Good thermoblocks are rightfully the rising stars in the espresso machine sky. And the Quick Mill Luna is following in the slipstream of another popular dual-thermoblock machine, accelerating into the passing lane. Responsible for this, alongside Quick Mill's good manufacturing quality, is the relatively affordable purchase price: starting from 1200 euros we find the machine in Germany, and from 1400 francs the machine is also available in Switzerland.
The elephant in the room is the Ascaso Steel Duo PID, which costs 1900 euros in Germany and roughly the same in francs in Switzerland. Can the Quick Mill Luna keep up with this at a significantly lower price? In this test report, we look at the Luna's performance. In another, we will compare the machines directly (Q4 2024).
Quick Mill Luna Overview
It's a pleasure to start with positive aspects, of which there are several. The Quick Mill Luna is a thermoblock from Quick Mill. The company, family-run since its founding in 1945, manufactures its machine in Senago near Milan. The manufacturing quality of the Luna leaves nothing to be desired in our test. The curved stainless steel housing feels high-quality, and we find no sharp edges, not even on the drip tray.
The espresso machine is equipped with two thermoblock elements, with 600 and 1000 watts power consumption respectively. Parallel steaming and espresso brewing is possible since both units operate independently.
At 12 kilograms, the Quick Mill Luna stands stably on the table. 35.7 cm height and a width of 28.8 cm meet a depth that behaves as follows due to the protruding plug and portafilter:
- The base depth is 32.3 cm,
- with the plug, the machine reaches 33.2 cm
- and with the portafilter we measure 39.7 cm.
The distance between portafilter outlet and drip tray is 9.3 cm. This is practical for larger cups or for those who like to use a scale under the cup to control the output amount in the cup. (This is something that makes absolutely sense with the Luna, despite volumetrics.)
The Quick Mill Luna is equipped with programmable volumetrics, which we discuss in more detail below. The steaming time and hot water output time are also programmable. The hot water output is more precisely termed hot water dripping, which is dispensed via the steam wand. Not much comes out!
The Luna comes with the typical Quick Mill tamper, which closes cleanly with the edge. While this tamper fits, non-Quick Mill equipment is once again out of luck. Both the 3-piece bayonet of the portafilter is not compatible with other espresso machines, and the flat surface of the baskets. This is typical of Quick Mill. Tampers with more than 58.2 mm don't fit well, let alone baskets from other manufacturers. No question: Quick Mill technology works on its own. The lock-in effect, however, is particularly unfortunate, considering the numerous tools available in the 58mm portafilter range.
Heat-up Time and Temperature Performance
If you want to drink espresso quickly in the morning or during the day, you'll appreciate a fast heat-up time. Thermoblocks, due to the good thermal conductivity of the aluminum block and the direct heat transfer to the brew water, generally have an advantage here compared to espresso machines with boilers. With the Quick Mill Luna, we measure a heat-up time of 8 minutes to reach a temperature of 92 degrees on the first shot. An extra minute or two actually does the machine good. By the way, this is a statement we can underline on the basis of our protocols. The longer the machine is on, the more stable it becomes, especially with a higher frequency of shots.
With few shots after the heat-up time of 8 or even 20 minutes, the machine is not stable! The shot temperatures fluctuate significantly. While we measure an average temperature of 92.8 degrees on the first shot, the third shot averages only 89.23 degrees - and we're talking about seconds 5 to 25 of the extraction. All shots tend to overshoot at the beginning and then fall during the shot, stabilizing again towards the end. Across the 5 shots in the coffeepot temperature protocol, we measure a maximum temperature difference of 7.63 degrees! The standard deviation (STDEV) is 2.77. This is the worst value we have ever measured with this protocol.
Interestingly, the Quick Mill Luna performs better under frequency and with longer intervals. Using the WBC protocol, we pull 14 shots with a frequency of ultimately 35 seconds between extractions. The aim is to test performance under load, for example for gastronomy. The value of 1.18 standard deviation over 14 shots can certainly compete with many dual boilers. Even though the difference between minimum and maximum temperature of 5.74 degrees across all shots is still a relatively high value. But these values are also related to the fact that the Luna is not quite up to temperature on the first shots of the series. Only from shot 5 onwards does the Luna reach stable 92.7 degrees, and it maintains this well with only one overshoot across the next 9 shots.
