automatic machines

The next level up from manual machines, these products usually give you the ability to customise your coffee – from the grind to the final brew. So if you have a preferred grind or style, you can even set up the preferences in such a way that all you have to do is press a button labelled ‘Clare’s coffee’ and your favourite half-strength long black is delivered.

John Kaye, head roaster at Sample Coffee, says the automatic machines are perfect for people who are particular about their coffee, but don’t have the skills or experience to operate a manual machine. “They are great for good – almost barista-quality – coffee, with minimal education required.

“And they’re not expensive, relatively speaking,” John adds. Breville does a very competitive price for the quality of their machinery. I have one of their grinders at home and I’m pretty satisfied with its useability. Quite often, it’s not just brewing the coffee [that people find tricky]; steaming milk is very much a learned art as well. So if you have a machine that does it automatically, that’s a big bonus.”

Gary Brown agrees that automatic machines are great for the untrained coffee aficionado. “You load your beans in, set how fine you want the grind to be, and it will do everything,” he says. “It will even tamp [press] your coffee. So, all you have to do is press the grind button, put the beans in and hit the brew button.

“You can use them automatically,” says Gary, “but if you want manual control you can preset everything; they have touch screens so you can set a profile for your coffee. You may like it different to other people in the house, so you just put in all your preferences and every time you go to the screen and select your name, it will make your coffee just how you like it.”