I have a La Pavoni Stradavari which is an Italian manual lever machine and it has a pressure gauge, custom handle, and bottomless portafilter. Manual machines are great because you can control how a shot is pulled and they’re easy to clean and maintain yourself.
I would recommend that you get a burr grinder and use fresh coffee beans (ideally local although honestly! I use Cameron’s Coffee organic espresso beans and I love them… very economical without compromising on quality). weigh out how much espresso you use in grams and play around with the amount and the grind size. I use 16 grams for a double shot with the beans I buy. Different beans extract differently and need more or less grounds per shot.
After grinding into your basket, break up clumps with a needle or whisk style stirrer, level it with a distributor tool, and tamp the grounds evenly. also make sure to regularly clean and descale your machine, and use filtered water if you have hard water with a lot of minerals (I love the BWT Penguin filter pitcher for the water I brew espresso with).
So get a new grinder and a scale if you need them and definitely clean and descale the machine, then follow the preparation steps I outlined if you don’t already and play around with one variable at a time. maybe log it in a diary and note any differences you observe so that you can know what made it better or worse! Looking at the puck after you pull the shot can give you clues, and so can the taste.
Aug 23, 2024
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Been finally getting back into it the past couple of days! If you have access to an espresso machine (mine is a cheap, entry level one), the ritual of making espresso is the perfect way to start your morning. The grinding of the beans. Tamping the grounds in a portafilter. The trial and error of pulling a good shot. The feeling when you finally get it dialed in. It’s a deeply rewarding process. Saves money in the long term too!
Mar 6, 2025
It’s gorgeous and everything is within your control as far as the manual input of making espresso but also in maintaining the machine itself. Shoutout to my La Pavoni grinder also…
USPA Bio Bidet bidet seat and Bluevua RoPot countertop reverse osmosis machine are the other two things I licherally could not live without
Apr 25, 2024
I think the key to a good moka pot coffee is minimizing time on the stove element:
- Preheat the stove burner
- Boil water before putting it in the pot
- Extract with the lid open so you can pull the pot immediately when it’s done
- If you wanna be a freak about it you can weigh your beans and water (I never bother)
But if the issue is you are unhappy with your espresso quality, I think it might be worth it to dial in your grind (I like a ~22s extraction but this is all preference). The way I think about espresso is that weight of beans/volume of water/extraction time remain consistent while grind can vary to hit those parameters. This is what was working for me on one of those big Faema beasts tho so ymmv.
HOWEVER I personally cannot be bothered with most of this unless I am getting paid. I french press or steep my shit most days and it’s perfectly nice
Aug 23, 2024
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“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.”
— Anaïs Nin
This is uncharacteristically raw and personal, even for me, and pretty heavy! I know many of you have seen me posting through it and I feel safe to talk about it openly now that I’ve safely landed at the start of my new life. It’s honestly even a little bit embarrassing but I think it’s important to share.
I’ve never publicly mentioned it on here, but I have a husband; as of Friday, we’d have been together for 11 years, and we’ve been married for 3 years as of 2/22. I realize now that I wanted to explore what I looked like outside of my relationship with him because I had lost that. This is why PI.FYI has been so meaningful to me as a space to express myself and connect with people—to rediscover my voice.
I had been living a lie this entire time, to others but worst of all to myself. He’s been verbally and emotionally abusive, physically but without touching me, to the point that every day I spent with him I was in danger. I’ve been shrinking myself and walking on eggshells to avoid making him insecure and provoking his casual put-downs and fits of rage, while hanging on for dear life to the threads of good I could see.
I’ve wanted so badly to leave, more than anything, but I felt like there was no way out and that this was just something I would need to endure indefinitely—but someone who is so very dear to me helped me see that I have wings to fly, not by acting as my savior but by reminding me of my own power. The emotional safety they built and the gentle care they showed me made me feel like I could open up to them. With their encouragement I was brave enough to tell the truth to my friends, my family, my boss, and they have received me with warm, loving and open arms and rallied to support and protect me. The financial and logistical aspects were the most intimidating to me and it’s going to be tough for a while but I’m going to be better than okay!
Now I’m opening up to you. This isn’t the only abuse I’ve suffered in my life, and my old therapist told me she believed it was my mission to share my strength and light with others to inspire them and show them that change is possible.
I hope that by sharing this, I can reach even just one person who is going through something similar and show that they are not alone, and they are not weak. People with certain backgrounds may be more vulnerable to abuse, but it can happen to anyone. It thrives in darkness, shame, and isolation—and breaking that silence is the first step toward freedom.
Leaving is the scariest thing I have ever done but I have so many angels around me, and I am endlessly grateful. Thank you for being here with me 💌
Mar 16, 2025
My dad teases me about how when I was a little kid, my favorite thing to do when I was on the landline phone with somebody—be it a relative or one of my best friends—was to breathlessly describe the things that were in my bedroom so that they could have a mental picture of everything I loved and chose to surround myself with, and where I sat at that moment in time. Perfectly Imperfect reminds me of that so thanks for always listening and for sharing with me too 💌
Feb 23, 2025
Schedule sent my resignation email for the morning, effective immediately ✅💅
Feb 27, 2025