Izzo Alex Leva

[ihodish]

Dear friends,

I did it. I drove with my wife to Albany NY to by my Izzo Leva directly from Chris Coffee Service. The experience was superb.

I am starting now to really understand to concept of 'coffee nirvana'.

Happy holiday,
Israel

[Bazooka]

Hi ihodish,

Seems like the name Chris is synonymous with great coffee gear and service, glad we have one in this part of the world. I got my izzo alex leva from Chris of Talk Coffee and our experiences are identical ... Parallel universe perhaps ?! Enjoy your new gear

[Bazooka]

Hi All,

Finally my izzo alex leva and compak E10 arrived from their long journey north to Indonesia.

Once again Chris from TalkCoffee comes the rescue with troubleshooting a small steam leak that must have emerged during transit. I am so glad I purchased my gear from a reputable site sponsor.

I am still dialling in my grinder but very happy to report coffee already tasted YUM! More notable heavier body with better flavour clarity.

So here is it is




Just in case you are wondering, the black box on the floor is a voltage stabiliser.

I am very happy to be part of Izzo Leva family!!

[TC]

Looks awesome Bazooka...

I know where to find great coffee next time I visit Indonesia now!

Chris

[spina88]

Hi,
I am a new user of this forum.
I would like to buy very soon a coffee machine for home.
I have to choose between Alex Leva and Alex Duetto.
I write from Italy. It is strage but here there aren't any person that could help me to chose which coffee machine is better for me.
I read here a lot of thread about the alex leva.
There is a general idea in this forum that lever machine as alex leva are the ultimately coffee machine; better than a GS3. (As for example Talk_coffee wrote)
In Italy I have had only the opportunity to try a izzo blend with an izzo lever machine.
So I have a duobt about the performance of an alex leva with other miscung compared to a GS3 or an Alex Duetto.
For example with a slightly toasted 100% Arabica blend. This doubt come from the high temperature that the machine use to brew the coffee, higher than a Duetto and a GS3.
What do you think about?
Thank you for the answers.

[ihodish]

Hello spina88,

I have started using the leva, 2 months ago and it has acceded my expectations. The spring group gives you consistent lovely espressos. If you need, you can change the brewing temperature. As to the steam, the large heavily heated boiler makes sure that you will always have ample of steam which is hardly affected by temperature tweaks for your brewing.
The machine corroborated what I have suspected. Double boiler is more complex and not necessarily better. You don't need the complexity, particularly when you need to repair the machine as you sometimes do.

Good luck,
Israel.

[ihodish]

As for brewing temperature. As other folks have posted, it is about 30C below the boiler temperature.

[shortblackman]

Just got my Leva going. (The kitchen that surrounds it is not quite done yet though.)

my first few shots have been great.

But some advise re dose would be good now.

I started with 18g . Gone to 19 g. Both produce more flavour than I could get before, definitely. But could I have an opinion on an optimum (ballpark) weight?

thanks.

this machine is bloody amazing.

[TC]

Good to hear sbm. Glad you're happy!

FWIW, I don't weigh. A perfect dose is a basket filled to the top and levelled. No rap off as the shower is low.

No idea what that represents in grams, but I do know what it delivers in the cup.

Enjoy that new machine!

Chris

[Deano]

Welcome to the club. I dose 20g in mine. Enjoy...

[BeanBrat]

adding

Good to hear sbm. Glad you're happy!

FWIW, I don't weigh. A perfect dose is a basket filled to the top and levelled. No rap off as the shower is low.

No idea what that represents in grams, but I do know what it delivers in the cup.

Enjoy that new machine!

Chris

Great to hear you don't weigh the dose, Chris...

There is so much discussion about the perfect weight, I thought I was the only one who dosed by feel/visual/taste rather than by weight.

BBrat

[shortblackman]

Thanks all.

Chris, you did tell me that technique. But it just seems like so much more coffee than even what I had put in. I also wonder how it works out with the different roasts that go through it.

Ive had one of your coffees so I have no doubt that your method works.

Now that you've made the se suggestion twice, I think I'm ready to follow it

and Deano, thanks. I reckon the sweep method is probably about 20 anyway.

ive got all weekend to try now! Time to get to the bottom of this!!!

[TC]

But it just seems like so much more coffee...

When you spends upwards of $4k on an espresso machine, I reckon you can afford not think about 10c of coffee!

[shortblackman]

I was thinking more about buggering up my recipe .

actually, I'll be using less coffee when I make 2 as I can split the shot. Never on the Pavoni.

[MarkZammit]

One year on, and Leva producing great coffee consistently.