thecoffeefield wrote:Just an update on the above, today I thought I would check how the water taste to rule out any issues that could affect the taste of my milk drinks. I pulled some water from the grouphead and some from the water spigot and I let it cool down. To my surprise, the water from the water spigot had a weird taste, almost metallic but can't really put my finger on it. It didn't taste bad just distinctively different from the grouphead water. The grouphead water tasted good. I'm thinking that could be the reason why my milk drinks don't taste like the cafe (despite using the same coffee and recipe). Anybody had the same issue and how can I fix it? Machine is 4 months old.

Also have no problem replicating shots I believe, although I don't do it so often and cafes I buy beans from seldom have curveball machines.
But I compare espresso shots, not milk drinks - in fact I would be less able to tell a difference if adding milk.

Regarding the water from the boiler, it does have that bad metallic taste, and has been this way since day one. That's why I don't use the hot water from the machine if I were to do an americano. But for milk never felt any issue.

That being said, you may also want to try a different water in your tank, and compare espresso with where you bought the beans in order to compare apple-to-apple.

thecoffeefield wrote:I pulled some water from the grouphead and some from the water spigot and I let it cool down. To my surprise, the water from the water spigot had a weird taste, almost metallic but can't really put my finger on it. It didn't taste bad just distinctively different from the grouphead water. The grouphead water tasted good. I'm thinking that could be the reason why my milk drinks don't taste like the cafe (despite using the same coffee and recipe). Anybody had the same issue and how can I fix it? Machine is 4 months old.

I pulled water from the spigot today to test it, let it cool off, and tasted it. No weird taste at all.

La Marzocco recommends draining the steam boiler once a month. For those with a weird taste, are you doing this?

FYI, to drain the boiler:

1. Turn off the machine.
2. Put a saucepan or something under the spigot.
3. Open the spigot, and let all the water come out.
4. Turn the machine back on, and let it fill back up.

Hope this helps!

flip wrote:Yeah, that's somewhat normal. The water from the spigot comes from the boiler, which is reheated water. The grouphead is always "fresh". But why do you say it affects milk drinks?

Because the water that goes to the water spigot also used for steaming so the steam tasted/smelled off.

Dylan wrote:I pulled water from the spigot today to test it, let it cool off, and tasted it. No weird taste at all.

La Marzocco recommends draining the steam boiler once a month. For those with a weird taste, are you doing this?

FYI, to drain the boiler:

1. Turn off the machine.
2. Put a saucepan or something under the spigot.
3. Open the spigot, and let all the water come out.
4. Turn the machine back on, and let it fill back up.

Hope this helps!

That's what I did yesterday and the smell/taste is gone now

The issue I'm having is that the milk drinks I get from my cafe have distinctive fruity and almost spice flavors that punch through the milk, very clear, even when the drink is a latte at 8.5 oz! I can't get those same flavors. My milk drinks are sweet and delicious but lack those flavors. The crazy thing is I was able to experience those flavors from the very first drink I made when I bought the machine 4 months ago. Since then, all subsequent drinks lacked those flavors. Soooo frustrating

For those who may have been holding out, like me, for the stainless steel LMLM.... good news, it's back in stock. I was reluctantly set on purchasing the black as there was no intel on when, or if, the SS might be back in production in the foreseeable future. When I checked a few days ago on the Clive Coffee site, it was back in stock. Purchased mine yesterday with the bottomless portafilter. Joey P at Clive advised that the ETA is likely 3-4 weeks for delivery. Counting down...

Enjoy, back in January I didn't have patience enough to wait especially with the looming price increase so settled on a black but have to say I love it. My eureka atom is stainless but has black front so it's a nice contrast and the black still has stainless grate and backsplash.

Hi,
I am about to order a Linea Mini !
I have a couple of questions for the users before I do it.
1- my local dealer in France (official La Marzocco distributor in France) proposes a timer option, the same as the Old PB as you can see in the pictures.
Do you think it is worth it ? Or is there another way to time a shot (use of the app for instance but I couldn't find a picture of it) ? Would you pick the option ?



2- I hesitate between the black and the white colour. For some reason the black is 500€ cheaper ! But I heard that as many mate Colors, the black of the LM is not easy to clean, it keeps some water marks whereas the white doesn't. Any insight on that ?

3- The commercial La Marzocco models have been modernised and I fear that it may soon be the same for the LMLM. Have you heard of a new model coming soon ?

Many thanks for your input !
David

As a recently new owner myself, I feel your pain regarding selection.
1) I personally wouldn't bother with the timer. If you are intending to weigh your shots, then a timer function is provided on the scales, why look at two places? The timer offered, is a nice integrated one, but still doesn't look particularly OEM, so the aesthetic is not as it should be, in my opinion. The Lunar commences counting as soon as you put a cup on it with a beep, allowing you to only start the pump then. If you want pre-wetting you can build that into your timer calculation, quite easily I would have thought.

2) I have a custom RAL dark blue colour. Yes, it does get water marks on it, but as I am quite fastidious on cleaning the machine anyway, I rather find it quite therapeutic to wipe the marks off, rather than leave them there.

3) This is inevitable. The LMLM is 7 years old and although aesthetically looks the business, technologically it is probably falling behind a little. I suspect there will in the next iteration be an integrated timer, as well as pre-infusion connected to the paddle, if not some degree of flow profiling and probably a digital indicator for the PID. I also expect that it will resolve the issue about running out of water during a shot and probably have the ability to turn off separate boilers. If these are important to you, then wait, but who knows if they will upgrade this year or next or even later, do you want to wait that long? Do you want to pay a higher price for features that you may not need or want?

Bonjour David!

Here is my take, please note I only owned a white LMLM for 6 months:

1/ It is a matter of personal preference. In my case I wouldn't want the timer to keep the look and feel of the machine as is. It then depends on how you would time. In my case, and I think several others users, I use the scale for that. There are although many mods you can consider if you regret not taking it later.

2/ Wondering if the black is really 500eur cheaper, or if the white is sold by your dealer for 500eur more than RSP... worth checking maybe
I use the white but I'd say though that I almost never had to clean the white parts of the machine, just the chrome panel which is quite easy in any case. I personally wouldn't be super concerned but best for users of black LMLM to share their view here.

3/ I had the same thinking when I purchased mine. But it will always be true. My thinking is, when they did an update to the LMLM they also sold the upgrade option so that previous users could enjoy new features so there's that. The upgrade comes at a cost of course, but the price of the machine seem to keep increasing, so net net, not sure if worth waiting too long unless there is a significant redesign announced. At least so far, haven't heard of a new model, and the new features they are pushing (pre-infusion) will be available via app.