gofer articles

Home espresso machines have now become the stuff of late-night television infomercials, with any variety of bells and whistles for “only four installments of fifty-five ninety-five!” or so. But can such relatively simple models, when compared against their cousins found in industry, be truly up to the job of producing genuine caffè espresso as Luigi Bezzera had first introduced to the world back in 1903?

How is it possible for espresso machines that are so much smaller to turn out the same product? Something is different between hardware that costs a few hundred and one that costs several thousand, of course. But the difference is between, typically, not quality but quantity.

Commercial espresso makers have of necessity to be all the more rugged, reliable hundreds of times a day. Home versions, on the other hand, need satisfy only several cups at most per day. From the best examples of each class, the quality of the output should be very similar. The main, if not only, distinguishing feature between such espresso machines should be the volume of output you may expect of them on a daily basis.

But naturally, the term “espresso” only refers to the method of brewing, and not to anything else in particular. Thus, as long as your coffee is made by forcing pressurized hot water through finely ground beans, you have espresso, and any type of machine should do, whether designed for private or commercial use. What truly makes espresso coffee so fun to have is what happens after you brew it!

For there is actually a bewildering variety of ways in which espresso coffee may be served: try it affogato with ice cream, or corretto with liquor; join any range of beans and roast levels, too – from syrups and spices to a whole host of flavor extracts, just brewing your espresso is only the beginning!