight the machine to make the perfect cup, then one of these could be for you.
This website is here to help owners of La Pavoni lever machines find the information they need to make good coffee. I've found lots of other websites with pieces of the puzzle (see the links page), and hopefully this will have some more.
So what's important at the moment?
It seems like every fortnight or so I decide another thing is the key to making good coffee in the La Pavoni. ( By 'good coffee' I mean a thick dark espresso that just fills a shot glass, has a dark, fluffy crema, is sweet (not sour or bitter) and is full of the subtlety of the orginal bean).
If you are having trouble getting a good crema out of your machine, then the first thing you should try is to get coffee that has been roasted less than one week before you use it, buy a burr grinder, and grind it as fine as you possibly can. Fresh coffee in the cheapest burr grinder will be better than any pre-ground coffee that you can buy.
Here's more detailed list of things you can try:
- A fine, even grind, tamped down hard. I'm currently working with 4 notches to the fine side of the arrow on the Mazzer Mini. If the puck of coffee isn't totally uniform, with no lumps or chunks, then the water will find a least path of resistance and flood through that, ignoring the flavour on the way. You can tell this has happened if the coffee comes through too quickly, or if the crema is light in colour.
- Good quality beans, freshly roasted and ground. In my ignorance I started with ground Lavazza and Illy. Don't make the same mistake. There's no flavour in old beans, and it's hard to imagine a way of removing the flavour more effectively than grinding them days (or months!) before you need them. The freshly roasted and ground beans have more moisture too, this helps create back pressure in the group, encouraging a better pull.
- Pre-infusion. When you are pulling the shot, raise the handle slowly to the upright position (too fast and you will disturb the grinds). You will hear and feel the water start flowing into the group when the handle is near the top. Leave the handle up and count to 10. This will let the water gently infuse the grinds, allowing them to expand and helps the water to flow more evenly through it when you bring the handle down. If you've got it right, then there will be no drips of coffee from the portafilter until you begin to bring the handle down.
- The right amount of coffee. This is a work in progress. I seem to get my best results with around 14.5g of coffee in the double basket. I would like to think that there's an ideal amount for the single as well, but it needs some more experimentation.
- Temperature. This is still a long way from being sorted. If the temperature is too low, then the taste may be sour, and if it is too high there will be a bitter/burnt taste. Higher temperatures also seem to need a finer grind. If you pull the equivalent of a single shot of water through the machine before you make one for drinking, then that will get the temperature up. You will have a few minutes to get 2 (possibly even 3) good shots out of it before the boiler gets the group too hot.
Created on 02/04/2003 10:24 AM by admin
Updated on 06/07/2006 10:45 AM by admin
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