Last week, my shipment finally arrived at my home. After 3 months without espresso at home, I can now enjoy brewing homemade espresso myself and drink less coffee at the coffee shops.
My first latte art in the UK.
While sharing the enjoyment of coffee, my friends often ask if they should buy an espresso machine. My default answer is: No, you probably won’t want to buy one.
There are several reasons why you might consider buying an espresso machine. A cup of milk-based coffee costs over HK$40/£4, and specialty coffee shops charge even more. It seems a bit expensive. Brewing a cappuccino at home would be cheaper, and you can enjoy it without going out. If another lockdown occurs, you might be without cappuccino for months.
Here is my short story with espresso machines:
In 2022, I bought my first espresso machine, the Gaggia Classic Pro. Unfortunately, its solenoid valve broke down, and there was no water flow through the group head. The replacement part cost nearly a third of the machine’s price in Hong Kong. I eventually sold my Gaggia Classic Pro as scrap to a repairer who had spare parts.
While searching for my next espresso machine, a friend lent me one of his second-hand De’Longhi EC685s. For me, the EC65 was almost unusable. Its 51mm portafilter wasn’t compatible with my accessories, all of which are made for a 58mm portafilter. The power of steam wand was so limited that I could barely steam milk.
A month later, I bought the Lelit Elizabeth, after weighing all the properties with Lelit MaraX.
Returning to the original question: before deciding whether to buy an espresso machine, you might already have a filter coffee system at home – perhaps a V60 and a hand grinder for filter coffee.
Let’s calculate the total cost of ownership (TCO).
If you want to enjoy a decent espresso, you need both a good espresso machine and a quality coffee grinder. The Gaggia Classic Pro costs about £425. Two years ago, I migh have recommend it. But now I realise that a solenoid valve breaddown is a common issue. You may need to consider an alternative. Although an espresso machine usually comes with a portafilter basket, the quality is often poor, so you’ll need to buy a decent ridgeless basket from brands like VST or IMS, which costs about £45.
If your hand grinder is a high-ended product like the Comandante C40 or 1Zpresso K Series, congratulations! You might save a few hundreds pounds on upgrading your grinder. However, many hand grinders, such as the 1Zpresso Q Series, aren’t capable of grinding finely enough for brewing espresso.
Even if you have a high-ended hand grinder, are your forearms strong enough to grind coffee beans to an extra-fine size? Try grinding at 15 clicks on Comandante C40 or 20 clicks on 1Zpresso K-Plus. After several attempts, or even injuring your wrist, you’ll probably give up. So, how much does a electric coffee grinder cost? The Eureka Mignon Specialita Espresso Grinder cost about £370.
To prepare the buck for espresso, you need a tamper. The one bundled with the espresso machince is usually useless as it doesn’t fit the portafilter. A good tamper costs about £30. You’ll also need a 450mL milk pitcher to steam milk, which costs about £20.
Lastly, to protect your espresso machine from scaling, descaling water jug is essential. It costs about £15, with an additional £6 per month for replacing the water filter cartridge and £11 for the espresso cleaning powder.
The above is the basic setup for brewing espresso. There are still many accessories to help you prepare a better cup of espresso, such as a WDT distribution tool, dosing cup, dosing funnel, puck screen, and bottomless portafilter – you name it. If you’re new to coffee, you’ll also need a mini scale with 0.1g precision.
Basic setup = £425 + £45 + £370 + £30 + £20 + £15 = £905
Annual maintenance = £6 × 12 + £11 = £83
Optional items = £50
Annual coffee bean subscription (350g, biweekly) = £14 × 26 = £364
1 cup of espresso in the UK = £3
To break even, you’ll need to brew at least 468 cups of espresso, excluding electricity and water bills.
Okay, you might say, “Budget isn’t a problem. All I want is to drink tasty coffee at home.” You can buy the most expensive espresso equipment in the world, but unfortunately, you can’t buy technique. To brew a great espresso, you’ll need to practise a lot of skills.
Since every coffee bean has its own characteristics, you’ll need to dial in the espresso by experimenting various combinations of dose, coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, brew temperature, brew time and pressure (which is usually uncontrollable). The roast level and freshness of the coffee beans also affect the result. My suggestion is to fix all the parameters except the grind size, as you won’t get accurate results if you alter more than 1 parameter at a time. Even with 3 years of homebrewing experience, I still occasionally brew awful, sour, and unpleasant espresso.
Another key element of a milk-based coffee is, of course, the milk. There’s a lot to learn about steaming milk. 2 years ago, right after buying my first espresso machine, I went through tens, if not hundreds, of litres of milk for daily steaming practice. Among all the elemnts, latte art is often the most desired skill for espresso newcomers. This, however, is a beast to master. The margin for error is so small that neither thinker nor thinner milk will result in a beautiful latte art. I can easily make a nice rosetta but rarely manage a nice tulip, as I still haven’t mastered stacking.
So, do you still want to buy an espresso machine? If you enjoy espresso and eager to master a challenging skills, you should give it a try. If not, simply avoid the hassle and enjoy a Caffè latte at a specialty coffee shop.