Hi
I'm Pedro from Coffee Parts and I'm here with Damien Moore from La Marzocco
Looking at the super rare
one group Leva X
Damien welcome back to the channel.
Thanks mate
We did a video with you with the GS from the 1970s.
That's right.
And now we're here with the Leva X.
But before we jump into this machine from Those that don't know you
Do you want to give a 30 second bio of your story in coffee.
Okay.
I've actually just last week celebrated my 20th anniversary in coffee.
Yeah.
20 years ago, I started with a roastery, a fairly
well known roastery in Sydney that was distributing La Marzocco's
Yeah.
And that was my first introduction to La Marzocco's
I used to start working on them because no one else did.
And over that last 20 years, as you know, the coffee scene has evolved
massively and La Marzocco has become a massive part of that.
And it's a company
that I've been really happily involved with and working for for such a long time.
So it's a massive part of my life.
So you could almost say La Marzocco is now in your DNA 20 years in this machine
a 100%
And I know you've visited Italy multiple times
to the original factory, now academy to your new factory.
We've actually been that together.
We saw the launch of it.
We saw the launch of this in 2017, we then were there.
Host in 2019 where they actually had the one group
at the launch of the two group.
But it's been a journey.
It's been nice. Yeah. Yeah, it's, um.
Well, as you said, we've seen it together and we can see how La Marzocco has pushed
in different directions.
We talked last time about the GS machine,
the technology involved in that and
the levers machines are quite different to that technology that they were around
and that's how you make coffee up
until probably the sixties or seventies was a leva machine
and when we moved that automated machine
of pumps and automatic volumetrics,
probably we moved away from some of the pure ideals of coffee
making by the leva a coffee machine could create.
So La Marzocco wanted to create a machine that not only honored
all the generations of coffee makers before us,
but took that technology to another new modern level.
So we took the best parts of old lever machines and we remove what
we hope some of the worst parts of old day machine, some of the inconsistencies.
And this is the machine that we created.
It's a wonderful thing and that's what's cool about La Marzocco
They kind of push in different direction
because they're really aware of coffee as a global market.
Yeah, yeah.
We, we, we our market is very demanding, very much
pushing towards an automatic volumetric market.
But there are so many different,
different places around around the world that are interested in coffee.
And this type of machine definitely has success in other markets.
It might not be as busy as ours, but
La Marzocco is, as you said, trying to cater for the entire world.
That's kind of what's cool in Australia.
It's a very milk based coffee market
which commercially tends to have the machine facing the customer.
In many of the European countries, the machine tend to face a wall
with the Barista is backed facing the custommer
That's a good point there.
An espresso market? Yeah.
And then in Asia, it's different again.
So it's kind of nice that La Marzocco has
basically recreated
the leva with some of their pressure profiling, Strada EP'S
but they've also honored the Leva and re-engineered the leva
for that purist leva espresso, which.
Is just one. Of a kind, right? Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's hard to to knock it if it works so well.
When you actually have a coffee off one of these machines,
suddenly you realize why it was such a good system of making coffee.
So on that note, we want to explain what they've done
to this lever versus the piston levers of the past.
Sure.
So basically the old piston levers used to generate a lot of pressure by you
wind up a spring and then the spring would unload water through the coffee cake.
But there was a it was tricky to get consistent
with temperatures and consistency of the spring.
And one of the big things it was quite dangerous.
Yeah you're using I don't know if you've used as the old levers they kickback.
They flickback. It was called Jawbreaker.
Yeah, that's right.
So the people used to look pull it down, look over the shot, forget, let go.
And either way.
If you're if you're compressing a big spring to 10, 11,
12 bar that's that has to unload its pressure somewhere.
So it unloaded into this lever mechanism.
So one of the first things La Marzocco wanted to do was remove some of the.
Hazards.
From levers.
And so we invented this clutch system so that when you engage the spring,
you can actually disengage the levar, which keeps the mechanism safe
from hurting you.
Other complaints about old levers used to be that the temperature stability
was a little over the place.
So we spent a lot of time
from the GS learning about, you know, how important the stability was.
There's different heaters
and different elements in different parts of this machine
to make sure that the water stays at the right temperature.
It's PID controlled.
So the temperature part was a really big
sort of factor in the design here.
And then also we wanted to be able
to give the operator all the all the possible ways to make coffee.
You can adjust your incoming line pressure for pre-infusion.
You can adjust your high point at this spring
Just going back there.
This machine can be plumbed in, but it actually does have a water
reservoir hiding under here.
And to emulate pre-infusion, it does have a rotary pump in there
that creates emulations
Yeah, but if you had a plumbing or bypass rotary pump
to be dead silent, they really have factored that into.
