[Producer] So describe this place to me.
[Pedro] It's a little cafe.
Actually just
a street away from our warehouse,
and it's
kind of in the middle of nowhere.
But it's got a name for itself in this local area,
as the best coffee in the Pagewood Botany area
and
kind of just attracted a bit of a specialty crowd.
and
I don't know,
I don't know that this is a cute little cafe
and they've done well,
and they're good, good guys running it
Just the usual espresso.
Thank you.
So they're running the La Marzocco PB here.
So it's the commercial version
of the La Marzocco Linea Mini.
Pretty cool machine.
And for the grinders, just through here,
they're running the Anfim SP2
and an EK 43 for their black coffees
and a PuqPress to tamp.
This coffee is from La Marzocco Linea 3-group
PB
and they actually ran this one from the EK 43 grinder
and tamped with a Puq Press.
Let's just jump back in the studio and look at the Linea Mini
the same version of this machine
just compacted.
Now,
La Marzocco.
Before we talk about the Mini,
might take a step back and talk about
my journey with La Marzocco.
Because
I'm maybe a little bit biased with this machine.
Like many in the coffee world,
La Marzocco. also has a special place in my heart.
I was in Florence in 2015
when this machine first started being built.
Seeing the first production runs
So it sort of feels like I've seen it
from its birth to now.
And in Florence, I've actually got my name on the factory wall
on a tile.
Taking a step back.
La Marzocco has been there from the get go.
I remember playing around the commercial Linea classics
and I actually owned the Linea Classic at home, a one group.
It's actually just sitting back there.
Now, when I had that machine at home, it was big.
It required 15 amp power,
which in Australia meant a dedicated line.
It had an external motor and pump, so it had to be plumbed in.
By no means was a home machine.
Yet, I loved having it at home.
Fast forward and then a little later, La Marzocco.
actually release a home machine, the GS3.
Now, the GS3 was based on the Strada
which was the commercial version.
There were awesome on coffee,
had a big boiler from milk with ten amp,
had a water reservoir, could be pumped then.
They really were the ultimate high end machine
originally was an AV, which was a volumetric,
and then they came out in the MP.
So I actually had an AV, which I used to rent out to markets,
and I had an MP at home, which I heavily modified
at the time that didn't have the gauge on top and a modified that from the Strada.
Now, this is going back many years.
I later sold that machine
and in a full circle of life, randomly
one of my dad's friends called me and said, Pedro bought a GS3.
Can you come have a look at it?
I went there and it was mine I knew was my machine
because of the mods I had done and I knew some things.
I'd put little scratches in it, etcetera and they're all there.
So it felt like a full circle.
Moving forward to 2015.
When I was in Florence and this machine was getting developed
or basically coming off the production line,
it felt like they had built the ultimate home machine.
Now, this was built on the Linea
and the Linea was the workhorse of their range.
So currently you've got the Linea and the Linea PB, and if you go into
most cafes in the specialty world, you'll see it to be honest,
many cafes, non specialty, you just see the La Marzocco Linea
Now the cool thing that they did
was they effectively shrunk the machine,
but they kind of changed things up a bit.
On all La Marzocco's
And the GS3s, you had the saturated brew boiler
for your group, had this machine that did it slightly different
and they didn't integrate at 170ml
brew boiler to be able to heat up faster
and really get that consistent temperature at the group head.
So this machine was basically designed like the workhorse for home.
If you wanted to dive into coffee and go a little bit crazy
and look at flow control, have volumetrics, etcetera.
There was the GS3s.
There are the machines from other brands.
This machine was made as basically simple raw
machines, no digital display,
no bells and whistles, no fast, but just executed well.
What that means is some
things are pros and some things are negatives.
Like the PID controller is actually a wheel,
which is just on the here on the right.
It's actually a little bit hard to access depending on where you've got the machine located
and to know where you're at because you don't have a digital reader.
In saying that it is available through the app
because the machine was a bit smaller they kind of did things
a little bit different.
So let's go through and look at some of the specs of this machine.
We've got the integrated group head and the manual paddle
to see better how that works.
Let's just open the panel here.
Have a look.
Moving the front cover here.
We've got
the 170ml integrated brew boiler.
So that's it here.
And looking at the paddle, what the paddle is as you move it across,
that part there hits the micro switch.
As it hits the micro switch, it activates the group head.
So if you think about effectively, it's the same as a rocket switch,
but we've got a lot nicer feel
to activate that group head
when it comes to both the hot water and the steam valve.
These valves are actually the same valves as used on the commercial machine.
So effectively, this is a little commercial machine for home.
And now just removing the back panel here,
we can see the rest of the machine
that huge boiler.
That's a three and a half litre steam boiler.
And just hiding under there right at the bottom
that's a motor and pump with a pump being there.
And that's what makes this machine commercial and quiet.
And just the ability to just pump out steam, it really is,
once you look inside a solid and commercial machine.
Now we've put it back together.
Let's keep looking into this machine.
