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“I've had two La Pavoni in the past thirty years. It is...”

written by Lemmy Nothor on 17/06/2009

I've had two La Pavoni in the past thirty years. It is the best machine available for home use. The model I use now is the Europiccola.
I've been reading some of the above comments, and frankly I don't understand how one cannot make a great cup of coffee with this machine. Two things that are crucial when making coffee....first one is the water you use. Don't use tap water, it's full of chemicals that will alter the taste of your coffee. The second most important element, is the quality of the coffee.....don't be skimpy, get real coffee, in beans....not grinded. Grind them at the very last moment, and with a good grinder. I use an old Peugeot manual grinder, those square wooden boxes...they are great, are garanteed for life, and are much better than the blade grinders who have this knack of overheating the beans and giving them a burnt taste. Of course if you can get your hands on a professional grinder, go ahead. But a good one is very expensive.
One more thing to consider when using the La Pavoni, is to replace all rubber seals every three to four years, they are cheap, and very easy to change yourself, if you are a little mechanically inclined.
And even if you are using good water.....clean the inside with vinegar every six months. It'll get rid of the accumulated calcium that blogs the element.

The bad points ? If you ever need to buy new seals.....think ahead of time, and don't count on distributors to have them in stock. I buy them on internet, because the people at La Pavoni could be a little more helpfull....they will always send you to your local distributor, and my experience with that has been less than good. I live in Spain, Barcelona....and here they asked me to wait six months to get the parts ....which is unthinkable...as this would mean that I would have to go without coffee for six months !!!