# Londinium + lever machines + Costa Rican and Cuban



## michaelbenis (Apr 14, 2009)

I'm a lever nut. So when I found out that Londinium Espresso are now selling the famous Olympia Cremina in the UK, I thought I'd give them a shout.

Reiss from Londinium was foolish enough to pop over and demonstrate one, during which he time he narrowly avoided poisoning from a rather unsubtle Harrar I've been entertaining myself with.

Meeting him was great fun, he manages to be both outspoken and modest at the same time, and clearly has lots of experience. He's also totally bullshit-free. We played around with a range of lever machines from my toy cupboard and the very nice little Olympia grinder and of course the Cremina, with which I was very impressed. It fully deserves its reputation for build quality, pleasure of use and quality in the cup. A great machine. It will soon be giving my bank manager the jitters, and that's without him getting even a cup to drink.

What really surprised me were the beans Reiss brought with him. I tend to go for fruity Africans and the occasional Bolivian and a Malabar to chill out now and again. Reiss does things I did not expect I would like. Creamy Central Americans - and he's subtle with them, as far as I can tell roasting barely past second crack. In fact at first - although apprecaiting their finesse and balance, they didn't wow! me (more fool me for only being able to relate to Wows!). The exception was a Cuban that he has spent a long time getting hold of, which has some beautifully layered, rich flavours that came out nicely from both the Cremina and my own Elektra Microcasa a Leva.

The Costa Rican gradually and very strongly grew on me, though. It has an insidious, variegated seductive smoothness that keeps drawing you back to re-experience it and define what is going on. What initially seemed simply smooth revealed some exquisite delicate counterpoint. My wife, who though Italian simply humours my coffee as yet another antic of a madman, actually paused to compliment it and ask what it was. We were both hoooked. Not only is it a lovely bean, but the roast is perfect. Just right for this to come out. My compliments to Reiss.

I'll be exploring some more Londinium beans soon...

Very highly recommended.

I'm glad this forum helped get them on my radar.

Cheers

Mike


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

What a great writeup Mike.

We're glad to have been given the chance to sample some Londinium Roasted Coffee and was surprised by the clarity of the coffee provided.

Feel free to place any reviews in the beans section, I'm sure Reiss would be happy to see his name in lights more too.


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