Automatic Coffee Machine vs Manual Coffee Machine

The great coffee debate – automatic coffee machine vs manual coffee machine …which is king? Not dissimilar to the auto vs manual debate which has existed between petrol heads for decades.

For those of you who are new to coffee, let’s start at the beginning. Espresso coffee machines (meaning coffee machines driven by an internal pump) were created many decades ago by Mr Gaggia – after whom the Gaggia Coffee machine brand is named after. Manual espressos machines were not very different to those in use today at local coffee houses…some of these machines are in fact decades old.

A manual espresso machine requires a grinder,tamper, knock box and yes most importantly a barista. Then as time moved on the coffee world experience a revolution in the form of automatic coffee machines. An automatic coffee machine is one in which the grinder,tamper,knock box and even the “barista” is inside the machine and everything is operated at the touch of a button.

For many years,and rightly so, true espresso purists have shunned automatic coffee machines like the plague. Yes they were simple, yes they were effortless but for many many decades they still produced a very average espresso coffee.

All this rung true, up until a few years ago. Competition grew, competitors emerged and coffee just got better. More specifically coffee produced from an automatic coffee machine just got better. Today an automatic espresso machine is capable of grinding perfect.Today an automatic coffee machine is capable of tamping perfectly and yes you guessed an automatic machine today is now capable of making an espresso near perfectly! Something your run of the mill (and even experience barista )can’t do every time.

Will local coffee shops suddenly now change. Unfortunately due to massive initial machine costs, the answer is no. That’s unless they have big money behind them and can afford to make the move to the future of coffee…just like Starbucks have done. Yes, even Starbucks , a massive former proponent of the manual espresso machine , has recently upgraded most of their stores and have proudly made the move to auto!