A while back, just a few years into my espresso machine obsession, I got my hands on a La Pavoni Europiccola lever espresso machine – not initially with a review in mind, but just because I loved the look of them, and I fancied one of these cool looking things in my life.
Nearly four years later, I’m finally writing my La Pavoni Europiccola review – speedy is my middle name… To be fair, I did write a blog post about the Europiccola, sharing what I thought about it, but it wasn’t really a review as such, and now in early 2023, I’m re-writing this into a review with details on currently available models.
This review includes all the models of the Europiccola (currently available in the UK), the professional versions plus the Expo and the Esperto Edotto.
New Europiccola Changes
In case you’re here because you know about the La Pavoni Europiccola already but you’re just wondering if there’s anything different about the new models, then yes, there is!
As the new line of models from La Pavoni has only been recently released, info is thin on the ground, so I spoke to Shop Coffee to ask them some specific questions about the latest iterations of the Europiccola and the others in the La Pavoni Lever range, and here’s what they came back with:
All Brass Pistons!
If you’re familiar with the Europiccola, you’ll probably be aware that brass pistons are the preference of most users, but they’re usually something you have to buy and mod yourself, and they’re not actually all that cheap as I know from when I modded mine to switch the plastic piston for Brass. With the new range, however, ALL pistons are brass.
52mm Portafilter
There appeared to be some confusion online with regard what size the group is on the new range, and therefore the portafilters – as to whether they’re 51mm, or 52mm. The answer is that all of the range, including the Europiccola, and all the professional models, all have 52mm groups & portafilters.
All Bases are in Stainless Steel
Again, there appeared to be some confusion re what the bases are made from. Stainless steel is good in the long term, as you don’t get the rust in the base that you can get with other base materials, but I found various info on various websites, some saying they’re chromed, some saying they’re stainless steel. The correct info is that ALL bases on all models are now stainless steel.
All Boilers are in Brass, Except for one.
The Esperto Edotto model, below, has a copper boiler. All the boilers on all the other Europiccola and professional models, all have brass boilers.
So if you were wondering what is new with the La Pavoni lever espresso machines, now you know :-).
What is the La Pavoni Europiccola?
I’ll do an FAQ at the end of this review, but I wanted to start this updated post off with a bit of background and general info on this machine, starting with the obvious question, what is it?
So, the La Pavoni Europiccola is a lever espresso machine – a fully manual traditional espresso machine. Fully manual, because you, the home barista, create the pressure via the lever – vs. semi auto espresso machines (which most modern traditional espresso machines are) which have a pump to create the pressure.
So if you were to ask this question from that perspective, the answer is that the La Pavoni Europiccola is a fully manual level espresso machine.
It’s actually a ridiculously simple piece of engineering, it is a boiler (with an element inside it of course) with a brew group attached, a lever, a piston, a portafilter, a drip tray, and a steam wand – and if you buy one of the fancier models it’ll have a pressure gauge (usually just steam pressure but in some cases also brew pressure) and some pretty looking adornments.
If you’re asking the question from more of a philosophical perspective, then I’d say the La Pavoni Europiccola is an icon that has possibly even helped to embed coffee into our culture, certainly in the UK & Europe. It’s such a cool looking thing, it just oozes style and sophistication, even James Bond had one (Roger Moore, Live & Let Die).
Although to be fair, this particular James Bond didn’t really ooze much style and sophistication when it came to using this Iconic machine ;-). As you’ll see in the still frame from the movie below, not only is he trying to steam the milk after putting it in the coffee, he’s also got the release valve pipe sticking into the cup, showing that they didn’t have an Italian in the production team, as no Italian would have let that happen!
Hugh Grant is seen “using” a La Pavoni Europiccola in the movie “About a Boy” as you’ll see in the image below, which I think they did to try to paint his character as someone with a certain “air of sophistication.”
But once again, they clearly didn’t employ an Italian in the production team ;-). When you look at his ridiculous espresso-making routine, it’s clear they’ve really intended it as a prop and have then told him to use it with no instruction regarding how the heck he’s supposed to do that.
What the chuff is this supposed to be that is coming out of the portafilter and landing in his cup, espresso? That is NOT espresso – that’s dishwater, why has he got dishwater in his La Pavoni boiler?? ;-).
They clearly took inspiration from Live & Let Die, too, as he then goes on to steam milk in the cup, although to be fair to them, at least he only has the steam wand in there, and not the pressure release pipe too.
