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LONDINIUM II owners
Well here is one of them…
Galos - Hertford
6 Old Cross, Hertford, SG14 1RB
With a bit of luck when they get a moment they will post some images & an outline of what they offer
I've tried the food prior to them opening and can vouch for it being very good; far beyond what is commonly served up as retail food and a visit will definitely not be a waste of your time
Galos - Hertford
6 Old Cross, Hertford, SG14 1RB
With a bit of luck when they get a moment they will post some images & an outline of what they offer
I've tried the food prior to them opening and can vouch for it being very good; far beyond what is commonly served up as retail food and a visit will definitely not be a waste of your time
Comments
Give these guys until the end of the month, or call before you make a journey, as i don't think they are quite open for business yet;
Natural Foods Etc
55 Clerk Street
Edinburgh EH8 9JQ
T. 0131 662 0820
gauge is maybe yes, maybe no, but its kind of a non issue as its the sort of thing i can flick a white one to you post sale and you can fit it in 2 minutes flat
with the L1 plumbed in model in particular there is a lot of free space, with the L2 the boiler pretty much fills the entire cabinet space
element choice is easy - we are now only offering the L2 in 4KW - this way we can have them on the shelf, ready to ship, no mucking around (eliminated the dual fuel, 2.85KW, 7.5KW)
kind regards
reiss.
Proud to have these on my bench
Hi! Wanted to make a quick introduction about our shop and our LII.
My husband and I (with help from my mother-in-law) have a little "pop-up" coffee bar called Anaya Coffee inside a market in Melbourne Beach, FL. As of a few weeks ago we had an LI and upgraded to the LII when we built a new bar in the store. We just got the LII up and running after sorting out the kinks.
Importing to the States probably isn't the easiest for both Reiss or us, but it is well worth it! It spent some time in customs jail in Miami; guess they were making sure we didn't stuff it full of any suspicious substances. Then after a few popped water lines and overnight floods in the bar area, the LII was hooked up. If you are in the states and order an LII you will need a 3/4" BSP to NPT adapter. We ordered ours from ebay.
After everything was connected we had to sort out some dummy moments with Reiss and diagnose a strange vibrating sound! Thankfully Reiss has the patience of a Buddhist monk. We bombarded him with emails of videos/pictures and facetimed him early in the morning to sort out our messes.
During the set up of this machine we learned that the key differences between the LI and LII are very important to pay attention to. When Reiss says you should run the cold water line pressure at 3bar, you should do just that. We installed a regulator (what Reiss calls a pressure reducing valve) on the cold water line to decrease our city water pressure which was just above 4bar. We also forgot to remove the clip from the anti-vac (not so smart)! Because of these things we found that when trying to dial in we couldn't grind fine enough and it was difficult to keep the coffee from just blowing through the group during preinfusion.
We also had a funny and very loud vibration sound coming from the machine. It turns out a copper pipe was feeling lazy and decided to rest against the internal frame. We gave it a gentle nudge and so far so quiet!
Now we are ready for the fun part; making espresso!
Since I got my L1 I was never ever envious about any other machine anymore but now I am! ;-)
Yes, Reiss is correct, the floods occurred due to bad compression fittings and had nothing to do with the LII.
In other news, after we moved the copper pipe around we are still experiencing the noise. We have pinpointed the noise to be coming from the fill solenoid. For everyone who was not aware, we are experiencing a loud buzzing/vibration noise that seems to happen when autofill kicks on. We did a quick test today. We started by forcing the autofill to kick on and create the buzzing noise (blowing off a ton of hot water) then as soon as we heard the noise we quickly unplugged and replugged the machine. We did this three times. As soon as we unplugged the machine the buzzing stopped, when we replugged it the buzzing would resume. Not sure if this is the best test?
As far as comparison of LI and LII, I think I will have a much better idea after working with it for a bit now that we have the kinks worked out with our new bar. So far the LII is a fantastic machine and absolutely beautiful. The boiler itself is gorgeous! After working with LI for so long, I have developed LI habits, so not sure how much of that is necessary. Differences in tamp don't seem to effect the preinfusion like in LI.
Initial thoughts; I love the texture of the espresso I'm pulling today, has a smooth richer mouthfeel, and pulling a bit more crema than we used to in LI. The crema seems more fatty and fluffy (yes, those are the technical terms
thanks for the continued posts
on the noise issue - let me check with Adrian on monday if it is possible for a defective solenoid to make a noise like that
I'm thinking it is highly unlikely (never seen a solenoid issue yet) and that it is resonance caused by the inflow of water when the solenoid opens
i.e. I'm thinking the most likely cause is a pipe touching a panel or the chassis somewhere (else)
but i will revert
ps - is the noise the same pitch and tone as it originally was, or does it sound different?
kind regards
reiss.
