La Pavoni - the ART of making coffee

Author's Rating:

Pros: Beautiful You control every aspect of the shot

Cons: Does get hot Needs time devoted to learning Not good for continuous use

The Bottom Line: 
Bought mine and never looked back. Best machine money can buy but needs knowledge to use.

Author's Review
If you have a passion for coffee and don't mind spending some time learning about how espresso is made then this is the machine for you. If not then go and buy some nasty press the button and get a coffee type machine.

With this machine you control every aspect of pulling your shot and this will of course result in the perfect coffee which can be unrivaled by any other machine on the market, but if you do it wrong (and you will until you learn how your machine works!) then you will of course make probably the worst coffee you have ever tasted. So best to put in the time to become familiar with your machine! It is definitely worth your time investment and you will never look back.

The machine itself is a stunning piece of engineering and will grace any kitchen. I find myself making coffee just because i want to use my machine. The first shot you pull after heating up is always the best because the components are mainly chromed brass which has a tendency of getting very hot (too hot = burnt coffee), but if you are pulling 2-3 shots then you won't have a problem. The problem comes is you want to continuously pull shot after shot.

One thing that i will say is that the machine needs to be kept clean in order for it to continue to work well. This is easy as the outside is chrome plated so can be wiped with a cloth and will look like new for years. The head can be cleaned easily by undoing the two bolts on top of the lever connection and removing the dispersion filter and the piston and giving them a good scrub (if this is not done every so often you will find it hard getting water through the head). You don't need an engineering degree to do this so don't be put of by that. I do mine every few months and i am a heavy user.

I would highly recommend this machine to the coffee enthusiast. I have been through many other machines and i can see this one lasting longer than me. I have a friend who is using one from the 60's and it is still going strong! There is nothing on it to break and parts are readily available on the net.

Oh! I nearly forgot, buy a stainless steel drip tray grate. It makes the thing look even better and fits more snugly into the drip tray making it sturdier! They only cost about £8