LUCCA M58 Sunto Espresso Machine with Flow Control

An update, this has been the best espresso machine I've ever owned, ten years, 11 in October. I’ve had one switch go out; I was able to replace it myself at home.

Sweet

Don't buy this machine. The M58 is a beautiful and technically functional but has multiple serious design flaws.

The pump noise is a massive dealbreaker. Despite having a rotary pump, which tend to be very quiet, the M58's pump makes a horrible screeching noise when first turned on. Even after it quiets down, there's still a good bit of rattling. I thought I'd received a faulty unit, but Clive's tech team ensured me that this is normal for the M58. Apparently Quick Mill (the manufacturer) went with a different rotary pump design than most other machines for whatever reason. Huge thanks to Clive's customer support team, as they allowed me to return my unit for a full refund.

The drip tray is another design flaw. There's a hard plastic tube placed under the tray that directs drips from the boilers. Because of how its positioned, you have to tilt the tray to be able to remove it. This means that if your drip tray fills up any more than halfway, you'll spill the contents all over your counter when trying to remove it. I genuinely don't understand how this design was approved.

Despite being advertised as "no burn", the steam wand becomes very, very hot after use. It's normal for insulated wands to still be warm after steaming, but I'm talking burn your fingers off hot.

The flow control is great though! Luckily Clive sells this separately and includes it on many other machines, so that should not be a reason to buy the M58 in particular.

My experience is likely more reflective of Clive Coffee than the machine I purchased. I have purchased several espresso machines from a competitor over the lat 20 years, and have found their customer service to be exemplary. This was the first machine that I had purchased from Clive Coffee. Upon taking the machine out of the box, I saw a number of poor finish issues. One was that the top of the machine, that warms and holds the cups, didn't fit properly on the machine-leaving it an an angle and not properly fitting. I noticed a few other "fit and finish" issues as well, including the drip tray. . Given the cost of the machine, I expected not to find these issues. I did not even plug in the machine, or use it in any manner. I immediately contacted your customer service, and was told that I could return the machine - unused - but that I would have to pay a restocking fee for a machine that was not what I had ordered. I found your customer service position unreasonable.

I did return the machine, and incurred the fee. As a consequence I will not purchase another machine from Clive Coffee, and I certainly cannot recommend doing business with your firm. the firm.

I purchase a number of a premium and expensive products, and have found that most consumer product companies that consider themselves to be at a premium level will go to great lengths to ensure that the customer is treated properly and receives a high level of care. The experience usually ends with the customer being asked if all of their concerns were addressed.

Sadly, this was not the case for Clive Coffee. I am assuming that this was not the decision of your customer representative, but was the result of a company policy. Clive Coffee should rethink its policy.

Sincerely,
Cary Metz

I recently purchased a Lucca M58 with Flow Control. Overall, it has been a miserable experience. After about 3 months it started blowing a fuse in my outlet. I reached out to Customer Support whom made it sound like it was my fault. They sent me a bunch of videos on how to take the machine apart and asked that I send pictures. After taking the machine apart I realized I am not an espresso machine technician so I put it back together as best as I could based on the videos. I then reached out to see what should be done and they said I should send the machine back in its original packaging but first I need to drain the boilers. They sent me video on how to drain the boilers but unfortunately the boiler screws are too tight and I am not able to drain the boilers. Customer Service also mentioned to take the machine into UPS or Fed Ex and have them set me up with a heavy package rate and to make sure I insure everything prior to shipment. I am a little shocked they did not offer to send me prelabeled package with a box considering all the money that I spent. As of now the machine has been sitting idle in my kitchen for about 3 months with no end in sight. If the goal of Clive is to have espresso machines in every home, they need to do a much better job servicing and fixing their machines. I would suggest regional repair people etc. As of this moment I cannot recommend this machine or Clive to anyone based on my experience. Do not fall for the trap.

The overall machine is great but the drip tray fills up very fast with water.

I've had it for 6 months, and it works great and does everything I need, except for an on/off timer. I easily addressed that with a smart plug. It's a beautiful machine. Be warned: it is large and heavy, so make sure your kitchen/coffee bar area can accommodate it. Whatever machine you go with, rest assured that Clive's support is amazing!

The Lucca M58 w/Flow Control is a beautiful countertop queen. I have been exploring both with pre infusion, flow and different brew temps to tweak sweetness and depth from the different beans I’ve been using.

There is quite a learning curve and an emphasis on perfecting a repeatable workflow so that adjustments are revising one variable.

In any case, my milk steaming is on point as well as getting my dosing correct. The toggle levers for steam and water are dope. The walnut knobs are high Q finish.

Only gripe is noise. Clive touted a ‘near silent’ rotary pump - but it isn’t. It makes almost as much racket as my old Ascaso Uno thermoblock.

Got this Lucca for my wife’s small bakery/cafe and it’s amazing! Draws a lot of attention cause it’s a beautiful piece of machinery. Even better it operates to perfection. Consistent, quick, and dependable so far. Paired with an eureka grinder the work flow is effortless.

The first machine that I received had damage and had to send it back. Customer service was good about this.
Second machine had the settings assuming a plumbed machine, which I was not doing. Had to troubleshoot a number of issues to get it reset to use the tank and tighten everything down. I would have preferred to do all of the initial setup myself.
Had a valve fail within a few weeks of use. Customer service was helpful. Gave me the choice of doing the work myself or sending back. Not ideal for an expensive machine.
I would not buy another one of these and instead would buy a Lelit Bianca which is what I had previously.

Pros:

- I love the look and feel of this machine. It has been absolutely awesome to use, I get compliments from everyone that comes visit and it is just pleasant to use.
- I do not have enough experience with it to say that is has blown my mind with the espresso from it (I have had it for almost a month), but overall so far has been great.
- Love the design choice of having the ability to turn on and off the steam boiler right there in the front of the machine, it was probably one of the key selling points for me since I normally do milk drinks in the morning and a shot or two in the afternoon and I don't want to have to pull the tray out or get into the PID to shut the steam boiler off every day as some of the other machines make you do.

Cons:

- The drip tray is a bit short. I got an Acaia Lunar scale and I need to put it on the frame of the tray because the mesh seems flimsy (even then, the scale is not fully stable). I would have chosen a slightly larger drip tray design without the mesh and have something sturdier instead (I have to say that I like the look of the mesh, but is just not functional). My scale goes a bit nuts when I put it on the mesh and also gets wet from the exhaust when pulling a shot. Clive, I hope you take this feedback and you make a better drip tray for this to improve this experience.
- I experienced something odd with the steam boiler. My machine run out of water as I was pulling hot water and the steam boiler started to try to pull water from the reservoir, but there was none, so as the machine was trying to pull water I started to see that the pressure in the steam boiler started to raise and raise up to the point of going beyond 2 bars and into the red zone, and I got so worried/scared that I just shut off the machine. After that I put water on the reservoir and turned it on and everything was fine, but makes me wonder what the heck happened there because the machine is supposed to have safety measures to identify when there is no more water. Clive, any ideas???

The best Espresso machine ever

What a beautiful machine that makes great espresso! It took me a while to fine tune everything for that perfect cup, but now that I have my Lucca is used every single day from morning to night.

Love it...only thing it's missing honestly is an auto on timer function

Love it...only thing it's missing honestly is an auto on timer function

Beautiful and makes fantastic espresso. The flow control is especially helpful in adjusting extraction more easily to pull better shots.

Heats up quick, great expression machine!