Wondering how to use a La Pavoni lever machine? You’re not alone! This is a common question among baristas who are eager to master this unique machine. La Pavoni lever-operated machines are renowned for their sensitivity, meaning that even the smallest misstep can have a noticeable impact on your cup of coffee. While your initial attempts with a La Pavoni might not produce the perfect brew, it’s important to stay positive. With time and practice, you’ll be able to hone your technique, ensuring a delicious cup of coffee every time.
Key Ingredients for Brewing the Perfect Cup of Coffee
Exploring Water Quality
May I suggest using bottled or filtered water for your coffee? It’s a simple change that can significantly enhance the taste of your beverages. Plus, filtered water contains less limescale than unfiltered tap water, which means your coffee-making equipment will last longer. Interested in learning more? Check out my Brita glass carafe review.
Savor the Aroma of Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans
Selecting the right coffee beans can significantly enhance the quality of your brew. I would suggest purchasing your beans from a local roaster instead of a supermarket. Coffee sourced from a local roaster tends to be fresher and benefits from a slow roasting process, unlike the quick-fire method employed in industrial settings. Plus, it’s much simpler to trace the origin of your beans when you buy locally.
Discover the Perfect Coffee Grinder
When it comes to using a La Pavoni machine, or indeed any semi-professional or professional machine, the importance of using freshly ground coffee cannot be overstated. Pre-ground coffee bought from the store simply won’t do justice to a La Pavoni. Therefore, the first crucial step is to invest in a top-notch coffee grinder. You’re presented with two options: an electric grinder or a hand grinder.
Exploring the Electric Mill
When it comes to electric grinders for espresso, the variety is indeed vast. While it’s not the primary topic of this article, it’s worth noting that there are two main types of grinders available for your consideration:
- Flat grinding wheels
- Conical grinding wheels
Exploring the Hand Mill
Almost every hand mill you’ll come across is fitted with conical grinding wheels, with only a few exceptions. When it comes to espresso, choosing a grinder with a small wheel isn’t the best idea. Why? Because it would significantly lengthen the grinding time. So, what’s the ideal size? A grindstone that’s at least 47 mm.
Perfecting your espresso requires fine-tuning. Hand grinders offer three potential setting positions for you to explore:
- Bottom adjustment knob: Located at the grinding wheel, it has a limited adjustment range. For espresso, the ideal setting is often between two notches. Examples: El Comandante C40 and Timemore Chestnut X. However, I don’t recommend them specifically for espresso, as they are better suited to mild extraction methods.
- Middle adjustment wheel: Positioned on the body of the grinder, it presents the same problem as bottom-adjustment grinders for espresso. The ideal setting is often between two notches.
- Top-mountedsetting wheel: This is the optimum option for espresso, offering a very wide setting range. Several brands offer grinders with these features, at different prices. Among the main ones are the Kingrinder K4 and K6, and the 1Zpresso. However, I wouldn’t recommend the Timemore S3 for espresso.
The Art of Weighing Coffee: Your Secret to Consistently Perfect Espresso
Accurately weighing your coffee is the secret to a perfect espresso. But don’t worry: while it’s a crucial tool, scales are available across a wide range of prices. The key requirement is to select a scale that offers an accuracy of at least 0.1g, as this will be our margin of error when measuring the coffee.
- For small budgets, the easiest way is to go for small jeweller’s scales, the first prices are around 10€ and we can find them on Amazon.
- For a slightly higher budget, we recommend scales with a timer. This timer will help you measure your espresso extraction time / V60 / AeroPress infusion time.
