All images courtesy of The Lever.
There’s a type of espresso aficionado that becomes forever drawn to the hands-on experiences, quirky designs and fascinating mechanics of manual lever machines.
For coffee people suffering from this affliction, known as lever fever, there’s only one cure: more levers.
Coming to the aid of this crowd is the magazine and website The Lever, which recently launched a Map of Collectors that shows where to find fine collections of lever espresso machines all over the world.
The interactive map, available in English and Italian, currently spans six continents, offering details about public and private collections. Each profile includes information about the collection’s size, its equipment and visitation status, including contact information and photos.
“These collections tell the story of espresso’s evolution and highlight the craftsmanship behind lever machines,” The Lever Founder and Editor Simone Forgia said in an announcement of the map launch. “Whether someone is traveling or simply curious about local collections, the map offers a way to connect with these treasures and the people who preserve them. It’s a celebration of coffee culture, history, and the community that keeps it alive.”
Forgia, who is based in Ticino, Switzerland, revealed the map last month after a year of communication with an initial group of collectors and a year of digital development. In some instances, locations are approximated by a donut-shaped indicator rather than a specific point, respecting preferences of collectors wary of publishing their exact location.
“Privacy of course was a big concern, especially because most of the collections are private and can also be worth a lot of money,” Forgia recently told Daily Coffee News. “I put a lot of attention to this aspect.”
In many cases, prospective visitors can directly reach collectors to arrange for a tour. Forgia said additional collectors that were waiting to see how the map turned out will hopefully soon agree to be added.
“It will be in constant growth, and of course word of mouth is extremely important to make this map as comprehensive as possible and uncover as many hidden collections as we can,” said Forgia.
Simone Forgia.
The Lever magazine and website launched in 2020, originally as a means of organizing, consolidating and preserving the ideas, stories and images shared in a Facebook community called Lever Fever.
Forgia, whose passions outside of coffee include photography and printing, wanted to focus on the higher-quality content coming through the group.
“It was a natural move merging [my interests] together to create a coffee magazine, even more considering that lever enthusiasts love analogue things,” said Forgia. “The intention is to make it a place where all the knowledge related to this kind of machine, both vintage and new ones, is gathered, and to act as a showcase for everyone that has something to share.”
Rounding out the four-person team supporting The Lever are: co-editor Claudio Santoro, who is also the moderator of the Lever Fever group; espresso enthusiast Dante Spadini, who proofreads; and Arthur Yang, founder of espresso accessory company Bplus, who provides Chinese translation services.
“Behind The Lever Magazine there is not a whole editorial team as usually happens. Everything is done mainly by me in my free time, so there is not a regular schedule for new issues of the magazine,” said Forgia. “People can buy them when they get published and remain updated by subscribing to the newsletter or following my socials.”
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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