Although manual or traditional espresso machines are not as simple to operate or clean as an automatic coffee machine, they can brew very, very good espresso coffee allowing you to show off your exceptional barista skills to your friends.

The traditional espresso machine gives you control over the entire espresso coffee brewing process: dosing, tamping, actioning the manual lever to pressure the water through the coffee and of course, timing each of these operations. The user still controls the beginning and the end of the brewing process, but the machine develops the water pressure.

Traditional coffee machines feature a heat-exchanger boiler with two thermostats and a switch knob, which allows the operator to control coffee extraction and steaming. Although time is required to switch between the two operations, a good barista possesses enough techniques to reduce the waiting time.

The higher end traditional coffee machines also include secondary heating elements inside the boiler which automatically reduce the waiting times.

If you want to learn how espresso works and become a skilled 'barista', a tradtional espresso coffee machine is your first option. Otherwise consider an automatic coffee machine.

Coffee Shrine makes it so simple to choose your Traditional Coffee Machine. Our FAQ’s explain the different coffee machine functions. Our simple to feature comparison function allows you to easily compare features and our advanced search lets you search our range of traditional espresso coffee machines by feature.