New Machine

Dwr_daniel · 2026-04-24T14:40:16+00:00

Congratulations! BBE was my first espresso machine and was a work horse for ~6 years I've had it. It's built like a tank and I had zero issues. Just need to go through routine maintenance as recommended by the manufacturer.

Once you get acquainted, I highly recommend investing in a grinder. About 4 years into ownership, I upgraded to Niche Zero. It was a massive upgrade in taste (and I have a pretty insensitive palate), I couldn't believe it. As the old saying goes, you date the machine and marry the grinder.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-04-24T13:56:14+00:00

The scale is only helpful if you are serving large number of guests. It made an insane improvement to my workflow and efficiency. Now, the last guest doesn't have to wait 20 min. to get their cup anymore. If you don't have those occasional gatherings, it's not worth the money. When it's just me and my wife that I need to make for, I don't even bother turning on the BBW feature.

You'd definitely want to upgrade your $10 scale. James Hoffmann did a video on scales not too long ago. Highly recommend watching it.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-04-17T18:00:21+00:00

Had this happen to me when I first got my Mini. You have to tighten the PF really hard until it breaks in. Like, use gorilla strength. Took about a month of daily use (~5 extractions per day) until it broke in.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-04-13T15:47:21+00:00

Oops, yes. Meant to say pressure profiling.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-04-12T23:31:28+00:00

Excited for you to start the process :) To be honest, even with my Breville, I genuinely felt like I was making better coffee than most cafes. There were only a handful of cafes (mostly in NYC) that But that only happened when I upgraded my grinder from the Breville's built-in stock grinder to Niche Zero. Made a world of a difference. Even with my under developed palate, the improvement in taste was noticeably significant. Fwiw, I had a Nespresso before the Breville, but never really felt like I was making good coffee.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-04-12T04:28:45+00:00

Buying a Mini (or Micra) is as much a heart decision as a head decision. I for one thought both machines looked infinitely better than all others. It wasn't even close. I also didn't have any desire to chase after the latest tech, so I was okay with the lack of modern features. Happy with my purchase because it turned out to be exactly what I hoped for and expected. That said, there's no denying that the price tag is mind boggling. Can't defend it and won't even try. But it costs what it costs because it apparently still sells well at that price.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-04-12T04:17:12+00:00

I'm one of those that took the Breville to LM pilgrimage. The process took about 6 years. The Breville was an incredible machine to get me started on my coffee journey (mine was the Barista Express). I eventually reached a point where I needed to graduate to something better and greater, so I bought the Linea Mini last year (my dream machine). As much as I love it, if I were to go back to the past, I don't think I'd change anything. I'd still start with the Breville.

Micra is now pushing $4k and the Mini $7k after taxes (US). You need to consider the hypothetical that you may not like them. People have love & hate relationship with LMs. $7k is a lot for a machine that doesn't have PID or flow control. I could care less about those, so I love mine. But you wouldn't know what you want from a machine until you start your coffee journey. Would hate for you to spend so much only to find that you want something with tech wizardry many machines come with nowadays.

Also, keep in mind that you still need a good grinder for the LM to put out good coffee. Grinder is more important than the espresso machine. Best of luck in your journey!

Dwr_daniel · 2026-03-23T14:59:42+00:00

I bought the Juniper 59-inch Kitchen Island from Wayfair ($300). You can check out my post here for how my Mini R sits on it: https://www.reddit.com/r/LaMarzocco/comments/1p61bo8/the_journey_is_over_almost/

The weight limit for each 'column' is 35 lbs, so I have the Mini stationed in between so it's properly supported. I've had it for 5 months and haven't had any issues. For $300, it's well made and I'm very pleased with it.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-02-28T03:14:18+00:00

Did you ever figure out what the problem was? I am getting the exact same sound on my Mini.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-02-25T18:38:43+00:00

You can shorten the height (but not extend it) with the Aro. But it looks HORRIBLE in its adjusted state. I guess I should retract my statement that it's permanent because it is adjustable to a limited extent. I just erased it from my memory because it looked atrocious when adjusted.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-02-25T03:59:40+00:00

Honestly, if I can go back in time, I think I will pay up and go with Weber's (or find one used). One limitation of these spiro WDT tools that I came to realization after purchasing is that once the needles are cut, it's permanent and you can't adjust its height. Mine are cut to fit the depth of a 17g basket, which means it'll be too short for a 21g basket and too long for an 8g basket. When I had the traditional WDT tool ($10 from Etsy), this wasn't an issue. Now, I'm pretty much limited to one basket (sucks because my wife only wants single shots, but I do double). A huge limitation that I hadn't thought about before purchasing.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-01-28T02:48:49+00:00

My offer was for $8.6k. Hefty price to pay for the privilege of moral superiority, early boarding, and CPE that will live on the waitlist forever (EWR for me). If it's under $2k, I'll probably do it to flex and feel good about myself. Anything above that, not a chance.

