Lelit Elizabeth 2 week experience

dndrich

Coffeetime Pals:

I have owned my Lelit Elizabeth for 2 weeks now, and I am delighted. It delivers on all of the needs I have for the user experience. First, it makes great coffee. That is of course a key thing. I have it paired with a Niche Zero, so that helps. As a dual boiler the temperature stability is fantastic. The software controls the small but mighty boilers extremely well. That was a key issue for me. I was not interested in the HX dance despite how lovely the machines are, and that would not work well at all for my wife, who is much less interested in process than me. The rapid heat up time and ability to leave the machine on during the day is great. The steam is really powerful. I have read some of the threads about the MaraX and I am glad I chose the Elizabeth. I guess if you want pressure profiling you have to look elsewhere, but I have no interest at all. Pre-infusion and great temperature control are enough for me.

Living with the machine is easy. It sips water, so I fill the tank much less than I did with my Breville Barista Express. It is so easy to clean it. Today I did the Dave method hybrid back flush. Nothing to it. I will empty the service boiler and refresh monthly. Again, nothing to it with the great programming.

And, I gave my wife the lesson on the new machine. I have programmed the #1 button for a 3 second pre-infusion and a 30 second pull, and with my dialed in coffee that will be sufficient for her. She may get the occasional over or under extraction, but with her latte milk it makes much less difference, and she will be happy. So, she can use the machine with ease. Yay. I left button 2 for me. I am currently with a 6 second pre-infusion and weigh the shots while looking at the color too. I have a naked portafilter coming where I will play with the shots for skill. We shall see.

I have felt feet on the bottom that make moving the machine simple, and it then becomes so easy to fill the tank. The Lelit inline water softener is doing its job well. I tested the water coming out of the machine today, and it is below 25 ppm. Water going in is 120 ppm.

In short, this has been a great choice so far. My machine runs perfectly. I have no OPV issues like some have had. Mine goes right to 10 bars and stays there. I have mine programmed with Dave’s advanced settings also. So, hard to beat this machine, I have to admit. Very easy to live with and enjoy. Nice small footprint on the counter helps too.

DavecUK

It’s great to hear you are enjoying the machine. There is a bit of a story behind the Elizabeth and I must admit having a soft spot for the machine, I admire it for it’s cleverness and is the only machine I would use for hot water…which as you know, is available all the time, even if the steam boiler isn’t on! They are clever people at Lelit.

dndrich

DavecUK OK, now, you gotta tell the story then! And my wife just made some tea from the fabulous hot water dispenser.

DavecUK

it was back in Oct 2019 at Host Milan (possibly the worlds largest coffee festival, runs every 2 years). I wandered onto the Lelit stand and was chatting to Cristina (Head of Sales/Customer service), a very nice lady, and she introduced me to a young guy (well he looked young to me). His English was pretty good, and he was talking about the design of the new MaraX (I had been testing prototypes for about 1 year. This lad was switched on and very knowledgable and told me their technical person had moved on, and he had taken over the role. I had reviewed the Prototype Bianca some 2 years before, and I knew their technical guy was clever. Talking to this young man, he seemed so knowledgable, I told him I thought he would have no trouble and the technical side would be in safe hands…He was a nice guy.

During the week I visited the stand a couple more times and they asked me if I would look at the Pre production MaraX, which I had no problem with, and would I also look at the Elizabeth. I glanced over at it and said I didn’t generally review the lower end prosumer models (you have to remember I was going by looks, I knew nothing about it). They said that the sales of the product was not good and they couldn’t understand why…because it was a good product…..but I wasn’t keen. I didn’t find out until much later that the “new” Technical designer I met earlier was called Mauro one of the companies owners.. In fact, I believe he makes lots of those insider videos. I love it when an owner really understands the machines and designs them.

I returned home and in shortly after some Boxes arrived from Italy…in one was the MaraX and in the other a Lelit Elizabeth (which I wasn’t expecting). If I remember rightly, there was a note inside it saying if you get time, please have look at it. I did get round to it and although there were 3 major things wrong with it…..which you can read about in the review…..if those things were changed (one was the programming), I felt it could be a really good machine….so much so, it surprised me. I got some new programming, some parts and built mine into the version 3, but with the old expansion valve, and it worked fantastically well.

The other problem was in retailers understanding it…people who own one will know what I mean, the sheer cleverness of the design. The rest is history and the machine probably sells as well as the MaraX now. I often wonder if that would have been very different, if I had not wandered over to the Lelit stand to say hello to Cristina and have a chat with that young “designer”. It’s a funny old world.

JahLaza

DavecUK well I for one am happy you wandered over to Christina! I started my journey on this coffee buzz from knowing nothing, having just used an Aeropress for a couple of years. I had no clue where to start. When I found your site and the previous forum it really got me focused. I knew I could trust your reviews because you backed up what you were saying with evidence and videos. It quickly narrowed my choices down to what my budget and needs allowed (and of course they got blown!!) without your review of both the Elizabeth and Mara X there is a terrible risk I could have ended up with something cheaper but wholly unsatisfactory and a waste of money, taking the much longer journey of buying this and that and eventually getting closer to what I would want! From what you say here,I’m delighted it made it to v3 as it really is a great machine, probably best in class at that price. So, thank you, and hope you get to the next show over there!

DavecUK

JahLaza So, thank you, and hope you get to the next show over there!

So do I, I have to wait now until 2023, it only runs every 2 years.

JahLaza

DavecUK you will, and here’s a giggle to further back your confidence in Lelit! When I had just about narrowed it to the Elizabeth I was chatting to the owner of an established German retailer who had broken but good enough English (This is post Brexit, early covid lockdown, I had to go far for this new hobby!!) He was very helpful (of course he was he was about to make a sale) and neutral in his views I thought. We got to talking about the steaming capability etc. of the Elizabeth and comparing with other machines in the same ball park. He said about lelit ‘They are standing out on their own’ so how could I go wrong!!

dndrich

I know what you mean. I would not have considered the Elizabeth as I perused coffee retailer websites, because it doesn’t look like a fancy machine with nice knobs and levers and that very cafe’ looking E61 group head that the bigger machines have. It looks so compact and in some ways like an appliance rather than a real machine. But somebody suggested it on another site when I was comparing the ECM Mechanika V slim and the Bezzera B10 with regards to heat up times, stability etc. The guy listened to my use case and suggested I check out the Elizabeth. The more I did, the more it seemed to check all the boxes. They have done a great job. First class machine for what it does.