# Hasi‘s Lever Adventure



## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Well...

When @jimbojohn55 started that project, I was among the cheering crowd...

https://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?42247-Pimp-my-70-s-Disco-Pavoni-time-machine

Attracted by its simplicity and purity, one could argue I fell in love with a LaPavoni from another century. When it turned out that there were even two of them, I could resist asking Jim what he would do with the second one. Or maybe I didn't dare...

Anyhow, it revealed my apparent craving for something lever.

Oh what a surprise it was to find one of these twin restos in the 'for sale' section! https://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?44645-1973-La-Pavoni-completely-refurbished-%A3400

Then I was due...

Then the wait...

The other day it finally arrived!



















First thing I see is a superb @joey24dirt tamper







great stuff!!










And after that some sort of elephant...










Unwrapping the elephant revealed the old Lady... oh yea! Let the journey begin...

[tbc]


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Glad you like it, carefull when removing the filler cap, they have a habit of toppling off and dinging the paint on the base


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## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

Oh wow this is great! So where are you? How far has one of my handles travelled? Looking forward to following your journey.


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

Hope you enjoy your lever journey & thanks muchly for buying it before I succumbed. 

Please, whatever you do, don't be tempted to convert that beautiful portafilter into a naked!


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

but do buy a 49mm naked


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Austria - @Hasi- not sure where abouts?


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## Jacko112 (Oct 29, 2015)

jimbojohn55 said:


> but do buy a 49mm naked


I've been looking for one of these Jim but can't find one under about £50. Machine is a dream by the way, love it!


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Jacko112 said:


> I've been looking for one of these Jim but can't find one under about £50. Machine is a dream by the way, love it!


Lots on ebay - £49.95 - don't get the £48.95 one - I don't think they have a spring to keep the basket in


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Jacko112 said:


> I've been looking for one of these Jim but can't find one under about £50. Machine is a dream by the way, love it!


There's one here:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F273107015128


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> There's one here:
> 
> https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F273107015128


that's the one I got - good solid handle, basket spring and nice basket as well - stops the basket falling out and easier clean up between shots


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

I'd recommend the piston pressure gauge...unfortunately rather expensive


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

joey24dirt said:


> Oh wow this is great! So where are you? How far has one of my handles travelled? Looking forward to following your journey.


I'm based in Austria - pretty central, some 30min east of Salzburg









Joey - that handle is a beaut - love it!

Yea guys, stay tuned... lots of stuff to finish before I ultimately fire her up (that includes fitting a Euro plug) but it's going to be fun... in case I haven't already mentioned: no lever experience so far









And again: thanks @coffeechap , @jimbojohn55 and @joey24dirt for making this possible!!


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## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

Hasi said:


> I'm based in Austria - pretty central, some 30min east of Salzburg
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I didn't really do much 

I've been to Sol snowboarding a few years back. Lovely place to be


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

As for naked portafilters, I don't know... I use one one my Rocket for training purposes, but not on a daily basis. Maybe tamping is so much different with the LaPav that I might need one...?! We'll see









@Pressure gauge, oh yes (for learning reasons) but then again... I'd like to keep everything as original as possible. I know it shouldn't be difficult to choose between regular and improved :/


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

joey24dirt said:


> I didn't really do much
> 
> I've been to Sol snowboarding a few years back. Lovely place to be


Well you did the tamper which became an integral part of the kit - so I invite you to accept the shout-out


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## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

Hasi said:


> Well you did the tamper which became an integral part of the kit - so I invite you to accept the shout-out


Accepted


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## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

Hasi said:


> I'm based in Austria - pretty central, some 30min east of Salzburg
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Great purchase! If you do buy a naked portafilter, good luck keeping it so shiny

Just buy an adapter off Amazon. That's what I use with mine rather than swapping the plug.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Also thanks to CoffeeChap I got into levers recently.... An Europiccola millennium.

And that was the cheeky flat white after lunch (pssss don't let the Italians know!)










Made using a single hole steam tip after recommendations here.

Great machine, absolutely loving it!

Mine came with an Euro plug. I'll simply cut it off and fit a British one in. It's very easy to do.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Tonight's the night, Hasi said to himself.

And downstairs he went...










...fitted a Euro plug and went back to the coffee corner...










