DOLCE VITA ESPRESSO
We are located near the city of BURBANK.
Please call (No Text):
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY!
Leave a message if nobody is available or send an EMAIL (NO TEXT). PLEASE describe what your machine is doing or is NOT doing! Give full details on how it is acting up and the best number to reach you at. We will service you the SAME DAY OR NEXT DAY, guaranteed!
BREVILLE: Folks, we get calls to repair Breville EVERY DAY! Unf. we cannot get parts and even if we could we would not be able to repair your Breville. Time-consuming / too difficult / NOT a coffee machine made to be serviced. Sad fact but true.
ONLY BREVILLE repairs Breville. TRY:
https://brevilleusa.secure.force.com/reg/webtocase?param=US&language=en-US
**BULLETIN: We are getting a LOT of calls from people having problems brewing coffee! The coffee is weak, the coffee is watery, the coffee is boring, the coffee used to be better etc. what happened? Here are some CRITICAL factors people do not GET RIGHT in coffeemaking: #1 YOU'RE NOT USING FRESH BEANS and /or THEY HAVE NO MOJO TO BEGIN WITH. SMELL your ground coffee. It should give off a pungent aroma that leaves no doubt. Use beans within a few weeks of roasting! #2 Your budget grinder which is out of spec / cannot grind with the precision required. Also, your grinder may need to be adjusted more often than you think! #3 QUANTITY of coffee for the shot being extracted: Always use a scale. #4 TEMPERATURE (for traditional machines) DURING BREWING. Folks, that heavy hunk of brass called your grouphead MUST measure at least 190°F during extraction or you WILL NOT be able to pull a quality flavorful shot correctly. PID temperatures are ONLY a guide folks! Do NOT rely on them exclusively~
BEST RECOMMENDATION: We favor Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso. There is absolutely nothing like it. To be sipped as a pulled double shot espresso ONLY.
**FYI: A GOOD BUDGET PID MACHINE : CROSSLAND CC1
***Stuff we DON'T repair***
NO BREVILLE or BRIM, Nespresso / Keurig / Verismo
NO DeLongi FF, Cuisinart, Krups, NO Homebrew
No Reneka / UNIC
BUILT-INS: Cleaning ONLY.
NO MODBAR (Marzbar ?)
Lavazza: Possibly! (see below)
Gaggia Classic: YES~~!
We are experts at rescuing Gaggia Classics
Call / email us
PHILIPS SAECO / GAGGIA: These machines when working properly do the job intended however they just do not stand up over time and will not last due to leaks and deterioration of their many plastic parts, hoses and cheapo flash boilers. (For anyone not convinced that Saeco/Gaggia machines are NOT made to be serviced go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rs-3Y2FB6U which shows the insane amount of disassembly AND reassembly needed to replace the pump on a Saeco Incanto.) For local service on your Gaggia Accademia, Platinum and other Gaggia automatic reboots: L.A. Electric in Tarzana @818-774-9503 is one service center we recommend. BETTER recommendation: GET A JURA INSTEAD.
GAGGIA CLASSIC: The Classic/ Coffee and its various incarnations have aluminum boilers subject to irreversible corrosion and blockages if used with hard mineral-rich L.A. water which may require a new boiler to be installed - extensive disassembly /cleaning for sure! Do you like eating flakes of aluminum in your coffee? The cheapo needle steam valve on the Classic doesn't thrill us either and when they fail, the entire boiler and valve usually have to be replaced due to corrosive fusion. Use ONLY reverse osmosis water with all Gaggia/Saeco machines.
PAVONI TYPE LEVER MACHINES: The Pavoni Europiccola, Elektra microcasa, Gaggia Factory and similar are ALL mostly inefficient, unstable, difficult to work on single-shot espresso machines with midget portafilters that are conversation pieces at best with a great tendency to leak and corrode into rusted out junk after a short period of use. Crikey, there's a lot of them also! Considering they make tiny dollhouse cups for the Ken and Barbie set - your money is better off spent elsewhere. We recommend donate yours to Tyrion Lannister and be done with it. Stefano Espresso Care in Oregon is THE authority on parts for LaPavoni and Elektra home lever machines. .
