Il caffe come Mama ha usato fare (Coffee just like Mama used to make)

Author's Rating:

Pros: Deep, dark espresso with a lovely crema

Cons: A few design glitches make it less than completely convenient or safe to use

The Bottom Line: 
Fabulous coffee and attractive appearance, but the design flaws force me to reluctantly down-rate this machine from five stars to four.

Author's Review
My dearly beloved husband and I spent most of June 2000 in Italy. We gorged ourselves on the wonderful food, especially the pastas and risottos, but the best part of the gustatory experience came in the morning, at la prima colazione (breakfast.) Every morning, we dove into steaming cups of cappuccino, and after dinner, I indulged myself with an espresso. (But the first time I asked for a twist of lemon, which is the way it's served here, the puzzled server brought me a whole lemon on a plate. The second time, he brought me a half a lemon and a knife. We made some progress with him, but clearly, it was a losing battle.)

My DB loves an occasional espresso, but he loves his increasingly elusive sleep even more, so he refrained while I had a double in his honor. He might have gotten away with an evening latte, but the Italians regard the American taste for milky coffees after noon as an aberration, so it was espresso or niente...

We got so used to the wonderful morning caps that DB began gazing longingly at the espresso machines in the shop windows, wondering plaintively why we couldn't bring one home and get a converter and an adaptor... I persuaded him that it would just be easier to get one made for the American market.

Once we got home and settled back into our normal routine, he forgot about the Italian coffees and seemed happy with the good strong stuff we make every morning. But I hadn't forgotten, and decided to get him one for his late-August birthday.

Friends of ours had a Pasquini, supposedly the ne plus ultra of espresso makers, so I asked them about it. First of all, it was obscenely expensive, hovering slightly below the $2000 mark - I love my DB, but there's a limit! But then they told me about another Italian coffee-maker that had been very highly recommended by a friend of theirs who owns a coffee house. So I went to see him and listened as he extolled the virtues of this other brand. This man claimed that it out-performed the Pasquini, a bold claim indeed, but it was borne out by the samples he made me from the various machines in his shop.

And thus it was that I came to buy a La Pavoni EPC-8 Espresso Maker.

WHAT IT IS

This is a lever-style espresso maker, as opposed to a pump style. There's nothing automatic about it; it's entirely manual.

It looks like an old-fashioned steam boiler, which is exactly what it is.

Made of shiny chrome, it consists of a tank at the back, topped by a huge removable knurled knob, with a clear water level tube next to it to the left.

In front of the tank is the mechanism into which the metal one- or two-cup coffee filter is fitted and inserted into the filter holder. The machine comes with two metal filters that hold enough coffee for one or two cups of espresso, as well as a measuring scoop and a tamper.

Above that is a lever about nine or ten inches long, tipped with a black plastic handle.

Under the coffee hopper and holder is a depression topped by a black plastic grid, on which you place your cup.

Mounted perpendicular to the top of tank and behind it is the frothing mechanism for steaming milk, with another knurled knob to the left and a chrome tube that goes into the milk on the right.

There's an on-off switch on the left side of the base.

The guts of the machine are cast brass - no plastic or pot metal here - so you need to introduce your kids to a love of espresso pretty early, because they're going to inherit this machine and pass it on to their own kids.

All the visible parts of the machine are either chrome or ABS plastic.

Here are some specs:

Boiler capacity: 1.6 liters
Number of cups of espresso brewed from one tankful of water: 16
Steam delivery: 10 - 15 min
Pressure in the boiler: 0,7-0,8 bar
Pressurestat to maintain a constant pressure in the boiler, with a pressure release valve
200mm (approx. 8") wide x 290mm (approx. 11-1/2") deep x 320mm (approx 12-3/4") tall
Weight: 5,5 Kg. (approx. 2-1/2 lbs.)

I don't remember exactly what I paid - I think it was in the neighborhood of $550 - but there was a copper and brass model available for an extra $100. Lovely, but not worth the extra money and hassles with cleaning.

HOW IT WORKS

Fill the tank with fresh cold water and close it tightly with the huge knob. Turn on the machine and wait about ten minutes until the pressure gauge at the top of the water level tube reaches 1 bar.

Fine-grind enough good quality espresso, French, Italian, or Vienna roast coffee, according to your preference, for the amount of espresso you want to make. (To ensure absolute freshness, grind each cup-worth just before you use it, rather than all at once.)

Pack the coffee into either the one- or two-cup metal filter and tamp it gently with the tamper that comes with the machine.

Drop the filter into the black-handled filter-holder and place that in the underside of the lever mechanism. Turn the filter-holder to the left to lock it in place.

