# La Pavoni owners - What grinder have you?



## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

As title really! 
The La Pavoni has really exposed that the mignon is an ok grinder but has inconsistency at finer grinds giving rise to an uneven grind not good enough for the La Pavoni.

So I'm interested in what grinders you have paired with your LP and whether you noted a difference. 
I am finding the shots are great with low grown less dense beans that the require a coarser grind, but it loses the plot a bit with lighter roasts


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

I have a Niche, it works well!


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> I have a Niche, it works well!


 Yeh, I'm edging closer to a Niche. 
Did you see the grind distribution 'experiment' Spromethius did with the Niche and Cruve sieve? 
Pretty much no fines or boulders, impressive!


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

TomHughes said:


> Yeh, I'm edging closer to a Niche.
> Did you see the grind distribution 'experiment' Spromethius did with the Niche and Cruve sieve?
> Pretty much no fines or boulders, impressive!


 I pretty much took on face value based on DavecUK. Looked good, single dose. A winner all around. Having had other grinders and tried to single dose them, I know the pain. I also dislike wasting coffee with hopper fed grinders needing a purge due to retention. Then went manual, Kinu M68, which was great, very fast grinding, but it was a bit messy due to static.

The Niche Zero solved all of those problems. A winner all round IMHO.


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## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

I used a La Cimbali Magnum which was converted for single dosing. It's a great grinder and produced some excellent shots. I've been using the Niche since it came out and also does a great job.

I have come to the realisation that I struggle to get good shots from light roasts. I'm not sure Pavonis are best suited to them or the Niche isn't or it's just my poor technique. For me and my tastebuds I get the best results from omniroasts with the Pavoni.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Nopapercup said:


> I used a La Cimbali Magnum which was converted for single dosing. It's a great grinder and produced some excellent shots. I've been using the Niche since it came out and also does a great job.
> 
> I have come to the realisation that I struggle to get good shots from light roasts. I'm not sure Pavonis are best suited to them or the Niche isn't or it's just my poor technique. For me and my tastebuds I get the best results from omniroasts with the Pavoni.


 I do wonder about the same thing... (Niche + Pavoni) - You are not alone. I have to say the LSOL subscription works wonders for me. 🙂


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

It's just about letting the temp get up a little on the pavoni with lighter roasts which is not that difficult on the la pavoni


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## Northern_Monkey (Sep 11, 2018)

It worked well with an Aergrind, SJ, Niche and EK for me.

Being more vigilant with the temps and pressures paid off, getting a Niche gave the best cost benefit ratio in terms of grinders though.

Love my EK but it is a bit ridiculous in a fun sledge hammer to crack a nut kind of way...


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

coffeechap said:


> It's just about letting the temp get up a little on the pavoni with lighter roasts which is not that difficult on the la pavoni


 Exactly what I do!


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

coffeechap said:


> It's just about letting the temp get up a little on the pavoni with lighter roasts which is not that difficult on the la pavoni


 How hot?
I must admit I'm having a tough time keeping the group cool. 
After a flush of the group and getting rid of all the air etc. it's often hitting 90-95, which would mean that the water coming through isn't going to get much of a drop down by the group acting as a heatsink.


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## Northern_Monkey (Sep 11, 2018)

@TomHughes - When I bought mine off Dave he mentioned some people use a damp tea cloth or have one in the freezer, which is a handy trick to have.

I found that it can really help drop the group temp quite quickly, also locking in a cold portafilter can reduce it slightly as well.


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## L&R (Mar 8, 2018)

I like using manual grinders with my Pavoni just to make the process all manual but also Major, Royal do the job 

1ZPresso K-Plus is great form dialing with Pavoni


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

Northern_Monkey said:


> @TomHughes - When I bought mine off Dave he mentioned some people use a damp tea cloth or have one in the freezer, which is a handy trick to have.
> 
> I found that it can really help drop the group temp quite quickly, also locking in a cold portafilter can reduce it slightly as well.


 I actually spray mine with water. But it rapidly shoots back up as the group is being continually heated by the steam.

is yours pre-mill?

I believe the post mill are water heated instead? So they don't continually heat more and more due to steam.

I'm tempted to try the mod where the intake is blocked and just water is used to heat like on the post mill


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## Northern_Monkey (Sep 11, 2018)

@TomHughes - Yep, you are right it's a post millennium one.


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

Northern_Monkey said:


> @TomHughes - Yep, you are right it's a post millennium one.