...put on some music:






And what happened next was pure speculation. Or was it poor... or pour...










...ok, it needs a fill. But how much? I went for a 'waterline juuust reaching top of glass tube' fill level.

Then wait - played above tune again...










...still time for some images!

Although, I saw a super quick warm-up (I cheated and put warm water in  but still an impressive couple of minutes!). Some push'n'shove with an empty basket and all components were ready for take-off.

I guess.

At least everything was hot and the valve on top blew off a bit. 










Weighing time! I simply used the setting from the E61 in the background to have a starting point. But basket wouldn't take the whole nine yards. We ultimately agreed on 13,5g. Tamping, steady, go!










Halfway through the lever movement there was still nothing... ok, I thought, maybe that's how it's supposed to be - and then again, what if I screwed up already...?! Wait, incoming! Well, the crema forgot to come along. What can I say?!

Was it drinkable? No, of course not... but I did drink it. For first time's sake I drank it! All of it!! Mamma mia!!

Now I'm trying to get some sleep.

But I'm still only trying...

[tbc]


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## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

I so want to have a play with one of these!

My recommendation is to have another shot just to be sure you're doing it right


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

joey24dirt said:


> I so want to have a play with one of these!
> 
> My recommendation is to have another shot just to be sure you're doing it right


I'd then be very sure I'm doing it completely wrong


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

the pavs are sensitive to grind, weight - well we know all coffee machines are but with the pavs you feel it in the lever

I pre warm the cup and portafilter in some boiled water - dry it off - add coffee and tamp (the tamp is not as sensitive as a full size portafilter)

when you lift the lever do it slowly particularly at the point the water flows in hold it there for 10secs (you can watch the water in the sight glass go down slightly as it pre infuses) - if the grind is in the zone you may get a few drops of coffee just start to drip into the cup.

Lower the lever slowly over 30 seconds.

You will probably find that you start to adjust the grind a tiny bit this way or that after each shot

I find thepav levers more involving particularly where you have to think a lot more about it becoming almost a ritual - its like the Shinto Tea ceremony but with a pav lever


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Hasi said:


> I'd then be very sure I'm doing it completely wrong


Did you released the "false" pressure? I'm not sure if your particular machine has a vacuum breaker.

Also, there may be air in the group, most likely hence why coffee only came out half way through the lever downward movement.

There are all sorts of techniques to get that sorted out, and also depends on which "version" you have.

For me, what has been working is to pull the lever down slightly, like pulling the lever with my little finger down until you see a drop of coffee coming down.I have a bottomless PF so it's easier.if you don't own one I'd highly recommend you get one -it's invaluable to know what's going on.

Then push the lever back up and you will notice water coming into the group and the lever becomes stiffer. Then pull your shot.

However, for you particular machine there may be other techniques, like opening the steam wand and at the same time push the lever up until some water comes out.

You can also do a few half way pumps on the lever (no water comes out) to get the group up to temp.

There's a lot of I go on the La Pavoni lever Facebook group. I've joined when I got mine a month ago. They have a lot of people who use them so a lot of info and advice there. They even organised a tour to the Pavoni factory the other week!

Good luck on your lever journey!


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Thank you guys!

By accident (or call it intuition







) I sort of did it almost that way... now I got to play with all variables









Only thing I noticed: after pulling my (rather over extracted...) shots, the group head is still under pressure. Not much, but enough to force grounds over the basket rim.

Is it overfilled?

Too fine a grind?

What's max basket fill level?

But ( @joey24dirt







) it is so much fun to experiment with a LaPav!!


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Hi hasi - its just a question of leaving it for a minute or lifting the lever a tiny bit - or just lever of the portafilter very slowly

occasionally run a brush around the seal to remove any coffee from the group had seal.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Hasi said:


> Only thing I noticed: after pulling my (rather over extracted...) shots, the group head is still under pressure.


Same here. Don't forget these machines don't have an exhaust system like e61 or a solenoid valve. Therefore, the pressure will have to gradually equalise over a couple of minutes after you pull the shot. If you want to get the PF out sooner, just undo the PF very gently so the pressure gradually releases.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Ah, I see









After an hour or more of dialling in and getting to grips with lever action, I stopped to welcome some guests (so grinder settings could go back to Rocket values as drinkable stuff was expected).

