It is a specialty among the coffee specialties: espresso. Many fully automatic coffee machines can prepare it, but anyone who really wants to enjoy excellent espresso can hardly avoid a special machine. Fortunately, these don't even have to be particularly expensive. Good devices are available for less than 150 euros. AllesBeste has tested 8 models.
Coffee connoisseurs love it, everyone else has heard of it at least once - we're talking about espresso. You can either enjoy it neat or use it as an ingredient in other popular drinks, such as latte macchiato or cappuccino.
Espresso differs from normal coffee in a few peculiarities. It starts with the coffee itself, which is roasted more heavily and ground more finely than for conventional coffee. Espresso also contains significantly less water, but its concentration is higher.
Last but not least, when preparing espresso, the water is pressed through the ground coffee with pressure - with normal coffee it just runs through it. The crema, as the delicious, nut-brown foam on the espresso is called, is only created through the pressure.
Cheap espresso machines in the test
The test portal AllesBeste has tested 8 portafilter espresso machines for private users. A main focus of the testers was the affordability of the machines.
The test winner was the DeLonghi EC 685 Dedica. It is particularly suitable for beginners and single households and impresses with its easy-to-use controls, a well-functioning milk foam lance, solid workmanship and a pretty design that takes up little space in the kitchen.
The Krups XP3440 offers a little less ease of use. Nevertheless, it is recommended by the testers, because, due to their higher structure, glasses for latte macchiato can also be filled directly. Otherwise it is comparable to the test winner and only differs marginally in terms of price.
More information and other recommended alternatives can be found in the detailed review by AllesBeste.