In this context, one phenomenon should not go unmentioned. Time and again, the PID controller, which can be easily adjusted via the display, shows a different temperature. This is also visible in our video, where the temperature suddenly drops to 89 degrees on the display in the middle of the video for no apparent reason, and we have to wait for it to stabilize again.
Consequences of Temperature on Espresso Taste
What influence does all this have on espresso extraction? Tricky point. Ideally, the fluctuating temperature has no effect if you hit the right target window. However, our measurements show that the Luna does not demonstrate reliable temperature performance. You sometimes get the temperature you want. However, this can fluctuate significantly - especially on the first and second shot. And those are the ones that are relevant to us in everyday use.
Therefore: if precise temperature is important to you, the Quick Mill Luna is not a good choice!
This doesn't mean you can't pull very good espresso with the thermoblock. And ultimately, the taste in the cup is what matters.
By the way: our machine's offset was well set from the factory. It's set to 9 and we only had 1 degree deviation from the display. (Depending of course on how each individual shot went. Difficult. 😟)
Strong Energy Performance
In terms of power consumption and energy usage, the Luna ranks among the best machines on the market. 5 double shots including heat-up time draw only 0.08 kWh with the steam boiler switched off. One espresso with heating is brewed at 0.038 kWh. If we switch on the steam boiler, we get 0.11 kWh for shots. A cappuccino then requires 0.092 kWh.
These are good values!
Steaming in Slow Motion
In terms of steaming speed, the Quick Mill Luna places itself last in our test series. The thermoblock needs 80 seconds to bring the milk up to temperature. That's really slow. The machine has enough power to get the milk rolling. But it takes a lot of time. Only a small pitcher steams any faster. Those who take the time can produce good milk foam with the Luna. That's not the problem. And those who get used to the machine will probably have little to complain about the slow steaming. Compared to other machines on the market, however, this is very, very slow.
When steaming, it makes sense not to make a clear separation between the rolling and stretching phase. Better to continuously roll a small amount of air into the milk while the entire pitcher is circulating. If bubbles get too large, there's a risk they won't be broken down again due to the low rolling power.
Volumetrics, Pressure Release, and the Puddle
The Quick Mill Luna has programmable volumetrics. This would be a strong argument for the machine if it worked precisely. Unfortunately, the output amount fluctuates with the resistance of the coffee puck, making volumetrics essentially unusable, or only usable if the grind is already perfectly set and no other factors change. For example, if you return to the machine after a day, you'll likely find fluctuating amounts of coffee in the cup. A scale helps remedy this, allowing you to manually control the espresso output amount. By the way, this is also the procedure with all espresso machines with Faema E61 group heads - so nothing special. But the programmable buttons promised us more.
What's unfortunately missing is a retention valve, which is why the pressure remains on the puck after extraction. That's why we often find a puddle here, and if we remove the portafilter too quickly, there's a risk that the coffee grounds spray back at us. Not nice for an espresso machine that costs over 1000 euros. Others in this price range handle this much better.
At least this has the side effect that we only need to clean the shower screen, but don't need to backflush for machine cleaning.
Conclusion on the Quick Mill Luna
The Quick Mill Luna leaves me puzzled, mainly because of its poor temperature performance. It's generally roughly at temperature, but not a reliable partner when it comes to precision. I find it problematic that especially the first shots are not consistent, because I see the machine really intended for this use. A solution is probably only to first pull some hot water through the portafilter to stabilize the machine. The WBC protocol shows that the Luna then continuously improves.
In terms of build quality, the machine is exemplary, particularly for the asking price. We've seen things that cost 1000 euros more and have significantly more plastic or sharp edges.
The machine's steam power is sluggish. The circulation is adequate, but the heating happens very slowly.
Compared to other dual-thermoblocks, the Quick Mill Luna is significantly cheaper. However, there are also some entry-level dual boilers in the same price range. These have all the arguments on their side, especially in terms of consistency and steaming performance, but are slower when it comes to heat-up time. But are a fast heat-up time, good build quality, and low energy consumption enough as main arguments to buy the Luna? I have my doubts.
What do you think? Do you perhaps have the machine at home and are very satisfied? Did we overlook something important? We look forward to your comments and feedback.
