La Pavoni 8-Cup Europiccola Espresso Machine
Overview:
The La Pavoni 8-Cup Europiccola is good for low usage home use. Makes excellent espresso the good old fashion way with its elegant styling with manual piston operation.
Features:
- Makes one or two cups at a time.
- Built-in safety reset fuses to prevent overheating and prevent costly heating element repair.
- Nickel plated, non-corrosive, solid brass boiler.
- Brass piston inside grouphead.
- Internal pressurestat to monitor pressure for making the perfect espresso.
- Long life stainless steel heating element.
- Swivel steaming wand for frothing milk.
- Protective plastic covering over gauge glass.
- Boiler refill cap on top.
- Removable plastic drip tray and drip tray cover.
- Capability to steam immediately before or after espresso extraction without any wait time.
- Gauge glass indicator for water level in boiler.
- Accessories: One 51mm dual spout portafilter, one 1-cup filter basket, one 2-cup filter basket, one plastic tamper, one coffee scoop, instruction manual, and demonstration video.

Rick (verified owner) –
Fantastic machine. Couldn’t be happier with this purchase. Takes some time and effort to figure out what works – it’s definitely sensitive to grind, beans (fresh is essential), tamp, dose, and pressure. But once you get it right, the results beat anything else I’ve tried at home or in a cafe.
rxrxrx72 (verified owner) –
A direct lever machine leaves more responsibility to the user, but in return gives you some advantages. There is a learning curve, but with a little study on Espresso making on You Tube, you can really produce great shots and have some fun experimenting along the way (James Hoffman produced several really helpful videos, including his “dialing in espresso” videos).
It took me three tries to get a pretty good shot on the first day I owned it. Several shots later, I passed by the shots I could get on my prior machine. Within a week or so, I passed by the shots I could get from Starbucks and a few of the local coffee shops I frequent when out/away from home.
The big advantage I see for a direct lever machine is that you can make adjustments “in flight” while pulling the shot. I watch the time and the flow (with a bottomless portafilter) and adjust the pressure and the extraction time so shots come out pretty darn good, even when you pull the very first shot with a new coffee that you haven’t fully “dialed in” yet.
Plus, I enjoy the increased level of participation when pulling the shot. And, the Europiccola doesn’t take up much space, really is sharp looking and won’t be hard to keep running for MANY years, given it’s simplicity.
I’ve seen reviews that say they don’t get crema with the LPE. While I do get less than with a higher pressure electric pump machine, I get more than enough for my needs/likes. Also, some users think you can only pull a shot on a single pump. You can pump the whole boiler through a single shot, if you wanted to. Just don’t let the pump go all the way to the bottom before you refill the head. I like my shots a bit on the long side, so I always use two pumps. Typically I will load in 17.5 grams of coffee and produce 1.75 ounces of espresso.
One other hint, run a small amount of hot water through the head at least 2 or 3 times before the first shot of the session to ensure the head is nice and hot.
I use a Rancilio Rocky Grinder and it’s a good match for the LPE. I bought both from 1st Line.
1st Line is a great vendor. They are accessible, friendly, helpful and go above and beyond to support their customers.