So you've got 170 mil integrated boiler right here on top
and a 3.5 liter steam boiler on the rear.
Now, 3.5 liters for home machines.
It's actually quite large.
So effectively,
this is not just a home machine, but it's a machine you can pump out steam.
So think coffee carts, think offices.
The steams really dry because you can really lift up
the steam pressure on that rear boiling
now they've actually put the steam arm on the right
and it has a fully articulating arm.
So you can really position the jug in any way you want.
And the steam is
basically insane and very dry steam.
This makes a lot of difference when you focusing on latte art
where you really don't want to be bringing in the extra water content to your milk.
When it comes to the portafilter of this machine,
it runs a stainless portafilter actually the same portafilter
you get across any of the La Marzocco machines.
So it really is a full commercial machine.
On the left here.
You've got a water tap. So it's a hot water.
It's a little stumpy, little hot water that just sits down there.
Now, it is only just one temperature, some of other machines
to infuse water and you can run two different temperatures.
This is just hot water.
Going further down
and we'll come back up to that group head going further down.
You've got a large drip tray.
With a nice surface working area and enough room to fit an Acaia Lunar.
The drip is actually held on by magnets.
So when you pull it out, I'll put it back in.
It really holds in place really firmly.
Now let's pull it out because just behind the drip tray
we've actually got the water tank.
Now it's a large two liter water tank
that you can fill up through here.
The good thing about the water tank being here
is it gives it a lot of surface area up top.
So if you think about markets, coffee carts or even at home,
you can really pile in those cups here and get a good work flow.
The annoying thing about having the drip tray here
is you have to remove the water tank, pull the drip tray forward,
fill it up, and there's no visual indicator
where your water is from the external side of the machine.
So there's a no slot here on the frame or
anything for you to look at.
In saying that when the water runs low,
the blue light here flashes
and once it flashes it actually allows you to have enough water
to finish that shot so you're not going to kill that shot.
So it's kind of a positive
and it's kind of a negative depending on which way you look at it.
But in saying that you can plumb in these machine
or if you're in a cart situation,
run it from a big bottle and have a flow jet.
So realistically,
most people are probably going to plumb in these machines.
So this won't be an issue,
but just something to bear in mind.
Now, moving back to the group head
and a temperature controller, there's two cool things here.
Now, the group here runs a lever actuation
so you move it across
and the pump starts
and you move it back and it stops.
This feels amazing.
It's a really nice movement.
But it's no different to say a Rocket switch.
It runs for 5 seconds pre brew
and that can be adjusted through the app.
So you do have a pre brew and a ramp up
to nine bars.
Being a rotary pump machine.
You can adjust that pressure if you want it to be
higher, lower than nine bars.
Now, talking app.
This machine, like many at this price point,
does have an app you can control its
turning on turning off temperature, how many shots, it's had, etcetera
Now, the app is a whole different video and is a bit into the app,
but just know that it is available.
In saying that
early models from 2015,
16, 17 didn't have an app.
The app did come later down the track
and you can retrofit it to the machine.
Another cool thing about this machine
is this the way it looks, it really does look beautiful.
It's finished well and it's made just like the commercial machines.
What that means is it travels well.
You can put this in the back of a car
and take it to the markets, take it to your holiday house.
It is a little bit heavy.
So it's not just a pick up and move,
but you've got the option to take it with you.
Some machines just don't travel as well as this machine.
So we've preloaded the portafilter with 21 grams.
We're going to lock it in and run an espresso
cool thing about when locking in this portafilter
it's just how solid the machine is.
It really is a heavy, well built machine.
When we move the paddle across, the bristle lights activate.
And it's just a nice feeling.
It's, it's subtle, but it's like I'm awake,
I'm making coffee.
And the coffee is really coming out
with really nice crema a really nice body,
the same as what you get from a cafe
and the pump being a rotary is really silent,
really quiet, really nice
cutting that shot of there
exactly the same espresso I'd expect from a cafe.
And it really does have nice body and nice crema
I'm a little biased towards this machine.
I really do feel like it's a very industry standard machine.
So
Now that we've done espresso, let's do a milk based drink.
First things first.
Let's get the coffee going.
While we're doing the coffee.
One cool thing once again, it's a cool touch arm, so you can touch it
without burning yourself.
And just doing the milk
because it is a twin boiler machine.
You can do the milk at the same time as your espresso,
which does help.
Now,
I'm definitely not a latte artist.
Every time I see others on YouTube, I'm admired by their skills,
but drinking predominately black coffee milk is not my thing,
but there you go
a flat white.
Thank you for watching this review
of the La Marzocco Linea Mini.
We are going to be doing a review on the rest of the La Marzocco range
GS3, AV, MP, Strada and Lever
and we would like to know in the comments, do you have this machine?
Which of the rest of the range you want to see first?
And if you've enjoyed this video, if it's bringing you value, hit the thumbs up.
If you haven't already subscribe.
Thank you very much and see you on the next video.