Lelit PL41TEM Anna PID Espresso Machine

27 reviews for Lelit PL41TEM Anna PID Espresso Machine

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   John S (verified owner) – January 21, 2018

   I love this machine. It has a very nice look on my counter with its polished stainless steel finish and relatively compact size. It’s pretty easy to use once you get the hang of refilling the boiler after steaming. The PID is great and always lets you know what the boiler temperature is. The machine heats up in just a few minutes and heats from espresso temp to steam temp very quickly, about the time it takes me to get my milk out of the refrigerator and pour some into a pitcher. The drip tray is generously sized as is the water tank. I’m not sure why I’d ever need a better espresso machine than this one.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Claudio Darezzo (verified owner) – March 16, 2018

   The machine besides looking beautiful – its does make a great espresso shot – giving you use whole beans and grinder adjustments have to be just right – aside from the grinder and how much you dose etc, – the Machine is very capable – takes a bit of time to get it all dialed in but once you do – it will be easy to use – its easy to backflush – drip tray is good size to hold water – easy to refill water – – Cant go wrong if your willing to put the effort into it – this is my second Lelit machine and love it .

3. 

   Rated 2 out of 5

   olypdd (verified owner) – April 24, 2018

   It has PID, sure, and it’s best to leave it on awhile before use to let temperature stabilize. But the boiler is small so as soon as you start pulling a shot, the water temperature plummets as indicated by the PID readout. The PID cannot keep the temp from surfing much beyond actual desired brew temp when pulling a shot. PID controllers in commercial machines ensured brew temp would be maintained within +/- 1/2 a degree f. For a small boiler in a unit like this, it’s just bling and doesn’t offer the benefit it does in larger or commercial machines with larger boliers. I wouldn’t recommend pulling shots for very long with this if you want decent flavor. The build looks great inside and out, but when removing the portofilter, the entire unit seems to flex. It doesn’t appear to be very stiff in terms of frame build. The light weight means you have to hold onto it firmly when locking it, or removing the portofilter. It steams pretty well….not as good as my big HX machine or Elektra Micro Casa a Leva, of LaPavoni, but not bad. I thought this might be a convenient, adequate backup machine for my wife while my big HX machine was being overhauled. I was wrong, and sold it.

   • 

     Rated 5 out of 5

     jsml (verified owner) – July 1, 2018

     I own this machine. It achieves temperature and stabilizes very quickly. The PID does exactly what it’s supposed to do which is to tell you the temperature at the boiler. You may be able to get a machine for thousands of dollars that keeps the temperature stable throughout the brew cycle, I don’t know about this. The thermostat would have to read the temp at the brew head; this would likely be an expensive machine. Any single boiler machine will show a temperature drop when the pump turns on since you are introducing cold water into the boiler. As far as I can tell the Anna makes a perfect shot of espresso. Maybe I should spend another $6000 for a tiny incremental improvement in flavor, or maybe not. At this price point you can buy several other machines, all of which will have a temperature drop when brewing starts. Maybe if it doesn’t have PID you won’t know about the temperature drop so you’ll feel better about it.

4. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   gregbeecroft (verified owner) – November 15, 2018

   I bought this machine along with a Baratza Sette 270 grinder and have used it for a few weeks now. When searching for a machine, I wanted a budget machine with the reliability and stainless steel look, similar to the Rancilio Silvia, but also wanted updated features that the silvia doesn’t offer such as the PID. I also didn’t want to pay the Silvia price. I also looked at the Crossland CC1, which seems like a good deal, but didn’t like its style, and heard rumors of durability issues, so I decided to pull the trigger on the PL41TEM. There isn’t much else in the market, aside from Breville stuff, which has also had reported durability/longevity issues, so I avoided them too.

   Design/Look: Nice stainless steel look and it seems easy to service. My only qualm here is the weight of the unit isn’t quite as high as something like the Silvia, or a higher end HX/DB machine (obviously). When locking the portafilter in place, you really need to hold and stabilize the machine more than a heavier machine, otherwise it will slide on your countertop. I like that the machine and/or its parts are designed/built in Italy, similar to the Silvia, and I think it even shares a lot of the same parts (pump, etc.) as the Silvia.

