Machine me up

Here’s how to pick the right espresso gadget for your home.

Long gone are the days when 15 minutes is needed to get your espresso – in the 1800s, coffee drinkers had to drink tepid espresso because of the time taken for the hot water to drip through the coffee powder. These days, cafés employ complex kitchen countertop machinery to drip out high-grade java that people pay good money to sip.

Four main categories of machines — manual, semi-auto, full auto, and super automatic — are offered on today’s market, and the first step is deciding on the best type for your needs

Manual machines are like a restored car from the early 1900s

— a beautiful homage to heritage, but unimaginably complicated compared to today’s most advanced models. There are no crank start mechanisms or chokes to contend with on manual espresso machines, but because they don’t maintain constant water pressure on their own, users must push water through the coffee manually, which can affect the quality of the final brew. We recommend the elegant made-initaly Elektra S1 Micro Casa (US$1,645), which includes a boiler with a capacity of 18 single shots of espresso and a spring lever for a more consistent brew process.

Semi-auto espresso machines came to be, thanks to Achilles Gaggia’s 1938 patent, which introduced electric pumps to devices, resulting in even, hands-free water pressure. As operators can decide when to turn the pump on and off (hence “semi” automatic), and because boiler temperature controls are automated on these makers, this is the most popular type of traditional machine in use today. We recommend: Breville BES870XL (US$599.95), one of the best in the market, it uses premium quality materials for durability.

Fully-auto machines are very similar to semi-auto machines, but include an electronic nanny to regulate the amount of water passing through the espresso. It is often the case that fully automatics include redundant semi-automatic controls. We recommend: Jura Impressa Z9 (US$2,799), which comes with a built-in conical burr grinder and Swiss standards of precision.

Super automatic machines have all the bells and whistles, frequently including a built-in grinding apparatus and other related gadgets. Currently, “caffe crema” — essentially espresso-brewed coffee diluted to the strength of regular joe — is in vogue as a result of the prevalence of super automatic machines. We recommend: Nuova Simonelli Aurelia ii Digit 4 Group Espresso Machine (US$17,730); it’s the official espresso machine of the World Barista Championships.