I’m aware people probably gloss over my posts because I’ve got a machine a lot of people assume are purchased solely for the name… one thing to note on this is firstly, I purchased my first coffee machine 20 years ago, a Gaggia Classic and have had maybe 5 or more machines since. The badge isn’t important to me.
Also, 99% of people in my family and friends have no idea who LM is, and really the only people who even know I have one are people on this forum! I’ve no desire to impress people.
On the saturated group…(or whatever the actual tech is called because it’s not officially saturated on the Mini/Micra) I personally think it’s a better group that’s more forgiving. I say this having had it side by side with my previous E61 machine.
On a perfect day, with perfect prep and perfect beans, you would get an equally good cup. But what makes say a Lelit Bianca better than a Rancilio Silvia? The temperature stability… in turn, for me, what makes a Linea Mini ‘better’ than an E61? The temperature stability.
I’ve lived with and owned both, side by side. If I didn’t think the LM was great, I’d have sold it. I’m fortunate enough that if I thought a £10k machine would be better for me, I’d buy one. It’s not money stopping me from upgrading, it’s that the machine is perfect for me. And I’ve learned that from 20 years of experimenting and various machines.
But the key is that’s my take. Other people might love their Streitman lever, their profiling E61, their bells and whistles auto-profiler… it’s whatever works best for you.
I think the issue with the LM is the price. If it was £2k, a lot more people would have them and love them. But because of their price, and the connotations of buying expensive things, people write them off as overpriced snake oil. I don’t know why people are surprised… practically m every decent coffee shop on the planet has a LM machine. There’s a premium for the name, certainly, but it doesn’t make it any less of a great machine.