- For even bigger budgets, there are scales with timers and modes. For example, automatic triggering of the timer at the start of extraction (when the first drops fall into the cups), or auto-tare etc…
Uncover the Hidden Gems of La Pavoni in Levier
Enhance Your La Pavoni Experience with Adequate Preheating
Warming up your La Pavoni (or any coffee machine for that matter) is absolutely vital. While it’s true that La Pavoni necessitates a pre-heat, it’s equally important to warm up all the components involved in brewing the espresso: the machine itself, the filter holder, and the cup. The temperature of the water plays a pivotal role in the coffee extraction process. If any of the required elements are cold, it could impact the temperature of both the water and the coffee, altering the taste. For instance, even if the machine and filter holder are adequately heated, brewing coffee into a cold cup could significantly affect its flavor.
When it’s time to warm up my La Pavoni, I make sure to switch it on a good 15 minutes before I plan to brew my coffee. This ensures it’s at the perfect temperature for a delicious cup!
Let’s Discuss Two Scenarios Involving the Filter Holder:
- With nozzles: Preheating is essential.
- Bottomless : Preheating is not mandatory.
For an optimal coffee experience, it’s essential to preheat your filter holder. Simply attach it to your machine as it warms up. The heat conduction will naturally raise the temperature of your filter holder. To finish off the preheating process, allow a small amount of water to flow through the filter holder towards the end. This ensures it’s perfectly heated and ready for your delicious brew.
Let’s get your cup nice and toasty! To do this, simply run hot water through your La Pavoni machine. This not only warms up your cup but also completes the preheating process for the entire machine. It ensures that the piston, which typically takes a bit longer to heat up, the filter holder, and of course, your cup, are all perfectly preheated and ready to go.
Discover the Perfect Grind for Your Coffee
With the elements now nicely preheated, it’s time to dive into the delightful process of preparing the coffee. Start by measuring the coffee, gently moisten it to prevent clumping, shape it, and then nestle it into the filter holder. Don’t worry, we’ll guide you through each step with care and precision.
Let’s start with measuring your coffee. Personally, I find that 16g of coffee hits the sweet spot for my espressos. However, feel free to experiment and bump it up to 18g if you prefer a stronger brew. The key here is the water-to-coffee ratio, a topic I’ll delve into in an upcoming article. Experiment a bit to discover the perfect balance of coffee and water for your taste. Just remember, if you’re using your machine’s double filter, you’ll need a minimum of 14g of coffee.
For the perfect coffee grind, an espresso grinder is essential. The images showcase the Bplus Apollo coffee grinder, a fantastic choice for this task.
Combat Channeling for a Superior Espresso Experience
Understanding channeling in espresso is a key aspect for any coffee enthusiast or expert. This phenomenon happens when hot water doesn’t flow evenly through the coffee grounds, instead creating specific pathways through the grounds. This can lead to an uneven extraction, resulting in a less than perfect cup of coffee with inconsistent flavors and aromas. To brew the perfect espresso, mastering the methods to prevent and reduce channeling is vital. This ensures a consistent extraction and a truly enjoyable tasting experience. However, this topic won’t be discussed in depth in this article. Instead, I encourage you to check out my other article which is specifically dedicated to the subject of channeling in espresso.
Prevent channeling by adhering to two crucial suggestions: purchase or create your own WDT and ensure you tamp evenly. These two factors are the primary culprits behind channeling in espresso.
Let’s start by pouring the ground coffee into the filter nestled in the La Pavoni‘s filter holder. In this particular illustration, I’m utilizing a bottomless filter holder. Given that the filter of a La Pavoni Europiccola has a diameter of 51 mm, I would suggest using a compact funnel to ensure a neat and tidy process, keeping coffee spills at bay.
Let’s pay close attention to this step, it’s crucial! It helps us avoid channeling. What I do is, I gently break up any clumps and distribute the coffee uniformly across the filter with the help of a WDT.
Let’s take a look at the comparison, both before and after the implementation of the WDT.
Next up, I get to work with a tamper. I personally prefer to use a tamper that comes with a guide, as it assists me in packing the coffee evenly and straight. Here’s a friendly tip for you: Opt for a tamper with a diameter of 51.5 mm. This little trick helps to prevent any coffee residue from lingering around the filter.