Jude Law also uses a La Pavoni Europiccola in the Talented Mr Ripley, in an attempt to help build his Character (Dickie Greenleaf) as a cool, rich, sophisticated heir to a shipping fortune, living a life of luxury in Italy. He doesn’t do quite as bad a job with the espresso-making actually, although the espresso you do see him make, doesn’t look great, and at one point it’s just water entering the cup so they clearly did some takes where they forgot to put coffee in the portafilter ;-).
Al Pacino is seen with a La Pavoni Europiccola in Godfather III, Robert De Niro & Owen Wilson are seen with a lovely looking version in Meet the Parents – so it’s clear that filmmakers have seen this espresso machine as a way to embed a sense of luxury and sophistication into certain scenes or to aid in portraying certain characters.
But fear not, although some movies have painted a picture of the La Pavoni Europiccola as being a thing of style and beauty over substance, it really isn’t, it makes cracking espresso! On that note, let’s get into the review.
La Pavoni Europiccola Review – Updated for 2023
The way I’m going to do this is to first give an overview of the machine, not specific to any particular model, and then I’ll get into the various models and how they compare with each other, similar to what I did with the Eureka Mignon grinder review which is another machine which has various different versions at different price points. For more on the Eureka Mignon see:
Eureka Mignon Review
So there are various versions of the Europiccola, and there’s also the professional which has a bigger boiler, and there’s a couple of really fancy models, the Esperto Edotto and the Expo.
They’re all essentially the same machine, the various versions of the Europiccola simply have different finishes and features, and professional versions have a bigger boiler and are also available with different features and different finishes & furnishings if you like.
Are You a La Pavoni Europiccola User?
Before we get into the different versions, I think the main question to answer if you’re thinking of buying one of these cool-looking espresso machines, is whether or not you’re a La Pavoni Europiccola user.
Using a Lever machine isn’t quite like using a semi-automatic espresso machine, and using a La Pavoni Lever espresso machine isn’t quite the same as using other Lever espresso machines on the market.
Many other lever machines are more modern iterations of the traditional lever machines with new-fangled inventions like a case surrounding the boiler so you don’t give yourself second-degree burns while using it ;-).
Owning a La Pavoni lever espresso machine is similar to owning an old school vintage sports car.
While these cars are basically an engine with wheels and a seat that the user needs to tame, the Europiccola is essentially a boiler with group, which the user needs to tame.
Modern cars have ABS, power steering, heated windows, heated seats. Modern espresso machines have things like pumps, PID, auto on & off, pressure and temperature regulation, and so on.
Sticking with the vintage sports car analogy, once mastered, I’d imagine that driving a car like that is just something else when it comes to the driving experience, regardless of the fact that much more modern far cheaper cars would technically outperform it.
Someone in any Electric car these days may have the power and the safety features to leave the Ferrari 348 driver for dust – but who’s going to be having the most fun?
I think it’s a similar thing with these old school espresso machines, although unlike with the car analogy, it’s quite possible to outperform more modern machines with the Europiccola.
If a barista who has mastered one of these machines went up against a barista using a modern machine, in a professionally judged competition focusing purely on espresso quality, I think it would have to be a very good Barista and a very good (add several zeros to the end of the Europiccola price) espresso machine to be able to compete.
Having said this, it’s also very possible that someone who hasn’t mastered one of these machines is going to produce espresso that doesn’t deserve to be called espresso ;-), speaking from experience.
I pulled some staggering shots soon after unboxing my Europiccola, by complete fluke, followed by some terrible shots along with the frustration of not understanding what I did right and what I was now doing wrong, which just comes with the territory while trying to tame a beast like this.
If you like the idea of embarking upon a journey involving mastering an old school machine leading to potentially outperforming the majority of most newer espresso machines costing several times the price, then the La Pavoni Europiccola may be the start of something amazing for you.
These fully manual espresso machines give you complete control over the pressure, via the lever, which is the main reason I say they can, potentially, outperform much more expensive machines.
The reason I say “potentially” is that these old school machines require more from the barista, not only when it comes to pressure, but also when it comes to temperature.
While many modern machines (most costing a lot more, to be fair) use technology to ensure a stable pressure and temperature, you’re on your own with these machines. But, once you have the barista chops required (and sometimes by pure fluke in the run-up to that, as I mentioned earlier) you’ll knock out some amazing shots of espresso with one of these retro looking machines.
