How to choose coffee machine? For home or office.

My independent advices are based on 6 years of experience in coffee machines sales

So, you and your family love coffee. And you drink it quite often. One day you realize that it would be great to optimize the process – to prepare tastier coffee with less mess around. That’s why you are choosing coffee machine for your home or even an office.

And for the beginning I should dot the I. What is coffee machine and what is just a coffee maker? Why machines are much more expensive? And what do you personally need – a simple and cheap coffee maker or automated coffee machine? Or even more – which particular coffee machine should you choose for your needs?

All devices, that are designed to produce coffee, are divided in two big classes: coffee makers and coffee machines.

Both classes have more divisions. Especially coffeemakers have a lot, they could be drip coffee makers, moka pot, espresso machines with and without pump, capsule coffee makers etc. Here I should stop to clarify my position. If you see the capsule coffee machine at the shop – it’s coffee maker indeed. That’s why they are cheaper then all other real coffee machines and costs like simple espresso makers.

The main difference between coffee maker and machine – it’s human’s role in the process from coffee bean to cup. Soif you need to use ground coffee from the supermarket or grind coffee beans by yourself – that’s not coffee machine.

Also the term ‘coffee’ itself is understood differently in different parts of the world. Since my blog is international, I should explain clarify that as well. In Americas people get used to big, but not strong coffee. In Europe we call it ‘americano’ and usually serve it for tourists. In most european countries people prefer espresso and espresso based coffee drinks (cappuccino, flat white etc). Which mean it should be strong and small. The process of brewing is different indeed, I will focus in it later.

That fact is important, since majority of coffee machines are made in Europe an designed by espresso lovers. That mean you should pay attention if you like american styled coffee and choose the model with special function for long coffee.

Example of capsule coffee maker by Nespresoo. Capsules itself are on the right.

In capsule or pod coffee makers you use capsules, that was grounded and packed on the factory. That’s why it’s not a machine, but a simple coffeemaker. By the way, if you would choose capsule coffee maker for your home, you will have to buy coffee capsules made by particular company.

Despite the fact that capsules are not so fresh as seconds-ago-grownd beans, they have limited variety of tastes and roast levels. But the key fact – the capsules costs more than coffee beans, and some times a lot more. After a year (or two, depends of how much coffee your family drinks at home) you will overpay for the capsules more, than the difference between cupsule maker and normal beans-to-coffee machine (see below).

That means that if you drink more than one-two cups of coffee per day, it’s more efficient to choose automated beans-to-coffee coffee machine or simple maker. But capsule coffee is good for you if you drink just a cup or two per day. Also models of that type are usually quite compact and easy in use and cleaning. But, again, coffee in capsules costs a lot and is not so fresh.

Capsules are better for European-styled coffee. But also suitable for American tastes, since they have ‘lungo’ button that use more water to prepare coffee. If it still to strong for you, you can add extra hot water. Some capsule makers have special function for it, some – don’t. But you can use a hack – just switch it on without capsule inside, you will get just hot water.

That’s how epsresso makers look. On photo: Delonghi EC200.

Espresso makers or espresso machines or pump coffee makers are not automated. They are suitable for you if you are OK with ground coffee from supermarket (or if you buy a grinder and grind beans by yourself) and with some cleaning/controlling actions. Espresso makers, hence the name, are designed to make espresso. But you can make ‘americano’ on them by adding hot water to espresso shot. That’s how ‘americano’ is classically prepared in European coffee shops.

There are also (and they are cheaper) espresso makers without pump. They are similar to previous onces despite the fact that espresso is made under 2-3 bar pressure (comparing to 8-15 bar, that do models with pump).

The cheapest options are drip coffee makers and moka pots. But they are very different. Drip coffee makers are perfect for “long” and not strong coffee, that’s what is usual for US. Moka pots are perfect for espresso or just stronger coffee like in Europe. They are are much cheaper than espresso makers, but don’t give such a strong taste – they are very similar to espresso makers without pump.

And now we came automated bean-to-cofee machines. They will do everything or almost everything for you in several minutes. From beans to espresso or milky cappuccino. They are much higher in price, but it’s the only option if you want to get fresh coffee in one or several touches with no mess around.