   Performance: Seems to make good espresso, I’ve been trying to remove as many variables as possible (weighing my beans before grinding, weighing liquid after extracting, same coffee dosage in basket each time, same temperature, same tamp pressure, same shot timing, same beans), but I get some inconsistent performance. For example, I’ll pull a shot using 15g coffee in the double basket, and it might yield 35g liquid after 30 seconds of extraction time. I’ll let the machine recover, do the exact same thing, and I’ll yield closer to 60g liquid after 30 seconds after the second identical shot. The taste profile is also a bit different for each shot as well (and yes, I’m pre-heating the portafilter/basket using hot water from sink + pre-flush without coffee in the filter to let hot water run through it).

   Flaws: Haven’t noticed many flaws, except the steam wand drips water slowly, even in brew mode and not steam mode. I reached out to 1st-line, and after 2 or 3 attempts at contacting them they finally contacted me back and assured me the steam wand drip was fine and not really a defect.

   Another flaw is the brew pressure on the pressure gauge. I’m not 100% sure how accurate the pressure gauge is. It’s obviously brew pressure at the group head and not in the boiler (which I think is usually more like 1-1.2 bar). When extracting and trying to hit a 1:2 brew ratio (15g in, 30g or ml liquid out), the pressure seems to stay around 10.5-11 bar, instead of around 8.5-9bar where espresso should be made. Cursory research on the internet seems to indicate that this unit has a non-adjustable over-pressure valve, so you cannot lower the pressure to an acceptable amount, at least not using the valve itself (or rather, I’ve read that the pressure valve IS adjustable, but it is thread-locked shut at the factory and shouldn’t be adjusted).

   A 1st-line rep who contacted me simply told me that to lower the brew pressure you need to coarsen the grind, lighten the tamp and use less coffee in the basket to provide less resistance and lower pressure at the brew head, and this did seem to work a little bit (I achieved just a tad under 10 bar), however the liquid extracted was far too much (14g in, and about 70g of liquid out – more than 2 ounces!), and it was very under-extracted. If I go any coarser on the grind or lighter on the tamp, I could probably hit the 9bar of pressure, but i’d probably get 90-100g of liquid out of the pour/extraction so it would be severely under-extracted. If you are looking for an adjustable brew pressure, look elsewhere at a more expensive unit, because the OPV seems to be set too high from the factory for 9bar of pressure for an average shot/grind. And before you ask, yes I used both slightly older/not-so-fresh beans, and fresh roasted beans, and got the same high pressure during both extractions.

   The coffee puck sticks to the shower screen post-extraction about 90% of the time. Not a huge issue nor really a defect, just an annoyance more than anything.

   Milk steaming works pretty well and is fairly quick. The only flaw I’ve found is that the steam doesn’t shut off right away when closing the rotary steam wand valve, but takes 4-5 seconds to “ramp down” and shut-off fully. Same goes for hot water when pumping hot water out of it. A youtube video of the same unit shows similar behavior, so I don’t think it’s really a defect, just an annoyance.

   Yes, the PID temperature will drop when you start extracting a shot. Yes, it is normal, because the PID thermostat sensor is located at the boiler and not at the brew head, so the temperature you read on the PID doesn’t reflect temperature at the brew head. The boiler is also fairly small, so as fresh water is drawn into the boiler during a shot extraction, that temperature will drop naturally, but I don’t think it necessarily lowers the water temperature too much at the brew head. Technically, with a machine like this, you just need to be able to provide enough water at the desired temperature at the brew head for a long enough period of time to produce a shot (25-30 seconds), so even if it can’t flash-heat the water fast enough to provide “on-demand” water at the desired temperature, it should be able to give you enough water to perform the shot, and then recover afterwards.

   Machine didn’t come with a blind insert/basket, wish it would have but not a huge deal since they are cheap as chips. I honestly think companies like 1st-line should throw in a blind insert + a sample of a detergent/cleaner to encourage customers to backflush their machines regularly. It seems like it would help customers be more aware of cleaning their machines’ internals regularly, and even help reduce the number of warranty claims/service calls that they receive due to limescale/hard water build up.

   Overall, the shots I’ve been able to produce are pretty good, even if they are inconsistent. I know there’s an artistic approach and a scientific approach to creating espresso, so if you don’t pay too much attention to your weights and don’t care so much about the brew pressure accuracy, you could probably dial in a pretty good shot with this machine, and I think it’s overall value can’t really be matched by anything else on the market.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   GaryA97229 – November 19, 2018

   For those of you who are looking at Le’Lit, I am a testament to the fact that this is a very robust machine. How? I have had my PL041 for 13 years, and it works as perfectly today as the day I bought it (in 2005)!! Not many items today in any category, can make claim to that, as nothing is made very well today. Except for this.

