Lever

My fascination with lever espresso machines stretches way back to the time I saw my first real commercial machine, in Auckland in 1987. The machine in question was being used in what we Kiwi's would call a “Milk Bar” type coffee shop, on Queens Street in downtown Auckland City. The machine was a venerable Italian 2 grouper, complete with the then obligatory dome and eagle on top. I cant remember the type of machine, but I do remember it was not a machine where the dome was part of the workings of the machine (such as an older LaPavoni or Elektra). Watching the barista pull the lever down was pure theatric and part and parcel of the coffee experience in this Cafe.

Antipodean Coffee purchased a 3 group lever machine in 2008 and began pulling shots as soon as we had it in our hands. The machine was lovingly crafted in the small Artisan Espresso town of Susegana in Northern Italy. The result of the coffee shots exceeds expectations. Each espresso is sweet, thick, syrupy and aromatic. Perfect for a short black, equally perfect for a flatwhite!

Sadly technology- the ease of using an automatic machine- has made lever machines almost redundant. Sad, because those in the know will tell you while these machines require skill and knowledge to use, the quality of the coffee they produce is exceptional.