Izzo Alex Leva

[ivar1967]

Update.
As suggested I ordered coffee from beanbay, Ethiopia Sidamo Ardi Naturals. we are now at 7 days post roast so I can start testing. Let me backup. I talked to the caffe were i get my beans and the beans are about 10 to 14 days after roast when i get them so they are fresh. They are delivered with roast date and then used up pretty quickly so they are easy to track.
what I have noticed this far:
Beanbay beans are quite a lot darker. Equivalent to what I see in other local roasteries in town. Didnt realize until now how much lighter "my" beans were.
With Beanbay "BB" beans i have no problems with short preinfusions and still dosing 2 grams less.I can have lever down as long as I like so that is good.
But i really dont like the taste.Like really. They taste "flat" and no high notes, fruits and all that compared to my beans. And the difference is big.
My wife only drinks lattes, - make it weak!!!!, sigh. First coffe with BB beans she looks at me and goes, - what is this, I dont like it.
Yes, I most certainly have not dialled in for BB beans, experimenting with higher temperatures now so i am sure it is a good coffe but still.
Anyway, to me its now case closed. "my' beans are a light roast which makes a more fragile puck and harder to extract. Not suited for a lever machine I guess.
Decent here I come
Thank again for every ones input. I would really appreciate comments

[338]

Ivar glad you got a result and can confirm what you are aiming for. I wonder if it is worth playing with your lever and a 1kg of your chosen beans for a morning to see if you can achieve what you want? A morning spent experimenting may save $6k on a Decent.

[Javaphile]

ivar1967 Have a look at the thread dedicated to the Ethiopia Sidamo Ardi beans in the Cupping Room thread. At 7 days post roast they most likely need further resting before they will hit their peak flavors.


Java "Love the Ethiopians!" phile

[chokkidog]

That's a quick 'I'm giving up' !! Getting back to your confidence re the bucket of beans.... you have no guarantee that fresh beans are not being put in on top of old beans (and probably stirred through)... none. You're taking their word for it that if any beans are left in the bucket when new ones arrive, that the old ones are being removed and thrown out?? I wouldn't, not in a pink fit! And if those beans are in the bucket 10-14 post roast they have spent that long oxidising at maximum rate. Are you sure that you want to give up on one of the best coffee machines ever made after trying only one other bean? Australia is awash with so much good coffee..............You're in Adelaide? Have you tried Two Fish? ( still only one of hundreds....)

[Caffeinator]

My experience in general is that when tradie blames tools, tradie generally needs retraining.

[noonar]

Ohhh OK then, I'll take the Izzo off your hands. :-)

[trentski]

Ohhh OK then, I'll take the Izzo off your hands. :-)

LOL, I'll race you there!

[Vale]

Hello,
I might crush into the previous topic with an issue I just experienced with my (new) alex leva. Though, sorry about that. I hope you guys do understand how frustated one is if you eventually purchased the machine of your dreams for the last 3 years and than it is not as expecated.
I run the Alex leva for 1,5 month now (with a flowjet and only bottled mineral water as the line water here (=Frankfurt, Germany) is way too hard. Since last week, the water from the hot water tap or that is coming out the group for espresso starts tasting quite nasty, kind of burned rubber. The same with the steam, it smells like burned rubber. Well, this taste will be in the steamed milk and of course the brewed drinks of course and the pleasure with the machin decreased quite significnatly, as you can imagine.
In the last two days I run about 15l water through the machine in the hope to flush out this nasty taste/smell. But without success. The PID is set at 121° Celius (about 249° F) which results in 1,1 bar pressure.

As I said, I'm running the machine for only 1,5 month. My regular water volume I run through the machine is about 2 liter on a daily basis (4-6 dopio and the flushes for cleaning). Though, I wonder (respectively I'm quite frustrated) what else I can do or what might be the problem for this now. Have someone had the same/similar problems with nasty tasting water that is coming out once it was heated in the machine and how could it be fixed? The machine was shipped in a very cold period of time here in Europe, if that matters.

