The Little Guy Home Barista Kit
- ✓ Verified company
187 reviews · Statistics
- See all reviewer photos
- Daily (33)
- Several times a week (6)
- Weekly (5)
- Monthly (2)
Perfect machine to use
Its a great machine to use .. I can't live with out it
Life is better
I got it brand new 1 year ago and I can't be happier. Yes, it might not have all the gadgets but it very reliable.
Purchased in for $850.
- Product is used: Several times a week
Perfection in every aspect!!!
This has to be one of the most beautifully engineered coffee machines I have ever seen, which also happens to be almost maintenance free.
Once you have mastered the grind and portafilter preparation you are good to go for that professional shot that everybody so desires. Coffee flavours are definitely some of the best I have ever been able to achieve. I also own a very nice Bezzera Mitica espresso machine which is really good at making perfect shots, however the Little Guy is a much better choice when it comes to flavour extractions. We onl
Purchased in for $1,335.25.
- Product is used: Daily
- Grinder: Macap M2M
Love making coffee with The Little Guy
I normally use an electric espresso machine when at home, but The Little Guy comes with us when we are travelling away from home, camping or off the grid etc. I love the process of making coffee with it, its fun every time and the quality of the shot is great.
- Product is used: Monthly
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
Find out how The Little Guy Home Barista Kit compares to other Semi-Automatic and Manual Coffee Machines
Know better, choose better.
Stunning machine …a few tweaks and would be perfect
Quality amazing, stunning machine …absolutely love it.but they just need to sort the design as always a splattering of coffee at the end of use .,,.coffee spots everywhere and a,ways have to wipe …..
Purchased in at Online for $1,000.
- Product is used: Daily
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
Would buy again and recommend to friends
I can make espresso with The Little Guy as well as any of the top coffee shops here in Seattle. I’ve lived in Seattle for 32 years and I’m of Italian decent, so I’m familiar with good coffee.
I’m a long time home espresso brewer on cheap steam machines, so my learning curve with The Little Guy was short. My heat source is an Ovente BGI101, and my grinder is a Nuova Simonelli MCF. My grind is very fine with a tight pack up to around a few millimeters from the top of the basket. Dosing volume is critical since the coffee expands in the basket du
... Read morering brewing. I fill the tank above the filler rim before securing the cap; excess water drains out of the tank enclosure through a small hole at the bottom. I start the heat on 3 until coffee flows in around 8 to 9 minutes; I increase the heat to 4.5 when coffee starts to flow. I extract for 2.5 to 3.5 minutes depending on how much the coffee expands based on dosing volume. The build quality is superb. The group head is equal to commercial grinders, and the grade of stainless steel is of the highest quality. The Little Guy is a functional work of art. My only concerns are reparability because there is nothing else on earth at the moment that could replace The Little Guy. Some photos show steel tubes between the tank and group head, and I was initially disappointed to find flexible hoses. However after thinking through the differences in thermal expansion between the housing and group head water supply, it seems like rigid tubes would not work. I’m happy with the design, and The Little Guy founders have earned my praise for bringing such an incredible espresso machine to the market for me to purchase. Thank you and well done.Purchased in for $685.
- Product is used: Several times a week
- Grinder: Nuova Simonelli MCF
Waited for 3 years and finally got mine - Love it
The original company went out of business and I was not abe to get my hands on one before they did. The new team is fantastic, the product is as good if not better than the previous and the support was amazing. Delivery was super fast too.
It makes the best home coffee hands down. Small and as good as a professional machine. I am hooked.
Thanks The Little Guy Team for bringing it back and all the tips.
Purchased in for $999.
- Product is used: Daily
Excellent for home use
The only improvement that I feel could do wonders is, if the streamer could heat the milk extra hot. Otherwise I can’t fault my little guy. It’s a wonderful piece of equipment and I love a strong espresso or latte.
Purchased at David Jones for $899.
- Product is used: Daily
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
Can't buy a better coffee
Have tried many in home coffee machines and have used a professional machine when I owned a cafe. The Little Guy produces coffee way above home machine standards and equal to barista operated professional machines. Have had my machine for 6 years now and it has paid for itself at least 10 times over and that is from only drinking one cup per day.
Purchased in for $700.
- Product is used: Daily
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
Find out how The Little Guy Home Barista Kit compares to other Semi-Automatic and Manual Coffee Machines
Know better, choose better.
A good backup coffee maker
The Little Guy makes a great coffee over and over. I have only praise for design and performance of The Little Guy.
The instructions for use on the other hand are a bit vague. Maybe I missed reading or hearing how much coffee the group head holds. After some extensive research and testing I found the the basket holds 20g of coffee. I found 21g is optimal. However you do need to calibre your grinder to the particular beans being used. DON'T tamp (compress) the coffee Light tamping is all that is needed. Most important is keep the surface of the coffee level. This proceedure will guarantee a perfect double shot every time.
Purchased in for $495.
- Product is used: Several times a week
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
Maintenance of the Otto or Little Guy!
To use over a period of time maintenance becomes a natural issue & so I’m seeking spares to keep a handy item going
Purchased in at Withams for $700.
- Product is used: Several times a week
- Grinder: Sunbeam GrindFresh EM0440
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
Coffee craftsmanship at its best
Worth the effort to master the experience with a good grinder.
Purchased in for $800.
- Product is used: Monthly
- Grinder: Sunbeam Precision EM0700
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
Find out how The Little Guy Home Barista Kit compares to other Semi-Automatic and Manual Coffee Machines
Know better, choose better.