I've just spoken to Adrian (CEO of the manufacturing company) and i have the answer for you
it is the solenoid that is creating the resonance and its because even though you are on 240V it is 60Hz rather than 50Hz and the higher frequency results in the resonance sometimes
consistent with what you have already discovered by experimentation, Adrian said to turn the incoming water pressure down using your regulator to 2 bar
he also told me to turn the incoming water pressure on mine down to 2 bar as the water coming in at too high a pressure can blow straight through the solenoid (i.e. turn it down to 2 bar incoming even if you are on a 50Hz supply)
let me know how you get on
reiss.
How are you getting on with your L2?
I will follow up with Adrian next week and get a complete solution for you
I'm sure you can appreciate that it's difficult to get comprehensive responses in those last few days before the holiday period
Kind regards
Reiss
I've just spoken with Adrian
He is going to get a 60Hz coil for your solenoid wrapped up today and I will book it out on DHL tomorrow
We will get rid of that noise for you by the end of the week!
Do set your regulator back to 3 bar, it is a sweet spot for the L2 and L3 as I had a chance to go through it with Adrian in detail
It's often hard to get comprehensive answers in the busy run up to Xmas close
In the meantime I hope you're building a queue of happy customers
Best
Reiss
All fixed! Super easy and when I turned it on it was quiet as a mouse! So happy... Thanks!
prior to that, this;
Hi Reiss,
I am going to put in the solenoid tomorrow since we will be closed. I will let you know how it goes.
We love the machine. It would be hard to imagine ever using any other machine.
After 18 months of high pressure use, and I mean an average of 400 espresso drinks per day, I can say without question that not only is this machine the best I have encountered for espresso quality and consistency, but it is also the most reliable machine I have used. We have changed the seals once in that time and have had a couple of minor issues with o rings. We also had to adjust the pressure of the US water supply which is typically higher than that in the UK, but now have some great results from the 4 espresso blends that we currently do here.
Anyone who is thinking about investing in this excellent machine should not think twice about reliability or results. There are few coffee houses that I know busier than ours and we have been open 7 days a week for the near 18 months with these machines, they have been absolutely great. To cap it all, Reiss is one of the most responsive people I have ever come across in the industry. Emails are usually replied to within hours and we have had a couple of skype/facetime conversations even though they were at rather unsociable hours because of the time difference.
I am currently planning to upgrade one of my machines to an LIII so I can use the LII in our Roasterie when we have the money to invest, and I would definitely buy this machine again when they get to end of life. I would be happy to give more information for anyone who is considering purchasing one of these machines. Just in case you are wondering, I have no connection with Reiss apart from being a customer and did not know him before I purchased these machines. My interest in posting this is purely because I believe many people would benefit from this excellent machine and may be wondering about its viability in a very busy coffee house environment.
Yes, it has arrived! Early. They delivered it before the 1-5 window I was given. We almost got it hooked up and tested today, but not quite. I wanted to drop the line pressure from 6bar to 2bar and that's requiring some extra bits.
So no interesting pictures to show. The box the machine was in really protected it, beefy styrofoam.
Tonight I'm printing the manual and tomorrow we'll pull some shots. My espresso tech was down right giddy when looking at the design. I believe the highest tech part (electrics tech that is) would be the Gicar that fills the boiler. Maybe I'm wrong!
The quality of metal work and wood work is fantastic. The quality of the actual metal and wood are fantastic!
Here's a few pix just for proof. I included the box it was packed in to show how well it was packed.
I am the proud father to conjoined twins.
Can you give me the address of the place where the twins will be working? Two friends of mine live in Phoenix and I want to give them the tip to go have a coffee there (one of them doesn't drink coffee actually but the other one does).
I will certainly pass on the location when it does get deployed. In the mean time I'll see if I can convince my distributor to leave it out where it can be quickly turned on and used. They'll most likely like that idea because it is so eye catching but not huge.
Stephen- Funny how anything over 500 miles is just as far away these days! By testing it in the warehouse I should have that regulator set up for when it gets installed, but that's still a good idea- have it available for adjustment. I will consider that.
As for the box- it did a good job, I had bought a Vesuvius espresso machine that arrived in a crate and the foam inside was in many more pieces. In fairness those pieces weren't as tailored to the machine, more like added packing. That machine was in good shape as well.
