Lelit Victoria Espresso Machine

We became interested in the Lelit Victoria while searching for a compact machine that came in under $1000. We wanted quality construction and function, preferably from a machine with a great reputation, solid design, and consistent performance. The Lelit Victoria fit the bill, coming from a northern Italian manufacturer with a solid reputation.

We find the Victoria remarkable for its ease of use, flexibility in function, and intuitive interface. It's great for a beginner or intermediate user. The machine’s classic, boxy design is clean and no frills, minimizing the countertop space needed to display it. And it fits into our pricing scheme, if only by a nickel!

Something that really stands out, especially amongst machines at this price point, is the small OLED display used to control the various temperature settings and display information. Whenever the machine switches into another mode — coffee, steam, water — a loading bar shows up, and it makes gauging when the machine is ready a delight. It also acts as a countdown timer which is a feature that even more expensive machines often lack.

It only took a few adjustments on our Fellow Opus grinder to start getting great shots with the Victoria. By default, the Victoria offers a short pre-infusion step during brewing, and we feel it helped prevent channeling and blowouts as we were dialing in. Even the shots that ran slightly faster or slower were well extracted and pretty tasty. For us, it builds confidence in the machine when even the coffee that's a little wonky is still pretty good. Once we got our settings totally figured out, the espresso was truly delicious.

What are some of the nits we can pick with the Victoria? The all metal build quality is very good, but the pump is a little noisy and the drip tray is a little rattly. While it has the same high quality portafilter as more expensive Lelit machines like the Mara X, the included tamper is plastic and (frankly) a little cheesy. Removing the water tank to fill is not as easy as we would like, and it isn’t very big so we find ourselves refilling it often. To make it a little easier on ourselves we’ve just been refilling the tank while it’s in the machine with a gooseneck kettle.

As is typical for almost all single boiler machines, the whole steam apparatus of the machine is totally functional, but far from a highlight. We think of it as a fine machine for people who do a weekend cappuccino, but daily milk drinkers or people trying to make multiple milk drinks at a time will be happier with another option. The steam control knob feels stingy, especially relative to the build quality of the rest of the machine. Transitioning from brew to steam mode takes a couple minutes, and the first few seconds of steam are quite wet. It’s easy to solve this by purging the steam wand for a few seconds. The steamer works well when it's ready, but you’ll need a strategy around milk drinks if you’re preparing multiple.

All in all it's a great machine and the one we find ourselves using most in the office, since we primarily drink espresso. It's not cheap by any means, but we do think it's a great value. Compared to other machines around this price we carried in the past like the Rancillio Silvia, we think every aspect of the Victoria is a big improvement. We have more information, additional photos, Victoria FAQ, and comments on our Coffee Library Lelit Victoria page!

Technical Features:

• Group Head – Lelit58 commercial group, 3-way solenoid valve to dry up the coffee puck
• Brewing System – Single brass coffee boiler
• Control – LCC with high-resolution OLED graphic display, Back-lit stainless steel buttons
• Delivery wands – Multidirectional steam/hot water wand
• Settings – Adjustable steam and coffee temperature, Pre-infusion on/off, Celsius/Fahrenheit options, Automatic cleaning cycle, Stand-by function
• Interface – Lack of water in the tank graphic indicator on the LCC, Machine ready and/or warming-up graphic indicator on the LCC, Extraction time countdown graphic indicator on the LCC
• Shot Control – Partial and total doses counter, Coffee delivery time, Active "Reserve mode"
• Manometer – Back-lit manometer for coffee pressure
• Construction Materials – Brushed stainless steel appliance body
• Additional Features – Drip tray with wire grate, Wide cup warmer, Mug friendly
• Capacity – Boiler .3 liters  , Water tank 2.5 liters 
• Heatup Time – Less than 10 min, but to heat up group head more like 22 min
• Voltage – 120V 60 Hz | Plug B
• Dimensions – 9" wide x 10.75"  deep  x  15" tall  (23 x 27 x 38 cm)  Cup Clearance: 4 inches
• Weight – 11.27 kg
• Accessories in Box: 9-11g filter basket, 14-18g filter basket, blind filter, 35l softener filter, plastic tamper & spoon