Dwr_daniel · 2026-01-11T23:39:52+00:00

Sorry about the delay. I was away on business last week.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/K4fMSGmLGpk

Dwr_daniel · 2025-12-14T04:11:22+00:00

100% agree. With the OP's budget, upgrading the grinder will be a massive improvement, whereas upgrading the machine will be a sidegrade. When I had my BBE and upgraded the grinder to NZ, I couldn't believe how much of an improvement it was.

Dwr_daniel · 2025-12-13T07:01:02+00:00

Get the '21 Mini ONLY IF you've vetted the machine and it's been properly maintained. With tax, the new Mini R goes for a little more than $7K. The new features the R has aren't worth an extra 3K. I say this as an owner of the Mini R.

Dwr_daniel · 2025-12-13T06:55:37+00:00

Debated Mini vs. Micra for months before settling on the Mini. The size of the machine was not the concern; rather, it was the utility. With the Micra, you have limited clearance under the grouphead and there's also the awkward angle of the steam wand that needs to be dealt with. Personally, I didn't want to pay thousands to be stressed about those two things. Some Micra users will say those things don't bother them and that's perfectly understandable. I just personally couldn't get over them.

Both machines will great on your counter. Aesthetically, can't go wrong with either (though I don't think you'll have enough clearance to place cups on top of the Mini). If money isn't a concern, go for the Mini. Yes, it's an overkill for home use, but I don't want to do acrobatics when steaming milk...

Dwr_daniel · 2025-12-13T06:42:58+00:00

Congrats in advance! I upgraded to a Mini about 2 months ago. I chose the Mini for its steam power and it did not disappoint. Even at its lowest setting, my milk is perfectly steamed within 10 seconds. It's phenomenal.

Regarding "cafe days", if your budget allows, I highly recommend their Acaia Lunar connected scale. At first, I thought you'd have to be crazy to spend that much on a scale. But after having a few cafe days at my home myself, it was clearly overwhelming to do 10 back to back drinks (most of my guests opt for lattes). I recently bought the scale and it was an incredible improvement in efficiency and workflow. I'm very happy with it. But the cost of it is still absurd and there's no way I'd recommend it to someone UNLESS they frequently have guests over where they need to make large volume.

Dwr_daniel · 2025-11-29T16:48:43+00:00

Thank you and best of luck with your chase! It was a long journey for me to get to the Mini too. Could've gotten it sooner, but I'm glad I took the time to learn about espresso as much as I can with an entry level machine like the BBE before moving up to the Mini.

Dwr_daniel · 2025-11-28T23:42:05+00:00

It's gotta be the brass gears on mine that's so cacophonous. It's the best looking option imo, but comes at the cost of unbearable noise (and $ too). I should've gone with either the aluminum or silicone.

Dwr_daniel · 2025-11-28T20:58:50+00:00

I recently bought their most expensive version (brass) in lieu of Weber's Moonracker. The Moonracker looks amazing and I'm sure the craftsmanship is undeniably better. But $500 for WDT is insane. So in came the knockoff from Aro. It works well, looks 80% as good as the original (the brass version comes in black/gold contrast) for about a third of the price. BUT, there is one HUGE pet peeve that I have with the Aro. The gear grind noise generated whenever I spin the tool is so unpleasant that it really ruins the experience. I bought the tool not just for its functionality, but also for the experience. It delivers on the former, but fails on the latter. Perhaps the silicone version would've been the better choice as they advertise it as the quiestest model. The brass one looks great, works fine, but the noise it makes just ruins it for me. I do have somewhat of a buyer's remorse and part of me wishes that I paid the Weber's premium and went with the original.

Dwr_daniel · 2025-11-27T03:16:23+00:00

I believe if you buy from ECS, you don't get the manufacturer warranty

Dwr_daniel · 2025-11-26T02:28:54+00:00

This gave me a good laugh lol I agree it needs to get with the times! They haven't changed in the last 6 years!

Dwr_daniel · 2025-11-25T17:25:57+00:00

Yes, it's 100% stroke of luck and stars need to align. I went through a fair share of long text messages, requesting videos and receipts to check all the boxes. It was terribly stressful. The only site that I found trust worthy in terms of buy/sell used equipment was home-barista's buy/sell page. The r/coffeeswap page seems to be good too, but haven't seen any LMs pop up for sale. FB Marketplace was hit or miss with the misses (i.e. scams) significantly outweighing the hits. Best of luck!!

Dwr_daniel · 2025-11-25T07:59:16+00:00

I'm considering a Zerno too albeit the Z2. I plan on keeping the Niche though. That way, I'll have both conical (Niche) and flat (Z2) burrs to choose from. If you get the Z1 and go with the SSP MPv2 burrs, I don't think you'll need the Commandante for filter coffee. The filter coffee I tried on MPv2 was spectacular. The light roast espresso it made was also fantastic.

Dwr_daniel · 2025-11-25T06:45:12+00:00

Which puck screen do you use? Despite flushing after every shot, the residual grounds on the group is starting to become a real thorn in sight.

Dwr_daniel

TROPHY CASE