What To Look For When Buying A Coffee Espresso Machine

There are obviously many espresso machines on the market and it can be hard to know which are good. So when looking at a coffee espresso machine what are the key areas one should look for?

Your first decision should whether you want a fully automatic machine or a manual one. Many testers feel the manual machines produce a better quality of espresso but they have the disadvantage that you have to master their operation and make judgment calls every time you use them as to the amounts and times. But for many this a challenge they embrace.

An automatic machine is high on the list for convenience as you simply put in the ingredients - the water and the coffee beans at the resulting cup of coffee appears at the push of a button.

There is an option between the automatic and the manual machine called a semi-automatic which judges the amount of coffee in a cup and switches it's flow off, whereas with the manual that too is left to your discretion.

Choices need to be made between a model with a thermoblock or a boiler. The boiler works like a kettle and boils the tank of water whereas the thermoblock passes the water over a heated metal block in a thin stream. This is thin enough to heat the water as it passes over and produces a stream of constant water almost instantaneously.

Look for a good quality separate tamper. The tamper is the press with which you press the ground down with. Those that are attached to the machine tend to be of a lesser quality and not as practical as totally separate tampers.

If you want a consistently good coffee espresso machine then you need to make sure that it is a pump machine not a steam machine. A pump machine is able to operate at a much higher temperature than a steam machine and pump machines have internal thermostats that are able to control the temperature of the water. A pump machine can be used to independently froth milk or other liquids without needing to make a coffee first. The steam machine needs a coffee to be made before it can froth liquids.

A good coffee espresso machine will have intuitive controls that feel good in the hand and feel like they have been made from quality materials. They should be in practical places and easy to use.

A cup warmer is a nice to have but actually not essential. Many models take quite a number of minutes to heat up so if you only use the machine periodically through the day you are better off warming your cup with hot water. However if it is left on all day and the cups sit on top it will do the job it is intended to.

A transparent water container is another nice feature to have as you can tell at a glance if the water needs topping up. You should check if it is easy to remove and fill the water container as this can be unwieldy when filled to the brim.

A good quality coffee espresso machine may be the difference between a nice cup of coffee and a great one.