A bit of lever action

[Tex]

That's so cool! Wyatt has a way of conveying the message without words!

[BoldJava]

Kees van der Westen, designer of the Mirage lever we sipped from in Twin Cities - here is his gallery: http://www.keesvanderwesten.com/earlier-work.html


The Presto, 1987

[milowebailey]

hmmmm I have an idea for the old Brasilia I have in the store room..... 

[Tex]

Kees van der Westen, designer of the Mirage lever we sipped from in Twin Cities - here is his gallery: http://www.keesvanderwesten.com/earlier-work.html


The Presto, 1987

Not bad if you like conventional.

Meet Quasimodo; lever for one group, flow control for the other!


Or this one;

[BoldJava]

From Jim Schulman on a demo/lecture by Gwilym Davies, on levers:

...a stopover of Gwilym Davies's US tour, sponsored by Nouva Simonelli. Gwilym Davies is the 2010 World Barista Champion, and runs his espresso shop out of a South London clothing store. There he pulls shots with a 3 group Victoria Arduino lever machine. Nouva Simonelli owns the Victoria Arduino marque...

This sets the stage for what Gwilym said about using lever machines.

He uses mostly coffees from Square Mile Roasters, and expects to spend about 2 to 4 days getting a new blend right. Therefore he uses only one coffee at a time, and sticks with it as long as possible. In his talk, he emphasized that very subtle changes make the difference for shots that pop and shots that are just fine.

This leads to some surprises on how he handles the machine.

The VA lever is an HX. So, if the group is idle, you can pull a "sipper" (a lever using straight boiler water) style shot, with a cool group and an overheated HX, or you can flush, or make paced shots on one group, and get a hotter group with cooler water, like in a conventional pump/HX machine. Most of the people pulling shots went the second route, flushing the group, and equalizing temperatures, before pulling shots. This is what I did, without giving it a moment of thought.

But Gwilym will idle each group after the shot, and let it cool (and the HX water heat), while he moves on to the next group. In effect, he uses the machine at about half the pace per group than a normal pump machine, although with flushing and exhausting, he could run it a full pace. His demeanor overwhelmingly suggests that he is perfectly willing to spend however long it takes to pull the perfect shot; so he wants the machine to always be at the same equilibrium....

http://www.home-barista.com/levers/gwilym-daviess-chicago-talk-on-victoria-arduino-lever-t17771.html

[John F]

Here's the video for historical reference, I'm sure  my technique wills change over the weeks to come.

I'd like to cast a vote for an updated vid with narrative on lessons learned so far.

For future PVL owners and such...
 

[staylor]

Only if you know of a new owner or two. ;-)

[John F]

I know two owners but only one new.. 

[staylor]

I'll see what I can do for the mysterious new owner.

[John F]

Dude, I am loving this machine.

Can you tell me some about what happened when your PVL brainbox fuzzed out, how you fixed it, and if you have adjusted your factory p-stat setting?

Did I mention I am loving this machine?

[BoldJava]

Dude, I am loving this machine...

Tactile wins over automation 10 out of 10 times.

B|Levered

[mp]

Say John ... are you loving your machine?

 

[Warrior372]

You are next MP. . . . The lever vortex is sucking you in slowly whether you know it or not .

Drinks are looking good John, but we need to hear back on how they are tasting. For all we know you are doctoring different ingredients in your kitchen together to make what 'looks like a good shot' or what 'looks like well steamed milk'.

Have you gotten any snicker out of the red bird yet?

[mp]

You are next MP. . . . The lever vortex is sucking you in slowly whether you know it or not .

One obsession at a time.

Shaving is preoccupying me right now.

 

[Tex]

You are next MP. . . . The lever vortex is sucking you in slowly whether you know it or not .

One obsession at a time.

Shaving is preoccupying me right now.

 

Is it difficult to get the bikini wedge just right?