Put your cup on the black grid, under the filter-holder, and raise the lever to its highest position. When you lift the lever, you're raising a piston that allows water under pressure to infuse the coffee in the filter holder. When you lower it, the piston forces the water through the coffee and out the spouts into the waiting cup.

Wait for enough coffee to drip out that it just covers the bottom of your cup.

Then slowly and steadily lower the lever, forcing the coffee out of the bottom of the filter-holder and into the cup.

To froth milk, put it into a container with a handle and hold the container at the end of the frothing tube.

Release the small knurled knob above the water-level tube and move the container up and down on the tube until the sound changes to a deep, rich gurgle. For a good foam on top, begin foaming at the top of the milk and move down and then back up.

Pour the frothed milk into your cup and enjoy! Some people like to spoon the foam off the top of the milk before pouring and then float it on top, but I don't bother.

I usually pull singles for espresso and doubles for lattes and cappuccinos.

Before turning off the machine, blow steam through the frothing tube for about five seconds, to blow out any milk that may be stuck in it.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

Cleaning is pretty easy, because all the visible parts are chromed. Empty the filter holder and filter and wash well. Use an old toothbrush to clean the underside of the mechanism where the filter-holder goes, detach the frothing tube and scrub with a plastic scrubbie, drain the tank, wipe the chrome, and wash out the plastic grid that catches drips.

Espresso is judged not only by the quality of the coffee itself but also by the crema, the thin pale brown foam that forms on top of the liquid. This coffee-maker makes superlative coffee and generates a lovely crema as well.

I like manual machines, so never wanted an automatic push-button type where all the action takes place in a metal box out of sight. I must be related to Rube Goldberg, because I love moving parts!

WHAT I'M NOT SO CRAZY ABOUT

The tank gets very hot. I'm sure it's insulated, but you can easily burn yourself on it. Fortunately, it's at the back of the machine, but it's the biggest part of it and it's too easy to brush against it.

There's nothing to hang on to when you're turning the handle of the filter-holder to the left after inserting it into the machine. Because the filter is full of coffee, it can be hard to turn the filter-holder into the locked position, so the entire coffee-maker may swing to the left. There should be a sturdy handle at the bottom front, to enable you to hold the machine steady as you turn the handle to lock the filter-holder in place.

The removable frothing tube slides onto a stem that's attached to the steam release valve. It's supposed to lock in place by twisting around a little knob on the stem, but that's at the back of the machine and hard to see. So it's possible to use the frother without it being locked onto the stem. Although it hasn't happened to us, I assume that it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the pressure of the steam frothing the milk could cause the frothing tube to blow off the stem. My DB has often used it without being aware that the tube wasn't fully seated against the stem. There needs to be a more visible and effective locking mechanism, and a safety that prevents the foamer from being used unless the tube is locked in place.

The foaming tube swivels up and down, but is used in the down position. In that position, it's just 1-1/4" from the hot tank and less than that from the pressure release tube, so there isn't much room to maneuver the milk container.

The machine rates five stars for the coffee it produces and the quality with which it's built, but only three stars for the design glitches - the hot tank, lack of a grab-bar, and potentially dangerous foamer. So I'm compromising on four stars. I have no qualms about recommending it, for the quality of coffee alone, as long as you know about the potential dangers and use it with care. Given the Italian tradition for outstanding design, these issues are pretty surprising.

Here's one of my favorite recipes:

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO CAKE

Cake
4 ozs. unsweetened chocolate (Bakers), chopped
12 ozs. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, in bits
1 cup freshly brewed espresso*
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
8 large eggs, lightly beaten

*You can substitute 1 T. instant espresso in a cup of water, but it won't taste the same and if you're reading this review, I assume that you're interested in the real thing, no?

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Line the bottom of 9" springform pan with removable sides with waxed paper or parchment.

Place the chocolate in large bowl.

In a saucepan, bring the butter, espresso, and sugar to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

Add the sauce to the chocolate and whisk to blend.

Let cool. Stir a small amount of the chocolate into the eggs, and then add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture. Whisk until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Place the pan in the center of a large piece of heavy-duty foil. Crimp the foil tightly around the pan, making sure not to tear it. Crumple any excess foil around the outside of the top edge.

Put the pan into a roasting pan and pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to come about one inch up the sides.

Bake until the cake tests done at the center, about an hour.

Remove pan from water and let cool to room temperature.

Cut around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake. Remove the sides from the pan. Put a plate on top of the cake and invert them both. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and the waxed paper. Put a serving plate on the cake and invert again.

This cake takes a dark chocolate-espresso glaze beautifully, or you can make a sauce by whirring a package of thawed raspberries or strawberries with a little sugar and kirschwasser if you like. If you make a sauce, spoon a puddle into the bottom of each serving plate and slide a wedge of cake on top.