If you need ultra convenience in your life when it comes to your coffee, these machines aren’t going to tick that box.
In my case, I own a La Pavoni Eurpiccola, and I use it when I’m in the mood and have the time to play with it, but I don’t use it as my everyday machine, as I’m generally busy and need the convenience of a more modern machine.
My usual daily machine now is the Sage Dual Boiler (when I’m not using another machine at home for review purposes, at the time of writing for example I’m using the La Marzocco Linea Mini).
But every so often just as I might crave getting the vintage sports car out of the garage if I owned one, I crave an espresso with the Europiccola.
If it seems like a step too far for you at this stage of your coffee journey then these home barista coffee machines may be of interest to you:
Best Espresso Machines For Home Baristas
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Safety First
Just one thing I do feel I need to point out before continuing with this review post, is that one of the things the La Pavoni Europiccola lacks when it comes to modern creature comforts, is a case surrounding the boiler.
What this means, is that you have a ridiculously hot metal boiler, with literally no insulation, sitting on your kitchen worktop. Any bare flesh that comes into contact with this, will be lost for good, as I can tell you once again from experience, having lost a big chunk of skin on my forearm while using the Europiccola.
This is one of the reasons I wouldn’t use this as my main espresso machine, as I share the kitchen with my wife and kids, and while I’d think they’d all be more sensible than me & wouldn’t make such an error, it wasn’t something I wanted to chance as I knew just how flipping painful it was.
If you decide to get one of these, please make sure it’s put somewhere that you or others in the home aren’t going to be reaching behind it (which is how I injured myself on mine), and obviously make sure that there’s absolutely no possibility of kids getting anywhere near it, as it really is chuffing hot.
With that said, I’ll now review the various models.
This is the lowest-priced version of the La Pavoni Europiccola. All of the Europiccola models have the same technical features, it’s just finish that differs.
Features:
800 ml boiler
Sight glass water level indication
Bakelite knobs, lever handle & portafilter handle
Chromed brass boiler & group, black stainless steel base
Plastic (ABS) drip tray with plastic (ABS) cover
52mm portafilter
Brass group piston
Steam wand with single hole steam tip
Cappaccinatore frother (plastic auto frother for anyone who doesn’t want to use the steam wand)
Dimensions: 20 x 32 x 29 cm. 5.5 Kg
2 year UK RTB warranty if purchased from Shop Coffee
So this is the lowest-priced version of the Euopiccola, and the only difference between the various models of Europiccola, is the finish.
While this has black bakelite for the knobs etc., and has a black stainless steel base, the model below also has bakelite plastic but has a stainless steel coloured stainless steel base rather than black, and I’m not actually quite sure why the one with the black base is cheaper, but it is, so there you go.
Features:
800 ml boiler
Sight glass water level indication
Bakelite knobs, lever handle & portafilter handle
Chromed brass boiler, group & base
Plastic (ABS) drip tray with plastic (ABS) cover
52mm portafilter
Brass group piston
Steam wand with single hole steam tip
Cappaccinatore frother (plastic auto frother for anyone who doesn’t want to use the steam wand)
Dimensions: 20 x 32 x 29 cm. 5.5 Kg
2 year UK RTB warranty if purchased from Shop Coffee
All the same as the model above, but all chromed stainless steel instead of the black coloured stainless steel base.
Features:
800 ml boiler
Sight glass water level indication
Wooden (rosewood) knobs, lever handle & portafilter handle
Chromed brass boiler, stainless steel base
Plastic (ABS) drip tray with stainless steel cover
52mm portafilter
Brass group piston
Steam wand with single hole steam tip
Cappaccinatore frother (plastic auto frother for anyone who doesn’t want to use the steam wand)
Dimensions: 20 x 32 x 29 cm. 5.5 Kg
2 year UK RTB warranty if purchased from Shop Coffee
This is the fanciest looking version of the Europiccola, all chromed stainless with rosewood handles & knobs, and a stainless steel drip tray cover. It’s all finish though, it’s the exact same Europiccola as the other two above.
If I were to buy a new Europiccola now, if I’m being completely honest – I think I’d probably go for this one, if I was thinking of one of the standard Europiccolas and not one of the larger professional versions or one of the really fancy looking competition versions below. Either that, or I’d go for the slightly cheaper version above and then change the handles myself, although looking at that, it looks like that would probably cost me slightly more.
