QUICK MILL ANITA EVO REVIEW: BEST-IN-CLASS ESPRESSO MACHINE

The Quick Mill Anita Evo is one of the most popular machines in its class, balancing functionality, quality, and affordability.

There are quite a few mid-range heat exchange espresso machines on the market – and for good reason. For many coffee lovers, they offer the ideal combination of performance and price. But this glut of products can feel overwhelming, which is why I’ve made an effort to review as many of these machines as possible.

The Quick Mill Anita Evo is one of the best sellers in the category, so I was curious to give it a test run and see what sets it apart from the competition. Read on for my complete review.

Where To Buy The Quick Mill Anita Evo Espresso Machine

A prosumer espresso machine is an expensive purchase that should last a long time, so choosing a trustworthy seller with excellent customer service is paramount. Here are three brands that have consistently served the Home Brews Coffee team well.

	Retailer
	Chris Coffee	Trusted family run brand Specializes with prosumer coffee machines Great customer service	Check Price
	Majesty Coffee	Offers a wide array of equipment Machines come with limited warranty Free ground shipping (Expedited shipping available)	Check Price
	My Espresso Shop	Has a price-match guarantee 1-year warranty 100% free shipping	Check Price

The Full Quick Mill Anita Review

Quick Mill is a well-regarded espresso machine manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. Their line of prosumer machines is known for impressive build quality, user-friendly features, and affordable prices.

The Anita Evo is the smaller and less expensive of the brand’s two popular heat exchanger (HX) models. As long as you’re content with its marginally lower capacity, you’ll find it offers incredible value for money.

Want to know more? Keep scrolling for the details.

How I Rated It

• Brewing Capability
• User Friendliness
• Milk Frothing
• Build Quality
• Value For Money

3.9

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How The Quick Mill Anita Works

The Anita is a semi-automatic espresso maker with a heat exchange boiler, which allows you to steam milk and pull a shot of espresso simultaneously.

Boiler Details And What They Mean

The Anita Evo features a 1.6-liter copper boiler, which is on the small side. Comparable machines like the Lelit Mara and Rocket Appartamento have 1.8-liter boilers, as does Quick Mill’s other HX machine, the Andreja Evo. However, if you don’t often need the capacity to make many drinks in a row, you’ll appreciate Anita’s compact frame and slightly lower price.

The copper boiler with brass end plates is a surprisingly premium choice for such an affordable machine. Copper has better thermal properties than the more commonly seen stainless steel, making it better for pulling back-to-back espresso shots (1).

The downside of a copper boiler is that it is more prone to the build-up of scale, so I highly recommend using filtered water in this machine. A thermal wrap insulates the boiler, improving temperature stability and energy efficiency.

Other Key Features

The Anita uses the iconic E61 group head, a stalwart of commercial and prosumer espresso machines worldwide (3). As always, it delivers exceptional temperature stability.

The Ulka 52-watt vibratory pump has thermal overload protection (2). The overload protection ensures that the power will cut automatically if the pump is overheating, preventing expensive damage. 

I have no complaints about the pump’s performance, but I found it to be on the noisy side – more so than Quick Mill’s Andreja Evo. In particular, when I had espresso cups warming on top of the machine, I noticed they rattled around when the pump kicked on.

I love that the Anita has two pressure gauges displaying extraction pressure and boiler pressure. Many competitor models either have no gauge or only report boiler pressure. In my experience, monitoring both is crucial for preparing consistently excellent coffee drinks.

Temperature Control

You won’t find a PID in Anita, which may be a deal-breaker for some of you. Even in an HX espresso machine, a PID provides a more accurate and stable brewing temperature than a pressure stat. However, the benefit is much less pronounced than in a single or double boiler. 

Personally, I don’t miss it here. I like modulating the temperature the old-fashioned way by performing cooling flushes. It takes a little practice but allows you to adjust the temperature much faster. And, of course, it comes with considerable cost savings.

Using The Quick Mill Anita

I was impressed with the user-friendliness of this machine, especially when compared with other models in its class. 

First, there’s the patented Quick Mill three-position power switch. It adds a third option that powers everything except the heating element, ensuring the boiler fills before heat is applied. It’s a clever failsafe that I’m surprised isn’t more common.

The 3-liter water reservoir is also well-designed. It’s large, made from BPA-free plastic, and bottom-fed, and you can access it for refilling without disturbing the cup warming tray. When the water tank level gets too low, a magnetic sensor automatically cuts power to the heating circuit but not to the pump. So if you’re in the middle of brewing coffee, your shot won’t stop, but you will avoid heat-related damage.

Another nice feature is the easily accessible expansion valve, which allows you to experiment with brew pressures other than the factory-standard 9 bar (4). All you need to do is lift off the stainless steel warming tray – no tools or know-how required.

