Espresso Basics:​ What to look for when buying home espresso machines

​Are you a big fan of lattes and don’t want to spend $5 every time you want one? A lot of people are in the same boat with you, but it’s confusing, as a home barista, to know where to start. Everybody on the forums are saying different things, so let me just cut through the noise for you. 
These are the 3 major things you need to look for in a home espresso machine:

1. Pressure
   
   1. If you have read our “What is Espresso” blog, you know that espresso needs to be brewed at a pressure of 9-10 bars in order to be truly fantastic. While it might seem like a good idea to buy a $40 espresso machine at Walmart, you might want to check to see if it actually gets up to that pressure.
      
2. Temperature Stability
   
   1. Whenever brewing coffee, it is of paramount importance that you have a consistent brew temperature of 195-205. If the machine isn’t known for that, don’t get it. A good start would be to check for Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) certifications.
      
3. Price
   
   1. A common conundrum with both commercial and home espresso machines is how much to spend. Should you get the $500 Breville, or the $4,300 La Marzocco? The truth is, the more you spend, the better the experience. Take the La Marzocco Linea Mini ($4,300) for example. It’s beautiful, well made, and is dual-boiler (so you can steam milk and pull a shot at the same time). However, a lot of the price comes with the name and aesthetic. You can get just as good espresso, and the same features, with a Rocket R58 ($3,000). It’s not as pretty, but it does a good job and we use it at the CDR Roastery. When you go to a lower price point like the Breville Barista Express ($500) or the Breville Barista Pro ($800-1,000), you can get good espresso! However, the catch is you can’t multitask, and there are a lot of moving, plastic pieces that can easily break. My advice is to spend more and get a great set-up rather than spending less and wishing you had a better one, because it’s easy to outgrow a cheap espresso machine.
      

In the end, it’s up to you. I will note that if you don’t really want to spend money on the equipment, you should probably just get it in a coffee shop.