I’m usually very practical when I’m buying stuff, in that I wouldn’t usually pay extra for shiny bits or wooden bits. If I was buying a new car for example, I’d only consider paying for features that actually make a difference to the way the car drives, or to safety or comfort or whatever, I wouldn’t pay extra for shiny bits or pretty adornments.
When it comes to the Europiccola, though, it’s slightly different. For me, these machines are partly about the way it feels to use them, and to that end I actually think that the experience of using this version of the Euripiccola with all of the wooden trim, would be even better than the slightly cheaper versions, so I probably would spend the extra fifty quid on this version over the one above with the bakelite trim.
Mods & Older La Pavoni Europiccola Models
Before we go on, it’s worth just mentioning that while the currently available versions in the UK are listed above, it’s very possible to mod these machines. One of the most popular mods is to fit a pressure gauge, another is to change the plastic group piston for a brass one (not required on the new models as they all come with brass pistons), and there are other mods you can make including purely aesthetic ones such as changing the handles & nobs, through to changing steam tips.
It’s also worth mentioning that you don’t have to go new for La Pavoni Europiccola. There are two categories of Europiccola, “Pre Millenium” and “Millenium” (also known as post Millenium). The Pre millennium La Pavoni Europiccola of course is the one that was made from the 60s up until 2000, and then from 2000 onwards is the Millenium version.
Used La Pavoni Europiccola Ending Soon on eBay
Which is best, La Pavoni Europiccola Millenium vs Pre Millenium is quite a big subject, and it depends who you ask and from which perspective you ask the question, as there are lots of pros and cons. For instance, it’s harder and more expensive in some cases to maintain and repair older pre Millenium models depending on the version, which thread the heating element has and so on.
Yet there’s a general consensus at least when it comes to certain older models and certain years of newer models, along the lines of “they don’t make them like they used to”, with post Millenium versions from certain years having their fair share of potential longterm issues due to metal parts being replaced with plastic.
I did quite a lot of research into the older models, both pre-Millenium and Post Millenium, when deciding which model to go for, and the decision I made was that even the newest models are so similar to the original, in that they’re very simple and easy to take apart to change bits, that it probably made sense to go for either a brand new model or a slightly older Millenium version, and then upgrade it myself over time, starting out with a brass group piston to replace the plastic one, adding a pressure gauge and so on.
I then stumbled upon a guy in Germany, via the La Pavoni Lever Machine Owners Group on Facebook, who reconditions them. He’d just reconditioned an older post Millenium version – with a pressure gauge, and with a brass group Piston.
Unfortunately, I later discovered that it didn’t have a brass piston, a mistake by the guy who’d reconditioned it (who thinks he fitted the brass piston I’d paid extra for, into someone else’s machine who hadn’t paid for an upgrade, haha, so lucky them!), which wasn’t a big deal as I just bought one and did that myself.
I later had some issues with this machine, the base started to rust after not very long, the thermal fuse also stopped working not long after this, so it actually needed quite a bit of maintenance not long into owning it.
So in hindsight, I wish I’d just bought a brand new machine & done some mods to it myself, or taken it to a local espresso engineer to do for me. Actually, writing about this has reminded me that I keep meaning to ask Radu at Espresso Repair Shop if he’ll also repair La Pavoni lever machines, I’ve just messaged him and he’s come straight back to say yes, so I’ll get this to him in the next day or so for him to repair.
Radu repairs and reconditions domestic espresso machines, by the way. This is the guy who reconditioned the two Sage Dual boilers that I currently have, and did the Slayer mod for me. I wanted to really get to know the Dual boiler, for my review, so I got two from Radu which he reconditioned, one to use at home, one to use at the studio, and I then got him to do the Slayer (flow profiling) mod for me on one of them so I could add info about this to the review.
La Pavoni Professional
OK so we’ve discussed the currently available La Pavoni Europiccola models, now to talk about the “Professional” La Pavoni Lever machines.
The main difference is capacity. The Europiccola is really for making a few coffees at a time, it’s not really meant for making several coffees while entertaining guests for example.
Yeah, the boiler is 800ml, which you’d think would be enough for loads of shots of espresso, but it loses water while heating and it uses water for steam too, so if you’re making espresso and steaming milk for each coffee, that’s not a great deal of water.
You can’t just take the top off and refill the boiler as you would with a more modern espresso machine. You have to turn the machine off, wait for it to cool down, and depressurize, before opening it up and refilling the boiler.
