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New Londinium R with factory installed Pre-Infusion Module
Hi All,
Earlier this week I received my second Londinium espresso machine, an LR. My first machine, an L1 was purchased in January 2016. The L1 was sold a couple of months ago when I moved from a large home to an apartment. I did not expect to buy a new machine but missed having a lever to pull shots. If you own a lever, you are well aware of the pleasurable feeling of pulling a shot in this manner plus the unique flavors produced by the pressure changes occurring during extraction. I never used the pump on the L1 as it was immediately plumbed in upon arrival. Although the advantages of using the pump on my new LR are obvious, I miss the silence of a plumbed machine. The LR pump is far from being loud or obnoxious but the absolute quiet of the L1 will be missed - at least for now.
The LR arrived via DHL after a three-day delay with US customs. I prepaid the customs duty so it went through regular customs without issue. However, it seems that a second customs inspection was required because this is a device associated with food. I think it required a separate clearance from an FDA inspector. Regardless, the LR was received within 1 week of shipping from GB.
The LR was packaged very well. It was surrounded by foam inserts and the machine was well-protected from possible shipping mishaps. After unpacking, it became immediately apparent that, unlike my earlier L1, the LR was essentially completely assembled. The very substantial brew group was already in place and no lubrication or screws were necessary. A very nice surprise. The only real assembly work was screwing in the lever handle! The fit and finish of the machine were just like my earlier L1, which is to say outstanding. After removing the red plastic clip on the boiler, the protective coating on the stainless steel and a quick rinse of the water box I was ready to let the pump fill the boiler. Although I was tuned into possible sound changes in the pump indicating possible issues with water flow, this did not occur and the pump quickly filled the boiler.
I flushed out the group head several times to be sure any remaining lubricant was removed. The first flush or two was a little mirky but quickly became clear.
My LR came with the digital pre-infusion module already installed. The module allows for significant alterations in pressure which can have a major effect on the quality of the extraction. I used the default settings for my first shot which did not turn out well despite various grind adjustments. I was using a fairly fresh Italian roast from Naples (having just returned from Italy) a medium roast with 20% robusta. Decreasing the pre-infusion pressure to 2.5 bar resulted in an excellent Italian espresso (I will avoid a third wave coffee discussion here
). A reduction from the default 3.5 to 2.5 bar was a rather significant decrease and further finetuning will be necessary but the point is that the pre-infusion module works and works very well and opens up a new world for espresso extraction with a variety of beans. The module has wireless connectivity in place and an app to control it without having to remove the side panel is in progress.
I should add that the lever during shots grabbed much lower than the L1 and the ability to use a basket with greater than 15-16 grams is appreciated.
I am quite pleased with the new LR and look forward to trying a variety of roasts in the future.
Rick
Earlier this week I received my second Londinium espresso machine, an LR. My first machine, an L1 was purchased in January 2016. The L1 was sold a couple of months ago when I moved from a large home to an apartment. I did not expect to buy a new machine but missed having a lever to pull shots. If you own a lever, you are well aware of the pleasurable feeling of pulling a shot in this manner plus the unique flavors produced by the pressure changes occurring during extraction. I never used the pump on the L1 as it was immediately plumbed in upon arrival. Although the advantages of using the pump on my new LR are obvious, I miss the silence of a plumbed machine. The LR pump is far from being loud or obnoxious but the absolute quiet of the L1 will be missed - at least for now.
The LR arrived via DHL after a three-day delay with US customs. I prepaid the customs duty so it went through regular customs without issue. However, it seems that a second customs inspection was required because this is a device associated with food. I think it required a separate clearance from an FDA inspector. Regardless, the LR was received within 1 week of shipping from GB.
The LR was packaged very well. It was surrounded by foam inserts and the machine was well-protected from possible shipping mishaps. After unpacking, it became immediately apparent that, unlike my earlier L1, the LR was essentially completely assembled. The very substantial brew group was already in place and no lubrication or screws were necessary. A very nice surprise. The only real assembly work was screwing in the lever handle! The fit and finish of the machine were just like my earlier L1, which is to say outstanding. After removing the red plastic clip on the boiler, the protective coating on the stainless steel and a quick rinse of the water box I was ready to let the pump fill the boiler. Although I was tuned into possible sound changes in the pump indicating possible issues with water flow, this did not occur and the pump quickly filled the boiler.
I flushed out the group head several times to be sure any remaining lubricant was removed. The first flush or two was a little mirky but quickly became clear.
My LR came with the digital pre-infusion module already installed. The module allows for significant alterations in pressure which can have a major effect on the quality of the extraction. I used the default settings for my first shot which did not turn out well despite various grind adjustments. I was using a fairly fresh Italian roast from Naples (having just returned from Italy) a medium roast with 20% robusta. Decreasing the pre-infusion pressure to 2.5 bar resulted in an excellent Italian espresso (I will avoid a third wave coffee discussion here
). A reduction from the default 3.5 to 2.5 bar was a rather significant decrease and further finetuning will be necessary but the point is that the pre-infusion module works and works very well and opens up a new world for espresso extraction with a variety of beans. The module has wireless connectivity in place and an app to control it without having to remove the side panel is in progress.I should add that the lever during shots grabbed much lower than the L1 and the ability to use a basket with greater than 15-16 grams is appreciated.
I am quite pleased with the new LR and look forward to trying a variety of roasts in the future.
Rick