Cleaning and Maintenance

Baristas new to the world of premium espresso expect these more expensive machines to require less work, but the opposite is true. You need to be more diligent with a prosumer machine than with a cheaper appliance espresso machine, but the payoff is worth the few extra tasks. The espresso quality is far superior, and a well-maintained prosumer machine can last decades.

The regular upkeep for the Anita is pretty straightforward. Use filtered water to avoid the build-up of scale and other dirt inside the boiler and plumbing – and enjoy tastier shots! The gaskets of the E61 group need to be lubricated on occasion, likely annually or semi-annually for most users. 

Use the included backflush disc to backflush with water on at least a weekly basis and with a cleaning solution per the manufacturer’s guidelines, usually every 3 to 6 months. Finally, keep a microfiber cloth on hand to wipe up any spills and splatters and to keep that beautiful polished stainless steel outer shell looking pristine.

One thing I noted and appreciated about this model was the size of the drip tray, which is an impressively large 50 ounces. This is particularly valuable on an HX machine, as the cooling flushes quickly add up in volume.

A Good Machine For Latte Lovers

The Anita is a good but not great machine for lovers of milk-based drinks like lattes and cappuccinos. I had no complaints. It took me about 30 seconds to prepare enough silky smooth microfoam for a 10-ounce latte, and I could make two in a row before letting it recover.

However, if you regularly need more performance than that – either faster or more consecutive drinks – it’s probably worth upgrading to something with a bigger boiler, like the Quick Mill Andreja.

The steam and hot water wands feature a double-wall no-burn design, which is always a welcome touch. The exterior of the steam wand never gets hot enough to burn you, and you won’t have to clean a crust of burnt milk off it after each drink. 

Both are controlled via knobs rather than joysticks. I generally prefer the responsiveness of joysticks, but there are benefits to the extra control of a knob. Ultimately, it’s a matter of personal preference, and many sellers will allow you to swap one for the other.

The Quick Mill Anita uses non-compression valves for steam and hot water, a treat to see in a home espresso machine. I more often find these valves in commercial grade machines because they are more durable and easily repaired. Compression valves, in contrast, are quicker to fail and impossible to fix.

Impeccable Build Quality

The build quality of the Quick Mill Anita is top-notch, as you’d expect from an Italian espresso machine manufacturer that’s been around for over 70 years (5). 

The Anita comes with two commercial-grade chrome-plated brass portafilters with a 58 mm diameter – a single spout and a double spout – along with filter baskets sized for each. Often lower-cost machines only come with one portafilter, so I was happy to see both included.

Similarly, it is great to see Quick Mill add a quality metal tamper with a wooden handle, which easily saves $50 from your espresso accessories budget. Given the importance of tamping in great espresso preparation, it’s a shame how many brands opt to include throwaway plastic tampers (6).

Style Points

As prosumer models go, the Anita is fairly compact, measuring 15.75 inches tall by 11.5 inches wide by 18.25 inches deep. It’s not as small as the Rocket Appartamento or Lelit Mara, but it fits comfortably in most kitchens. 

The shiny stainless steel housing gives it an elegant look that you won’t mind making the focal point of your kitchen. And I love that the pressure gauges of the latest edition feature a beautiful new dark blue background.

Is The Anita A Good Value?

The Quick Mill Anita is priced around $1700, which is about $200 cheaper than the Andreja. If you read my Andreja review, you know I had some qualms about its price tag, but I think the Anita offers better value. You lose 200 mL of boiler capacity to save $200 –  a fair trade for the average home user.

Compared with the obvious competitor models, the Anita is less expensive than the Rocket Appartamento and on par with the Lelit Mara X. 

Don’t Buy the Quick Mill Anita If…

• You want more capacity: If you regularly prepare lattes for a crowd, you might prefer something with a larger boiler. The Quick Mill Andreja is a great option – nearly identical to the Anita but with a 1.8-liter boiler. Alternatively, you could pay a bit more for the higher-end Profitec Pro 500, which has a 2-liter boiler and PID temperature control.

• You don’t make many milky drinks: If lattes and cappuccinos are rare in your house, save money with a single boiler machine. For example, read my review of the Quick Mill Alexia, a single boiler machine featuring the same E61 as the Anita. Or consider the unique Quick Mill Silvano, which has a brew boiler and separate thermoblock for steam.

• You prefer a double boiler: You can find double boilers around this price point, provided you’re willing to sacrifice the E61 group. Two of my favorites are the Lelit Elizabeth and the Profitec Pro 300. If you want a double boiler with the E61 group, you’ll need to increase your budget a tad, but the Quick Mill Vetrano or QM67 will serve you very well.

The Verdict

The Quick Mill Anita semi-automatic espresso machine is an ideal entry point to the upper-end prosumer espresso machines that allow you to brew espresso and steam milk simultaneously. This heat-exchanger machine is compact and affordable, with a user-friendly design that removes much of the intimidation factor. I’d happily recommend it to anyone ready to upgrade from a thermoblock or single boiler.

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