The first thing to consider before buying a home espresso machine…

If you are thinking about getting an espresso machine but don’t really know anything about them, there is one very important thing you need to determine before you will be able to make any type of educated decision.

Determine what “kind” of espresso machine would be best for you and your lifestyle. This will be a huge factor, and once you have narrowed down this one, you will not feel nearly as “lost.

You would likely do well choosing a super-automatic home espresso machine if you are one of the following types of people:

• Someone who just wants to be able to brew espresso without a lot of learning curve involved, basically someone who wants a machine that requires just learning what the buttons on the machine do.
• Someone who does not want to have to manually brew espresso, which would include learning and needing to do things such as getting the correct grind coarseness of coffee beans, how to correctly “tamp” (compress) the coffee beans into a portafilter, etc.
• Someone who has a very busy lifestyle with no time to put into learning some needed basics that are required if you want a semi-auto espresso machine or a manual/lever machine.
• Someone who wants to avoid as much mess, fuss, and muss as possible, such as cleaning up spilled grounds, etc.
• Someone who wants the option of using today’s easy serve espresso (E.S.E.) pods, which are virtually mess-free and very simple to use. There is, however, at least one semi-auto espresso maker that does allow for using either ground coffee or E.S.E. pods on a use-by-use basis. That particular machine would be the DeLonghi Dedica EC680.

You would more than likely do great with a semi-automatic espresso maker if you are one of the following types of people:

• Someone who likes to learn new things, such as how to correctly grind coffee to the correct coarseness/fineness and how to “tamp” (compress) the grounds into a portafilter.
• Someone who has some time to devote to learning the new things mentioned above.
• Someone who really doesn’t mind wiping up some coffee grounds or spilled water on occasion.
• Someone who likes to “fiddle” around with “new toys,” and will enjoy experimenting with different grinds of coffee and different amounts of tamping.

If you are truly ambitious about learning something new (and you would have to be VERY ambitious, no doubt about it), another consideration would be a manual/lever espresso machine.

Below are listed the characteristics of someone who might, and we emphasize the word “might,” do well purchasing a manual lever espresso machine. We don’t have many available at this site at this time, although this link will take you to Amazon, where there are a few more available. Characteristics of a person who would do well with a manual/lever espresso machine would include the following:

• Someone who loves to “fiddle” with and learn how to use new things, unlike anything they have ever used before.
• Someone who is a TRUE “coffee snob.” Manual/lever espresso machines are notorious for being able to produce absolutely the very best espresso that can be made.
• Someone who does not mind practice, practice, practice, and likely MORE practice, before being able to successfully brew espresso. Although there are only two crucial things that need to be learned, including the correct grind coarseness of the coffee beans being used, as well as the correct “tamp” (compression) of the coffee grounds, these two “things” can be very difficult to get a handle on without a lot of practice.

Once you have determined which type of machine would best fit yourself and your lifestyle, you will be well on your way to knowing what would be best suited to your needs.