La Pavoni Europiccola review

The short answer

The Europiccola is the original small La Pavoni lever, sold since the 1960s and still built the same basic way: a brass boiler on a heating element, a sight glass to show the water level, a lever that drives a piston through the group, and a steam wand on the side. There is no pump. The pressure in the shot comes from your arm.

That is the appeal and the catch. When it goes well, the Europiccola makes excellent espresso from a machine that is small, quiet, beautiful, and repairable with a gasket kit and a few hand tools. When it goes badly, it is usually because the grind, the dose, or the group temperature is off, and the machine gives you no help in finding out which.

What it is like to use

You fill the boiler through the cap on top, switch on, and wait about 5 to 6 minutes for it to come up to pressure. Before the first shot, open the steam knob for a few seconds to let out trapped air. La Pavoni’s manual calls this “false pressure”: without the bleed, the boiler reads as ready before the water is really hot.

To pull a shot you raise the lever, which lets hot water into the group, wait a moment for the coffee to soak, then press the lever down at a steady pace. La Pavoni gives the brew temperature as about 92 C when you lower the lever with the right intensity. Most of the learning is in finding a grind and dose that give you a steady, heavy pull.

Steaming uses the same boiler. La Pavoni recommends the water level sits about halfway up the sight glass for the most steam, and suggests steaming for no more than two minutes at a time.

The two things owners talk about most

The learning curve. Reviewers and owners agree the Europiccola is not a forgiving machine. TechRadar’s reviewer called using it a labor of love with a steep learning curve. A scale, a fine grinder and a few days of practice shorten that a lot. Without a capable grinder it rarely works.

Heat. On a lever like this the group sits on top of the boiler and gets hotter with every shot. La Pavoni’s own manual says to wait a few minutes after 3 to 4 consecutive coffees “in order not to dispense burnt coffee.” Owners manage this by pausing, or by holding a cool damp towel against the group. Machines made after about 2000 (the Millennium generation) have a plastic sleeve in the group to reduce the effect, but it does not remove it.

Capacity

La Pavoni rates the Europiccola at 8 two-ounce cups per fill, from a 0.8 litre boiler. US sources disagree on the ounce figure: the older US manual and Whole Latte Love say 20 oz, while the importer’s current pages say 27 oz. In practice you refill after a few drinks, and you must let the machine cool and release its pressure before you open the cap. If you regularly make more than two or three drinks in a row, look at the Professional, which has twice the boiler.

Build and repair

The Europiccola is a simple machine, and that is a real long-term advantage. The parts that wear are mostly gaskets: the piston seals, the group gasket, the boiler cap seal and the sight glass seals. Whole Latte Love suggests replacing the gaskets every three to five years depending on use. Kits are inexpensive and widely sold, and the job is within reach of a careful owner.

One thing to know before you buy parts: the group and basket size changed around 2000. Current machines take a basket of about 51mm. Older machines take about 49mm. Parts are not interchangeable between the two, so new owners of a second-hand machine should check which one they have first.

What to buy with it

The machine is only half the setup. In order of importance:

1. A grinder that can grind fine for espresso and adjust in small steps. This matters more than anything else on this page.
2. A tamper that fits the 51mm basket. The included tamper works, but a properly sized one gives a more even puck.
3. A scale with a timer, so you can repeat what worked.

Many owners also add a boiler pressure gauge and a temperature strip on the group, which make the heat management far easier to read.

Who should buy something else

If you want to press a button and get the same shot every morning, a pump machine will be a better fit. If you want a lever but want to see the brewing pressure as you pull, the Esperto Abile adds a gauge on the group. If milk drinks for two or more people are the daily routine, the Professional’s bigger boiler is worth it.

Verdict

The Europiccola rewards curiosity and patience. Buy it as a machine to learn and enjoy, pair it with a good grinder, and accept the pause between rounds of shots. It will likely outlast most appliances in your kitchen, and when it needs work, the fix is usually a gasket kit.