A bit of lever action

[Ray T]

Could get messy 

[BoldJava]

Well with the grand master lever puller Shaun guiding, Larry finding, and John F runner her down, testing and shipping I am the proud new owner of a Ponte Vecchio Lussia! ...

I believe you are going to be pleased beyond measure.  Welcome to the LandOLevers and patience while you learn.  Enjoy, Jim.

[jspain]

Thanks all! Most thanks to Larry for the find and ALL THE HELP John has given! John and Shaun are colaberating on the pressure adjustment. It may be too high? It has all the mods done on it including the move of the pressure guage by Doug from Orphan Espresso. Boiler insulation and such.

How about that blue handle! Patti will steal it for the center of a flower planter! 

ps, My faithful moded Silvia is for sale in the "Buy/Sell equipment to members" thread. Making room for Ms. Lussia

[staylor]

Pow!

Congrats, you are gonna love it.

[staylor]

Here you go John, as per our email convo.

PVL water debit

And here's the shot, it's an SO and not quite four days old. Too bad you didn't get to see the lever pull technique Jim, something you can really play around with is how much pre-infusion you hit the coffee bed with before going in for the other two lever pulls. And of course how you pull and when you pull those two will directly impact the pressure profile and rate of flow, etc. I know this shot looks long (if you are looking at a stopwatch) but the curves of the PVL let you get away with this kind of stuff.

El Salvador Cerro Las Ranas Miel

[BoldJava]

... I know this shot looks long (if you are looking at a stopwatch) but the curves of the PVL let you get away with this kind of stuff.

Jim, Shaun points to a major difference with levers from pumps.  As with his PVL, my Cremina puts out wonderful shots even when I run long.  There isn't a magical 24-second window as with a pump.  I have had stellar shots at 55 seconds as well as 35 seconds.  Let your taste buds tell the decision, not a watch.


Second, while I don't know the basket size on the PVL, look for smaller volume shots.  Mine run about 1.25 ounces max (~23-25g) with about 15.5 to 16.5 grams of coffee going in.  I pull my shots earlier rather than longer.

B|Java

[peter]

There isn't a magical 24-second window as with a pump.  I have had stellar shots at 55 seconds as well as 35 seconds.  Let your taste buds tell the decision, not a watch.

That could be reworded, since shots from my pump would correlate with your results, with regard to the time constraints.

[staylor]

B|Leversmarts is on point, you can pretty much throw the 'golden rule' of 24 seconds out the window, the lever pre-infusion and realtime pressure profiling will let you get away with 'golden rule murder'.

The PVL will provide small volume shots. In the video I attached I did three pulls, the first pull was to pre-infuse and that doesn't really add much volume to the cup. The next two pulls add approx .5oz each for a total of approx 1oz in the cup. So a total of three pulls to get approx 1oz.

Depending on the coffee I will use approx 14gm doses though I will go up to 15 or 16gms but not too often. 14gms of coffee is a good starting point.

[jspain]

B|Leversmarts is on point, you can pretty much throw the 'golden rule' of 24 seconds out the window, the lever pre-infusion and realtime pressure profiling will let you get away with 'golden rule murder'.

The PVL will provide small volume shots. In the video I attached I did three pulls, the first pull was to pre-infuse and that doesn't really add much volume to the cup. The next two pulls add approx .5oz each for a total of approx 1oz in the cup. So a total of three pulls to get approx 1oz.

Depending on the coffee I will use approx 14gm doses though I will go up to 15 or 16gms but not too often. 14gms of coffee is a good starting point.

Shaun,

The videos, comments, and insight is deeply appreciated!!  Dave's comments are very helpful as well!!

I read a HB review and user guide and they talk about a half pull for infusion and one additional pull for final shot with the PVL. It sounds like that is not the case? Shaun, is your preinfusion pull a full pull or half pull? Do you have a magic waiting period during infusion before the additional pulls? Thanks again for your help!!!  jim

[John F]

Cool!

I just got home so I can't dig into it yet but I'm on it.

[jspain]

Shaun and John,

I read through "lever pull basics" and the other lever threads today. I should have read them before asking questions here. There is plenty of info posted to get me started and anwser my questions. Now the fun begins once PVL hits the cabin from Denver! 

[staylor]

Hey Jim,

Real quick because I just got home from a ride. With the PVL I never do a half pull (not even sure what that would be), you need to pull the lever handle all the way down in order to 'release water into the basket'. I hold it in the lever handle down position for an amount of seconds to be determined by the coffee, the grind, the dose, what I see and how I feel. Sometimes I hole fully down until I see drops start to fall into the cup, sometimes I'll slowly release the lever before drops fall and as the lever rises up the drops will start to fall into the cup. At that point I do another full pull of the lever handle all the way to its bottom position and release the lever smoothly so it can naturally rise up on its own. At some point in its upward travel I will do another full pull down and again slowly let it move back up naturally on its own.

So to recap, I do a preinfusion pull, then I do two shot volume pulls.

At what point I do the pulls is really dependent on what I see in the stream and cup and what I've trended out from previous shots with the coffee I'm working with. That's the beauty of the lever, you can create any pressure profile you want and 'interfere' with the profile at any time you want.

It's easier to demonstrate than explain, so when you get your machine and you've pulled a few shots and you are ready to start figuring things out just speak up and I'll shoot a video or two for you.

[jspain]

Thanks again Shaun! That does help alot! I'm excited! Let the fun begin.....! Hopefully not too many sink shots??? 

[staylor]

Since I was in a video mood this morning I shot couple more for you Jim.

Updosed El Sal

The espresso starting to take affect.

Some more El Sal

[jspain]

Shaun,

You're "Dha man!" Nice videos!!! They are great help!!!!!

I didn't ask John if my machine is coming with a bottomless portafilter or not?? I hope so but my guess is "not?" I've surfed around a bit and I can't find a naked one on the web in a quick search. Did you cut your own or buy yours??  jim