Coffee expresso makers are all the rage nowadays. You can see why. If you go to Starbucks once a day for a year, you’re spending nearly $2,000 on coffee! Really! Do the math. $150 per month x 12 months. That’s $1,800 per year. If you had your own coffee expresso makers, you could be spending your hard earned money on other things. Not only that, but expresso makers are cool! They’re great conversation pieces and if your friends like coffee as well as you do, they can be the center of any get together.
Here’s the deal, though. You have to buy the right kind of machine, and believe it or not, there is more than one kind of coffee expresso machine.
Steam Driven Coffee Expresso Makers
Normally, when most of us think about expresso makers for home use, we think about steam driven models. These work well. I had one for years and enjoyed it thoroughly, but they’re the Ford Fiesta of the expresso world. Most steam driven expresso makers don’t get the water hot enough or put it under enough pressure to make a really good cup of expresso. Let’s put it this way. It probably won’t have that nice, rich golden head of foam on it we all love and crave.
Automatic Coffee Expresso Makers
Automatic expresso machines work well, but without all the fuss. If you’re just into this for a great cup of expresso every now and then, then an automatic machine might be the right choice for you. With an automatic maker, you don’t have to grind the beans and tamp them down into the holder. All you have to do is follow the easy to use instructions, and voila! You have an excellent cup of expresso coffee. The only problem with these is they’re relatively expensive. If that doesn’t throw you off, then a few good manufacturers are Solis, Gaggia, and Saeco, among others.
Piston Driven Coffee Expresso Makers
Piston driven coffee expresso makers were some of the original expresso machines. They were invented in the 1930s by Gaggia. Today piston driven expresso machines are highly collectible, so If you can snag one, do so. They’re getting hard to find, though.
Pump Driven Coffee Expresso Machines
The pump expresso machine is an offshoot of the piston driven machine. If you’re really into expresso, then this is what you want. Pump machines have the power and can apply the right pressure to push your hot water through enough coffee to make a really nice cup of expresso. They can create pressures of up to five times greater then their steam driven counterparts.
Whichever kind you choose, it’s great to have any of these coffee expresso makers.