   We went to Switzerland in 2005 and after having the BEST lattes in my life, I had to buy my first machine and a burr grinder to keep enjoying great coffee. This machine has made espresso just fine for my wife and I for all these years, and we are happy with it! If you’re a first time buyer, just so you know, Le’Lit makes a long-lasting machine.

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   amirbamdad (verified owner) – January 30, 2019

   Very happy with the machine. Produces great espresso every time with no guesswork. All the features needed for good espresso without too many bells and whistles. Great steaming power. Very smooth milk. Excellent customer service.

7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jason Darmiento (verified owner) – May 13, 2019

   This being my first espresso machine, I don’t have anything to compare it to per-se. Though I can compare the quality of the shots that it allows me to pull to that in which I’ve had at coffee houses. I did loads of research before settling on this machine and also considered the Gaggia classic and Rancilio Silvia. The latter two do not come with PID stock and the new Gaggia classic pro has an aluminum boiler which I did not want. The Lelit Anna has a brass boiler, and heats up quickly compared to other machines on the market. The steam wand seems powerful enough, though not overly so which allows me as a newcomer to have time to work the milk properly.
   I did have an issue navigating the machine’s menu in order to change the displayed temperature to Fahrenheit. After a couple emails with customer service I received a call from Jim who is one of the owners. Once he realized that I was following the proper known procedure, it became clear that Lelit had made a software change without notifying their distributors. After a couple trial and error button presses, we found the option. With the machine powered on, you press and hold both up and down arrows until “C – F” is displayed and then you press the up arrow to toggle between them.
   I am very happy with the machine, and the very good after sale customer service.

8. 

   Rated 2 out of 5

   Enrique del Castillo (verified owner) – August 8, 2019

   I bought this machine 4 months ago. It makes good coffee, but I noticed the over pressure hose drips too much water (in fact, an almost black liquid). The video in your web page indicates how to lower the pressure, which I tried, but the brass nut is too tight and it seems very delicate so that you could break it if forced. For the 600+ I paid, I would have expected a cleaner operation of the machine, the dark “coffee” that overflows is pretty nasty to clean, every time you make coffee

9. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Andrew S – September 30, 2019

   This machine is phenomenal. Quality exceeded my expectations. Beautiful finish, easy to clean. What surprised me the most was how fast the machine is. It heats up in about 2 minutes, and when switching to steam it lakes about 30-45 seconds. The steam is surprisingly powerful – and again, it heats up so quickly it makes the process super fast. Normally it is ready to steam before I can even grab the milk and get it poured in the pitcher. When using for entertaining and making several drinks at a time, I have yet to even have to wait on the machine even once – it was already ready before I was. The PID is also very helpful – being able to tell exactly what the temp is to know when to pull your shot. Overall, this machine so far is one of my favorite consumer purchases I’ve ever made. I chose the machine over a Gaggia Classic and the Rancillio Silvia – it beat both in features, rivals them both in quality and price. The Gaggia I couldn’t stand the steam wand, and I didn’t want a aluminum boiler. I like the Silvia, but it’s more pricey, less attractive to sit on my counter, and did not have the PID control. The Silvia is also slower to heat up – it does have a larger boiler, but I prefer quicker start up times. 1st line was very helpful also, and got my order processed and shipped very quickly. I purchased the package deal with the Lelit Fred grinder (which is awesome too), and I found it to be a very very good deal.

10. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Steve L – September 30, 2019

    I’d been using superautomatics for several years, but decided to see whether I would enjoy exercising more control over my espresso-making, I frankly wasn’t sure if the extra fussing would fit into my lifestyle and if the results would be worth it, so I looked for a machine that was relatively inexpensive but would be capable of making good espresso. I was drawn to the Lelit PL41TEM because of its PID, pressure gauge, clean look and compact size. I mostly make milk-based coffee drinks, so I had some reservations about getting a single boiler machine, but again, didn’t want to over-invest before knowing whether the transition away from superautomatics would work for me. Well, I love this machine! I’ve been able to make the finest espresso I’ve ever tasted. And as far as steam is concerned, although I’d certainly rather not have to wait for it, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how much of it I get and how quickly I can make perfectly silky-smooth microfoam. By the way, I paired my Lelit PL41TEM with an Ascaso i-Steel flat burr stepless doserless grinder, which I’m also very happy with, although I would not recommend it to anyone who needs to change fineness/coarseness settings frequently to accommodate different brewing methods or different beans. As a “dial it in and leave it there” grinder, however, it’s great. Oh yes, and 1-st Line has been terrific!

11. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    John Lloyd-J – September 30, 2019

    I’ve had my PL41TEM almost exactly 3 months, so it’s run in and become part of the daily routine. My previous machine was a Gaggia, which had become a bit old and cranky. Interestingly, after ordering my new machine, I received a phone call to ensure that the given phone number was real and to ask what grinder I planned to use. Once the machine arrived, it was unpacked, primed and working in a matter of minutes. Compared to my old Gaggia, it has been less fussy and easier to clean. I like the consistent performance the pressure gauge helps me to keep things at the sweet spot.

12. 

    Rated 4 out of 5

    William L – September 30, 2019

    I’ve had my PL41TEM almost exactly 3 months, so it’s run in and become part of the daily routine. My previous machine was a Gaggia, which had become a bit old and cranky. Interestingly, after ordering my new machine, I received a phone call to ensure that the given phone number was real and to ask what grinder I planned to use. Once the machine arrived, it was unpacked, primed and working in a matter of minutes. Compared to my old Gaggia, it has been less fussy and easier to clean. I like the consistent performance the pressure gauge helps me to keep things at the sweet spot.

13. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Scott K – September 30, 2019

    This machine is great. It replaced my old Lelit PL041 that I kept going for 9 years. They the old one finally died, I had to the give the newer PID’ed version a try. If you’re looking for a quality espresso machine for the home, look no further.

14. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Jan A – September 30, 2019

    Love this machine, I use it every morning. 1st-Line is a top notch company. They helped me with the steam wand. It is tough to master but I am getting better.

15. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Marek K – September 30, 2019

    After all research what I done for weeks a decide for Lelit. espresso machine. After few months of using Im pretty happy , its not noisi like others brands and really quick heat up what Im really glad. im using every day for 5 and more coffees. It was good choice , But its only 3 months , I had before Magnifica model and last for 7 years.

16. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Daniel (verified owner) – September 30, 2019

    I think the Anna w/ PID is a great value. It came with 2 year warranty and is a major upgrade from the Gaggia Classic, which I owned for about 4 years before it died. It’s a bit tricky to get the hang of the Anna but a novice like me can now make espressos with crema and can steam milk like a pro after watching a few videos. These two were the most useful:
    Making the espresso: https://youtu.be/ISKG_ANV2XY

    Steaming the milk:
    https://youtu.be/5Q2SXsqXxKk

    The biggest surprise: it was tricky to get the manometer to be in the optimum pressure zone but that it seems to depend on the bean. I tried a few and so far have had the best luck with Lavazza Crema E Aroma. I’m using a Baratza Virtuoso at setting 2.

    Summary: a great machine and a great value. May require some initial experimenting with beans/grind but well worth it.

    • 

      Rated 5 out of 5

      John Saxon (verified owner) – April 6, 2020

      I think you’ll find that when you get your grind adjusted correctly for about a 2 oz. Shot in 25 sec. that the pressure will be in the zone. I love my Anna.

17. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    piersonmike1 – December 5, 2019

    I purchased this machine as a “returned item” and was a bit worried, however once I received the machine and sought help from Java Jim, the Anna espresso machine changed my life, for the better! I did get low pressure as the previous buyer stated, HOWEVER= once I upgraded to a Lelit Fred grinder, everything is great, I am totally satisfied and enjoying great espresso at home with an Italian maker everyday!
    Much appreciated and highly recommended!

18. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Katherine (verified owner) – January 9, 2020

    We bought the Lelit Anna TEM after a trip to Italy had us missing easy access to espresso. We had plenty of experience making coffee in other ways, but no experience making espresso. I was looking for a (more) affordable machine that had PID, which this machine has. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get the machine figured out. After that, I watched a video on YouTube about frothing milk (by Chris Baca), which helped a lot. We are now able to make delicious espresso drinks right at home. I may never leave my house again other than to buy more beans. Highly recommended.

19. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    mwfulwider (verified owner) – April 23, 2020

    I previously owned an expobar office lever plus as I was anticipating making many lattes for my potential clients. Alas, I did not have the success in the business venture that I had hoped and found the expobar to be overkill for just me. I sold the expobar to my son and found this great little single boiler which is doing a fantastic job!

    It pulls great shots! Heats up quickly 10-15 minutes (Expobar was 30 minutes before you could pull a good shot)! Steam pressure is on par with the expobar! Machine shipped very fast and was very well packed! Love having the PID and Brew pressure gauge!

    If you are looking for a personal home espresso machine and don’t anticipate doing a lot of latte’s for many guests this is a fantastic choice! All stainless case (this is more important in the long haul than you might think). This is truly a very well built machine! If you ARE thinking of doing a lot of entertaining and making of lattes for your guests you will want to look at the heat exchanger or double boiler models! Hope this helps in your decision making

20. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    teamw23 (verified owner) – May 3, 2020

    I spent a lot of time researching espresso machines before I settled on the Anna. I eventually came to the conclusion that there is pretty much no other machine out there that offers this kind of build quality and feature set for the price. So I bought one. We’ll have to see how it holds up, but here are my initial, generally favorable impressions after a little real-world time with this machine.

    Pros: Appears very well-built, with all metal case construction, a brass boiler, metal toggle switches, heavy gauge power cord and so on. This is made in Italy, not slapped together in some contract manufacturing facility in China that is trying to cut every corner possible, and it shows. In person, this just does not feel like a machine that is going to fall apart any time soon, and I’m encouraged to see that you can get parts for it so when the pump or other parts inevitably wear out, you can have this machine fixed rather than throwing the whole big, expensive thing in the landfill. The PID should mean that you get more consistent results because the starting boiler temperature will be precisely the same every time, and I found that the PID plus the pressure gauge makes it pretty easy to get dialed in (I would never buy a machine without a pressure gauge now that I have one). With a scale and a stopwatch, it took me less than 5 test shots to figure out that 16g is the right dose, with grind setting 11 on my Sette 30 providing smooth, consistent results (YMMV). And I am no professional barista, just a guy who likes good coffee who is capable of watching a few YouTube videos to get the hang of how this is supposed to be done. So chances are, if I can do it, you can do it too.

    Aesthetically, it looks good on the counter, looking and feeling solid and substantial without taking up too much space. I also like the water gauge on the side and that the water capacity is pretty big for a machine like this. It heats up very fast, and since the boiler is small, the changeover between steam and coffee really doesn’t take very long in either direction. I can go brew/steam/brew/steam without getting annoyed by the single boiler. Seems you really don’t need a double boiler if, like me, you are only making a few milk drinks at a time. As for milk drinks, the steam is certainly powerful enough for my needs.

    Cons: Portafilter is 57mm not the more standard 58. So your tamper/leveling tool options are more limited because 58mm is the most common size out there. I wish the entire drip tray was stainless steel instead of just the cover, and I think the steam/water control knob could be nicer. It works fine, it is just made of very basic plastic and the diameter of it is a little small. It stands out mainly as being one of the only places where the modest price of this machine actually shows. Refilling the water from the back is not ideal, particularly if you are putting this underneath cabinets. Also, this machine has a small fill hole for the water tank that requires care if you leave the tank in the machine, and if you pull the tank to refill it, the shape is a bit awkward to handle. At least it holds enough water that you don’t have to do it constantly, but it would be a lot easier to refill if the guts of the machine were in the back and the tank access was in the front.

21. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Jared (verified owner) – May 12, 2020

    Bought this so I’d stop paying 4-5 dollars a day on decent espresso drinks. I rarely go to coffee shops anymore, other than when I want to go sit at one. This makes fantastic espresso and once you get the hang of it and figure out which beans you like, you’ll be able to consistently pull coffee the way you enjoy it making using this machine better than a coffee at many shops. My only complaint is the frother seems a little weaker than what I see people using on YouTube but it is enough to do the job. Like others said, it warms up quick. Honestly for a few people in a house this does exactly what you would want. I know there are much more expensive machines but after using this machine I don’t see the point of them if you are just looking for a good espresso drink.

22. 

