Everyone’s morning ritual is sacred. Whether you’re a morning person or not, what you do in the morning matters. You can sleep in, go for a run, check Instagram—whatever. But for coffee lovers, the ritual of making a morning cup is more than just a routine, it’s a passion. I would describe myself as a “coffee person,” and waking up to make a cappuccino is one of the best parts of my day.
For the past few years, this ritual has been possible thanks to my Breville Barista Touch coffee machine, and it has worked wonders for me — high-quality espresso, basic to maintain, all-in-one, what more could you want?
I would describe myself as a “coffee lover” and waking up to make a cappuccino is one of the best parts of my day.
But the more I exploit the machine, the deeper I fall into the rabbit hole of espresso WDTs, RDTs, extraction times, flow profiling, and the like. I consume hours of content from YouTube coffee virtuosos like James Hoffmann and Lance Hedrick. I take a shot, then take it again, repeating until it’s as close as I can get. And make no mistake, the Breville Barista Touch makes damn good espresso.
But I wonder what a more advanced espresso machine can offer. To test my desire to be a prosumer, I tested La Marzocco’s Linea Micra. It’s the smallest La Marzocco espresso machine in the lineup, and it’s also the most affordable. Does the quality of the espresso and the workflow justify the nearly $3,000 price difference between my Barista Touch and the Linea Micra, and will it improve my morning routine for the better?
La Marzocco Linea Micra
So is the La Marzocco Linea Micra the prosumer upgrade I’ve been looking for? Absolutely, yes. It lets me do things my Breville simply can’t, and the only real sacrifice I make in terms of convenience is the startup time (more on that later).
La Marzocco Linea Micra
Advantages
Typical La Marzocco excellent build quality
Compact design that looks good
Powerful double boilers
Shrewd features are great if you want to improve your coffee making skills
Cons
Sluggish heating
Lack of flow control like some competitors have
The included filter baskets may be too diminutive for your needs.
It costs almost four thousand, which is objectively a lot of money
