Giving Espresso a ‘Shot’: 5 Things to Consider Before Buying an Espresso Machine

Meeting friends after a long time? Let’s celebrate with a cup of coffee! Having a bad day? Here’s some coffee. Work pressure? Time for a coffee break!

Isn’t coffee the panacea for every travail and triumph in life? More so, when an espresso shot awaits you with a power-packed punch!

And that’s why we believe that purchasing an espresso machine is a wise investment. But is it always wise to directly take the plunge? In this write-up, we bring to you 5 aspects you should consider before you bring home your very own espresso machine.

1.Manual Vs. Automatic: Coffee-making, or Just Coffee taking?

There are different types of espresso machines available in the market – chiefly the manual, semiautomatic, automatic and super-automatic ones. While in the former two types, you have to manually press the espresso maker to extract the coffee, the latter two comprise buttons you simply need to press to obtain your espresso shot. Invest in an automatic or super-automatic espresso if you don’t have the time or inclination to manually extract coffee; but if you do, the manual and the semiautomatic machines are wonderful learning experiences!

2. How Many Shots a Day?

What’s your frequency of coffee consumption throughout the day? If one espresso shot is sufficient for you to carry on through the day, you can probably afford to spend some time and effort into making your coffee. However, frequent coffee-drinkers can simply push the buttons while the inbuilt system takes care of everything else!

3. The Machine…and the Money

Before zeroing in on your espresso coffee machine, set your budget limit and wade through the choices you have based on the same. Super-automatic espresso machines reduce time and effort but may be more expensive. If you can spend a little extra on a coffee-machine but would like your coffee-making process to be quicker, then super-automatic machines are a good idea for you. The manual or semiautomatic machines, in contrast, are more pocket-friendly options.

4. Making Space for Your Espresso Maker

The size of your espresso machine is also an important factor. You don’t want your home espresso machine to take up almost the entire width of your kitchen, but you want it to have good capacity, too. Consider the size of your kitchen before you begin looking for an ideal espresso machine.

5. Who Gets the Coffee?

Another important consideration while purchasing an espresso maker is the purpose of buying the machine (err…besides making coffee, of course). By purpose, we mean the recipient of your awesome espresso shots – for instance, you and your family at home; colleagues at work; or your customers at the coffee-shop. For the latter two purposes, you would probably want to go in for larger-sized automatic or super-automatic machines. But for personal consumption at home, a tinier and even a manual or semi-automatic coffee machine may suffice.

Related Article: Host a coffee bar and add chic to your gatherings

Selecting the perfect espresso maker is no rocket-science. Just a little product research along with some practical considerations…and you’re good to go!