At last, I introduce a puck screen to the tightly packed coffee. This puck screen serves multiple purposes: it minimizes channeling and prevents the coffee machine’s spray head from getting clogged with coffee grounds. While it’s not mandatory, I personally consider this accessory to be absolutely essential.
Mastering the Art of Pouring Espresso with a La Pavoni
When using a La Pavoni, you’ll find that it employs a piston. This piston needs to be lifted with the lever to fill the piston’s chamber with water before you begin the extraction process. To avoid creating a vacuum that could potentially break the coffee cake, I find it best to lift the lever about three-quarters of the way before securing the filter holder. However, if you prefer to attach the filter holder prior to lifting the lever, make sure to release the lever with a gentle touch. Failing to do so could result in a vacuum effect that breaks the coffee wafer and leads to channeling.
Next up, I secure the filter holder to the machine and complete the action of lifting the lever to fill the piston chamber with water. After a brief pause, I apply a slight pressure on the lever (just a tad more than the weight of my hand) to initiate the pre-infusion process. This pre-infusion stage lasts for a brief moment (around 5 to 7 seconds) and I halt it once a few droplets of coffee have trickled into the cup. By doing so, the coffee puck becomes thoroughly saturated with water.
Once the pre-infusion stage has been successfully completed, I delicately lift the lever to replenish the water within the lever chamber. Following this, I initiate the extraction process.
When it comes to extracting the perfect cup of coffee, achieving a pressure of 9 bar is key. I personally use my trusty pressure gauge to measure the pressure within the piston chamber. If you don’t happen to have a gauge at your disposal, don’t worry! You can still achieve the desired pressure. Simply apply a similar amount of pressure as you would when tamping coffee. To give you a rough idea, you’re looking at exerting about 12 kg on the lever to reach that golden 9 bar of pressure.
Feel free to adjust the quantity of water to achieve the desired ratio. Opt for an extraction time that falls between 25 and 30 seconds. If you find your extraction process is either too swift or too sluggish, it might be necessary to tweak the amount of coffee or opt for a finer grind (remember, it’s best to alter one setting at a time).
And voila! Here’s the outcome you’ve been waiting for.
Heads Up: It’s crucial not to rush into removing the filter holder right away, as it’s currently under pressure. Please, give it a moment to let the pressure decrease. And don’t forget, always turn off your machine when you’re done.
Tackling Common Issues During Espresso Extraction
| Problem | Possible solutions |
|---|---|
| Lever lowers without resistance | Coffee grind too thick: grind finer Coffee quantity too low: increase coffee quantity Coffee not freshly roasted and/or ground: replace coffee |
| Lever locked at top and difficult to lower | Coffee ground too fine: grind coarser Coffee quantity too large: reduce coffee quantity |
| Acid coffee | Insufficient water temperature: check that the water is hot enough. |
| Not enough water in the cup | Gently lift lever a second time to increase water quantity |
| Coffee flows unevenly / splashes | Channeling problem: read the following article |
| Coffee with a burnt taste | Water temperature too high: let the machine cool down if it is switched on for too long or used for several coffees in a row. |
Wrapping Things Up
I trust that I’ve been successful in guiding you to become proficient with your La Pavoni. It may take a few attempts, but rest assured, you’ll soon get the hang of this occasionally temperamental machine. Despite its quirks, it’s an exceptional piece of equipment: remarkably easy to maintain, incredibly robust, resilient to wear and tear, and truly aesthetically pleasing.
If you’re intrigued by this topic, you might find this article particularly useful: The Maintenance Guide for a La Pavoni. It provides detailed instructions on changing seals, greasing the piston, and more.
Don’t hesitate to drop your questions, share extra insights, or simply express your thoughts on the article (which indeed took a lot of effort) in the comments section below. I’m eagerly looking forward to reading and responding to your messages.
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