LUCCA A53 Direct Plumb Espresso Machine

I can’t say enough about this machine. It’’s a big upgrade from my Rancilio Sylvia. Programmable shot volume and preinfusion are game changers. Steam power is awesome. The 53mm portafilter seems normal to me now and I actually prefer it to a 58. Having a direct plumbed, commercial grade machine in my kitchen is a dream come true.

Using for a coffee cart. Able to get out about 50 shots in an hour, all very consistent and delicious. Night and day from our personal use machine and I could see it being a wonderful home addition as well.

Love this machine. Using it very frequently

This is our second Luca 53. We have 2 homes . One for each. Makes wonderful cappuccinos!!

I love this machine! It is beautiful and makes great espresso, and it’s pretty quiet. I use it for a mobile coffee cart. The only down side is that I cannot lift it because it is 60 lbs and alittle awkward to hold. Also it does not have an LED screen, so to program it you rely on on a system of pushing what seems like random buttons to program it. The instructions provided are very, very minimal. I just googled how and followed the instructions and it was fine .

We are extremely happy with the LUCCA A53 DP Espresso Machine. It was easy to install and to set up, It's been very dependable, and produces consistently superb expresso coffee. The owner's manual is the only drawback in that it is somewhat insufficient. It does not adequately describe how to program the unit. We had to rely on the company we purchased it from and You-Tube to figure it out. The programming is very straight-forward, but without some initial explanation, we had to rely on others and not the manual to figure it out.

We're using the Lucca A53 for our mobile cart and it has been great! Awesome machine, the only thing I wished it came integrated with is the timer. Other than that, we have also use it for our coffee shop as a back up and it fulfilled the expectations. Thanks to Paul for the recommendation and customer support as we connected it.

Seems to be a solid machine so far

I received my new direct-plumb Lucca A53 with Bubinga side panels from Clive in mid-December 2023. It's a beautiful machine, a work of art, although this is very subjective. However, after setting it up on the countertop I noticed that white plastic tubing at the bottom of the machine was already beginning to abrade over the metal edge of the bottom panel (as judged by the plastic shavings that had accumulated on the black bottom panel) so I wrapped the affected part of the tubing with electrical tape to protect it from further damage. Clive's instructions for adjusting the preinfusion time were wrong, which was more than a little frustrating because they initially insisted I was the one who wasn't following the correct procedure. The programming interface is arcane. The machine lasted for only 3 months before it suffered catastrophic failure in March 2024. I was making an espresso when I heard a loud POP! I turned around to see what was going on and white smoke (not steam) was pouring out from the machine. I turned off the power and unplugged it. After it had cooled down I opened the top and saw that the group head solenoid had melted/exploded. I contacted Clive and they promptly shipped me a replacement solenoid that hasn't arrived yet. Given the option of returning the machine for warranty service or replacing the solenoid myself I opted to replace it myself. The machine was fun while it was working and I trust that it will work again. I am nevertheless very disappointed that it lasted only 3 months before suffering catastrophic failure. I should also note that it's difficult to clean the drip tray because of all the ridges that are formed into its bottom. Given my experience, I would be hesitant to recommend this machine.

I am very pleased with this espresso machine. It is very well made, consistent, and easy to use. Also, the team at Clive Coffee is top rate.

We love this machine but even more, loved the Clive Coffee teams outstanding customer service. The first phone call was extremely helpful as the representative listened to our needs and helped match us up to the exact machine to suit those needs. Next was the prompt arrival and great instructions for setup. Had a little difficulty with getting the right pull and spent about 30 min on the phone with another representative who thoroughly and technically walked us through some adjustments until we were pulling perfect shots. Thank you, thank you. We couldn't be happier.

So happy to have this machine. Makes far better drinks than my old Breville barista, go figure :) The videos clive produced are very helpful for setting it up and understanding how to adjust temperature, pre-infusion, and shot volume. It would be nearly impossible to know how to adjust them otherwise. Highly recommend this machine. I've use a more classic Rocket Rotary pump machine and found LUCCA far easier to get quality shots out of.

This baby does what it was designed to do, pull a great shot one after the other all day long. Over 10 pounds in and I am still very satisfied!

I searched long and hard for my first espresso machine that would be the workhorse of my new mobile cafe. Sean at Clive was so helpful and talked me through all of my concerns. I was never pressured into buying anything, just helpful suggestions. And about 2 months in, I am LOVING my A53. Pulls back to back shots like a champ and brews some amazing shots. Thanks Sean!

