Quick and Simple Guide to Espresso Machines

World of espresso machines is big, diverse and can be quite confusing. In this post we give you the simple overview of different type of machines that are out there.

Manual espresso machines.
There are two types of manual machines – spring piston lever machines and direct lever machines.

Spring piston lever machines use internal spring to push water through the coffee grounds at specific pressure. Person who operates the machine, uses a lever to cock the spring. After letting the lever go, spring does the work of pushing water through coffee grounds.

When it comes to direct lever machines, there is no spring, so the operator plays the role of pump, creating the pressure by pushing the lever down. Direct lever machines have bigger learning curve than spring piston lever machines.

Manual espresso machines require some skills to operate them, so if you go for them it’s going to take some practice, before you start getting a good shot of espresso.

Semi-automatic espresso machines.
As the name suggests, with these machines parts of the process are automatic. They have automated pump, that keeps constant pressure and automated temperature control. You on the other hand decide when to turn on the pump and also when to turn it off, meaning that you control how long the water flows.

Automatic espresso machines.
The difference with semi-automatics is that it has preset water volumes, which means that the water delivery is also automatic and machines stops the water flow itself. They have several different amounts available and in many cases amounts are also programmable. Often times automatic machines also have some sort of semi-automatic option incorporated into them.

Super automatic espresso machines.
As the name says, they are as automatic as they can get. They do everything with one press of the button– grind the beans, fill the internal brewing chamber (they don’t really have a portafilter), tamp the grounds and brew the shot. They even dump the used grounds (of course not into your garbage can, but into the built-in dump box). All you have to do is provide beans and fill the water tank. Oh, and push the button of course.

Note: There are also some steam driven devices that are often called espresso makers or machines, but that is actually not correct. The thing is that the steam they use does not create strong enough pressure to make espresso, so instead they make strong coffee. This includes moka pot, which is often called stovetop espresso pot.

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