Dave- That sounds like a set up I would have LOVED to have seen and sampled! Reiss also mentioned a 3 bar setting, so I will start with that. I'll bring my tamp and e92 with me when I go back in today to try it out.
My impression so far is that it's a solid machine, smartly designed. The metal work looks to be excellent. I don't get hung up on appearance (if you saw me, you would agree), but I do appreciate good work and so far it looks to be VERY WELL done. I'll know more when that protective wrap comes off. I'll take it off before it heats up, I learned that lesson in the past with a brewer.
If you have a blow drier handy, that may help making the cover flexible if it's cold but in Phoenix there is a good chance of it not being really cold anywhere ;-)
Now where did I ask about the shot ritual.. flush an ounce or so, wipe the screen and then pull the shot? Sounds about right. Should probably know that before I actually do anything.
Well, no surprise that everything works as advertised.
Very smooth operation. I was flushing a couple oz of water when I removed the PF, wiped the basket and dispersion screen, loaded just under 16gm in it, pulled the lever down and started counting when I heard water flowing. After about 5 seconds carefully lift the lever. Our line pressure was reduced to 3.4bar (the regulator wasn't adjustable apparently!). The shots pulled very nicely. I was able to pull about 6 before having to go to an appointment. The last one was about 27gm out in 27 seconds total (including PI). I didn't really get a chance to 'dial it in' but from what I had so far they were wonderful. As I expected. Funny thing was the grinder (Ceado e92) was set pretty close to ideal when I brought it in, so that helped cut down the time in set up!
I really need to dig up the thread where Reiss gave me the workflow, i.e. when to flush and when he starts timing for his 27g in 27 or so seconds.
I can say that I had PLENTY of volume coming out of the group, I slipped the shot glass out of the stream at around 30g each time.
Here's some pix, like I said- it's located in a warehouse right now. And no, it didn't want to tip the cart over when pulling a shot!
none of our machines are designed to be flushed before the shot
instead they need a rinsing pull of the lever after the shot to ensure the thermosiphon promptly starts flowing again, and it is something most people do to clean the shower screen anyway
key thing is to have it on for an hour (actually follow the instruction manual) and then give all the ports a good flushing (water, steam, brew groups) to ensure any debris from the manufacturing process is flushed away. then leave the group for 10 minutes to fall back to its equilibrium temperature
then you are good to go. 15.8g for the stock baskets, but you can swap those out for pretty much any nominal 58mm basket
a moderate tamp - no need for the hydraulic ram impression
time your shot, weigh your shot, adjust in response, repeat
and that's about all there is to it
obviously feel free to take a look at some of the videos that frans has published for the L1-P as its the same machine as the L2
thanks for publishing here - we look forward to a pic of it being used in anger
i start my 27s count from after i release the lever, i.e. the pre-infusion time is in addition to this count
keep in mind my guidelines are just that - they are simple points of reference to get you roughly in the zone so you are not miles out to one side or the other of the sweet spot
from there you can fine tune it for your roast, the style of drink you are making, and your taste preference
reiss.
Good to know I don't have to do a typical HX style flush. I always flush my DB at home before a shot just to knock off any debris also so that's a habit I'll change for the L II. Come to think of it, I do a post shot flush too...
You'll be happy to know I did follow the manual! I'm not a typical male in that way, I'll ask directions and read manuals.
Yes, I was asking about how you were timing just as a starting point. I realize our coffees / water / everything else are going to be different. Thank you for re-iterating all that. I felt that my shots were a bit quick for my liking. If I had more time I would have tightened the grind and went for longer shots, I also think I could fit more in the basket. I really wish I had more time with it before my meeting.
I was trying shots in Americanos as that is my 'drink' if you will. Everything was all there. I used my FTO espresso blend (aka Rich's Brew). A combo of a Guatemala, Honduras, Sumatra and Ethiopia. They were all in the cup
From my short experience with the machine I can say with confidence - worth *every* penny. I will talk with the shop owner I am intending to push this one on and see if she'll consider taking it sooner vs later.
we expect it to arrive at destination around the 20th of this month, so very much looking forward to seeing some images here as it is an all new cafe in the street level of a commercial office block - its always interesting to see the latest trends in cafe fit-out
Congratulations. It's quite an accomplishment to get a new model designed, tested, manufactured in numbers and shipped.
I enjoy the thought of the growing army of LONDINIUM machines enabling the ultimate in espresso with minimal effort, proving that one does not need a fortune of gadgetry inside the box to get the perfect shot consistently with easy operation.