How to Use a Semi-Automatic Espresso Machine? A Guide to Making Espresso

With the growing popularity of coffee culture, more and more people have become fascinated with this unique beverage. Whenever they find their concentration lacking or start feeling drowsy, they'll treat themselves to a cup of coffee. This not only refreshes the mind but also satisfies their taste buds—truly the best of both worlds.

However, many friends have discovered that their need for coffee is constantly growing, and one cup per day is no longer sufficient to meet their needs. Coffee has become an integral part of their daily routine, requiring more cups to satisfy their cravings. Therefore, to reduce coffee expenses and with shopping festivals just around the corner, many people plan to purchase a coffee machine. This way, they can enjoy freshly ground coffee anytime while saving a significant amount of money.

But when shopping online, besides considering the coffee machine's price and brand, most friends encounter an unexpected dilemma: should they buy a fully automatic or semi-automatic coffee machine?

Since most people have never truly interacted with coffee machines, their understanding remains limited to thinking of them simply as espresso extraction devices, without distinguishing between fully and semi-automatic types. But that's okay—today FrontStreet Coffee will share with everyone the differences between semi-automatic and fully automatic coffee machines, and how to choose between them!

What is a Semi-Automatic Coffee Machine?

Generally speaking, the vast majority of coffee machines used in independent coffee shops and those we commonly refer to are semi-automatic coffee machines.

A semi-automatic coffee machine refers to one where the coffee extraction "process" cannot be completed independently by the machine—it requires our full assistance and hands-on operation throughout. From grinding the coffee beans to filling the portafilter, to locking the portafilter into the machine for extraction, every step requires our manual intervention. The coffee machine merely provides the extraction function.

Additionally, if we want to make milk-based coffee, we also need to froth the milk! Similarly, this requires human judgment to control the thickness of the foam and the temperature of the milk. In short, everything must be done personally.

Furthermore! After each extraction is complete, we need to clean the coffee machine's extraction area. Otherwise, over time, it will negatively affect both the taste of the coffee and the condition of the machine.

What is a Fully Automatic Coffee Machine?

Hey! This is simple—a fully automatic coffee machine is one that automatically completes tasks after we press the corresponding function buttons. For example, pressing the espresso extraction button will cause the machine to grind and extract according to preset values! Humans only need to wait quietly for the coffee to be finished.

Even for making milk-based coffee, the machine can complete it with one touch—automatically heating the milk and automatically frothing it, without requiring human intervention. Therefore, fully automatic means a coffee machine that can complete extraction entirely by itself! Then we only need to periodically clean the coffee grounds container and extraction chamber. There's no need to clean after every extraction like with semi-automatic machines.

How Should You Choose?

Due to the different types, there's no absolute good or bad between them. When choosing, we only need to select the appropriate machine based on our own needs! (Although FrontStreet Coffee would still recommend semi-automatic coffee machines more.)

The advantages of fully automatic coffee machines are simplicity, convenience, and low operational barriers. If you don't want to deal with complicated operations, don't have high requirements for taste, or don't want to delve deep into learning coffee extraction (just want to satisfy your caffeine addiction), then a fully automatic coffee machine would be an excellent choice. Because the machine can complete everything for you, it's extremely convenient.

But the disadvantages are also obvious—lack of flexibility and difficulty in adjustment. Even at lower price points, many functions of the machine cannot be adjusted, such as grinding. Therefore, with limited functionality, the quality of a cup of coffee depends entirely on how well the beans match the machine.

The reason coffee shops need to calibrate every morning is that beans constantly change daily, and these changes affect the coffee's taste each day, so calibration through morning espresso adjustments is necessary for correction.

Many fully automatic machines cannot make these corrections because they lack the corresponding functions. That's why FrontStreet Coffee says that only if you don't have high requirements for coffee taste should you consider purchasing a fully automatic machine. Or, places like offices that provide coffee to many people would equip fully automatic machines. If you have requirements for taste, choosing a semi-automatic machine is most appropriate~

The flexibility and potential of semi-automatic machines are very high, after all, the entire process requires human completion. While complicated operation is indeed a disadvantage, precisely because of this, we can adjust parameters at any time to create perfect coffee in ideal conditions.

Correspondingly, when purchasing, we need to start learning knowledge related to coffee extraction. Because although semi-automatic machines have high potential, their minimum performance can also be quite low. But if we master coffee extraction, making a delicious cup of coffee anytime becomes incredibly easy!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473