Europiccola (v2.5)

That’s really similar to my seconds setup. I’ve purchased second hand both a 1991 La Pavoni and a Profitec Pro 600. Both looked and worked almost new when I bought them except needing a bit of lubricant and a bit of wear on the on the Profitec’s drip tray. It pays to be patient!

I use my 600 just about everyday. I’ve got it on a smart switch so that it is warmed up in advance; so on workday mornings, it’s just easy to get a great no milk espresso out, especially if the beans are at least light medium roast. I use the La Pavoni occasionally on weekends when I want to work for it:) From most reports, it doesn’t sound like the Olympia Cremina offers a great deal more than the La Pavoni, but I guess in espresso it’s all about increments. I’m hoping that the Meticulous becomes a viable mass commercial product, at which point I may buy new! But I’m not holding my breath on that because my current setup works so well. The other option is to go the other way and get a Cafelat robot.

Most traditional coffee machines in that price are going to easily last 10 years with reasonable maintenance. Even much cheaper ones will last 10 years easily. My old gaggia classic which I just sold lasted me 13 years. It still worked like new and just needed some regular very easy maintenance. I’ve got a 1991 La pavoni that works perfectly. I went to the La Marzocco show room and after testing the Micra out, decided that the micra wasn’t for me. The coffee output was good, but was only comparable to any other PID pump machine, but has no lever like pressure control through the duration of the shot. I can live without lever like pressure control, but the cup clearance and non-adjustable OPV valve is a non starter for me at that price. You actually can adjust the OPV but it’s inconvenient and the sale rep told me it voids the warranty. Something g the the ECM synchronika 2 is cheaper as maybe has a better balance of features, offset by slightly longer heat up time.

Pre mil La Pavoni europicolla, they’re practically bulletproof and there’s plenty of aftermarket upgrade to satisfy the upgrade urge.

lol this thing always getting hate on here. I preordered mine as soon as I saw it mostly because of how great the Aiden has been for us. My first espresso machine was a vintage dual switch La Pavoni Europiccola. Bought it on eBay in 2018. It’s the only espresso machine I’ve ever owned. I learned how to make espresso with it. I’ve always wanted a fancy newer machine to go next to it but it’s just always worked fine and I didn’t wanna spend the money. It should be noted my wife flat out refuses to use it lol. I never had any kind of coffee machine. I just made pour overs, French press, siphon, etc. When the Aiden was first announced I did some research and I took a chance. I was really impressed watching the devs talk about how it actually worked. I read all the same garbage on Reddit about build quality or whatever from Fellow. Not only do I use it daily but my wife does too. We both love the thing. And we have never had a single problem w it after over a year now of daily use. I mean I’m not discounting the people who have problems but like, who goes on the internet and touts about how the product they bought works as expected? lol. Maybe I’m wrong for that. I thought because of how much she also loves the Aiden, maybe my wife would use the espresso series 1 machine too so I figured it was time to add it to the mix. So I’ll just be enjoying my vintage lever machine until whenever the series 1 finally makes it here. But I mean everyone’s situation is different. That’s just my story w the fellow machines. I haven’t used their grinders so I can’t speak for those either.

La Pavoni Europiccola. Currently it's in storage and broken due to a rust issue ( I have to replace the boiler at some point) , but it was a fun machine to learn on, the lever action really informed my understanding of pressure. Now my current machine has a PID and is much less susceptible to wild temperature swings, and as a result is more consistent at making better coffee.

La pavoni europicola (used)

Not all of those things are true for all lever machines, only for the ones with no boiler... I got our first-born a La Pavoni Europiccola when they moved out and they are very happy with it. A certain amount of practice on my Elektra was of course a pre-cursor to that.

When I got mine, the foot was brown but started rusting around the boiler, so I replaced the whole foot and upgraded the electrics at the same time. Nice thing is that the electrics are very easy to get parts for and replace yourself, even if you're not an engineer.