PASQUINI LIVIA: The Pasquini Livia 90 is a vintage machine that deserves special discussion. These are all 15-20 year old machines made by BEZZERA and are very high quality traditional vertical boiler small home machines either manual or automatic. Problem is most of them need total rehabbing to get them back into shape and WE DO THIS! We now offer a special rehab package for your tired Livia in which we replace gaskets, solenoids, electrovalves, pumps, switches and pstats as needed.
RANCILIO SILVIA: The 2013 upgrade of the Silvia boiler has introduced an expensive boiler /element combo which is $250+ just to BUY IT - if it is even available. (You will need to buy both parts if you lose your V3 boiler with integrated element) And to install it, $150 or minimum total cost of $400, whew! The moral here is DON'T LOSE YOUR BOILER through continued hard water use /scale build-up! We recommend ONLY reverse osmosis water for the Silvia. We recommend Stefano Espresso Care website for a good explanation of all Silvia boiler replacement / upgrades. If you're buying a new one, you may want to consider the new integrated PID dual boiler, Silvia PRO model - but at $1700 be sure to check out other machines as well.
NEW SILVIAS IN TOWN! The Silvia Pro and Pro X models (with steam gauge) are dual boiler PID machines. After looking them over online, we do see that the STEAM boiler has an integrated element. Should this fail, the ENTIRE BOILER must be replaced at considerable expense. Again we urge the use of ONLY RO water in your Silvia to avoid this catastrophic wallet-busting event.
LAVAZZA: ***UPDATE! Folks, we seem to be getting a LOT of calls to repair 20 year old Lavazza Espresso Point capsule machines. Apparently people treasure and adore these machines and since parts ARE available, we are starting to work on these. There IS hope here! (Previously, we wouldn’t even look at them) Most problems as usual have to do with leaks, dead pumps and defective tank floats / components so call us and we’ll see what we can do.
ESE POD MACHINES: These are too weird, sorry! With their condom-like sealed packets, this is another forgotten evolutionary branch of the coffee machine that well...deserves to be forgotten.
SPAZIALE VIVALDI: The Vivaldi, Mini , Dream and LUCCA machines are high-quality, unique difficult to service machines that are sold mostly by Chris Coffee out of NY/ Clive Coffee. Call us and describe the problem you're having, we'll try to fix it.
ZACCONI RIVIERA/ BABY BIG: Orphan machine. No parts are available.
OLYMPIA CREMINA / Pasquini Livietta : Cerini Coffee, in NYC 718-584-3449 and other vintage.
COMMERCIAL LEVER MACHINES: Mostly vintage curiosities from out of the past that no legitimate coffee shop would ever bother with. PLUS, they can be hazardous in use. We service commercial Astoria, Fiorenzato and Rancilio pull machines - among our more complicated jobs involving pull group disassembly / replacement of MANY gaskets. Is this expensive to do? You bet your ass. Especially if it has to be done on a regular basis, which is usually the case.
FRANCIS FRANCIS: A Quality machine, back in the day....we do not service any longer. Call Sapori in Portland. Quality Machine. https://www.saporifineflavors.com/
BREVILLE: Chinese-made private label espresso machines not made to be serviced & parts generally N/A - lucky if yours last 6 months. Plus there's a Breville CLONE out there called BRIM, even worse!
ASCASO DREAM: We are sorry to say, the Dream Machine is one of THE worst junker machines ever made, with a POS boiler / element guaranteed to burn out early no matter what. The steam valve / wand is a runner-up POS as well and under no circumstances should you repair it let alone BUY it.
VINTAGE /ANTIQUATED MACHINES: Most of these prehistoric Gaggia dome with eagle machines look like they went down with the Titanic or SHOULD have! Try Dome & Hammered machines. Deluxe Copper/Brass @818-768-6300
FRANKE / SCHAERER / WMF / EGRO AUTOMATIC: These high volume automatic machines are usually installed in cafeterias, schools, hotels and similar and are $$$$ to service. For ALL of these call the mfg for service/support info.