The same is true of the La Pavoni professional, but the boiler is twice the size on these, at 1.6L, so it does make them more suited for catering for multiple coffees.
Just keep in mind, though, that when you’re making several back-to-back shots with any of these old-school lever machines, you may experience some overheating which will lead you to need to do some work to cool the group down. You can get group heatsinks which help in this regard, you can also get a bowl of cold water and lift this over the group to submerge it and cool it down.
The other difference with the professionals is that they come with a pressure gauge, which the Europiccola doesn’t, although it’s fairly straightforward to fit a pressure gauge to a Europiccola if you’re hand with a spanner, or if you know someone who is.
Features:
1.6L boiler
Sight glass water level indication
Steam pressure gauge
Bakelite knobs, lever handle & portafilter handle
Chromed brass steel boiler
Stainless steel base
Plastic (ABS) drip tray with plastic (ABS) cover
52mm portafilter
Brass group piston
Steam wand with single hole steam tip
Cappaccinatore frother (plastic auto frother for anyone who doesn’t want to use the steam wand)
Dimensions: 20 x 29 x 32 cm. 6 Kg
2 year UK RTB warranty if purchased from Shop Coffee
The lowest cost version of the professional, this version is all chromed stainless steel, with bakelite plastic nobs & handles and an ABS plastic drip tray.
Features:
1.6L boiler
Sight glass water level indication
Steam pressure gauge
Wooden (rosewood), lever handle & portafilter handle
Chromed brass boiler
Stainless steel base
Plastic (ABS) drip tray with stainless steel cover
52mm portafilter
Steam wand with single hole steam tip
Cappaccinatore frother (plastic auto frother for anyone who doesn’t want to use the steam wand)
Dimensions: 20 x 29 x 32 cm. 6 Kg
2 year UK RTB warranty if purchased from Shop Coffee
As with the stainless steel/wood Europiccola, this is exactly the same as the other version but with a rosewood portafilter handle, boiler seal and steam dial.
Features:
1.6L boiler
Sight glass water level indication
Steam pressure gauge
Wooden (rosewood), lever handle & portafilter handle
Golden Eagle boiler top and other gold plated detail
Chromed brass boiler
Stainless steel base
Plastic (ABS) drip tray with stainless steel cover
52mm portafilter
Steam wand with single hole steam tip
Cappaccinatore frother (plastic auto frother for anyone who doesn’t want to use the steam wand)
Dimensions: 20 x 29 x 35 cm. 6.5 Kg
2 year UK RTB warranty if purchased from Shop Coffee
This is the Expo 2015 version of the La Pavoni Pro model which was one of three models made especially for the Expo 2015 event in Milan. It’s basically the La Pavoni Professional Lusso, but with the famous La Pavoni Golden Eagle, and some pretty-looking gold plating.
Features:
1.6L boiler
Sight glass water level indication
Steam pressure gauge
Brew pressure gauge
Wooden (rosewood), tactile lever handle & portafilter handle
Golden Eagle boiler top and other gold plated detail
Copper boiler
Plastic (ABS) drip tray with stainless steel cover
Brass group piston
Stainless steel base
Red accent base cover
52mm bottomless portafilter with rosewood handle
52mm spouted portafilter with rosewood handle
Single, double & triple shot competition baskets
Engraved competition shower screen
Steam wand with single hole 1.5mm steam tip
Steam wand with single hole 2.0mm steam tip
Cappaccinatore frother (plastic auto frother for anyone who doesn’t want to use the steam wand)
Dimensions: 20 x 29 x 35 cm. 6.5 Kg
2 year UK RTB warranty if purchased from Shop Coffee
This is the competition model of the La Pavoni Professional, which is not only very pretty but comes with some impressive performance-related stuff, including a brew group pressure gauge as well as the steam pressure gauge, standard portafilter and bottomless portafilter, two steam wands with different sized steam holes, single, double & triple competition bakets & competition shower screen.
I have to say, it does make me giggle slightly that they’ve made such a high-end competition machine – and they’re still bundling it with a cappuccinatore frother, but there you go, if you want to – you can leave the two pro steam wands in the box, and use the plastic auto frother. If you do that, we’re no longer friends, I’ll be taking you off my Christmas card list and unfriending you on Facebook! ;-).
I have to say also that for such a high-end machine not only in terms of finish and detail but also where it matters – it’s not actually that expensive a machine.
