Good news, the LONDINIUM I – P is built and boxed, ready to go to the photographer
A number of people have enquired, what is the LONDINIUM I – P, and how does it differ from the LONDINIUM I (L1)?
We built the L1 because there was no compact lever espresso machine that used a commercial lever group and was thermally stable – they were all dippers in 500mm (20″) cubes – the size that no self respecting wife will allow in her kitchen in my experience of trying to sell 500mm cube commercial 1 group levers prior to that
Although people wax lyrical about how they all want a mains fed commercial lever, most domestic buyers buy a tank machine. To achieve this you have to make compromises, one of them being that you have to have a pump to overcome the pressure in the boiler in order to fill the boiler
The LONDINIUM I is as good as we can make it within the constraints listed above, but the question arose; could we offer something better to customers that are not constrained by the factors listed above? What if you have more space? What if you can plumb the machine to the water supply, and out to a drain? What if your budget is greater? What would that machine look like?
It would look like the best lever espresso machine in the world; the LONDINIUM III. Hyperbole? Tell me what beats it and i will try to arrange a side by side test to prove you wrong. The LONDINIUM I – P has exactly the same architecture as the superb L3 and L2. The same sized cold fed heat exchanger, the same diameter of boiler, the same plumbing layout, the same appearance, a 7 litre boiler, and a 2.7KW/240V element that plugs straight into a UK 13A domestic socket
We have decided to offer the L1 – P in 240V only as our expereince with selling the L1 into 120V markets is that 240V is often available at the distribution board of the residence, and increasingly 240V spur lines have already been brought in from the distribution box to run other 240V appliances anyway
We continue to offer our enhanced (plumb in & plumb out) kit for the L1, which gives customers the flexibility if their situation changes post-purchase to plumb the machine in, and out