walk into the premises of someone selling electric pump driven espresso machines, tell them you are considering a lever espresso machine in the alternative and brace yourself for a deluge of misinformed industry myths
firstly it is highly unlikely that the salesperson will have ever used a lever espresso machine, so a good response to start with is enquiring which lever machines they have used in the past, where, and for how long/in what capacity
one of the stories that often makes its way back to us is that lever machines are unsuitable for a commercial environment as they are slower than an electric pump driven commercial espresso machine
ive no idea how this conclusion is arrived at. even been to Napoli? an unexaggerated 90% of the espresso machines in the cafes/espresso bars of Napoli are lever espresso machines. and here’s the thing, the bars in Napoli are busier than the busiest cafe in the UK could ever dream of – the espresso bars of Napoli are literally serving a constant stream of customers all day. it is lever machines that are chosen to deliver in this brutal high volume day in day out environment
the extraction time on a lever machine is identical to the extraction time on a pump machine. it takes the same amount of time to prep the basket and lock the portafilter in. a few seconds pre-infusion, but many of the high end pump machines also have a pre-infusion phase. it just doesnt stack up
if the people making the claims had ever used a lever machine they would not be making such claims. we are not saying lever machines are for everyone, some people will simply prefer a pump – that’s fine. but to say a lever machine is unsuitable for a super busy espresso bar is simply unsupported by fact
add to that the reliability and ease or service, often self service, that a lever espresso machine brings you and the benefits becoms even clearer. a machine that requires a factory technician to fix it invariably has a higher cost of ownership – if a factory techincian is required that is typically becuase the machine is complex in nature. increased complexity usually means reduced relaibility where espresso machines are concerned. so when your machine goes down having to wait for a factory trained techinician not only costs more in terms of the labour for the techincian, but also the parts and critically the lost sales revenue arising from the downtime
if you can service your own bicycle and wire an electrical plug with confidence and competence, with our support you can solve almost any problem that can possibly arise on a LONDINIUM lever espresso machine
as far as texturing the milk goes you start this as soon as you have released the lever on the group and the espresso shots commence – steaming the milk has absolutely no impact on the quality of the espresso shot as the piston closes off the inlet ports almost instantly, at which point the brew chamber is isolated from the rest of the system in the espresso machine, so the use of the steam wand has no impact whatsoever
lever espresso machine deliver the best taste in espresso (assuming a decent roast and a decent grinder) with ease and reliability that all adds up to a lower total cost of ownership