 Yeh I am thinking of doing the dipper mod essentially sticking this in the back of the group

https://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/La-Pavoni-Lever-Plastic-Boiler-Pipe-Connector---371132/m-2231.aspx

The converting the pipe to allow it to be water heated.

Don't suppose you have one of these kicking around dave? @coffeechap


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## GlenW (Sep 7, 2013)

I have a HG-1 which fits nicely with the manual ethos.

I use a damp cloth if I need to quickly cool down the group, and then I use a simple temperature controller which switches on and off a small fan to keep the temp steady at 75c


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

GlenW said:


> I have a HG-1 which fits nicely with the manual ethos.
> 
> I use a damp cloth if I need to quickly cool down the group, and then I use a simple temperature controller which switches on and off a small fan to keep the temp steady at 75c


 Glen, would you mind posting a pic of your setup?
How are you doing the temp controlling?


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## OliG (Jul 14, 2015)

I've been using a mazzer super jolly and it's been great to be honest. It's been half heartedly modified to single dose.

Got a niche coming in September which I'm very much looking forward to.


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## MrNik (Aug 28, 2018)

Has anyone used a commandante with the La Pavoni?

Any feedback?

I'm thinking of moving from eureka mignon to commandante for use with La Pavoni...

Thanks


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

MrNik said:


> Has anyone used a commandante with the La Pavoni?
> 
> Any feedback?
> 
> ...


 I'd like to know this too. I've been edging towards a decent hand grinder


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## AJP80 (Feb 29, 2020)

I'm using an unmodded EK43s with brew burrs. I've not tried zeroing it but have set 0 to where it just about chokes the La Pav at a 14gram dose.

It's every bit as tasty as you'd expect with a large flat burr grinder although it lacks the resolution for micro adjustments of a dedicated espresso grinder. With control over pressure via the lever, I don't find this a problem, although I may lose some flavour nuance as a result.


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

Northern_Monkey said:


> It worked well with an Aergrind, SJ, Niche and EK for me.
> 
> Being more vigilant with the temps and pressures paid off, getting a Niche gave the best cost benefit ratio in terms of grinders though.
> 
> Love my EK but it is a bit ridiculous in a fun sledge hammer to crack a nut kind of way...


 How did you find dialling in on the aergrind with it? 
I'm tempted to go to manual!


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

TomHughes said:


> How did you find dialling in on the aergrind with it?
> I'm tempted to go to manual!


 If it helps, I had it paired with a Feldgrind for a few months. No issues dialling in. What's the worry?


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## Northern_Monkey (Sep 11, 2018)

@TomHughes - Hard work! 😓

It was 100% capable of grinding fine enough but took an absolute age to do so, coffee was very nice but it made the tweak-pour-taste-repeat dialling in a bit harder than I would like.

The Aergrind is now relegated to climbing/camping trip duties because it fits inside the Aeropress and is very compact.

The JX-Pro I bought in lockdown munches through the beans in about 30s a dose because of larger/more aggressive burrs.

Most quality hand grinders should be fine, but I would want one with bigger burrs like the Feld47, JX-Pro or the Kinu Phoenix just to make my life easier. Especially if I was using it for brew as well where you might do 48g/800ml.


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> If it helps, I had it paired with a Feldgrind for a few months. No issues dialling in. What's the worry?


 I think as NM said below the aergrind may have too smaller a burr set. I think I'm going to get a JX pro when/if they re-appear. I was tempted by the Rok but put off by supposed quality control issues and wobbly burrs


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

Northern_Monkey said:


> @TomHughes - Hard work! 😓
> 
> It was 100% capable of grinding fine enough but took an absolute age to do so, coffee was very nice but it made the tweak-pour-taste-repeat dialling in a bit harder than I would like.
> 
> ...


 Thanks! Can't seem to get hold of those at the moment!


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## GlenW (Sep 7, 2013)

TomHughes said:


> Glen, would you mind posting a pic of your setup?
> How are you doing the temp controlling?


 Sure!

This is the temperature controller I use: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/372812759469 and I use it to switch a USB fan on and off. I was previously using a big PID controller but realised the whole thing was overkill.

















If you're interested in all the other wires, I have wired in a scale so I can track the rate coffee enters the cup, and pressure sensors under the machine so I can track how hard I am pulling the lever and calculate what the extraction pressure is. I display the live graph on a small display and also have built myself a little dashboard. It all goes into a big google doc so I can see profile for all my historic coffees.









You can always see the profile of my most recent shot at at bit.ly/glencoffee 🙂

This was totally a lockdown inspired project!


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## 2cups (May 6, 2019)

Great setup Glen, very impressed 👍


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