The last shot looked promising, tough... also tasted a lot better than previous attempts.










Let's call it 'in the ball park'. And let's call her the Diva







Because I've still got a lot more to learn until taking control...


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## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

Hasi said:


> Thank you guys!
> 
> By accident (or call it intuition
> 
> ...


I'm on the Facebook Pavoni group and its full of hairbrained techniques that people have to solve fairly simple problems so my advice would be to not bother with it otherwise you'll be shifting change from one pocket to the other, spinning in circles, pulling the lever half way down with the right hand then lifting with the left and finally pulling down with both.

These are simple machines capable of producing excellent shots and no witchcraft required.

From your previous post I would say you're overfilling the basket. The baskets vary a bit but yours you're probably looking around 13g depending on roast. It's really easy to work out. If you're getting a 2:1 ratio, your spot on, less like you appear to be getting and you have overfilled, more underfilled. There's only so much space in the group to the puck. More coffee=less water and vice versa.

For me 5 seconds is enough to preinfuse some like longer but if you go past 10 seconds then you risk over extracting. Light to medium roast I then take roughly 30 seconds to pull the lever down. If it takes 40 than grind is too fine, 20 too coarse but taste tells me this rather than time.

It it takes a bit of trial and error but you'll soon get the hang of it.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Nopapercup said:


> I'm on the Facebook Pavoni group and its full of hairbrained techniques that people have to solve fairly simple problems so my advice would be to not bother with it otherwise you'll be shifting change from one pocket to the other, spinning in circles, pulling the lever half way down with the right hand then lifting with the left and finally pulling down with both.
> 
> These are simple machines capable of producing excellent shots and no witchcraft required.
> 
> ...


Thanks mate!

I'm past and post facebook, so wouldn't join folk there - but I get what you mean by overcomplicating a simple machine. My thoughts exactly









The last shot was 12.5g so I'll experiment between that and 13g, tomorrow. 13.5g apparently sent me down a blind alley.

One more thing I'm wondering is how much momentum it takes... but a 2:1 ratio in 30s should solve the question. At least theoretically


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## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

Hasi said:


> Thanks mate!
> 
> I'm past and post facebook, so wouldn't join folk there - but I get what you mean by overcomplicating a simple machine. My thoughts exactly
> 
> ...


You're not missing much on Facebook

For me if you're forcing the lever, the grind is too fine. A gentle pull should do it. I also have a slightly larger basket and I can get between 14-15g in it so you might be aiming for a 25 second pull with 12.5g and a 2:1 ratio and go from there depending on taste.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Let the day begin with cappuccino niceness... woman and I enjoyed some brew from La Diva. And it suits our taste better and better.










It's different from what our E61 produces and still lacks crema - which you can tell from the dark spots...

Also the machine seems to sit there slightly tilted as usually coffee flows merely (and constantly) from the right spout.

Concerning crema, any suggestions?

(fiddling with 12-12.5g Guatemala - Finca Medina, Antigua. My own medium roast, works well on the Rocket)


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Nice picture







- re the Crema, The pavs tend to operate at a lower pressure with the lever pull than a E61 - you can grind finer to create more crema but watch the flavour closely, - its part of the charm seeing how taste changes in relation to what you feel in the lever pull.

Re the spout pour - ive tried a number of different spouts with portafilters and not found one that pours well on both - I think its something to do with the size of the porterfilter, not sure - Its worth getting a naked with a slightly larger basket from a practical day to day use as they are much easier to clean and have a 16G basket - useful for those shared double shots - they don't look as great as the long spout original but makes day to day use easier - just refit the original after each shot to give it back its dignity


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Hasi said:


> Let the day begin with cappuccino niceness... woman and I enjoyed some brew from La Diva. And it suits our taste better and better.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I am not sure this is what you want to hear but... Same here!

I pretty much ditched the double spout on the first day. It always favoured the left spout over the right one. I just took them off and used the PF spoutless, until I bought myself a naked one.

