Stradivari 8 Cup

This espresso maker looks beautiful on a countertop and looks more like a work of art, not just another kitchen appliance. Very easy to use. Consistently makes the best espresso ever. After using it, I can no longer enjoy coffee brewed elsewhere. Read more

The machine looks great and after some practice makes good espresso shots. Not impressed by the quality of parts and it requires regular maintenance. I’ve owned it for 7 years and it has broken down 3 times. Ended up ordering spare parts and fixing it myself, but it is quite involved to disassemble and fix yourself. Read more

I am sharing a delicious cup of ‘café con leche’ (latte) with my oldest son in Madrid early one recent morning, when after the fist sip he looks at me and says- “I need coffee like this in my life.” To which I replied “So, do I!!” Back home in NJ, tired of bland, weak so-called “expresso” from my fully automatic Jura ENA4, I decided to splurge on this Pavoni Stradivari –oh boy. I love it. The machine itself is beautifully made, and is beautiful to look at. You’ll have to establish a procedure of the type of grid you want, how much to put in the holder, how much pressure to apply to your pull, etc. But all of that will take you one week, after that is fine tuning what is undisputedly a supreme shot of real expresso. For me the 3-hole tip for foaming worked fine. To take full advantage you’ll probably want to invest in a good burr grinder, though I have been able to get decent crema grinding with a Turkish/Expresso setting at the store. Truly happy. Read more

Very disappointing the water tank is leaking and not holding pressure so I cannot pull a shot also the fill window is not working. Would not buy from Amazon again apparently this no warranty. Read more

I've had mine for years, and it's fantastic. Tjhis machine isn't for beginners - you need a decent sense of what a good shot looks and tastes like to master this one -- and still It will take weeks or months to get the hang of it. But the results are stunning, rivaling a $10K Marzocco. These machines are generally exceedingly durable as well. Just look on ebay and you'll find tons of them that are 40 or 50 years old (they're very simple machines, unlike semis). The biggest drawback is that you can only pull 2-3 shots before the grouphead overheats and the shots taste thin. Read more

For all of you expresso lovers if you want to make a REAL expresso like those coming out from the large bar coffee machine in Italy La Pavoni will bring you that perfect aroma. It will take some practice initially but nothing that anybody can't master. Read more

the coffee is not hot enough. i release the steam as directed, i heat the holder of the coffee basket, i heat the espresso cup. still not hot enough. Read more

I didn't drink coffee until I was 40, but started when I bought this to satisfy my wife's addiction to espresso. She is from Italy and wasn't keen on the superautomatic I had purchased some years before. When it died, a friend at work suggested that I get a lever machine. It is now, happily, my daily ritual. After buying a good grinder, it took me about a month to understand what I needed to do to get consistently good espresso (e.g., use freshly roasted coffee, wait about 10-15 min after the light comes on saying it is warm enough). As with others, I have had issues with consistency between shots as the machine heats up, but I rarely make more than about two at a time, so it isn't a big issue for me. Strangely, I don't have to tinker with the grind very much to get consistent crema, but I think this is because I turned up the pressurestat slightly and I am happy to put more muscle into pulling a shot than most people. I think I am consistently building up more than the 8-10 bar that is recommended. Anyway, it works for me to get thick crema about 90% of the time. The biggest pain with this thing is that once a year or so I have to break it down and change gaskets and such. I've found that most of these parts can be purchased for much less out on the web than if you buy the official replacement parts (check out Francesco Ceccarelli's website). The unit is very strong, simple and beautiful. Additionally, if you have the right parts and a few tools, it is easy to work on. There are of course certain parts that are expensive, but using a lever machine is for the aficionado. If you want it easy, go another route. We spend a month in Torino every year and I'm actually kind of disappointed in the caffe there now. My wife says it is better in the south, but I find that although the caffe tastes good, the crema is pretty weak compared to what I make at home with my la Pavoni. My only concern is that in twenty years I may not be strong enough to pull these shots, but until then, I can't imagine that I won't continue to enthusiastically use my Stradavari. Read more