I've just (this week) taken delivery of the Micra.
Coming from a decent I'm loving the simplicity and old school approach to dialing in but I'm really struggling with the milk.

On almost every jug I have I just can't get the steam wand in deep enough unless I overfill above the the bottom of the spout. And frankly that means stopping before it spills over and not when it's done.

I was taught (and have been subsequently told off by by teachers!) to start deep and bring the wand up to add air - well that ain't happening with this. Given the power of the steam, even at setting 1 I don't have long.

It doesn't help that I'm a piccolo drinker so I don't need more than 5oz/150ml but even then i can get it hot, I can get air in but can't stretch it.

And it's just wasteful burning through twice the amount of milk everytime.

Any tips or ideas? It's enough to kill this machine for me.

Have you tried using the included pitcher?

This is 150ml in that pitcher:


And here's that volume with the wand:


I steam this amount regularly with the steam set to 3... what's the problem?

I have found I can get the wand pretty deep if I tilt the pitcher forward toward the machine. More about making the liquid meet the wand I guess.

Also, if you spin the want around, you can completely bury it in pretty much any jug.

Here is the wand hitting the very bottom of my 20Oz pitcher:

That is a great idea that I hadn't considered, but quite obvious after seeing your photo!

Has anyone tried the Weber Workshops "Steam Dial" variable aperture steam tip on the Micra? Does the Micra steam wand use the same tip as other Lamarzocco machines?

https://weberworkshops.com/products/steam-dial

Sorry but why would you do that? If you never used a commercial-level machine to steam milk (saying this in terms of steam power), forget everything about "phases": stretching, this, and that... Everything is done in a matter of seconds. Go all in, finish fast, and practice. Once you master it everything else will just be too slow

Exactly! Great point!

hoffycoffee wrote:Has anyone tried the Weber Workshops "Steam Dial" variable aperture steam tip on the Micra? Does the Micra steam wand use the same tip as other Lamarzocco machines?

https://weberworkshops.com/products/steam-dial

This should work. People have been using the Slayer steam tips on Micra as well.

I asked on another thread but didn't get any takers. Would anybody successfully getting good microfoam on the Micra be willing to take and post a close up video of the steaming? Particularly showing wand and pitcher positioning throughout the steaming process.

I'm also struggling with getting good microfoam with smaller milk drinks on this machine. A combination of powerful steam, short wand and poor technique on my part is giving me hit or miss (mostly miss) results.