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An Honest Review Of The Most Show-Stopping Home Espresso Machine Out There

Written by: Navarone Farrell
Lelit Bianca, a very sexy machine which has just launched in Australia.
Lelit Bianca, a very sexy machine which has just launched in Australia.

The Lelit Bianca V3 is a stunner, no doubt about it. But visual appeal aside, this is definitely the coffee machine you buy when you’re ready to go beast-mode on your home coffee. That being said, it’s also not for everyone, and I’ll tell you why.

If you want to skip straight to the need to know, click here and you can scoot past the review.

Lelit has just launched in the Australian market courtesy of parent company Breville, who already make wonderful and very easy to use machines like the Breville Barista Pro, with literally millions sold across the globe. However, the Lelit machines are for those who are ready to take the next step in their coffee journey. Yes, you’ll get a far better brew, but there’s also so much more involved.

The Lelit Bianca V3, which is the top-of-the-line model, has all of the bells and whistles you can imagine. There’s a dual boiler system with a total capacity of 2.3L, which means you can brew and steam at once for those octopus-armed home baristas. It comes with a manual flow control paddle, allowing you to adjust the water flow instantaneously, customising the pressure and speed of your espresso extraction and allowing for fine-tuning. It has a rotary pump and can be plugged directly into water mains for small commercial operations. In terms of customisation in the Lelit Control Center (that’s the OLED display), you can preset pre-infusion, standby times, brew temperatures, and extraction times. For the clumsy folk out there (like myself), both hot water and steam wands are no-burn, completely insulated, meaning you can just grab that metal and wiggle it as much as you need. If you’re in an apartment (again, like myself), you can reposition the water tank from the back to either side to save space.

So, you might be asking, what does all that mean? Basically, with a bit of learning, you can make real barista-quality coffee at home with this machine. The ability to pre-infuse and control the pressure means you can finely tune the amount of water that is flowing through your beans, and depending on whether you have a lighter or darker roast, want brighter or deeper flavors in your coffee, or your grind is a bit tight or loose, you can compensate. But it does require a bit of know-how. You will need to know how to manually adjust the grind and the flow a little to get a good extraction, or have the patience to set the pre-infusion times and re-adjust them when you change beans or manually adjust pressure, as this wipes the pre-infusion settings. You need to be dedicated. But if you are, you’re going to make a fabulous cup of coffee with this machine.

The two portafilters with blind head and different-sized baskets are a nice touch; you can pull a single shot, a medium double, or a stonker with the three baskets, which range from 9–11g to 14–18g and 18–21g respectively. I found when using it, it’s best to fill to the top end of those weights; it will result in a firmer puck and a nicer brew. Also in the box is a hefty stainless steel tamper, which is a piece of art in its own right; however, no knock-box.

Both the hot water boiler and the steam wand react instantly and at high pressure; you’ll have a full cup or gorgeous silky milk in no time at all, thanks to those dual boilers. Hot tip: replace the two-hole tip on the steam wand with the four-hole straight away. You won’t, however, find a steamer jug in the box, which, for the price tag, I would have expected included.

Similarly, you will need to purchase a grinder separately, but for a machine of this quality, it’s assumed you will be quite serious about your coffee and willing to outlay on a grinder so you’ve got the tip-toppiest, most consistent grinds imaginable.

There’s heaps of great resources on YouTube about how to set up your machine or troubleshooting your espresso shots (and Reddit as well for that fact), so I won’t go into it here, but triple-check your flow paddle position and grind size as a starting point. Some other common issues are ensuring the water filter has been completely soaked and needing to manually adjust the pump pressure (underneath, right-hand side, small nut) to tune it back to 9-bar—your machine might go a bit hard out of the box.

At the end of the day, this is a prosumer machine. You’re the kind of person who probably already owns a home espresso machine, but it’s not quite doing what you want anymore. You’ll have a couple of favorite roasters, and they won’t always be accessible, so you want to bring that magic home with you—but your machine doesn’t quite make the same brew. You’ll have experience brewing coffee either from that machine or a commercial setting and know how to dial in a grinder. If this is all ringing a bell, this is the machine for you. And over the other comparative machines released by Lelit, it’s worth spending the money on the top of the line for both aesthetics and functions. However, if you’re a little stuck for space, the Mara is a slimmed-down single-boiler version and then the Anita is an all-in-one (grinder included) machine that’s also worth having a look at.

Need To Know:

Who Is The Lelit Bianca V3 For?

You’re a budding barista, home barista or looking to upgrade an existing home espresso machine. This machine requires a bit of skill to use and is in the intermediate to advanced stages of home-brewing.

How Much Does The Lelit Bianca Cost?

The Lelit Bianca V3 is an elite-tier product and as such, comes with the pricetag. It retails for $4,800 from their website.

What Does The Lelit Bianca Come With?

The Lelit Bianca comes with the coffee machine itself, a water filter, hoses to connect to water mains, two portafilters, three baskets ranging; 9-11g to 14-18g and 18-21g and a blind head for cleaning, a stainless steel tamper, as well as a microfibre cloth to keep that stainless shiny and a cleaning brush and two steamer wand nozzles. It does not come with a grinder or a steamer jug, which you will have to purchase separately. 

Do I Need A Grinder For The Lelit Bianca?

You need a grinder for the Lelit Bianca, like most of their products. I was gifted the William alongside the machine and it does an excellent job, it retails for $1200.

Where Can I Buy A Lelit Bianca, Or Other Lelit Machines?

JetBlack are the Australian retailer for Lelit, which are imported by Breville.

Image credit: Breville | Website

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