Lelit Iconic wooden handle set for MaraX3

Lelit Iconic wooden handle set for MaraX3 – knobs and Pagaia in zebrano or Smoked OAK

The knob sits warm in your hand and turns smoothly, the steam kicks in – wood instead of plastic changes this moment before the coffee even begins.

It's a small thing, and it still makes a difference. Design and feel influence the enjoyment long before the first sip: material, colour and surface measurably change how we judge what then ends up in the cup. The limbic system sorts these impressions too; it doesn't draw a clean line between what the hand feels and what the tongue reports. And dopamine is released in anticipation, not only during the enjoyment itself – reaching for the knob is part of that anticipation.

What's in the set

Lelit describes this set as gem-shaped; in German-speaking retail it's sold as Iconic. It replaces four controls on the MaraX3: two knobs for the steam and hot water wands, one knob for the brew lever and the Pagaia – the paddle on the group head that lets you guide the water flow by hand on the MaraX3. All fitting parts and instructions are included, and you fit it at home.

The fact that it's the paddle of all things that's made of wood makes the biggest difference day to day. It's the part you stay with throughout the shot, while the pressure builds and shapes the aromatic window – different compounds dissolve at different moments, and if you guide by hand, that's exactly where you step in. Pressure profiling is a learning process, not total control. It takes a few weeks until your hand knows what it's doing, and that's the lovely part of it.

You get to choose the wood. Zebrano is an exotic wood with a bold, striped figure. Smoked OAK, smoked oak, goes towards deep, calm tones with a dense grain. Technically, both are identical. Nobody needs wood on an espresso machine – you either want it or you don't, and both are fine. If you want it, you know why. Our opinion is one of many.

At a glance

Who it's made for

For anyone with a Lelit MaraX3 who wants to make the machine their own. Every wooden part has its own grain, so no two sets ever look the same. It doesn't make the espresso measurably better – it says something else, every morning, when you reach out your hand. That decision is legitimate and needs no further justification.

If you have a MaraX that isn't the third generation, you'll find the matching set in the portafilter handles and replacement handles collection – that's where the version without the Pagaia is. The Lelit espresso machines show which Lelit machine belongs to which generation.

What goes with it

Once there's wood on the machine, the portafilter isn't far from your mind: the portafilters and bottomless portafilters collection has the Lelit models with a wooden handle, bottomless and with two spouts, in the same woods.

For the tools alongside: for anyone who wants an affordable, precise tamper, WDT tool and scale, the Normcore barista tools are the way to go – spring-loaded tamper, WDT tool, compact scales. If you want more, you'll find the Weber Tamper and the Moonraker at Weber Workshops, and an app, flow-rate display and Bluetooth with the Acaia coffee scales.