Advice Please: Bosco Lever 3 group vs. La Marcozza linea ee 2 group

[wiferichie]

Hey, I am working on opening a coffee shop in the first half in 2018, and have been looking at commercial espresso machines for years! However, I was JUST introduced to lever machines recently. I have never used one, but saw a barista using one, and was told how it works. But if I look in this forum, people say it is "harder to use", at least harder than a regular semi auto. It doesn't seem like it to me haha..... For what reasons would i choose the la marcozza over the bosco? (These 2 are the ones i'm debating between.)

 

[Musicphan]

I've never heard of Bosco so its hard to provide feedback on that unit. Typically the lever machines are generating the pressure for your extraction with this lever vs. a pump. Personally, I would see this could potentially cause inconsistency in your extractions which is the opposite that you want. The La Marzocco Linea is a rock solid machine... I personally ran a cafe which ran a 2 group Linea and I have a 3 group that i restored here in my roasting facility.

 

[shadow745]

I have heard of Bosco levers, but never used one. Levers are simple in design/function/maintenance, but don't mistake that simplicity for being easy. You have several types of levers... a true manual is where YOU control the pressure based on leverage. Then you have spring loaded, where you preload the spring, release and the spring controls the pressure/flow rate. Also, there are some that also incorporate pumps to go along with the lever action. Guess that would be considered a hybrid of some sort.

For years I owned an Olympia Cremina, which is a small, but awesome home manual lever. Even though it's a superbly designed/built machine I can honestly say using a manual lever day in/out will take a toll on your joints. On a commercial level I imagine it would be insane over time doing so. I no longer have that lever, but do miss using it... my rotator cuffs don't miss it though as some days it was unbearable to crank out just 3-4 doubles.


In a high volume setting you may want to look more toward the Linea or similar. I worked on a 3 group Linea for some time and it was just OK. Main thing I didn't like is the lame steam valves that take a lot of time to use for something as simple as steaming. Commercially I owned a 2 group NS Aurelia and that thing was much better than the Linea I had used before it. The Aurelia has fantastic thermal stability/consistency and the steam valves are lever in function and drastically better than the standard twist type valves. Much quicker and more control...

 

[Musicphan]

I would agree with shadow on the steam valves... they turn on like a faucet handle. It can require a lot of turning to simply turn on the steam. I hadn't thought about that since my machine has been modified to reduce the throw (no idea how this was done) as well as PID controllers.

 

[Seb]

Bosco are really top quality manufacturer of commercial spring lever machine. I'm a big fan myself of spring lever, i own one and have installed a two group in a Cafe. They are beautiful machines, attractive for most consumers as they are uncommon. One of our forum member here, Almico recently opened a Cafe with a nice three group Athena lever machine. But in a Cafe environnement be sure that you buy a single spring machine. Because a two spring machine require much more strenght to pull the lever and your barista will complaint for sure. I may open a Cafe someday and if i do it for sure i will install a 2-3 group lever machine.

Take a look at Dritan Alsela various videos on Youtube to see how he is working on his 4 group lever machine.

 

[Seb]

Typically the lever machines are generating the pressure for your extraction with this lever vs. a pump. Personally, I would see this could potentially cause inconsistency in your extractions which is the opposite that you want.

If your coffee and barista are consistents, the machine will yield consistents results, shot after shot. A lever machine give a declining pressure profile and also a declining temperature profile which is what many high end commercial manufacturers are trying to achieve since years.

BTW, check the new La Marzocco Leva that have just been revealed at HOST in Milan! Very nice concept but i guess super expensive and complex which is contradictory to a lever machine that is super simple to maintained. But wonderful concept to say the least. I see that as a bridge between a high end pump machine with all settings you may dream of and a traditionnal lever machine.
Leva | La Marzocco

 

[QueenBeeCoffeeCo]

We bought a Victoria Arduino Athena Leva 2 Gr. two years ago for our coffee shop. We absolutely love it! Not only is it a solid performer for us but the maintenance is super easy. I also love that it is a piece of artwork. I find the simplicity of it makes teaching our baristas to be a more direct process than with a pump machine. Historically, there is much less "fine tuning" of the grinder with the Leva than with a pump machine. If I had to do it all over again, I would purchase a Leva again!

It's not an ideal picture but it helps to show it. It holds the anchor on our counter when you come in our shop. I just grabbed this from our FB page.



- Micah

 

[Coffeefix]

I'm with Seb! Lever machines are fantastic, reliable and consistent at pulling great shots if set up correctly.
As an espresso machine technician who works on lots of different machines I can't say that a Linea is a favourite! I wouldn't say it was anyway near as reliable as a decent lever machine either! Certainly dearer to buy though!
On a machine suffering the effects of limescale a Linea is a long job to descale. Awkward things to work on when you have to get the boilers out and stripped down.