You may think I’m nuts for saying that fifteen hundred quid isn’t expensive, but this is among the high-end fully manual piston lever espresso machines. At the high end of the semi-auto pump machines, we’re talking from six to ten grand, so when you put it into perspective, this machine isn’t actually over the top when it comes to cost.
For another review of the La Pavoni Europiccola see my youtube post:
The Original La Pavoni Europiccola Post
Now I’ve created this review of the La Pavoni Europiccola, the Professional and the other 1.6L versions, I’m going to introduce you to my original Europiccola post, for anyone who wants to keep reading.
I wrote the article below about the Europiccola when I got my Millenium version, as I mentioned above, but this wasn’t a review of the currently available models, it was just a general post about the Europiccola, but given that some people might be interested in what I had to say about it, I thought I’d leave the original info, so here you go.
Back in 2015, I brewed via other processes at home but I didn’t have an espresso machine. Then, Sage appliances sent me “The Oracle” Espresso machine to review, which isn’t just a semi-automatic, it grinds, doses, tamps – just about the only thing it doesn’t do is get the cup out of the cupboard for you. Here’s the updated Oracle review:
Sage Oracle & Oracle Touch Review
When the Oracle went back, I was hooked on making espresso at home, but I wanted to develop some skill, so I didn’t want a machine with as many automated features as The Oracle. I also didn’t want to have to explain to my wife that we couldn’t pay the mortgage for the next couple of months thanks to my new Espresso machine. So I started off with the Gaggia Classic, which I modded with a Rancilio Silvia steam wand.
Gaggia Classic Old Model ReviewGaggia Classic Pro Review
I had this machine for over two years, and I was very happy with it. Then, thanks to my wife and family – for my 40th birthday, I went on a 2 day Intermediate SCAE Barista training course.
I hugely enjoyed the course, I learned so much, and when I got back I felt that I needed to upgrade from the classic to something a bit more capable. I was thinking along the lines of a prosumer espresso machine that was closer to the commercial level, similar to the Nuova Simonelli machine I trained on.
But I also had an interest in Lever machines. I’d watched videos with the YouTube/Instagram star Il Barista Barista Dritan Alsela pulling Espresso on his 4 group lever machine, and it struck me just how cool it looked to see a Barista actually ‘pulling’ a shot, with a traditional lever machine.
I know from my own recent experience doing Barista training, there really is a lot more to being a barista than just pressing a button, but doing it the old-school way with a lever machine just has a particular allure.
I think it’s probably because it reminds me of when I was in Frascati and Rome a few years back, and being in a traditional cafe’ where there were two Baristas pulling Espresso on a Lever machine, it felt like being in the birthplace of Espresso, which it was, well – nearly.
The first true Espresso machine was invented by Mr. Achille Gaggia, in Milan, in the late 1930s. La Pavoni was already very well established, but the La Pavoni commercial machines at this time were purely steam powered, and steam didn’t create the kind of pressure that we now know Espresso needs. So the coffee that was being enjoyed in Italy back then was strong, but it wasn’t quite Espresso as we know it, and there was no crema.
Gaggia developed the piston machine, and this is what gave us espresso as we know it. The first domestic lever espresso machine came along around 10 years later, again from Gaggia (The Gaggia Gilda).
About a decade later, another firm in Milan called DP who specialised in producing heating elements, came up with the Europiccola, which was acquired by La Pavoni, and the rest is history.
The Europiccola has been going strong ever since and is still in production, along with the “Professional” version, which has a larger boiler, and some other versions which have been added more recently (Stradivari and Romantica), which are mainly aesthetic variations as far as I can tell.
So anyway, I’d been thinking about using a Lever machine, and about how it would make for an interesting blog post if nothing else. I didn’t expect that I’d take particularly well to such a machine, from what I’d read I thought that a machine like this would be above my skill level, and that I’d just use it for a few weeks, write a blog post about my experience, sell it and replace it with a semi automatic machine.
I did some research, I joined the official La Pavoni Owners FaceBook group, and I found a guy on there in Germany, whose passion is restoring La Pavoni Espresso machines, and he had a few machines at the time. He had a 2005 Europicolla, a 2015 Europiccola, and a 1991 professional.
To begin with I was thinking of going for a professional, but when I told him that I usually made one, two or three Espressos at a time, he advised me that the Europiccola was probably right for me, it heats up quicker, and has the same capability in terms of Espresso quality and steam power, but that the only plus for the Professional is that you can pull more shots in a row before having to turn it off and let it cool in order to refill the boiler.
