La Pavoni Professional Rame Gold Handhebel-Espressomaschine

The Professional Rame Gold is La Pavoni's manual lever machine in its richest finish: a copper boiler, with base, group and lever in gold-plated brass, and wooden knobs and handles. La Pavoni has been building espresso machines in Milan since 1905, and this is the version you leave out on the counter.

The 1.6 litre boiler is the one from the Professional range: a 950 W element in the base heats it, and it covers 16 espressos. Steam comes straight off the boiler through a chromed wand with a 3-hole tip. The boiler manometer and the sight-glass level indicator tell you where you are at a glance; the pressurestat holds the pressure.

The extraction is all yours. There is no pump: you make the pressure by pulling the lever down, and you decide how long to pre infuse and how to finish the shot. It is the gesture that made La Pavoni levers famous, and the reason people who learn them tend to keep them.

Double-spouted filter holder, 52 mm internal diameter. Steel base, ABS drip tray. 200 × 350 × 490 mm (width × depth × height), net weight 6.5 kg. Power supply 220-240 V.