lilgreenbean Senior Member Joined: 2 Feb 2003 Posts: 1 Location: Jacksonville Expertise: Beginner
Espresso: researching Grinder: researching
Posted Sat Feb 8, 2003, 12:02pm Subject: need information about older machine
It is called Cappuccino Amore and the manufacturer is Coffee Imports International - San Fransico - California. On the bottom is printed ITALIANSTYLE s.r.l. Model CE 14 C . I just discovered this in my parents garage. It has never been used, and they received it as a present in the early 1980's. There is no box, but a direction manual with recipes, a warranty card and a power cord. All of this is very ironic to me, because I have been lurking this site for about 3 weeks now looking to purchase an espresso machine. They are giving this machine to me and I would like more information on it. I am assuming that the company either went out of business, or changed names. I have two toll free phone numbers for service, one for the states and another for CA residents;however both numbers are inactive. Thank you in advance for any information.
ljguitar Senior Member Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 2,450 Location: Cheyenne Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Expobar Pulsar Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly, Solis Drip: Bunn Roaster: iRoast2
Posted Thu Mar 20, 2003, 5:33pm Subject: Re: need information about older machine
lilgreenbean Said:
It is called Cappuccino Amore and the manufacturer is Coffee Imports International - San Fransico - California. On the bottom is printed ITALIANSTYLE s.r.l. Model CE 14 C .
Coffee Imports brought in this machine, together with a larger model home lever by the same manufacturer called Enrico of Italy, from about 1983 to about 1986. It was offered in two finishes: a standard black and chrome and a fancy version of mock copper & brass. The thermostat arrangement is a nice feature. Most home levers offer weak to mediocre steam because of their small boiler size and the fact that they must operate at the correct temperature for espresso extraction. Machine has a two position thermostat so that operator can go back and forth between high and low as needed. Thermostat not well made unfortunately and many owners find it problematic. Machine has no sight glass arrangement so operator must remember to check boiler water level at each startup. Bleed steam valve a bit during warmup as machine has no "vacuum breaker." Coffee Imports went out of business in October of 1987. Other firms picked up some of the products they carried but not this one. A large cache of parts for these was purchased at the going out of business sale by Califoria Electric and by Mr. Espresso of Oakland, CA. California Electric appears to have gone out of business but Mr. Espreeso is still going. If you should require parts at some point you could check with their parts person Alejandro Zambrano. Mr. Espresso may have wholesaled out their parts for this model but Alejandro will be able to advise where they went, should this be the case. It is also possible that Appliance Service Co. of San Francisco may have parts for these.
plragde Senior Member Joined: 1 Jan 1970 Posts: 93 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Expertise: Intermediate
Espresso: Elektra Micro Casa a Leva,... Grinder: Mazzer Mini, Rancilio Jacky Drip: 1-cup mesh filter Roaster: Hearthware Precision
Posted Fri Mar 21, 2003, 12:08pm Subject: Re: need information about older machine
Amazing. I was in the little Italian Alpine town of Bormio in the summer of 1985 when I saw an attractive espresso machine in the window of a shop. It had English writing on it and its box, which talked about Coffee Imports and Enrico of Italy, but a badly-mimeographed set of instruction pages in Italian. I bought it, despite it being a 220V machine (I had been looking at MicroCimbalis, but this was cheaper), and used it for several years by just plugging it into a 110V outlet. It took forever to heat up (like 45 minutes), and had enough steam power for about two cappuccini under those circumstances. Mind you, I was doing horrible things like packing its portafilter with half Peet's Italian preground and kept in the freezer (since I had moved to Toronto) and half President's Choice decaf espresso blend.
When I bought it, I was a grad student in Berkeley, so I called up Coffee Imports. They said they had severed their relationship with Enrico of Italy, and what I bought was probably something manufactured for them but rejigged for the European market.
Eventually I bought a Krups Espresso Novo and a Rancilio Jacky grinder, which improved my life. The machine stayed in its box for years; when my parents put in a 220V outlet (to use a particular type of grinder from India), I took it over and tried it out. (I had moved to a Pavoni by then, and had learned a little about how to make espresso.) It heated up a little faster, but still ran out of steam quickly. It may have needed decalcifying. I left it with them, but I'm sure they never use it.
It didn't look like the EBay machine; mine has copper and brass, and the boiler is in this sort of half-cylinder shape. If anyone wants a photo, I can retrieve it and post one. --PR
plragde Senior Member Joined: 1 Jan 1970 Posts: 93 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Expertise: Intermediate
Espresso: Elektra Micro Casa a Leva,... Grinder: Mazzer Mini, Rancilio Jacky Drip: 1-cup mesh filter Roaster: Hearthware Precision
Posted Wed Mar 26, 2003, 11:27am Subject: Re: need information about older machine
I think there's a drip tray missing from that one. I'll have to dig into my parents' basement to find mine and see what it looked like, the base looks different, I think. Love this "antique" nonsense ("patina intact" = someone didn't clean it regularly). Raw capitalism is not pretty. --PR
Posted Wed Apr 9, 2003, 11:20pm Subject: Re: need information about older machine
plragde Said:
Amazing. I was in the little Italian Alpine town of Bormio in the summer of 1985 when I saw an attractive espresso machine in the window of a shop. It had English writing on it and its box, which talked about Coffee Imports and Enrico of Italy, but a badly-mimeographed set of instruction pages in Italian. I bought it, despite it being a 220V machine (I had been looking at MicroCimbalis, but this was cheaper), and used it for several years by just plugging it into a 110V outlet. It took forever to heat up (like 45 minutes), and had enough steam power for about two cappuccini under those circumstances. Mind you, I was doing horrible things like packing its portafilter with half Peet's Italian preground and kept in the freezer (since I had moved to Toronto) and half President's Choice decaf espresso blend.
When I bought it, I was a grad student in Berkeley, so I called up Coffee Imports. They said they had severed their relationship with Enrico of Italy, and what I bought was probably something manufactured for them but rejigged for the European market.
Eventually I bought a Krups Espresso Novo and a Rancilio Jacky grinder, which improved my life. The machine stayed in its box for years; when my parents put in a 220V outlet (to use a particular type of grinder from India), I took it over and tried it out. (I had moved to a Pavoni by then, and had learned a little about how to make espresso.) It heated up a little faster, but still ran out of steam quickly. It may have needed decalcifying. I left it with them, but I'm sure they never use it.
It didn't look like the EBay machine; mine has copper and brass, and the boiler is in this sort of half-cylinder shape. If anyone wants a photo, I can retrieve it and post one. --PR
fateagk Senior Member Joined: 2 Jan 2004 Posts: 102 Location: Tampa, FL Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Andreja Premium, Pid'ed... Grinder: Mazzer Mini Roaster: iRoast
Posted Tue Jan 24, 2006, 7:38pm Subject: Re: need information about older machine
Did anything every come about with trying to track down parts for these. I just picked up one of the Model CE 14Cs off of ebay for $50. It leaks around the lever piston and will likely need all gaskets and seals replaced. Does anyone know if there are any machines still being made with piston and seals the same size as this one?
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