There are many rabbit holes down which a coffee obsessive can fall. You can be a pour-over person or an espresso aficionado, a vicar of v60 or an AeroPress acolyte. Generally, the trend is: the more manual the process the more rabid its fanbase. (Automatic espresso machines don’t have a devoted following. I don’t make the rules.)
So in the world of espresso preparation, it makes sense then that the lever machine is so beloved among a certain type of coffee person. It’s the manual transmission of the espresso world, the one baristas “drive” the most—and the one that’s hardest to master. As one of the original espresso machine designs, the lever machine has lost a little market share in the specialty coffee world to semi-automatic machines, but even still there are modern options for the lever lover, the beefy La Marzocco Leva and the Kees van der Westen Slim Jim Idrocompresso being two of the newest and most recognizable (to say nothing of the home-friendly Flair).
But no one loves the lever espresso machine quite like The Lever. As both an online and in print compendium of all things lever machines, The Lever has just released a searchable map of lever machine collections from around the world.
Created all the way back in 2020, The Lever is run by a group of lever espresso machine enthusiasts who want to bring attention to their favorite coffee maker. One avenue for this is with their recently released Map of Collectors listing both public and private collections of the manual machines. “The purpose of this map is to make coffee enthusiasts aware of all the beautiful collections around the world and their locations,” The Lever Editor Simone Forgia tells Sprudge. “This is something that has never been done before and unfortunately it often happens that many fantastic collections, and the gems that make them up, remain hidden and seen by only a very select few.”
Currently consisting of 37 collectors across 12 countries and six continents, the Map of Collectors collates information about location, collection size, whether its public or private, and even how to schedule a tour. There may even be a collection near you that you had no idea existed.
“With this map… the most beautiful collections will be brought together in one place, and not only the public ones, but also those of private individuals who, by prior agreement, have the pleasure of sharing them with other enthusiasts,” Forgia states. “In this way, more people will be able to rediscover the beauty of these machines, their incredible history and even see some rarities in person.”
And this is only the start. The platform of user-driven entries is sure to grow as folks become more aware of its existence.
Is it a little nerdy? Sure. But it’s kind of in that geeky sweet spot. Deeply knowledgable while still charming, it’s the sort of rabbit hole you’d be willing to entertain over a few drinks out at a bar. For more information or to find a collection near you, visit the Lever’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
