Linea Mini

There are many recommendations here for some of the most expensive machines, but you don't have to go an spend that much money in order to get a good espresso machine. It also depends on what you want. A Decent machine will let you experiment with many variables, while machines like a Linea Micra or Linea Mini are notorious for being very reliable and looking aesthetically good, but they lack flow/pressure control. Other E61 machines such like a Lelot Bianca or a Profitec Pro 500 offer flow control, but it's manual (not auto like the Decent). However, for ultimate manual (pressure) control you should look at a lever style espresso machine. You should start coming up with a whish list, and go from there. Do you want a dual boiler? How important is a quick warm up for you? PID? (most likely yes), flow/pressure control? E61 group head? Lever? Automatic or manual flow control? Volumetric shots?

It’s been 3 months since we brought this beauty home, and I still have a little anxiety posting it in social media 😂 I visit this bar twice a day. Morning espresso, afternoon coffee ritual. Somehow it still makes me ridiculously happy to see it sitting in my kitchen 🥲

Thank you ☺️ To be honest, it’s probably not worth it and I still can’t fully justify it. The LM mobile app is great, easy to use, and has some cool features, but the Lelit was already very stable and nice to work with. The steam power on the LM is easily 10x stronger, so if you’re into latte art it’s amazing, and it’s much faster to pull shots. I just wanted LM, and there was a discount on the Mini but not on the Micra. In the end, I’m not disappointed at all. It looks great, works great, and it was my dream machine. But to be fair, Lelit is more than enough for most home users

I've enjoyed my Linea Mini R for 9 months and not a single regret. The machine has a great feel to it and is extremely quiet. The BBW is generally solid, but I've experienced a few bugs. If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

I disagree. The Decent is great if you want to geek out with different brew profiles and flow rate. Personally, have no interest in fine-tuning my coffee and went with a Linea Mini. The build quality is top-notch and the machine is incredibly quiet. I'm not saying one machine is better than the other, but I have no interest in buying a Decent.

100% agreed. My LM was expensive but I have long forgotten the price. Using the machine every morning still brings me a lot of joy.

I went with a Linea Mini because of the quality, user experience, and lack of flow control. I love my morning drinks but I don’t have the desire to play with different pressure profiles.

Funny how Lance Hendrick worships these machines, yet thinks La Marzocco Linea Mini R is overkill. I'd gladly pay a couple of grand extra for a machine that is reliable.

I would probably go for a two machine setup. For your budget, I don’t believe there is a one size fits all solution to espresso that is usable for the entire office. A semi-automatic espresso machine is just too difficult to use for the masses, and the commercial grade super automatics are expensive. To start, I would get a nice Fetco drip machine for the bulk of people that just want a good cup of coffee. Focus on supplying actual good coffee, and this machine will be awesome for most people. For the espresso nerds who don’t mind learning to operate a semi-automatic machine, get a high end dual boiler “light commercial” machine like a Linea Mini, Micra, or Profitec Pro 700. I would get a grind-by-weight grinder to go alongside it for throughput optimization.

Can't speak on the less expensive unit but I use the LM Linea Mini for my mobile coffee business and that thing can sling 120 shots in 4 hours without skipping a beat. I paid more for a machine that I knew could take a beating and still be mobile. Also the ability to both work off a reservoir and be plumbed made it a good choice. Edit: to add on to most of what folks are saying, the grinder is where you go the extra mile. We use a Mazzer Jolly V Pro and the grind is where the difference is noticeable. Spend the money on a grinder and you should be fine.

If consistency is what you’re after, you can’t really do better than the Synchronika. I’ve pulled 20 back to back shots, very, very stable machine. The Linea Mini would also be very consistent. If you’re after exceptional taste, for me, a spring lever is the way to go. I had an 800 for a while and got really good shots. Every machine will have quirks, on the 800, its temperature stability, but if you get on top of it with a group head thermometer (and maybe a small fan) you will be able to pull some amazing shots. At most you have to wait a couple of minutes between shots for the machine to stabilize. There are other spring levers out there that don’t suffer that much with temperature stability, Nurri Leva or ACS Vostok/Vesuvius would be my top picks. A little biased as I traded the 800 for a Nurri. So, wrapping up, if no fuss, ease of use is your main deciding factor, my vote goes to Synchronika. It can even do flow control if you’re wanting to tinker. Linea Mini would fit into this category too. If you want to chase amazing shots, spring lever. And finally to throw another wrench into the mix, if I could only have one machine, Decent gets my vote, it can be as easy or complicated as you want. The stop at weight feature really is game changing. And of course it can mimic almost any other machine out there. I say almost because it can’t quite get to a spring lever level because of flow limitations, but it gets you 90% of the way.

The Decent is amazing, and there’s a perk, if you maintain their warranty after the initial 2 years, it’s $300 for the next 2 years, forever. And they include all shipping and import duties, at least to my country, if it needs repair. Don’t know of anyone else doing anything similar. I got mine used, it was from a low use cafe, and it sat in storage for a couple of years before I got it. Powered up right away, did some deep cleaning but the insides were pristine. Working great and now under warranty again in case anything happens :) Now, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved my 800 and would have been totally content keeping it. Nothing negative after I figured out the temperature stability thing. When plumbed in, it’s almost totally silent, minimal required maintenance, very few parts. It’ll last decades.