Re: Crema: it might be me being a novice, but I noticed the same. Then, reading about it, it seems to be that those produce less crema than an e61. Unsure whether it's because of profile, size of basket or pressure. I just accept it it's how it is. As long as it tastes good, then it's good for me.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Alright guys, even though I like to keep my old stuff original, because I love its classic appearance, a bottomless PF (with a few different baskets and maybe a retaining clip...?) might come in handy. It somehow feels a bit odd, like buying your woman jocks instead of lingerie... but hey, the times they are a-changin', aren't they?

Back in the 60s and 70s when the Europiccola got introduced and this particular example manufactured, not many fancied single origin Arabicas I guess. So with a typical Italian dark blend of the time things might be very different even today, but I would neither roast nor drink that dark a roast at home









So, would a modern bottomless PF for post millenium La Pavs still fit?


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## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

So, would a modern bottomless PF for post millenium La Pavs still fit?

No you have to buy a pre millennium one 49mm

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LA-PAVONI-49mm-Bottomless-Naked-Portafilter-Handle-for-Europiccola-Stradivari/273107015128?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

These guys also have ims stuff but I've never used them

https://www.lamacchinadelcaffe.com/en/portafiltri-la-pavoni.html


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

These guys are great, cheapest online and have most parts available

https://www.bluestarcoffee.eu/la-pavoni-home-b3a95nproducts67curpage-2-67-c.asp


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Bottomless PF should arrive anytime soon









For the time being, kept preparing some good-morning cappuccinos. Today it came out somewhat bitter, so must improve blood-pressure pump skills.

Still, crema won't stay for long. But I'm going to taste some other beans I've recently roasted to see if it's beans or Hasi being accountable...

Overall, I urgently need to re-arrange my workplace as LaDiva sits on wrong end of aisle... mains water, knock box, towels, everything's a mile away!


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Yep.

There it is!

First shot pretty much on target I'd say. Also taste-wise! Crema will improve with time now that I can read the basket... altough my tamping wasn't too bad over the past couple years, this deep and narrow basket behaves somewhat different. Excited to get my hands on LaDiva tomorrow morning (hopefully!)


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

There great quality those particular portafilters proper bakerlite handles in the same shape as the early ones (if a little bigger) even the chrome is great, I think the basket is a bit more free flowing but great quality too.


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

I don't know how I've missed this thread so far! Absolutely living the dream there Hasi, you lucky chap! Looks like you are starting to tame your diva!


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## Planter (Apr 12, 2017)

Hasi, I'm loving this thread. It's actually got me gripped. It is however not helping me to not buy a Lever. If I end up getting one, I'm blaming you


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

jimbojohn55 said:


> There great quality those particular portafilters proper bakerlite handles in the same shape as the early ones (if a little bigger) even the chrome is great, I think the basket is a bit more free flowing but great quality too.


True!

I got me the one from Blue Star Coffee and it's great quality. It also comes with a retaining spring, thus making extraction aftermath more joyful!

Comparing baskets, their grids differ widely - as can be seen in above image







More free flow may very well be true as I didn't feel that much resistance. But it could also have to do with larger basket size and therefore more room for expansion...?!

But you were right about re-fitting the original PF for standby. La Diva already told me she feels nude without her spouts... and you'd better listen to a lady when she's got something to say.



Missy said:


> I don't know how I've missed this thread so far! Absolutely living the dream there Hasi, you lucky chap! Looks like you are starting to tame your diva!


Haha, thanks @Missy - at least I'm trying to keep dreaming! Difficult enough as an adult.

I might moderate her capers to hedge-hopping but she'll surely stay true to her game (and name)... seems like I need a good slap every now and then











Planter said:


> Hasi, I'm loving this thread. It's actually got me gripped. It is however not helping me to not buy a Lever. If I end up getting one, I'm blaming you


Cheers!

Let me tell you @jimbojohn55 might put the twin sister up for sale when she's finished







and @coffeechap currently offers the third one right here
















You blame - I tame.


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

It will be released to the market probably once the new one lands, I will list it as per forum rules - If you want a heads up at the time just send me a PM.

Cheers Jim


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

update: my LaDiva is in daily use at my office job. I'm still experimenting, however she always provides palatable drinks by now! ???


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

Hasi said:


> update: my LaDiva is in daily use at my office job. I'm still experimenting, however she always provides palatable drinks by now! ???


 Her older sister is doing fine too


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