WHAT ESPRESSO MACHINE IS BEST FOR YOU?
If you know for sure you love espresso, but aren't sure on the right machine style for you, take this quiz!
Espresso Machine Boiler Types
Learn everything you need to know about boiler types before assembling your espresso set-up.
Pour Over Brew Method Demystified
Learn the art of pour over. The end result is balanced, complex, and—if you’re lucky—a meditative state.
What is Drip Coffee?
Discover the nuances of coffee brewing and get the right brewer for you.
A Beginner's Guide to Coffee Grinders
Get a grasp on grinders. Know their burr type, materials, and the features your machine needs to brew a consistent shot.
Coffee Flavor Affected By Grinders
Learn about coffee grinders affect the taste of your coffee.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHOOSING COFFEE
Start your journey into the wonderful world of specialty coffee and espresso with this diverse collection of beans.
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Browse our extensive selection of gourmet coffee and espresso beans. Whether you’re looking for whole bean, pre-ground coffee, decaf, single-serve capsules or ESE Pods, we have it all.
Scale in Dual-Boiler Machines
For proper machine maintenance, we stock genuine parts and premium care products.
Support Library
Don't know what part you need? Check our support wiki for part diagrams and guides to help troubleshoot issues.
BWT Water Filters for Espresso Machines
Build the perfect coffee bar and make sure it stays that way with a state of the art water filtration system.
The Importance of Espresso Tampers
Choosing a quality tamper is often overlooked as an important consideration of brewing good espresso.
Technical Support
Discover useful specs, troubleshooting guides, and brewing tips from our huge support library.
Whole Latte Love on Youtube
With over 1,000 videos, our channel has everything from espresso machine reviews, tech and maintenance guides, coffee recipes, and more!
Machine Video Library
We’ve taken our expert YouTube videos and carefully collected them into specific playlists for each machine.
Profitec Pro 500 PID vs Quick Mill Arnos
It's time for another showdown between two great espresso machines, this time in the heat exchanger category.
Whole Latte Love Blog
Advice, staff picks, mythbusting, and more from the Internet’s leading coffee experts. Let us help you.
by Nick Brown Updated: August 21, 2019 2 min read
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If you’re still researching your way to a new espresso machine, you’re likely reading information about pressurized and non-pressurized baskets. Naturally you want a pressurized basket; espresso is brewed under pressure, right?
Well, not necessarily. While espresso is brewed between 8 and 9 bars of pressure, the difference between a pressurized and non-pressurized portafilter has to do the level of control you want over the brew process.
Like every other step in coffee brewing, there is no concrete right or wrong way, or taboo way to brew (other than instant coffee). Some people want to have total and complete control over the brew process, down to the temperature of the water going through the grounds. That would be the commercial style portafilter, where the coffee itself is what the pump pushes against to achieve 8 to 9 bars of pressure for a proper brew. Slight variations in the grind and tamp with these machines will produce nuances in the brew you produce. While it’s a bit more work on the prep side, getting the shot you crave is worth it if you’re really serious about your coffee. If you fall into this category, you will naturally gravitate towards a prosumer level machine, like our Expobar Brewtus machines, or other high end entries.
But if you want an easier cup of espresso, or if you don’t care about the nuances you can control, then a machine with a pressurized portafilter is the type of machine you want. There is a mechanism in the portafilter that doesn’t allow brewed coffee out of the portafilter until it has accumulated between 8 and 9 bars of pressure. This alleviates the pressure of having to have a dead-on grind for a pull with a nice layer of crema. You just have to be in the general range to get a good shot. Check out Saeco, DeLonghi, and Francis Francis semi auto machines if this appeals to you.
If you find yourself in the middle of the road, or if there are multiple types of users in your house, go for a Gaggia semi-auto. Gaggia created the pressurized basket so you can have the best of both worlds and use either format without having to buy a full portafilter, or separate machine. Just pop the basket out and swap the other basket in.
Product expert, writer, and occasional YouTube presenter, Nick has a decade of specialty coffee experience and a passion for equipment. He is responsible for working with vendors to locate and test new items to add to our catalog, personally vetting them before signing off. He also hand curates our product bundling feature to offer compelling pairings of machines and accessories.
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