I can't compare this to any other machines over $1k. This is my first real machine. Direct plumb was my first priority. I hate reservoirs, and I'd wager a vast majority of those who go direct plumb will never go back. I chose this machine because no other direct plumb machine could compare in terms of value (features, serviceability versus price). In fact, the feature set on this machine is even more robust than is easily communicated on a bullet-point list on a website. To get an idea of what I mean, google the temperature offset for the vivaldi S2, or read about the aftermarket upgrades including but not limited to the programmable start times for various days of the week. All that to say, there's more ability to customize settings than you might guess based on the simplicity of the interface and absence of digital readout. Your key consideration with this machine versus another is the 53mm group head as opposed to the ubiquitous 58mm (E61). This one's deeper, that one's wider (obviously). The E61 is the safe choice. The standard. This 53mm group head is a relative upstart in the espresso world, but "relative" is the operative word. The 53mm head is billed as more forgiving. I'm not sure that's the case based on reading and conversations, but again, I've never owned or dialed in shots on an E61, so YMMV. I will say you will definitely get channeling at times, no matter what. I'm religious about manipulating one variable at a time under controlled conditions with numerous samples, and there will be times where my kitchen is a spritzer war zone despite adhering to all the conventional wisdom regarding channeling. That said, if I'm working on the same batch of beans for more than a week, by the end of the 2nd week, I'm getting virtually no spritzers, but often still have a segmented puck that suggests uneven extraction (the top half of the puck falls away first, leaving the bottom in the portafilter). I've manipulated pre-infusion times from 0 to 8 seconds with no noticeable change in this. Oilier beans suffer less. But of course, most coffee geeks turn their noses up at anything beyond Full City these days. It's also not uncommon to see visual signs of extraction favoring one side of the portafilter as opposed to the other. Sometimes it's perfectly centered. Sometimes it's not. I'd wager the way the water diffuser releases water unevenly and randomly has an effect on this, but I haven't seen any diffuser that does any better. On the subject of tamping, the consensus seems to be even, consistent pressure, and that the actual pounds of force don't matter as much as keeping it even, along with the other extraction variables (grind, dose, ratio, etc). I find this to be utterly and completely false. Changing only my tamping force, I can take a shot from 19 seconds to over 40 easily. I don't know if that's a 53mm thing, or if its due to my herculean size/strength, but the point is to not just assume every piece of conventional wisdom will apply to your experience with this machine. Once I figured that out, I broke through the next glass ceiling in my shot-dialing-in journey. I've also seen 95%+ opinions that a nutating tamp is garbage. On the contrary, I find that a light nutation at the beginning of my tamp (more so to aid in even distribution) takes my shot consistency up a notch. Anyway, just another variable to consider as you dial in. With respect to the portafilter, the bottomless one is technically a triple. It's not happy with anything less than 18 grams. I've gone as high as 22g, which almost always involves some grind overflow. 20g seems ideal. I've been brewing mostly 20 in and 33-36 out at 29-34 seconds. Depending on the roast, 42-45 seconds has been great. Other roasts, 19-24 seconds has been great! With respect to DIY maintenance, I can't remember if I was told this in the store or if I read it online, but changing the group pressure is NOT hard (I was told it was). If you're just not a DIY'er at all, then maybe, but I thought it was easy. Disassembly of the grouphead for cleaning is easier still. I believe Clive bench tests these and gets them set up. But pressure can vary based on line pressure. My home's line pressure was 75+ so I have the regulator taking me down to 27-30, depending on what else is on. Even with that, my out-of-the-box pressure was 9.5 bar. I turned it down such that the extraction starts briefly at 8 bar and quickly builds to 8.5 for the remainder of extraction. Seems good, but I haven't experimented with this (while it's easy to adjust pressure, it's also too time consuming to do very often). The steam wand is pretty good. Again, i don't have much to compare it to. I thought I had issues with my milk or my wand at first, but found that's almost always a learning curve issue. Get the tip just BARELY under the milk, wand resting on the spout... then tilt the pitcher sideways (bottom moves away from midline) until the tip is halfway between the midline and t...

Highly impressed. it's so good we're going through 5lbs of beans a week!