That's right.
You need to have some sort of positive pressure of the water so that you are
pre-infusing while you're sort of building up the pressure on the spring.
So that's why I engage that and pull down
a small amount of water will be moving on to the coffee cake.
So with the reservoir machine, as you said, we need a tank.
Yeah.
And that will also push water up into the steam. To the steam boiler
We set that, pump it is to two and a half bar
and you can reduce that even less.
Of course, you can adjust the temperatures.
These little indents in the wheel is how much volume
of pressurized water you're going to push through the coffee cake.
So this is a machine for people who know what they're doing. Yep.
I wouldn't give this to the everyday barista
whose first day on one of the tools, but it does give you
incredible control and the results are spetacular
And then
do have a display here
that is using a press transducer to kind of graph out
what that profile's looking like and you can almost emulate it again.
Because you can see what you
if you've liked the profile, you can save it in here and then kind of.
It doesn't create the profile for you. But gives to you a little guide
So you can sort of see at this point,
this is when I might release the levar and create the pressure build up.
And this is kind of almost a carryover from that.
The Strada EP that we created that could replicate this kind of technology.
But we wanted to actually see the pressure profile and people are very visual now
rather than just being told what to do, they want to see it.
And then they want to have a guide on the screen on here, you can have up to
I think it's four guides so you have different ways to make a coffee.
And you got your timer too so like it
it's giving you that that digital feedback from
Guess a vintage or analog
system of making coffee.
Yeah.
It's a nice it's a nice sort of crossover really modern coffee machines.
We with the old style of understanding profile.
The irony is most machines that are looking at pressure
profiling or pre-infusion ramp up or down flow control are trying to emulate levers.
So the fact that they've recreated levers I find that actually quite cool.
Best way to emulate levers is making levers
Showing all the glass panels is also super cool
because a lot of levers in the past had a casing around it and people use to obviously
remove the casing so be more visual, but then you have the risk of
the springs and people putting their hand through it.
So they've kind of made it like a display item.
Yes. Still safe
Well I said it is a bit of theater. Yeah.
The engineering that's gone into this mechanism
is also to reduce the effort on the Barista
But yeah, it's, it's fascinating to look at it.
So to hide that would be a wise
And I know that we're talking about coffee,
but even from the steam side, the steam lever is really cool.
I do like the way you can activate your steam
Yes, this one, instead of being a manual valve
or a mechanical valve, it's an electronic potentiometer
that you're moving up and down, which means that you could
change the
direction if you wanted to have up to be on or down to be on.
You can just tell it digitally which way to do which is quite of fun.
You are saying you had
a person that really wanted it to go up because they were pilot.
Yes, he is a pilot and he likes the idea of the thrusting and the thrust of the planes.
And I. Feel like some car guys would want to go down.
Some gear shifting gears shifting.
Yeah, like I've done it both ways and it takes a little bit to getting used to,
but it is just fun.
And this machine really is designed to tailor
to make coffee the way you'd like to make it.
I can make coffees of this and use the same machine, same grinder,
and then put that portafilter into this machine.
And it just makes such an exclusive coffee because of all these
little engineering things. That La Marzocco have done.
And then looking at it from the inside,
it does share a lot of commonalities, but just saying the GS3
or commercial parts out the La Marzocco parts mean.
So even down the track,
although they have kind of reinvented a lot of stuff with the lever, it's
still a machine that's using the same group and seals and the same internal.
So it's actually not a scary machine to own.
So no, not at all.
You're right. When you open up
the way they did before, you can sort of recognize what's in there.
Yeah. I mean, we're built.
We're always building on the shoulders of people who build stuff before us.
So to use the same parts we know we have, you know, trust
the technologies are all coming together in this machine.
I wouldn't throw out one technology because you creating a new one,
you incorporate that into your new machine.
So you're right, it's the same tried and tested materials we use on most that machines.
I do like that because when I look at the machine sometimes, so
it's a massive machine, a very unique creative and very be
Factories as beautiful as they are always start to thinking.
How are we going to replace that part?
Something goes wrong. Yeah, yeah.
That's right. I mean, that's right I tell people all the time.
The good thing about La Marzocco machines is that we have all.
The parts.
We can if something does, you know, over time need to be repaired.
Yeah, it's quite a simple process to do that.
Keep looking at the machine like or maybe it's a fanboy in me, but.
but just love even the logo here. And be able to see into the machine
through the glass panels and is this something
I've seen this machine plenty of times in trade shows
it has a present before having it here, like almost this to myself or to us.
You welcome, I can't wait to make coffees on it.
It it has a presence or nothing on any batch.
This machine and the big commercial, two or three good ones.
