# La pavoni europiccola



## gdavie978 (Oct 17, 2016)

Hi everyone. Just joined after buying my first machine. Trying to get to grips with it so looking for any help to try and create a great shot.

Couple of questions firstly. What size tamper do I need? And also. If using pre-ground coffee, i.e. Taylor's. will this grind be fine enough ?

Thanks in advance


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

Pre-millenium - 49mm, Post-millenium -51mm. And in a word, no. You really need a grinder.


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## gdavie978 (Oct 17, 2016)

GCGlasgow said:


> Pre-millenium - 49mm, Post-millenium -51mm. And in a word, no. You really need a grinder.


Ok great. On a bit of a budget, can you recommend a decent grinder?


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

What's a bit of a budget? The more you can spend the better results.


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## rn-hilton (Nov 18, 2012)

gdavie978 said:


> Ok great. On a bit of a budget, can you recommend a decent grinder?


I started with a hand grinder, a decent one (porlex or Vario) can be picked up for less than £30. They can make adequate results until you can afford something more substantial and are also great for travelling and filter coffee.


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## rn-hilton (Nov 18, 2012)

rn-hilton said:


> I started with a hand grinder, a decent one (porlex or Vario) can be picked up for less than £30. They can make adequate results until you can afford something more substantial and are also great for travelling and filter coffee.


Porlex or hario ... Silly autocorrect


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## Philip F (Oct 1, 2016)

A really fine grind is needed. I bought a Pavoni Europiccolo a couple of weeks ago and did a lot of research on this and other forums to get tips on how to use it. In case it helps this is a summary of tips gathered from a number of helpful postings:

Use about 14g to 16 grams of coffee in the new la Pavoni double basket. Use a fine grinder setting and experiment with different settings until the extraction comes out slowly and fairly syrupy.

Fill machine with filtered water up to a point 2cm below the top of the sight glass. Switch on and wait for green light to go out.

If the brew head is not yet hot, pull two or three shots into the cup without coffee to heat the brew head and the portafilter.

Dose the basket in the portafilter, tamp it down firmly and wipe off any stray coffee but do not yet fit it to the group.

Open the steam valve to et some steam out, then close the steam valve and wait 30 secs. Usually the green light comes on and then goes off.

Raise lever to just before it lets in water from the tank. Then fit the portafilter and put a heated cup beneath it.

Raise the lever fully and wait around 15 to 30 secs to allow pre-infusion.

Press down lever slowly but firmly. If that will not produce a double shot of about 30g of espresso (you can measure it with a slimline tare scale under the cup) raise the lever once it is halfway down to let more water in and then press down fully.

Remove cup of coffee and let any drips fall into the drip tray.

Wait at least 30 secs before removing the portafilter.

.

Turn off the machine as soon as you finish using it.

Following these tips had helped me!

good luck,

Philip


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## gdavie978 (Oct 17, 2016)

Philip F said:


> A really fine grind is needed. I bought a Pavoni Europiccolo a couple of weeks ago and did a lot of research on this and other forums to get tips on how to use it. In case it helps this is a summary of tips gathered from a number of helpful postings:
> 
> Use about 14g to 16 grams of coffee in the new la Pavoni double basket. Use a fine grinder setting and experiment with different settings until the extraction comes out slowly and fairly syrupy.
> 
> ...


That's great thanks for the help. I'm away to get a Grinder and beans tomorrow as the pre ground stuff isn't cutting the mustard.


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## Kahweol (Apr 26, 2016)

Yes you'll definitely need a grinder. I would suggest buying something a bit more substantial as you'll likely want to upgrade soon if you get a cheap hand grinder. Second hand ones pop up on here/ebay/gumtree very often. If you're not too concerned about aesthetics it shouldn't set you back much.


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## gdavie978 (Oct 17, 2016)

Purchased a Krupps burr grinder. The gvx2 as I am tight on space and cash at the minute. Results still not great from la pav but still using the supplied tamper as the other one I've bought isn't arriving till today so I'm hoping it will make a difference. Purchased some Brazilian paraiso estate beans??


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## ChilledMatt (May 9, 2015)

I don't think this grinder will grind fine enough for your needs.


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## gdavie978 (Oct 17, 2016)

That's not so good. Will the tamper help at all? I've noticed the supplied plastic one is convex?


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## lotuseater (Dec 25, 2015)

The tamper won't mitigate the wrong grind. To be honest I believe the grinder is so important that the budget should if anything be biased to maxing out on grinder quality. With a really good grinder, and practice, the Europiccola is capable of sublime shots.


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## gdavie978 (Oct 17, 2016)

Well what I have will need to do just now . Either that or get the roaster to grind it until I've saved enough to get my own..


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

That may help or it may not as the grounds will be stale long before they get to you. Tinkering with the grind level is how you make the coffee "work"


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