Attended one of the La Marzocco On the Road sessions last night in Portland, hosted by Sustainable Harvest a local coffee importer. It was a great space and location and there were lots of local coffee professionals there.

People got to try out the Linea Mini and some local coffee from Water Ave, a washed Rwandan Abakundakawa. They also had pizza, drinks, and LM On the Road t-shirts. I highly recommend attending one of these events if they come to an area near you.



I had the opportunity to talk to Ben Blake from LM at the event and picked up a few interesting pieces of info. First, the long awaited plumb kit is looking like it should be available either late September or early October for those who are interested. Second, LM is working on an option to dim the LED lights for those, like me, who find them too bright. They will be providing a frosted cover that will fit over the lights. The beauty of this fix is that it's really easy for the end user to do and people will have the option to use the covers or not as they prefer. Finally, they are sold out of the stainless and red versions. They did not have many red machines available and stainless was the most popular color. However, having seen all the colors in person (except for red) I can say that my favorites are the black and white versions. Black is the only one with a matte finish and has a classic look to it. The white is really sharp and pops out. So if you are interested in this machine now's your chance to pick one up in black or white, otherwise you'll be waiting until October for the next shipment to arrive.

Very cool, thanks for the update.

Do you have any sense of whether the plumb in kit will retrofit onto existing machines, or if it's something that will be built into the new models? If it's just a kit that bolts onto the existing machine, then it might make sense to get one of the current units and just upgrade to the plumb in kit when it becomes available.

Nice that they have a fix for the LED lights, and it easily retrofits onto older machines. I like how they really seem to be listening to their customers and trying to address their concerns. This contrasts with some other companies (cough - Rancilio - cough) who sell the same machine for years and years without addressing many of the known issues that the machine has or trying to improve it in any meaningful way. Of course, for the prices that LM charges for its machines, it should have excellent customer service and perks. Still, it's good to hear that the extra money you pay is not just for the LM name and prestige, but actually seems to give customers an extra level of attention and service that you might not see from other companies.

The white version is my favorite so far, followed by stainless. Normally, I prefer the simplicity of stainless, but the white has a great, classic and clean look that seems to work well in modern kitchens. Also, maybe I'm just getting bored of shiny stainless machines after having owned several. The white would be a nice change of pace, and would break up the sea of gleaming steel in my kitchen.

My understanding is that the plumb-in kit will be a separate kit that any Linea Mini owner would have to purchase to plumb in. So current owners will be able to buy to plumb in their machines. The machines themselves will not differ.

The LED covers, once they are available, will be supplied with machines and made available, I believe at no charge, to existing customers. So yes, definitely good customer service.

The white version is really nice. In fact, it was so popular early on that they upped production of the white version and that is the only reason they still have some white ones left. Agree with you on the stainless. The nice thing about the colors is that they are actually a blend of stainless (group and area behind, drip tray, and cup warmer/top) and colored side panels. I find the all stainless a bit much. Plus I think it's actually easier to keep the colored versions looking clean since fingerprints don't show up as much.

One other thing I should mention is that I noticed that the demo version's paddle switch was easier to move and smoother than my machine's. Apparently this is because it's been used a lot more. So nice to know that as it breaks in over time it should get better with age.

Thanks for the update. I appreciate knowing about the matte finish on the the black LM and the frosted cover fix. I do not have to wait or miss out. Helpful info on the availability of stainless, also.

TomC wrote:I usually take a single hole punch and cut out a nice round dot of black electrical tape and make a very small pinhole thru the center of it. It provides a cleaner appearance and knocks down the brightness substantially.

Great idea, I'll have to remember this.

any chance that the roadshow might pass thru Minneapolis?