To many adjustments to optimise consistency
I have been using the little Guy for a number of years. I usually make two cups of short black for five days a week. Over the years I have used the same coffee beans and the same grinder. The uncertainty is the amount of coffee used and how hard I compact it. In recent years the amount of coffee extracted is getting smaller, but the final quality is very good. I don't understand why I am getting less coffee. It is as if the pressure inside the Little Guy is getting less with time. Do I need a new one?
Purchased in for $798.
- Product is used: Daily
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
An excellent stovetop espresso machine
First off, I ordered the Little Guy from Canada. So it was a significant investment to get it here. The initial reason I first noticed it was because I’ve been using an Atomic stovetop machine for decades. I loved the idea of a modern updated design.
Everything arrived beautifully packaged. I basically ground my beans to a typical fine espresso grind and was pulling excellent shots from the get-go. The Little Guy produces beautiful crema (something I could never do on my Atomic machine). It’s also very VERY consistent: about 8 minutes to star
... Read moret producing coffee and 3-4 minutes for full extraction. The coffee temperature is good, and I’ve always had more than enough pressure to steam the milk. A couple of housekeeping points. We have a gas stove and the footprint of the little guy is small. So our burners are too large to use it effectively. I ended up getting a cast iron hot plate which works perfectly. If the little Guy induction top was available for North American current, I’d have absolutely gotten that. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because the finishing on the machine & the portafilter has some rough spots. At the price, I expected better. All in all, I’m very happy with the performance and the design/aesthetics.Purchased in .
- Product is used: Daily
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
The Little Guy- Otto
This is a beautifully engineered coffee machine and is virtually maintenance free. We have had ours for over 9 years and still working well although the induction top had to be replaced.
We like our coffee good strong and flavoursome. This machine is ideal for making one good cup of full strength coffee equal to anything you may buy at any coffee shop.
The machine however requires to cool right down before being able to make another good cup of coffee. You can cool the machine down quickly by pouring cool tap water over it.
The machine is ideal for people who enjoy good quality espresso coffee without it taking up much bench space for one or two people.
If you learn to use use this machine you will not be disappointed.
Purchased in for $918.
- Product is used: Daily
- Grinder: Breville Dose Control Pro BCG600SIL
Collected in partnership with The Little Guy
Questions & Answers
Hi, would anyone know if there's anywhere that can service these now, or if the seals are available anywhere?
https://lovethelittleguy.com/
Has all the parts you need and also they service machines
If you are in Melbourne, Genovese coffee in Brunswick does mine and sells parts. Lots cheaper than the official Little Guy people.
They don't do it anymore, from my understanding.
Hi everyone.....can anyone tell me if there is a pressure relief valve installed in the Little Guy boiler?.....there appears to be a fitting on the side of the boiler; we cant hold pressure as we heat the machine up, water leaks .....seals look OK..Phil
have you at any time allowed the boiler to run dry and overheat? The reason I ask is there are plastic hoses internally attached to the boiler that go to the group head, if the unit overheats these hoses can actually melt/fail leading to loss of pressure. I had this happen to me when I was distracted in the middle of making coffee and the unit ran dry and overheated causing the hoses to fail. The internal /cutaway photos on the website look very impressive as the hoses appear to be rigid stainless steel or metal but in fact they are plastic.
Hi Pete,
The tubing is actually made of high pressure/high temperature rated reinforced silicon and not plastic.
The reason for that is they the tubing has to be flexible so that the tubes can be curved through the machine internal chambers without crimping.
If you have let the machine boil out then after some time the heat will get so high internally that that the combination of heat and pressure will exceed the limit of the reinforced silicon tubing and the tubing will eventually fail.
The machine will need to be rebuilt which requires special tools and pressure testing after the rebuild.
You can get support on lovethelittleguy.com
I was told by a specialist hose fitter that you can't get braided (reinforced silicon tubing) and that it is fact just braided PVC hose, then I did a Google search and found a ton of it. So my specialist I spoke to should go into selling used cars I think.
All good Pete, stay safe.
Is there another sized basket I can purchase for the portafilter to make 1 coffee for myself
Get an answer from our members and The Little Guy representatives
Details
Features:
- The Little Guy Home Barista Kit has an internal brewing system that controls pressure and temperature to extract two espresso shots and let you texture milk perfectly.
- The boiler, group head, basket and group cup are made of stainless steel.
- You can purchase a range of accessories to go with The Little Guy, including a naked portafilter, a tamping mat, espresso cups, a stainless steel tamper, and reusable coffee cups.
- This machine is Australian designed.
Points of praise:
- Most reviewers said that the coffee they made with The Little Guy was excellent, with some saying that they achieved professional shots and could extract great flavours from their coffee beans.
- They also said that the machine had an exceptional build quality, with the group head and stainless steel being likened to commercial components and quality.
- Reviewers also loved how easy the machine was to clean.
Category | Semi-Automatic and Manual Coffee Machines |
---|---|
Price (RRP) | $999 |
Dishwasher Safe Parts | No |
Water Tank Capacity | 0.25 L |
Weight | 4.25 kg |
Milk Frother | Steam Wand |
Bean Grinder | None |
Manufacturer Warranty | 1 year(s) |
Colour / Finish | Stainless Steel |
Release date | |
Manual | Download manual and manual 2 |
Contact info for The Little Guy Home Barista Kit
Mon | 8:00 am - 4:00 pm |
---|---|
Tue | 8:00 am - 4:00 pm |
Wed | 8:00 am - 4:00 pm |
Thu | 8:00 am - 4:00 pm |
Fri | 8:00 am - 4:00 pm |
Sat | Closed |
Sun | Closed |
Extra Information
ProductReview.com.au has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence our content moderation policies in any way, though ProductReview.com.au may earn commissions for products/services purchased via affiliate links.