Frequently asked questions about coffee machines
What type of coffee machine is best?
Capsule (or pod) coffee machines. espresso enthusiasts are usually looked down on, but they are the easiest and most convenient way to make coffee at home. They apply a single sealed capsule of finely ground coffee for each drink. All you have to do is insert it into the machine and press a button. In the long run, capsules can be exorbitant, and the type of coffee you can make is restricted. They are also not always recyclable, although more and more eco-friendly capsules are coming to the market.
Manual coffee machines requires a bit more skill to apply – but the results are worth it. The kind you’d find in coffee shops, which apply a scoop of ground espresso to make barista-standard coffee. The downsides are that they can be tough to apply, are more exorbitant than capsule machines, and are a bit messier.
Coffee bean machines Handle every part of the process with the touch of a button – from grinding beans to making coffee to frothing milk. The downside is that they are more exorbitant and harder to neat.
Filter machines offer ease and value for money. It simply presses water through ground coffee into a jug or container, providing an effortless and economical way to make coffee for multiple people at once. Because they are completely different fish kettles – they simply produce black filter coffee, not espresso – I haven’t included them in the “best” list below.
Cafetières / French Press coffee makers they aren’t really “machines,” but they are another, cheaper way to make great coffee at home. If you’re looking to dive into coffee making without investing in a machine, the Telegraph’s guide to the best coffee shops is worth checking out.
Coffee dictionary
- Crema: The tender, aromatic foam that covers the surface of an espresso.
- Flask: A holder and filter holder for ground coffee used in a coffee machine.
- Extraction: The process of extracting flavor from coffee grounds to prepare espresso.
- Espresso: Coffee made by forcing warm water through coffee grounds at high pressure.
- PID: Proportional-Integral-Derivative – digital temperature control mechanism. Where a time-honored thermostat simply turns off the heating when the set temperature is exceeded, the PID system uses a sophisticated algorithm to ensure coffee is extracted at the optimal temperature.
What factors should you consider when choosing a coffee machine?
“It’s a huge rabbit hole – I’ve been in the industry for 10 years, but I still have to experiment with recipes to get it right,” says specialty coffee trainer Jon Townsend. “There are a lot of variables in coffee, and you can either take control of them and change them the way you want, or you can make it easier for yourself.”
Honestly, we didn’t pay much attention to these variables before. It may sound obvious, but factors like grind fineness and water filtration make a huge difference in the flavor of the cup you get.
In fact, Ewelina Kania, general director of my favorite cafe – Prufrockin Farringdon, London – tells me that you should never put tap water into any coffee machine. Oops. There’s a gadget that can facilitate, called Peak Water, which is a specialist jug that filters the water for your coffee. High-end coffee machines should have a built-in water filter.
Another (perhaps unexpected) piece of equipment you need for great coffee is a kitchen scale. “The two most significant things are water quality and a kitchen scale—one of the most underrated pieces of equipment,” said Wilson Jimenez, founder of specialty coffee company Spicytells me. “Weighing your coffee means you’ll get good quality coffee – rather than relying on a tablespoon or eyeball.”
To complicate matters further, the recipe for how much ground coffee per shot varies depending on who you ask. Baristas usually apply between 15 and 26 grams, depending on the machine, the degree of roast of the coffee and the type of drink being prepared.
