Intro

Enjoyed reading this month's edition of Dialled In. Since you invited contributions, here's a look at our family's set-up:

What have you got?

Personally, I really love the process of brewing coffee manually and this is reflected in our set-up: a Commandante C40 grinder with Red Clix; a Hario V60 and a La Pavoni Esperto Abile. Not a button (except for 'on' to heat up the water) or automatic pump in sight! The tamper is from BPLUS and at 51.8mm is made especially for the La Pav IMS Basket.

Why do you love it?

When I first got the La Pav I threw away far more shots than I drank; the vast majority were utterly undrinkable. It took my nearly a year to finally start pulling some consistent shots but it's still rather hit-and-miss. Still, it's hugely satisfying on the rare occasion that everything comes together: dialled in, 9 bars of pressure for the full lever pull, and hitting 25-30s for the shot.

What would you change?

The two biggest complaints of my setup at the moment are: the scales; there's a 1500-2000ms lag and it drives me nuts! And my skill level. I've a long way to go before I've mastered the lever machine, and my latte art is appalling. I'd love to open a lever machine coffee bar one day (though, I suspect an army of hand grinders may be impractical at that point), but I'm not sure the ratio of drinkable to undrinkable shots would make it a viable proposition...

Anything else?

...and finally, the Pièce De Résistance; noted for its unusual wooden construction. The barista quickly noted that a tamper had not been included with the machine: an oversight which mum quickly rectified with a bespoke, hand-crafted 2021 corrugated edition to fit the basket perfectly.