# LaPavoni Puccino - gaggia classic market replacement?



## TomBurtonArt (Jan 18, 2015)

Never heard of them before but on a recent excursion to the LaPav website discovered the Puccino, a vibe pump, brass boiler, solenoid machine with a pump pressure guage.

Anyone used one?

http://eshop.lapavoni.com/en/pump-machines/puccino-pcl.html




























They also do a PID model but has no solenoid and a dual boiler machine, not sure of the capacity of that model though.


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## TomBurtonArt (Jan 18, 2015)

Dual boiler machine looks identical to LeLit machines, two very small brass boilers 250ml brew/400ml steam, seems like both can be switched on independantly and PID controlled brew boiler. I imagine the low capacity means that it will be fairly unstable temp wise without the PID, probably not worth the £960.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

More a sideways step than an improvement.

Save for a decent HX or replace Classic with Classic + PID


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## TomBurtonArt (Jan 18, 2015)

Glenn said:


> More a sideways step than an improvement.
> 
> Save for a decent HX or replace Classic with Classic + PID


Should have been clearer, I meant a replacement for the new entry machine market since the new classic 2015 was announced. I have a HX machine already.

Might be worth changing the thread title to market replacement.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

I owned the one in the first post (Puccino PCL) bought in 2008 and sold it on ebay a few years back (early 2013?).

They're well built machines, but I don't think that its any better than the Gaggia Classic (cheaper) or Silvia (roughly same price).

The basket and PF are 56mm IIRC so you need a smaller tamper and cant play around with baskets quite as easily as a standard 58mm. Shower screen comes out really easily allowing you to clean the group. Heat up time for espresso is pretty quick, same for steam but itt akes a while to get back to espresso temp after steaming.

I was quite happy with it at the time but in retrospect the espresso was never that great, that said I've perfected my technique & water since then so maybe I could do better with it now.

Looking at your equipment list in your sig I think you'd be disappointed by it.


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## TomBurtonArt (Jan 18, 2015)

aaronb said:


> I owned the one in the first post (Puccino PCL) bought in 2008 and sold it on ebay a few years back (early 2013?).
> 
> They're well built machines, but I don't think that its any better than the Gaggia Classic (cheaper) or Silvia (roughly same price).
> 
> ...


Thanks for the feedback, the machine isn't for me but was just a thread to discuss whether this was a viable 'new machine' to fill the gap in the market that gaggia have left open when they stopped the OPV Classic.

Interesting regarding the PF size, I'd assumed this machine was going to be a clone of the classic but seems it is completely different. Looks as though it would be just as modable as the classic though which is a plus point.

I think the biggest limitation is that there just isn't enough of these machines out there in the market yet, which means the price is always going to be higher than the still very functional 10year old classics out there. I think it still likely fills a void, people have a choice between this or Silvia new.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

They aren't a new design, they're quite popular in mainland Europe along with the standard puccino. Just not that many in the UK it seems.

Prices may have changed but it was more than double the price of a classic when I bought mine.


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## TomBurtonArt (Jan 18, 2015)

Seems they cost the same as a silvia which is £100 more than a new 2015 classic. This machine would then need a new steamwand I imagine so a worse deal.

I think we can all agree that the best option is always 2nd hand prephillips classic.


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