Here’s the photo he sent me of the Europiccola being restored.
A few days later, it turned up in the UK :-).
The first thing to say, is that this thing is beautiful. When I got it out of the box I didn’t know whether to plug it in or put it on display, it really is a piece of art.
The second thing to say is, despite all I’d read about using a fully manual lever Espresso machine being some kind of a dark art requiring a huge learning curve – actually, the first Espresso I pulled with the Euripicolla after getting it out of the box and letting it heat up, was probably the best-tasting shot of Espresso I’ve ever produced at home!
This left me wondering what all the fuss was about re these machines being difficult to master or that they really require serious skill – maybe it was just a fluke and all subsequent shots until I got the hang of it would be sink shots?
Yes and no, I’d say ;-). I’ve pulled many amazing shots with the Europiccola, I’ve also had some frustrating experiences where I suddenly lose my talent, as it were, and appear to forget how I’ve previously pulled mega shots, but I think this just comes with the territory of using a machine like this.
So first of all lets go through the initial setup.
Step 1: Fill with water until the water level is nearly at the top of the sight glass.
Step 2: Switch it on.
That’s it 😉
Other than the on button, there are no other switches or buttons. There are some versions of the machine which have two power settings, one for brewing and one for steam, but that’s it.
Warm up time.
When the machine reaches 1 bar, it’s warmed up. If you go for a standard Europiccola without a pressure gauge installed, you can wait for the green light to go off, indicating that it’s reached full temp, but you’ll hear the boiler as it’s heating up anyway, it goes silent when it’s reached full temp. My machine sings to me as it’s heating up ;-), it starts off with a hiss, then turns into a low level hum, and then stops when it’s heated – quite handy really ;-).
I mentioned this to the guy who restored it, and he told me that it’s one of the special things about these espresso machines, not one is exactly the same, and one result of this is that they all make slightly different noises.
From what I can tell, these machines – especially the older ones, have been manufactured in a fairly artisan manner, to the point that not just different years are made using slightly different parts and/or slightly different processes, but even individual machines manufactured in the same factory, around the same time, were made slightly differently. I really like this non-clinical approach to manufacturing, as I think it creates more unique machines – but having said that, it’s quite simple to make these machines unique yourself.
If you have one with a plastic piston, it’s quite easy to switch it to brass – it’s a doddle to replace the boiler cap and the handle, for instance, if you want to source some nice wooden replacements. Some people have done some really clever things with their Europicolla, such as this character ;-).
One of the things I love about this machine is that there is really no hard and fast rule about how you pull a shot with the La Pavoni machines. It’s a case of finding out what works best for you, and there are quite a few ways that you can personalise your own specific method to get your Espresso or Ristretto exactly how you like it.
The key regardless of the particular method you go for is, of course, getting the grind right and using great quality coffee beans – but pre-infusion and the way that you pull the shot, is down to you. I doubt there are many users who do this exactly the same.
When it comes to pre-infusion, this is done by lifting the lever up to allow water to enter the group (there’s enough pressure there to let go of the handle, it will stay upright), and leaving it in this position until you’re ready to pull the shot.
Some users wait until coffee begins to drip from the portafilter, some say the pre-infusion is to long or your grind is too coarse if coffee drips before you start pulling. I find somewhere between 5-10 seconds is about right, but I also find that I tend to get more volume but a faster pull the longer I leave the pre-infusion.
Regarding the pull itself, there is the standard method and various versions of what has become known as the Felinni move. The standard method is to just pull the lever in one sustained move once pre-infusion time is complete.
The Felinni move (named due to a Barista being seen doing this move in a film by Italian director Federico Fellini), is basically a form of active pre-infusion. This means that you’re pre-infusing the puck of coffee with some pressure.
There’s one method (which I’ve seen some refer to as the ‘mini Fellini’) which is a series of mini pumps after pre-infusion, which don’t draw any additional water into the group, and then there’s what I assume is the ‘full Fellini’ where pressure is applied to the lever during pre-infusion, to somewhere between a third to a half of the usual full pull, and then the lever is returned to the beginning and a full pull performed.
When doing it the standard way without any active pre-infusion, I find that what I’m producing is more Ristretto than Espresso. It’s great, don’t get me wrong – and I’m glad that I can pull Ristretto with this machine, but I wanted to find a way to pull what would be classed as a full Espresso.
