Lelit Bianca, Harvey Himelfarb

I love the complete control over all the machine’s variables.  That allows me to make a wonderful espresso easily in the morning with little fuss or, if i’m in a different frame of mind,  to explore what subtle changes in one of the variables or a change in beans do to the flavor in the cup.  I also love that I have used it now daily for nine months and it still looks brand new and behaves like brand new.  It is a true pleasure to use and the espresso it produces is the best I have every had in my over 50 years of drinking coffee.

I have found no negatives about this machine, save, of course, the cost.  But I think that the cost is truly worth it for a machine of this quality, made of stainless steel, with excellent internals and I am expecting that it will last me forever.

My espresso journey has been long – I started with a lever La Pavoni, but could never make espresso as good as I had experienced in Italy, so gave up and went back to drip.  A few years later, after discovering Coffeegeek online, I decided to try again, and bought an HX machine and made much better and more satisfying espresso for the following 12 years.  Then, as my HX machine began to age, and as my knowledge-base improved, I decided to buy a double-boiler machine with the ability to pressure-profile.  My research let me to the Bianca and I have enjoyed the best espresso I have ever had for the past 9 months.

The control that the Bianca affords allows me to walk up to the machine in the morning (it is on a timer and greets me ready to go to work) and depending on my mood, make my first espresso.  If I just want to simply enjoy an excellent espresso, I follow my standard practice, leaving the machine’s controls untouched, prepare the puck and pull the shot and enjoy an excellent espresso with little fuss or effort – just a small amount of concentration.  On the other hand, if I have some new beans, or simply are in the mood to experiment, I can change any of the variables I wish and pull the shot, and experience the subtle changes directly in the cup with the knowledge that, if the espresso is better or more interesting, I can easily repeat what i did to achieve that quality again.  The total constancy and repeatability of the Bianca is a wonderful attribute and easily makes this machine a real winner.

I bought my machine from Jim at 1st Line and that experience and the followup support was excellent.  In an early phone call, he answered all my questions, offered a lot of information based upon his direct experience, and didn’t apply any pressure at all.  When my machine finally did arrive, I called him again with a question about the correct water debit – and he put the call on hold, went to his machine, measured the water debit – and came back on the phone to give me my answer.  One cannot expect better service then that!