Best Espresso Machine For Your Money

1. Which is The Best Machine?

There are manual espresso machines, single pod server machines, semi automatic and super automatic machines and a huge range of brands. I found bright colors, dials, milk frother variations, dials and buttons and more. Exciting and bewildering it can be, at the same time. The way through to cappuccino or latte heaven is to expand your knowledge and make a good decision.

2. What is the Best Espresso Machine Brand?

When it comes brands keep in mind that a lot of the coffee machine parts and different machine brands are made by the same manufacturers. Often if you looking to make your choice by brand you will find a huge variety within the brand name, so I would suggest following my process below.

One of the first questions you find yourself asking is...

3. How much money do I want to spend?

For instance, you could be thinking in terms of your budget and going for the best espresso machine for under 600 or the best espresso machine for the money in general.

Once you set the budget this could narrow the choice to a few different brands, you could think you're done...that is until you see a feature on another machine and you’re tempted to think the best espresso machine for you might be just under 1500.

It gets a bit crazy then and because you’re trying to justify the extra spend you hadn’t planned for and then you want to know about your brand reliability and the features you like or want. It then becomes a more refined choice for the quest of best. So before you lock into a budget, you may want to thoroughly explore which category of machine will suit you best.

So you start asking yourself more questions like:-

4. How to Choose the Best Espresso Machine

You may be asking yourself about features, dials or extras functions. Asking do I need this or that, and what do I need to spend to make my cappuccino or espresso an easy, joyful experience?

If you’re an experienced espresso maker you may know the machine type your want and therefore skip this next part.... but if not...it all starts with putting together a few facts about what you want.

5. What is the Best Espresso Machine For Home Use?

Fact is that out of all the machines that make espresso, you can easily group them, into 3 areas and this is a great way to choose a machine that will be best in your kitchen!

1.Semi Automatic to Manual Machines

Semi Automatic and Manual machines are fantastic for the experienced coffee drinker. If you love a really good barista style espresso or enjoy the art of experimenting with grinds, beans, tampering, playing with fresh beans to extract the deeper and richer flavors then this might be the perfect machine for you. Most don't realize that a manual machine also allows you to also, to use a easy serve coffee pod in the basket of you machine. It can also make a consistently nice coffee with the need to tamper and measure for best taste of espresso. You can see what the (easy serve espresso) E.S.E Pod looks like here

My Top Rated Pick for the best semi automatic machine :

Breville BES870XL Barista Express Espresso Machine

Best Pick for manual espresso Machine:

La Pavoni EPC-8 Europiccola 8-Cup Lever Style Espresso Machine

(Of course it is Italian)

2. Bean to Cup - Super Automatic Espresso Machines

These machines do all the work of espresso- for you- and make a consistent close to barista style coffee. The milk textured component is often made with less steam thus a little different from what you would expect at a cafe. The espresso component of the coffee is adjustable but not as much as a semi automatic or manual espresso machine. In general they a popular due to minimal clean up required and how easy the are to use. They are ideal for most of us wanting to make coffee's at home, without having to test and tamper or learn about over extraction and under extraction etc.

My Top Rated Picks for the best super automatic machine :

DeLonghi ESAM3300 Magnifica Super-Automatic Espresso/Coffee Machine

It is great value for the features included & the money, you can read further

Jura F7 Impressa

The most hygenic Super Automatic High End Espresso Machine see more

3. Pod Coffee Machines

Are for "Podista style" users who really enjoy convenience and want to enjoy a variety of flavored coffee experience. While coffee the pod machines offer espresso capsules with coffee flavor extracted from beans, they also include coffee pods that have flavors added to coffee grounds enclosed in the pods, like caramel, coconut, hazelnut and more. The pre-packed pod varieties are endless.

Once you have decided how you want to make espresso at home you are much closer to getting a machine that works best for you. After all, its about reducing you're cafe spend on a daily or weekly basis! And enjoying espresso at home with family and friends!

My Top Rated Picks for the Best Espresso Coffee Pod Machines:

Keurig K15 Coffee Maker

Only a small 1 cup machine it takes K cups the pre packaged ones with all the flavors & also you can use your own coffee with the "My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter" for well under 100 us dollars it is a cheap option for a home "podista"!

Nespresso Pixie Espresso Maker, Electric Titan

I had a little pixie nespresso machine, it is very reliable; I used the original nespresso capsules and also the refillable pods with my own coffee when I wanted to save even further. Prices at just over $100us this machine is a bargain. You do have do buy your own milk frother to go with or you can upgrade to the citiz and milk. Both the citiz and pixie machines are the same inside they just look different on the outside.

I do recommend disposing of your used coffee pods in an ethical way or recycling

6. Where Will Your Pride & Joy Be Placed!

If you have a smaller kitchen you might want to choose where you pride and joy will sit or store in the kitchen.

If you go for a manual machine, you will want to be closer to the kitchen sink, because when you’re filling the coffee basket with each coffee it is necessary to rinse out the grinds from the basket with each coffee you make.

With automatic machines, they do the rinsing for you, however you still need to fill the water tank when you making coffee. How frequently you refill the tank will depend on the size of your machine.

Most machines allow you to remove the tank and fill at the sink, so it is a matter of kitchen ergonomics. In other words how far are you prepared to carry your water tank to fill at the sink?

Or if you using a jug, how far away from the tap will it still work with your kitchen space and work flow.

7. How to Buy the Best Espresso Machine

There are 2 main types of espresso machines when you begin to delve into the process of how espresso is actually brewed. It is either a pump or steam process that applies the pressure to extract the flavor and make your espresso.

· Steam machines - Brew coffee with steam pressure rather than water pressure. Most of the budget beginner level steam espresso machines do not generate the pressure needed to extract full flavor and crème from your coffee beans. It is possible to get them to work but it is much harder and you almost have to be an experienced barista to get the flavor with no guarantee of the crème. The only exception for a steam espresso machine would be the Breville BES980XL Oracle Espresso Machine Dual Boiler with new technology PID regulator control

· Pump machines -Pump machines pump the hot water over ground coffee beans and brew the coffee with the pressure created by the water and these are the best espresso machines. Pump driven machines usual advertise a bar pressure of at least 15 bar pump. The amount of the bar pressure is not greatly important because a decent espresso requires approx 9 bar pressure. (This unit of bar measurement -means of 1 bar of atmospheric pressure at sea level). It is amount of bar pressure in a machine that determines the quality of brew made but how this bar pressure is regulated throughout the time it takes to pull your shot.

o Home espresso machines use a vibration pump creating pressure as you pull you shot where as commercial coffee machines use a rotary pump that maintains consistent, constant pressure. That is why a cafe with a good quality commercial machine can make a great espresso.

Of course there are other factors, like freshly ground beans and using a machine which has a conical grinder gives the best result.

o A double boiler system in your home espresso machine helps to achieve consistency with espresso shots because pressure is, more easily maintained and regulated when it does not have to share with the milk wand steamer. It can mean zero waiting time before using the steam wand. So for more than one reason a double boiler for a good manual machine is preferable.