If you’re on this page, I’m guessing “how to use a manual espresso machine” is one of your most recent searches. If so, I’m assuming you got tired of the super-automatics limiting you to about 1-3 presets only for every cup you make. 

Like, who does that? You should have more control over what to do in a machine you buy with your cash, and it’s not like you’re using it as a gigantic solar net to surveil every call in your city. You’re still making espressos!

Read on to see how to use a manual espresso at home.

Why Choose A Manual Espresso Machine Over The Easier Automatic?

To be honest, manual espressos are very simple to use. You don’t even have to operate up to 5 parts to make a 100% tailored cup of espresso.

Semi- or super-automatic espressos have one common flaw: they come with too many parts that spoil easily. On the other hand, a manual espresso has fewer components, so it works for much longer. For example, the water pump spoils often on automatic machines and that too quickly. However, our mortal man does not even have a water pump, as your hand/arm is responsible for pumping water. 

Manual espressos are also known as lever espresso machines, by the way. 

Major Components of A Manual Espresso Machine

1. A water Reservoir: where you pour in the freshwater to use before heating it.
2. Heater: The water reservoir often contains a heating element that gets your water boiling.
3. Portafilter: Which is what holds your grounds before and during the extraction process.
4. A Lever: Attached to the machine, this is the part that you have to bring down to make your espresso. The level is operated after water is heated and your grounds have been tamped. Bringing the lever down is what forces water through the grounds in the extraction process.
5. Pressure Gauge:This is the part that monitors the pressure pound you’re applying while tamping. However, this is not available in most manual espresso machines, so it is not that essential. 

How Does The Machine Work Exactly?

The lever has only one function: pushing hot water down, so it passes through the coffee grounds in the portafilter into the cup waiting below.

For more explanation, when you pull this lever, it causes a vacuum-like effect by sucking your heated water down into the portafilter holding the tamped grounds, from where the extracted espresso dispenses into a mug waiting below. 

Conclusion Of How To Use A Machine Espresso Machine

In all honesty, knowinghow to use a manual espresso machineexpertly will not make the process easier than it is on automatics. However, it offers the chance to make finer cups of espressos (or worse ones) depending on your choices. Here, the key thing is that you have more control and tweak what you put in howbeit you deem fit.