First the machine. The A53 is amazing. It is way faster than my previous heat exchanger unit (which was no slouch). Makes great coffee. I cannot believe how fast it steams milk and how quickly it recovers temp. The Clive team is great as well. The bumpy start. The machine arrived DOA. Called Clive, and was told they had some problems with the fuse holder in the machine. The help pages provided the necessary information on HOW to replace, BUT, the "standard" fuse holder was unobtainium. Amazon to the rescue, and I had a two different makes of fuse holder at my doorstep on a Sunday. Turned out the fuse holder is a COOPER BUSSMANN BK/HKP-R FUSE HOLDER, 6.3 X 32MM, PANEL MOUNT. My hands don't fit where the holder is, but luckily I had long forceps to install. Years of working on things helped out here. Reassembly after the fuse holder install wasn't bad. So, yeah, a bumpy start. Still, a great machine, lots of power. Amazing speed. I have yet to try to stress it, (just morning four shot Lattes, Macchiatos and flat whites for me...and occasional other drinks) but the recovery time has been impressive so far. Indeed, if I were opening a small kiosk, Id think real hard about using two of these machines instead of some other two head machine. I expect this to have a long and happy life in my kitchen.

very easy to use and install

Love it. Best machine at this price point!

Great system for our office.

Awesome coffee

This is probably mty 5th or 6th machine, having gone through a Krups, a Gaggia Classic, a Jura Mcro Ena One, and an ECM Classika PID. None of these other machines could make a really good cup of espresso. I got frustrated and purchased the Lucca with bubinga side panels (being a woodworker, I know how gorgeous bubinga is) as well as a new grinder (Fiorenzato AllGround). All I can say is that I haven't had a better cup of coffee in my many trips to Italy. The machine is very easy to use, the steamer is very powerful, and I set up the machine to go on automatically via internet each day. If people knew how much better a set up like this can be, they would gladly fork over the extra money to have it. My criticisms are minor and have been noted in other reviews: chintzy drip tray and slightly difficult to eject puck from portafilter. But hands down, this will rank as one of my more memorable purchases. Excellent customer service from Clive.

I bought Lucca A53 commercial from Clive Coffee and very satisfied with the machine and service provided by team. Paul was very helpful to setup my machine. Will definitely work with them again. Very responsive and helpful. If you are small business owner like me and first time buying coffee machine be 100% sure they will provide best service in the market! Thank you for your hard work.

I love this espresso machine. It’s consistent and easy to take care of. Looks absolutely beautiful. The only reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is the “Bluetooth timer app” feature. The app does not recognize the machine. I reached out to Clive and they were not able to find a resolution with La Spaziale. I reached out to La Spaziale directly and never received a response. It would be great for the timer app to work but otherwise great machine.

This machine is a lifesaver for us. After trying out and failing with 2 other "used" machines, we decided to go with the A53 and thank goodness we did. It lives up to expectations. So easy to use and is a workhorse of a machine. We love it, our customers love it and are impressed. We should have started with this machine instead of waisting our time on others. So happy.

The Lucca A53 is a unique machine from a unique company. You really get a lot for your money. Internally the A53 is very logically laid out and easy to maintain. Simple details like keeping the control board and SSRs well away from the boilers, and using boilers that are serviceable have not gone amiss. The expansion valve is right out front, along with the pump pressure regulator. It is a whopping two screws to remove the front cover and adjust both.
It does have a 53mm portafilter, and it took me about 3 shots to get used to it. The smaller footprint of the portafilter actually fits the machine really well. I do not feel this detracts from the shot in any way. Programmable pre-infusion is a welcome addition that I used to try to fake by hand. I don't use volumetric dosing, but it needs to be mentioned that it does have it, and it is very consistent and works great in testing.

On the subject of pleasant surprises, even though the pump is front and center (read, easy to service), this machine is extremely quiet. Coming from my previous machine that had two vibratory pumps, it is an extremely pleasant user experience. Pulling a shot is a joy. Speaking of pulling shots, warmup time is a pleasant surprise as well. My A53 is ready to go in 15 minutes. No flushing, no purging steam and waiting for it to finish warming up. It is ready to go full stop. Last but not least, steam power is incredible. My previous machine struggled to steam 8oz of milk. This machine steams 10oz of milk in about 15 seconds and recovers before I have poured latte art. The large boiler and generous heating elements hold up to any dinner party I will have.

I want to give a shoutout to Clive customer service as well. True customer service is very hard to find today, and they absolutely go above and beyond! Clive has genuine coffee lovers and techs that are always willing to go out of their way to help you with any question or concern you have. They helped me for days before I even bought something!

If you are looking for a home espresso machine that is a well built workhorse, and passionately supported by real people that will actually talk to you on the phone; a LUCCA A53 from Clive.com is the answer.