Been a long time in the pipeline but the ACS Vesuvius Evo Leva has finally become a reality. Took delivery of two today. The other is for my son.

Very impressed with the production quality. Design is clean and appealing. Dual boiler, PID control on both brew and service boiler. Group is heated by two PID controlled elements so there is great scope for tweaking temps. Inclusion of pressure gauge on the group provides valuable feedback and creates the possibility of pressure profiling. Evo is a great development in the lever field.

My personal preference is for lighter roasts so it will be interesting to see how the Leva performs.

54mm baskets take some getting used to - not used them before. Managed to get some Panama light roast Geisha dialled in reasonably well at the fifth attempt. As a flat white, strawberry notes came through well.

Having a dedicated steam boiler, the Evo steams like a demon.

Very nice! Two of them, wow. I've always liked that open spring look.

I also have one that arrived today. Below were some ramblings which take me up to the point of getting it ready to make a coffee. Tomorrow will give me more time to play.

Greetings, I woke up to a notification that the machine had landed at the local depot, at 06.43, so, I waited for a dispatch email, and by 9.20 had itchy feet. Rang the local depot to be told that they had not unpacked the lorry it came on yet, but I was welcome to come and get it. A few expletives later and they agreed they would get it out to me later today! A wagon turned up with no tailgate lift, or bogey and the driver sheepishly asked if I could help. The machine is bolted into a wooden case that in turn is bolted to a pallet. One of the shock absorbing feet was missing so the whole thing tilted over and I thought it had been dropped. We had to carry it about 35 yards into the house and I set about dismantling it.

You unscrew the lid, then undo the 4 clips holding the case to the pallet. The case lifts off and you can then nearly fold it flat due to its hingeing system. I then found some under floor insulation like Styrofoam with no give, and tipped the machine onto it giving me access to the underneath. Remove 4 wing nuts, pull the pallet away, then assemble the feet and screw in. I then as faced with a dilemma of how to get it from the floor to the bench. I did a very small test lift and thought, go for it, so in one go lifted it from floor to bench. Having suffered two cardiac arrests two years ago, perhaps discretion should have been the better part of valour, but my heart ruled my head!

So, once on the bench, laser tape removed, positioned correctly, water tank filled to the brim and turn her on. The initial run of the pump did not last long so that showed that at least the boilers had been tested properly! I had hoped to watch her warm up but that was not the case so I really have no idea how long it took! Anyway, first job was to pull some water through. Best intentions were 7 to 8 litres, reality about 5! I had to go out and wanted a coffee. I used some beans that were weeks old, guessing the grind setting, then trying to remember everything Dave had said!! The baskets are enormous and with 18 gms in it barely comes to halfway. The dosing cup I bought does not fit, so I used the excellent dosing ring that my good friend Les, @Norvin998 made for me (and it works a treat with the Niche cup). Quick tamp. I set my cup on scales and dropped the lever. @DavecUK had wound me up, and I would say the force required to pull down the lever is a lot more substantial than a machine with a single spring, but to someone of my size it was not an issue. I do not know how say a 5 foot 4 inch person would manage. If I have any coming round, I will ask them to have a shot. Anyway, no flex at all that I could detect! When you cock the lever, the gear pump kicked in with 2 short cycles and the manometer pressure went to about 2.5. If I tilt my head down my specs fall off so I cannot be more accurate than that!. First drips came through (grind needed coarsened a little) then set the lever away. By the time the output was about 35 gms, the manometer was showing approximately 7 bar which I think Dave said was right.

I am not going to bang on about how great the shot was. I have only pulled two shots so far and as I play around with that will post back more. Happy to answer any questions!

Looks nice! Congratulations to both of you

2nd batch can't ship fast enough

Some internals pictures

Water tank is accessed via clip on left side panel which then tips out. I've got 9 cm clearance between the left side panel and the wall and I can still access and fill the tank easily.

Evo Leva's geared pump in action. Tone isn't harsh or grating. As for sound level, bear in mind it depends on how high you've got your speakers set. It's about the same sound level as on my previous lever machine.

Demonstrating the touch screen panel and its various functions.

It's always exciting to see a new lever design hit the market. It'll be interesting to see how it compares with other levers like the LR24 and the Alex Leva.

I have to say I quite like the look of it (it would look even better with black or wood side panels!) but personally, I'm not a fan of pressure gauge on the group. They could've at least gone with a less "generic gauge"...

I wonder if it can pull large volume shots for those light roast allongés that are so trendy these days...

To all the new and futur owners out there, keep the details, pics and videos coming please!