Pulling a shot on the Olympia Cremina

This is the complete process involved in pulling a shot on the Olympia Cremina from grind to cleanup. The grinder is an Anfim Best, Tamper Reg Barber 49mm American Curve, Coffee is Cafe Doma Vito's Blend, the cup is Bodum Pavina. I empirically derived this technique over a two year period. Using this technique and good, fresh, properly degassed coffee you should produce great tasting espresso with thick persistent crema. The active pre-infusion (mini pumps) makes for a superior shot, and reduces potential damage to the puck with a second pull. This makes it possible to pull a full 2oz of espresso on a single pull by filling the empty volume in the puck with water during "active pre-infusion". To view an espresso shot close up with excellent crema, see my other videos.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• espresso
• coffee
• cremina
• lever
• shot
• pull
• manual
• olympia

[dergitarristde]

Cool vid even though the shot doesn't look that great. I notice you also have a Pavoni... at the moment I'm using a Pavoni and a Mazzer but I've been offered a Cremina. If you want, could you please let me know what you think of the two in comparison? Is the Olympia worth getting over the Pavoni?

[ladalet]

Thanks, the shot while being pulled was actually crema top to bottom with great color. You have to remember that there was periods of time missing between shots, so after the shot was pulled the next shot began with the crema settled out. There is no contest between the Cremina and Pavoni. Although the Pavoni is good, the Cremina is a vastly superior machine in every way. I gave my Pavoni to my son and sold my Gaggia Factory. I am currently using my Cremina and an Olympia Club spring lever.

[dimogrec]

very instructional for newbies like me.

I also have a Pavoni Europiccola and I'm trying fellini move-preinfusion but I still get a smaller amount of coffee than expected (I use double basket and 16-17gr).

Could you also make a video with your La Pavoni ?

Happy new year to everybody!

[ladalet]

The Fellini move is very similar to my active preinfusion. Except the the Fellini move is done on a spring lever machine. When I saw the Fellini video on the HB website I got a chuckle that the action of the move was basically what I was doing but in reverse due to the spring movement being in reverse. I also have a Europiccola and do not get as much extra volume as with my Cremina. There seems to be an issue involving water pressure into the group after the initial infusion. Happy New Year.

[luongdung]

is it a good idea to keep the beans in the grinder's hopper for a week?

[ladalet]

In my humble opinion, no. I like to do everything I can to maintain freshness. exposure to oxygen and light shorten the freshness of the beans. I keep my beans in an airtight ziplock bag stored in a cool dark drawer. I only dose out what I need as I need it and reseal the bag and squeeze out the air before I place it back in the drawer.

[dergitarristde]

@ladalet

Hey, cheers.. you tipped the scale and made me buy it and I really don't regret it... took a few weeks of rebuilding (still had asbestos on the boiler and probably hasn't been descaled since '72) but now it's good as new and I'm pulling beautiful shots. Gave the Pavoni to my gf.. I wouldn't say the Cremina "vastly superior" but it's definitely a much more reliable and stable (also temperature-wise) machine and the little more volume it produces does make quite a difference in the cup.

[dergitarristde]

@ladalet: Cheers... yea I watched the vid again and the shot looks much better than I initially thought.. probably just the last picture suck in my mind. Think I'm gonna get the Cremina then.. only thing putting me off is the price of spare parts. 60$ for a filter seems mad. But oh well. Looking forward to it. :)

[dimogrec]

Thanks ladalet.

Is there a way to get more volume with Europiccola? I mean getting 35-40ml (about 1.3oz) or more of coffee using the double filter?

I'm not able to superate 28-30ml even if I use fellini move so it's very "ristretto" (and strong-bitter)

[macrino1]

this guy pulls the best espresso shot on youtube...lots of crema and great looking color!!

[ladalet]

Most lever machines come with a domed or euro curve tamper. A domed tamper pushes the grounds towards to edge of the basket creating a better seal between the puck and the basket reducing side channeling. However, crema is sacrificed. A flat tamper produces the best crema. I am using and American curve which has a very slight dome. It does not seem to sacrifice crema, as you can see, and I do not have a side channeling issue. As long as the grounds are adequately tamped the grinds do fine.