I inquired about a restock of the Lelit Elizabeth from coffeeitalia.co.uk, but they said the machine has been discontinued. I replied to verify if they meant just not restocking or if it’s actually discontinued. But of a shock if true…or is a V4 coming soon?
Lelit Elizabeth discontinued?
Howdy! I chatted with Bella Barista and they said because of a high rate of returns, they’ve stopped selling them. So I’m assuming this other dealer did the same. I spent a few weeks researching and finally decided on the Elizabeth…but now I’m back to researching again. Any recommendations on an alternative? What I loved about the Elizabeth was the long steam preinfusion and handy water spout (wife only drinks Americanos.). The only alternative I can really see is the noisy, plastic-y Sage Dual Boiler. I thought about the Ascaso Steel Duo PID, but it’s limited to a 5 second preinfusion.
High rate of returns? wow.
I am very very happy with my Elizabeth. Touch wood. Don’t see myself replacing it anytime soon.
Inspector right? First I’ve heard in terms of return rate. Just odd that all the UK venders I’ve come across are all out of stock now. Shouldn’t there be a bunch of refurbs or open boxes? My Glenda is still going strong the past year with zero issues, but I just want to get a dual boiler/thermoblock now for more convenient milk frothing. Plus a better hot water spout instead of a messy steam wand lol.
Not the first time I’ve heard about Lelit availability issues lately.
However there’s a Bianca v3 for sale in the classifieds!
La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos
Ikawa Roaster
Jump to a Bianca if you can up your budget
Failing that an ECM machine
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
They got back and confirmed they aren’t selling because of the same issue of high rate of returns, not that it’s actually discontinued.
This new machine hunt is killing me! I might just stretch my budget or gamble with the Ascaso or Sage Dual Boiler. My wife is afraid to use a hot water wand spout, so I have to take some losses somewhere to get a nice, less scary water tap lol. Does the Bianca splash/produce a lot of steam when dispensing water?
It’s generally not recommended to use the hot water spout on any machine. Something about scale sitting in the bottom of the boiler but for me it’s the taste. Even after purging 500ml a week I’ve found water from the spout on every machine I’ve had tastes weird, somewhat synthetic.
Most people just use the kettle if they’re making an Americano or similar.
Every machine will also spit and steam a bit from the hot water tap as you’re forcing boiling hot water through a (cold) pipe and screen.
La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos
Ikawa Roaster
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Anthonyuk Does the Bianca splash/produce a lot of steam when dispensing water?
You don’t want to use the hot water tap on your coffee. I don’t think it would taste very nice. Elizabeth is “special” in that sense as it dispenses the water from the brew boiler, which is mixed with the water from the steam boiler when at a certain temperature and if configured like so. All in DavecUK’s review.
Sad to hear about the Elizabeth. It’s been great for me, I had for over 3 years, and I’d have a hard time choosing a new machine.
It kind of begs the question as to why machines have hot water taps but I’d guess it’s partly just tradition and partly because there’s still a huge portion of buyers who aren’t fussy.
La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos
Ikawa Roaster
HarveyMushman indeed. I believe there was/is a Fracino machine, a dual boiler, which doesn’t have a hot water tap. The only reason I can see it being useful is for recycling the water in the service boiler now and again. A handy drain valve on both boilers, with some sort of spout you could easily attach a hose to, would’ve been ideal.
I’ve always used the hot water tap on my Minima - I don’t think the water tastes bad at all from it and quite surprised to see comments suggesting not to use it.
Tomorrow I’ll try topping up my Americano from the kettle instead to see if it is an improvement
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@Anthonyuk Well I returned my Lelit Elizabeth a while back (due to the pressure spiking issue) and got the Rancilio Silvia Pro X.
I would highly recommend the Rancilio Silvia Pro X (in black or white) with the Pantechnicon drip tray upgrade. As it’s in the same price range and same type of machine as the Elizabeth.
Solidly built and will last you a very long time. Best of all ease of use and great coffee. 
Really depends what water you use
If the water cannot scale then it won’t make the steam boiler taste funny.
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
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Hopefully this means the service boiler is still in good nick. Have only used remineralised zero water and RO water in the machine
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I had owned a Lelit E until I upgraded. It had/has an ingenious design. It did have OPV valve slippage and steam valve base/knob leak issues, which my retailer (and thereby Canadian distributor) fixed under warranty. This cost them quite alot of money and time. Last time I looked they were still for sale in Canada. If I were to be buying again at that price point, I would wait and save and buy a Bianca. I kicked myself a thousand times for not stretching and buying a Bianca. If I could not wait I’d buy a Rancilio Silva (its a workhorse), put up with the temp surfing, use it for a while, resell and then buy a Bianca. Fyi, I currently own a Decent, but that’s a whole other story. I would absolutely not buy a Breville (too much plastic; its a mass produced machine that breaks).
My Elizabeth continues strong at about the 2 year mark. The Silvia would be a good choice too, except it is significantly larger and would not fit under my cabinet. So the Elizabeth has been a great choice for me. It is still available in the USA. Clive carries it and it is in stock from what I can tell.
Sad to hear, but not too surprised. My Elizabeth only had a small problem with steam wand with a slight deform teflon tube clogged one hole. Took me long enough to fix it. Lelit almost hit a home run with Elizabeth but they also seem to have made some bad decisions and used cheap parts where it is more likely to fail, like the steam valve.
For Americano I just use the kettle. Way faster and easier. I do draw the hot water from the steam boiler but only to warm up cups