Coffee first thing in the morning is absolutely essential at my house, and when I say coffee I mean espresso: two cups apiece to start the heart and brain functioning. Plus occasional after-dinner coffees. It was therefore a serious crisis for two fussy and demanding caffeine fanciers when our beloved Pasquini Livia espresso machine started dying on us.
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The best machine we’d ever had, Livia gave us excellent espresso for 14 years. About two months ago it started making horrible metallic grinding noises, the backflush stopped working, making excess water clog up in the coffee filter cup, and the espresso began coming out too bitter and without crema. We could tell the machine was in terminal decline. Attempts to locate a repair service failed, so we resolved to euthanize it before it could explode in our faces.
We found that to replace our Livia with the current model would cost at least $1,700, with an estimated two-month waiting period for delivery from Italy. We hadn’t paid anything near that much in 2004, even with inflation factored in. (We’d gotten the machine from Illy, at a deep promotional discount, in return for agreeing to buy a year’s worth of shipments of Illy’s ground espresso coffee.) The new price was a shock: Time to look at other brands!
We began looking for a high-quality, no-frills pump machine – no capsules, no built-in milk frothing container, not even an integrated bean grinder. Much as we love espresso, we aren’t part of the current barista fetishism. Online reviews of the major brands were discouraging: at all price points, up to 15% of purchasers reported delivery damage, rapid breakdowns, water leaks, pressure failures, flimsy plastic parts, excessive noise, and/or horrible warranty service. Small enough odds, perhaps, but way too many possible flaws for us.
Then we somehow found Lelit. This is a maker of espresso machines designed and produced in Italy. On the website, its straightforward, clean-lined Anna model looked like just what we wanted, at a price we could tolerate.
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Lelit is not well known in this country, so there aren’t many reviews of its machines, but the ones we saw (e.g., here) gave us confidence, not only in the product’s quality but in the service by its US distributor in nearby New Jersey. We took a chance and ordered one.
The first pleasant surprise was the machine’s arrival in just two days – in excellent protective packaging. The second was how light it is, for all its sturdiness: our Livia weighed 38 pounds; smaller Anna weighs only 16 – therefore much easier to move around, if need be. The detailed instruction book is in three languages, including clear, grammatical English. Setting the machine up, turning it on, and drawing two coffees worked exactly as described. Hooray!
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Our first cups weren’t ideal: good crema, but a sort of bitter metallic edge to the flavor. Since Livia had always preferred Illy’s dark roast ground coffee to any other, we’d stayed with it for all those years. Maybe Anna would be happier with a different kind? So we tried alternatives, including a lighter-roast Illy variety.
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None of them made much of a difference. But as we continued using the new machine, the espresso it produced kept improving. (It’s also amazingly quiet.) Apparently it just needed to be broken in. Finally, we decided that we still like the Illy dark roast best. It’s by far the most expensive, selling in some stores for as much as $16 for a 250-gram can. But we’ve found places to get it for $11. That works out to 22¢ a cup, which is certainly not extravagant. If you compare it to the bilgewater that passes for espresso at some popular chains, it’s an absolute bargain, even if it takes another 14 years to amortize the cost of the new machine.
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As of this writing, we’ve had Anna for only a month, so it would be the height of presumption to declare a happy ending to this coffee story already . . . but so far, so good! Brains and hearts continue to start every morning, and the palate is getting happier by the day.
Love coffee, love the name “Anna”, and love that you worked the word amortize into the story!
Well, thank you for that! My only regret was that, having talked about Anna and Livia, I couldn’t figure out a way to work in the word Plurabelle.
My advice is to have a stovetop Italian unit (they also come electric) as a standby. Best coffee bean base I use is the two types of Ethiopian coffee.
Did you know that Ethiopia has a coffee ceremony much similar to the Chinese tea ceremony?
Of course we have a little Moka pot too — and not an electric one, since the most likely need here is if there’s a power loss.
Thanks for your story! For years, we kept ordering cappuccino and invariably the machines were out of order. So my husband and father-in-law jokingly said that they should have a card made stating they were espresso machine repairmen, At least it was amusing to us. Back in the late 70’s/early 80’s, my husband, an Italian friend and I served the first cappuccino, to my knowledge, in Western North Carolina. We had a small two cup electric machine that had to be emptied after each serving. Those were the days!
Very enterprising of you all!
Dear Diane,
I read your coffee story with interest and empathy.
As an Australian travelling overseas frequently I look for coffee comparable to our home style.
Alas, it’s hard to find. You must use the internet.
I know you are a purist and regard the espresso as the king but let me urge you to walk up the street in the Village and try a flat white.
It’s basically a cappuccino without the froth. I like mine at 60 degrees C. but you might not like it that hot.
Well, the Bluestone place is practically just around the corner from us, Peter, so I might look in one of these days.
I mourn with you for the demise of Livia. Clearly, she is irreplaceable! Let’s hope Anna grows up enough to fill her shoes
Thank you for the condolences.
I’m working on Plurabelle.
I’m slumming with Delongi!
good story. I will check it out.
Espresso here in London is terrible, always bitter and acidic. I think this is due to a rather different approach to coffee making: here, from what I understood, they go for a lighter roasting (plus most Brits have milk in the their coffe, most of the times: the percentage of straight espresso drinkers is still very low).
When our little Krups died, after much thinking we decided to go for a Nespresso – I know, I know… : ) – … and actually and surprisingly we are happy with it… the espresso is hot and the capsule we chose is good (one called Ristretto). Truth be told, it is not as good as the espresso u get from any decent bar in Italy, but then.. even my mum’s super heavy Gaggia never made a coffee that was as good as a bar one. Out of curiosity I will explore the brand u mention. Shocked by the price of Illy!! – here in the UK a 250 g Illy (beans) is about £ 6. – stefano
Yes, I’m with the stove top Italian made small espresso pot. No capsules. Taste can be adjusted with various fresh-ground beans. Always good. Have used a small automatic and sometimes French press, Chemex for non-espresso but strong coffee. Always go back to the stove top Italian espresso pot.
Diane LaChapelle