I would be very thankful and hope for any advice.

Many thanks and kind regrads form Germany
Valentin

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Hi Valentin,
Have you spoken to the retailer who sold you the machine? If so, what did they say? What exactly is in your 'mineral water'? Have you tried a different formulation?
Cheers

[Vale]

Hi @Barry O'Speedwagon, thanks for your replay!
I'm still waiting for an answer form my retailer... I couldn't catch him last Friday.
Anyway, the water I usually use has follwoing nutritional values

• Calcium: 6,7 mg/l
• Natrium: 1,1 mg/l
• Magnesium: 2,6 ml/l
• Kalium (Potassium): 1,7 mg/l
• Hydrogencarbonate: 30,5 mg/l
• Sulphate: 2,9 mg/l
• Chloride: 0,8 mg/l
• pH-value: 7,0
• German Hardness: 1,5° Gard

The other water I also tried recently as the following nutrational values:

• Calcium: 80 mg/l
• Natrium: 6,5 mg/l
• Magnesium: 26 ml/l
• Kalium (Potassium): 1,0 mg/l
• Bicarbonate: 360 mg/l
• Solicon dioxide: 15 mg/l
• Sulphate: 14 mg/l
• Chloride: 10 mg/l
• Nitrate: 3,8 mg/l
• pH-value: 7,2

Honesly, I have no clue what value I need to look most. I always was looking at the pH-value...I deselcet chemestry at school as soons as possible ;-)
The first water was recommended to me as pretty good water some time ago. I tried a new roaster lately and they said, the water I usually use (the first) is way to soft and I will loose some of the coffee flavours.

Many thanks!
Cheers

[Vale]

added note: A quick search regarding ph-value and water hardness let me believe that I should have been more careful in chemistry. :/ blame me...

[Caffeinator]

You might use the La Marzocco water calculator as a good start. It googles easily.

[Vale]

Thanks, thats very great indeed!

[TR000101]

Hi all

Am thinking seriously about @upgrading@ my Decent De1+ to an Alex Leva.

Water supply is my biggest issue currently - I bought a water pressure gauge and we have about 2.25 bar, and the water is London UK which means super hard, so will need an in line softener / filter

Can anyone tell me if this water pressure is good enough, and how much it is likely to be reduced after a filter?

Also any advice about bwt vs Brita etc from anyone in a hard water area would be great

Also -I would need to do my own maintenance - I had a duetto before and it was pretty hard - is it ok with an Leva??



Many thanks

Tom

[Caffeinator]

That pressure will be fine Tom

[338]

Tom from memory the minimum was either 2 or 2.5 bar, will see if I can find my manual to find out. The Leva comes with a wiring harness to add a pump, that may be useful if required to increase pressure. Or you could run off a flojet and filtered water. Good luck

[bayespresso]

Hi, I received my new Alex Leva but need to open the top panel to adjust the slightly tilted group head. I removed the nuts/bolts of number 1, 2, 3 (noted in the attached photo). But the nut on number 4 is difficult. Several turns and nothing happened.

Question: Is the nut on number 4 easily removable? Is it necessary to be removed to open the top panel? Or what is the proper way to take off the top/side panels?

Thanks!

[338]

There is no photo visible to me, other users may see it, but thought worth mentioning

[bayespresso]

Thanks for pointing this out. I can see it when logged in, but the photo disappeared when logged out and viewing using another browser. New member here, still navigating the system.

[bayespresso]

Another try to attach the photo

[chokkidog]

If it's new, new, contact the seller. Amateur fiddling that doesn't go right may void your warranty, wholly or partially.

[>Casa Espresso]

Bayespresso,

That nut 4 is part of your cup tray drain point, be careful.

Best is to get advice from your retailer

Regards

Antony
www.casaespresso.com.au