From asking the seasoned users on the Facebook group, the general consensus is that really the La Pavoni Europiccola does tend to produce more Ristretto than Espresso generally speaking, but that there are various tweaks you can make to personalise your shot with the Europiccola, so I’ve been experimenting for the past week or so.
The method I’m using now is yielding around 32g from 16g, and I’m doing this with an 8 second pre-infusion followed by four ‘mini Fellini’ pumps, with the last one flowing into a full pull of the lever.
If I’ve made the above sound really technical ;-), it’s really not – all this means is that in order to get a bit more volume in the shot, I’m lifting up the lever and then instead of just starting the pull after the pre-infusion, I’m doing four little pumps with the lever before continuing to pull the shot. I’m not doing this really heavy handedly, by the way, as I don’t want to disturb the puck of coffee too much.
Steaming Milk
One thing in the favour of the Europiccola over similarly priced (and much higher priced) single boiler semi-automatic espresso machines, is that there’s no waiting around for steam after pulling the shot.
This depends on the model, with some of the pre-millennium models there are two power settings, and you may have to wait a short time after switching the power to full, for steam, but with this model the steam is always ready.
This means that as soon as the machine is ready to make Espresso, it’s ready to steam milk, so you can steam your milk and then pull the shot straight after – or do it the other way around, whichever suits. I prefer to pull the shot first and then steam the milk, personally.
The steam power on the Europiccola is pretty good, and consistent.
A Word of Caution
There are a couple things you need to keep in mind with the Europiccola. One is that the machine, in particular the boiler, gets VERY hot. An experienced user would have no issue with this I’m sure, but as someone who’s used to using a semi-automatic machine, I hadn’t given the boiler much thought, until I caught my arm on it… I won’t make that mistake twice!
Usually with semi-automatic machines, the boiler is housed inside a casing so you can’t touch it directly. The boiler is the main part of the Europiccola, so of course it’s exposed – and if you touch it with your bare skin as I did while reaching behind it, it will take a bite out of you – what some on the user’s group regarded as a “love bite” ;-).
This wasn’t a little burn, it didn’t even blister, it just took a big chunk of my skin straight off, it flippin’ hurt, and hurt even more when I put my arm under the cold tap!
The nut on top of the piston also gets hot so you need to be careful that if you keep one hand on the boiler cap as I find myself doing sometimes when pulling the shot, you don’t let your arm touch that, although it’s not as hot as the boiler.
The other thing is that while you can just leave a semi-automatic machine turned on as there’s a tank to fill the boiler – there’s no water source for the boiler on the La Pavoni, the boiler is the tank, so if you let it run out of water, it will probably blow the thermal fuse, and may also pop the heating element. I have mine plugged into a timer which I’ve set to turn it off after 20 mins if I forget.
I think I’m hooked!
Getting the Europiccola was more of an experiment really, I wanted to include the La Pavoni machines in my Best Espresso Machines post, and I wanted at least to have had some experience of using a traditional lever machine, but I wasn’t expecting to really get into using a machine like this in the way I have.
What I think is really special about using this machine, is that you’re so involved in the whole process, and you have enhanced sensory feedback from the machine while pulling the shot. You are actually pulling a shot when you’re using a La Pavoni machine, you’re not doing part of it and then letting a pump do the rest while you watch, you’re fully engaged in the process as part of the machine.
You can see the shot flowing as you would with a semi-automatic machine, but also you can sense how the shot feels from the lever, and I’m already getting a feel for when I’ve got it right. It’s a really satisfying feeling when the lever just seems to be moving at the right rate with the Espresso flow looking right, and seeing the crema forming in the cup.
It’s clearly not the most convenient of espresso machines, it’s not the machine you might want if you’re in a mad rush in the morning, to me the La Pavoni Europiccola is an espresso machine you’ll use when you have the time to really enjoy it, just in the way that you probably wouldn’t use a classic car to get to work every morning but you might get it out of the garage to enjoy when the weather suits and you have the time to savour the experience.
So on that basis, I’ll be keeping this machine to use when I have the time and the inclination to really spend time pulling shots. I’m going to be using various other espresso machines to review, anyway, as I’ve got loads of other espresso machine reviews planned, so it’s unlikely this is going to be my main daily use espresso machine, but it’s not going anywhere, I’m keeping it and I’ll look forward to being able to spend time pulling shots with this brilliant little stylish looking espresso machine in the future.
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