Let's just multiply it.
Almost feel like every roastery should have this as a show point.
Definitely. Definitely. Everyone should have. Will see.
You'll be buying all of them as well.
Yeah. It'd be great if everyone is.
We would be very happy.
It does teach quite a lot about coffee though. making coffee in this process
really does bed down some of the things that you need to know.
about making a good coffee
I do like the tears overall is hitting a volumetric button.
On that note, should we load up the Portafilter and run the espresso?
Yes, let's do that.
So we've preloaded the portafilter.
We've got two cups on top, ready to go.
I reckon someone is making an espresso.
Let's do it right.
So I want to tell you a bit. Well, this machine can do while we're making
making an espresso
some of the parameters that you can control as a barista
besides obviously setting your peak pressure. Yep.
Which would be how high that'll start off the profile.
You when you activate this lever,
the machine is pre-infusing into your coffee cake.
so how long you take to pull that down
will affect how much of your pre-infusion for, and then it's still intent on here.
We'll push a certain volume of water
through the cake and roughly 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 mils.
So let's get down to that sort of 30, 40 miles back.
We'll take it down.
It's pre infusing now and wait for the coffee to start to come off the spout,
which is just coming out now.
So we can see on the screen the pressure. That's correct.
The springs is just unloading now in through here and the pressure transducers
is recording in that and that's all being recorded on the screen as a visual guide.
So if we made a fantastic shot, yeah, we think I want to do that again and again
and again.
I could save the guide. Yep.
And then that would act like a little, I think ghost car racing game behind
my shot might not be in blue and it'll be in gray
so I can try and match that shot that we thought was so good
timing
looks good.
very smooth. Very.
The crema is just perfect.
Yeah. I find this profile makes exclusive coffee.
Is something
about even when we're doing pressure profiling,
a kind of ramp up body around down the long body.
Yeah, there's. A kind of spring.
And it's a bit, obviously, and it makes me feel like you're doing something.
You're actually pulling your shot.
Yeah, instead of just pressing a button on the machine,
which is great in a busy environment, but this is just so much fun.
It involved kind of reminds me
because the car you going in the daily driver,
which is your volumetric machine, then you got the weekend to show that drive.
Yeah.
Big blanket in the garage, take off the car
was lovely.
It's really nice.
I keep looking at it, because i keeping a little bit
You know it's just different.
Like we've seen a lot of machines come through
Not necessarily at the channel but like
It definitely has a presence hasn't this one way and that's it's not little.
Yeah it's it sits on the bench, it's quite high but
everything you need, I mean if I had a house that would suit
this, I would build my house around this kind of machine.
I feel like it needs to be on an island bench then.
really sets it off.
Yeah. It's great to look at from all different angles.
You know, you're saying before some machines
are really good up against the wall
or from the from the rear or from the barista side.
But this one is there's things to look at quite a few angle.
So it is a it's a show pony.
It needs to be on its own little island. Yeah.
It's it's a it's cool.
I can actually you were talking about earlier
this would suit one to like that man cave that's got all the cars and
and then you have this is like very mechanical, very car like.
Yeah, absolutely. It's a. Or Motorbike.
What we were saying, it's great to have this in a showroom for motorbikes.
So I get you're right. You're right.
It just appeals to that sort of mechanical engineer,
the precision which, La Marzocco and you know,
Italian engineering is quite wonderful.
And I do love I love being able to see into the mechanism
and seeing and operating.
To me, it's like a artwork that is just 3D. Absolutely.
And as we said at the beginning,
the theater of this machine, is it actually creates taste.
You know, you start looking at a wall.
I look at this and it's it's exciting to watch.
Coffee's being made on this machine, which is why I think
it's, you know, you eat with your eyes as a food.
And I think this is kind of the same thing in coffee.
Because of the experience.
If you have someone over and you make them coffee on this,
it becomes an experience of the making and drinking.
I got a feeling though that there might be some questions because it's such a rare
machine.
Yes
Be cool if people have questions drop us on the comments below
get back. You are more technically minded than me when it comes to this leavers.
So, if you help me get back to these questions.
You're going to pull a few shots. with Eric, yeah
So you can see what a great barista can do with this machine.
But yeah, absolutely.
I'm very happy to answer any any questions about this machine.
The more excitement we get ready about it, the better.
And. Like Always. thank you for coming on the channel again.
It's always a pleasure.
We've been friends for like 20 years and neighbors.
So having you come here means a lot to me.
And to be on this machine that we saw in 2017 together.
Yes, like nice full circle
Thanks very much. I appreciate it.
And like always with these videos, but you value the thumbs up
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Thank you again, Damien. No worries