The La Scala Butterfly Espresso Machine

Life is too short to drink bad coffee... No matter how old you are!

Having worked out that the only way to get superb coffee at home was to buy a machine that was up to the task, I finally bought one. My La Scala Butterfly Lever arrived just before Christmas. This is the real deal. It worked as it should right out of the box. The first cup of coffee out of this machine was better than anything I'd achieved in over a year of refining my technique with the Sunbeam EM6900.

The La Scala Butterfly Lever
This is one of a range of small commercial-style machines made by various manufacturers that use the famous E61 group developed by Faema in 1961. Others include Isomac, ECM, Vibiemme and Bezzera, to name a few. I chose the La Scala over the others for two reasons - Firstly, I couldn't find a bad review anywhere and secondly, at $AUD2,100 it was at the lower end of the $1850 - $2900 range in which other manufacturers had priced their machines. Some of the more expensive makes had smaller boilers and tiny drip trays, so the Butterfly offered better value all round.

I bought the full stainless steel case variation but you can save about $200 by buying the powdercoated version. The Butterfly has a 1.8 litre welded brass boiler, 3 litre water tank (but is plumb-in ready), 1 litre drip tray, 9 cup storage tray, one and two cup portafilters and adjustable feet. It is both ruggedly constructed and eye-catching in design - even a little understated in comparison to some of the more flamboyant E61 machines. It is a straight out manual machine so you have to stop the extraction process when you've got the amount of extracted coffee you want - some say a 30 ml shot in 30 seconds. Extraction is effected by lifting the lever on the right-hand side of the group. There is a power switch with 'power-on' tally light, a low water level warning light and a genuine pressure gauge that indicates the pressure in the boiler.

You can plumb this machine in, but I chose not to as I want to filter the water I use in it and our small kitchen needs the drawer over which it is located - which would have to go in order to route the plumbing to the machine.

Great coffee is achieved through consistency of temperature during the extraction process. That's the reason for choosing a boiler/heat exchanger machine over a domestic thermablock device.

Here's how the system works. The temperature of the brewing process is controlled by the pressure in the boiler (the water expands as the temperature increases, creating greater pressure). The boiler pressure is regulated by a pressurestat (between 0.9 and 1.2 bar out of the box). Within this range, I suspect the water hits the coffee at around 92ºC. The sytem's temperature stability is further enhanced by the thermosyphon of water constantly flowing from the heat exchanger through massive chrome-plated, solid brass group.

I will pay for this machine eventually with the saving in the amount of coffee I use. My Sunbeam EM6900 really needed the double filter basket filled (14 grams) to make a single cup of espresso. The La Scala makes two cups with the same amount of coffee, as it should... and at over $30 a kilo, it won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

What's wrong with the La Scala Butterfly? Not much at all really. Minor things... such as there's no visual indication of the water level in the tank - if Sunbeam can do it in a $700 machine, why can't it be done in one that's three times the price? Having to remove the cup tray to refill the machine is a bit ordinary as well. That's about it, actually.

And both these small gripes really relate to the difference in evolution of this genre of machine compared with the really domestic stuff. The La Scala and similar E61 machines are old in design because nobody has been able to improve on what they do - make stunning coffee. Whereas the silver plastic from China with 46 brand names is all about gimmicks and LCD's and dial in settings... pity about the coffee.

Another nice thing about the La Scala is it uses all the same parts that fully-fledged commercial machines use. So anyone who services commercial machines can service these and there's usually alternative parts available from different suppliers - cool!

One of the reasons I decided to put this stuff on the Web, is there's little information about this amazing machine and very few pictures (click on these two for larger versions). There's a good look at what's inside the Butterfly as well as a more comprehensive review at Coffee for Connoisseurs' website, which is a must read for anyone looking to enhance their home-barista pursuits by buying better gear. I have also added a page on using the La Scala Butterfly and my observations as a relatively new owner.

To find out where to purchase the La Scala Butterfly contact the importers, Novita Ausralia Pty Ltd. They do not sell directly to the public but will give you the contact details of a retailer in your area. Their email address is sales@novitaaustralia.com.au

If I can answer any questions about this machine from my limited experience, I'll be glad to. Just email me.

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