WHAT ESPRESSO MACHINE IS BEST FOR YOU?
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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
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Scale in Dual-Boiler Machines
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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
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Whole Latte Love on Youtube
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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
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by Whole Latte Love Updated: May 05, 2021 2 min read
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Almost everybody who is looking to buy an espresso machine has been told that a machine with a 17 bar pump makes better espresso than a machine with a 15 bar pump. It was the old thought process of “if big is good, bigger is better,” and I hear it all the time. There is nothing farther from the truth, so by choosing a machine by the size of its pump you may be directed away from the perfect one that would fit nicely for your lifestyle. Up until recently, just about every commercial espresso machine was set to brew at 9 bars and only a very few brew at higher or variable pressure. In this blog I’m not going to go into the science on how the pressure affects the whole brewing process, we will assume that the Italian engineers, who have been doing it for generations, have it right.
1 bar = 14.5 pounds per square inch (psi), which means that with a brew pressure of 9 bar we are actually brewing at 130 PSI — and that is a lot of pressure. To put it into perspective, consider that standard car tires hold about 35 PSI.
All good quality machines with vibration pumps will have a valve that reduces the brew pressure by diverting the excess pressure over 9 bar either back into the reservoir, inlet side of the pump, or to the drip tray. These valves are known as an OPV (over pressure valve) valve and they come in different sizes and shapes. They also act as safety valves to relieve excess pressure in the event that a boiler overheats.
When purchasing an espresso machine from a company that has history in espresso, you can trust the engineers who designed the machine. When they choose a pump they know how much pressure is required to pump the water at the proper quantity and velocity through the boiler system that they have chosen. Then they control it with the proper OPV for the style of machine that fits the customer that the machine is designed for. So if the pump is rated for 15 bar or over, there is no need to worry. Sounds complex? Not really, just trust that they did it right and focus on picking the type of machine that fits your lifestyle, wants, and desires. That’s what I would do.
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