    Rated 4 out of 5

    Fady Abiassaf (verified owner) – May 13, 2020

    Tengo maquinas de espresso marca Oster, Gaggia, Breville y ahora Lelit.
    Compre Lelit porque es italiana y porque queria probar la tecnologia “Boiler”, ya que todas mis maquinas son “Thermoblock”. Esta Lelit solo es comparable con mi Breville. Estoy contento con mi Lelit, pero mis expectativas eran mayores, en cuanto a funcionamiento y calidad del material. Es cierto que opté por una de las maquinas mas económicas de Lelit entre otras marcas, pero aspiraba mas por lo que pague en comparación con mi Breville. Posteriormente a la compra, me di cuenta que hay muchas maquinas parecidas a la Lelit, en un principio pensé que Lelit fabricaba sus propias maquinas, pero me doy cuenta que no es asi. Si te fijas bien, la marca esta identificada con una calcomania pegada al producto, eso significa que otra compañia fabrica para Lelit y otras marcas. Ya eso no me parece bien. Repito, estoy contento con mi maquina, pero aspiraba mas. Aun no he logrado la cremosidad del espresso, pero creo que me falta ajustar el molido y la temperatura. El tiempo de calentado de la maquina es rapida, por ser Boiler pensé que se llevaria mas tiempo. Me da la impresion que es una maquina que necesita mas mantenimiento de lo usual para mantenerla en perfecto estado estetico, en comparacion con la Breville. Pienso que el material de acero inoxidable de esta maquina es de menor calidad que la breville, la veo mas fragil. La capacidad de almacenaje de agua es muy buena, la operacion es divertida, es muy silenciosa y tiene buen aspecto visual. Hasta ahora mantiene las presiones pero no saca el portafiltro seco una vez preparado el cafe. Pero creo que es por ajuste del molido. Sigo conociendola y aspiro en poco tiempo sacar un cafe excelente.

23. 

    Rated 4 out of 5

    JonathanW03062 – January 11, 2021

    I have had my machine for several years now and I like a lot but it has some issues.

    My leaks, not all the time but only when I do net get the grouphead on tight enough. I find I have to get it tight take a pre-infuse and tighten again. One nasty form of leak is that the coffee comes out in stream which flows along the handle to drip on the counter and the floor.

    Leakage is enough that I bought a stainless deep tray to put under it. It is not expensive and saves a lot of cleanup.

    At about 18mnths the seal on the grouphead failed catastrophically and I replaced it. This was not hard to do. Now I tend to underfill to make sure to keep the pressure stays well below 10 ATM. It leaks worse than it did before the replacement usually fixable by stopping infusion and retightening the handle.

    All in all this is the best value out there but it has some issues,

    I had some guest who I served coffee made by the machine. The said to was the best they had ever had.

    I make cappuccino. I get long lasting froth but doing it in two steps. First at high power and once I have good basic froth I back off the pressure and froth until the pitcher is almost too hot to touch,

24. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    jlyon9 (verified owner) – February 25, 2021

    As a long-time-ago barista that only used commercial machines, I was apprehensive about buying my first home espresso setup. I have to say, this machine is worth every penny. It pulls excellent and consistent shots, with great crema and does an acceptable job steaming milk. I never expected to be able to afford this level of coffee at home, but the Anna does it with relative ease. Of course having a dual boiler or heat exchanger would make things faster for steaming milk, but for me, it is not worth the price difference for the more expensive machines, when the time to switch from espresso to steam is so minimal – and yes, I do drink almost exclusively milk-based drinks. The steam wand could have a bit more power and perhaps a shorter throw from closed to full open, but I can texturize milk to about the same quality as I could on a pro machine.

25. 

    Rated 3 out of 5

    Nan – March 17, 2021

    We had the Anna PL41EM without the temp gauge (PID) for a number of years – maybe 5? – then it developed some performance issues. Maybe could have been sorted by repair but with 1st Line our only repair option and the expense of shipping a heavy machine back & forth and paying for the repair, we figured we’d be halfway into a new machine. So in late 2017 we splurged on this model PL41TEM and were again happy for a while. There’s no question that it gives best value for the money – brass boiler, PID, no plastic parts, Italian built, all for under $700. On the other hand, it’s been leaking from the grouphead for about a year which I deal with by using a small cup right directly under the leak to keep the water from dripping into the cup. And now the steam valve has malfunctioned and simply won’t turn. After only 3+ years, this is quite disappointing. So again – ship to repair, or swallow hard and replace? Get our 3rd Lelit in under 10 years – or switch to another make that perhaps can be repaired locally?