.... is here to help you out!
For home espresso makers, there are a number of options. Easiest is the stovetop jobbies .... like this.
Cheap and easy, they make a bitterish (to my taste) cup of something that, indeed, resembles espresso. But they can't steam milk and you can't make another cup until the pot cools down (cuz, with the internal pressure it builds, you can't open it, even if you wanted to).
Next step up are the little buzz boxes. Like this one ....
There are at least a brazillian of these on the market from all sorts of manufacturers. They all have in common that they have a pressurized water reservoir in which water is boiled. That boiled water is pumped through a portafilter (the removable thing at the front that has a handle and that has the dose of ground coffee in it). There is not a one of this genre that is worth the money you'll pay for it. Trust me. Not one. And I have personally owned seven of them over the years, always in the quest for the perfect cuppa. These are NOT the answer. I call them buzz-boxes in honor of the tinny sound they make as their weak-assed little pumps try like hell to get to 15 bars of pressure. They never do get there, by the way.
Next are the various serious pump machines. Like this, from Gaggia ...
While these seem to resemble the buzz boxes, they are fundamentally different. These have an internal boiler into which water from the (unheated and unpressurized) reservoir is pumped, heated on demand, and forced through the portafilter. These make a credible cuppa. But they take a mixture of art and voodoo to make a repeatable cup. The grind, the tamp, the time, all matter. And in these machines, you control much of them. Unless you're an anal perfectionist, you won't want to bother. Particularly in the morning. When you would kill even your sainted mother for that first cup. Again, I have direct experience with these. They work, but they're a monumental pain in the ass.
There are many makers of this type machine. They cost in the $200 and up range.
Next - or maybe better said - parallel - are the lever machines. La Pavoni's Europicola is the state of the art. You all know what it looks like because it is the prototypical 'espresso maker'.
I have one of these, too. The 16 cup model. The devotees to the Pavoni are indeed a weird bunch. Almost cult-like. They even brag about this modification or that which has been crafted for their machine. Goggle 'em up sometime. Scary! But the bottom line is, these require even more care and personal discipline than the portafilter pump jobbies. They rely on the calibration of your arm strength and speed as you pull the lever down to extract that golden brew. My own experience has ranged from espresso nirvana to a cup of pure drek ... all in the same session. The results from these are, to say the least, variable. Very variable.
But the price is not variable. It is high. As much as a thou for the top end 16 cup model in all polished brass. However, there is an upside to these. they are a true sculptural thing of beauty. Ours is in a place of honor in our dining room .... but it is **purely** decorative now.
Last - and my strong recommendation - is one of the superautomatics. These range from a low of about $350 and range to well over 2 grand. You will find a sweet spot in the low end of about $500 to $700.
I have one each of these two .....
A Saeco Vienna Deluxe:
A Saeco Magic Deluxe
But, were I to buy one now, Saeco has a new model that I'd choose. The Incanto
Forgetting for a moment all the various little bells, whistles, and doo-dads, what do these things need to be a good day to day home espresso maker?
A burr grinder built into the machine
The ability to program your favorite settings so you get repeatability.
Steam to make foamed milk.
A by-pass doser so you get a brew from ground coffee if you wish. Like, if you have hi-test beans in the machine's hopper but have a guest who wants some decaf. With the bypass doser, you can put a shot's worth of ground coffee into the machine and get a cup not from your own bean stash.
Rapid Steam - which is Saeco's name for the system. It is the ability to go from brewing coffee to steaming milk - and back again, with no wait. In essence, there are two separate boilers in the machine.
So why do I suggest the Incanto?
My Vienna has rapid steam, but no bypass doser and no cup heater. My Magic has a cup heater and bypass doser, but no rapid steam. In my view, rapid steam is the **must** have. A cup warmer and a bypass doser might get some use ... but not much, although we **do** keep cups on the Magic's warmer and we often use the warmer as a way to melt chocolate or proof dough. The temp is just about perfect for that! The Incanto has all of this and more .... like automatic descaling.
Of these three, if you want the one at the sweet spot, get the Vienna Deluxe.
I have only spoken about Saeco. There are, to be sure, other manufacturers. The real issue, however, is that many of them buy their guts from Saeco and wrap it in their own skins and add their own controls. To me, just go with the source, yanno? Not to say any of them are bad ..... or even more pricey.
Two online sources for these are Whole Latte Love and Aabree Coffee. I bought one machine form one of them and one machine from the other. One of my machines was new and one was a reconditioned unit. I am perfectly happy with both. I would not hesitate to again buy from either of these companies.
Check out their websites. They really have a lot of info about espresso makers ... including comparisons and feature explanations.
http://www.aabreecoffee.com/http://www.wholelattelove.com/Consider a reconditioned unit. The savings is pretty good. Couple hundred bux on my Magic.
Now ... all is not peaches and cream with superautos. They need regular maintenance. Religiously regular maintenance. Focused maintenance. Unskipped maintenance.
Or they break.
My Vienna Deluxe once spent three weeks in the shop and cost well over $200 bux to fix. My Magic also needed a new boiler. But the guy who serviced my Vienna convinced me to do it myself. And he talked me through it all. And yanno? It was easy. Knowing what i do about your propensity to fix shit, you can fix an espresso machine, too. So after that first foray into service, I learned how to do it myself. I have replaced a number of parts on both machines. And only the new boiler for the Magic cost more than a few bux. The pricey parts are the boilers. Almost a hundred bux. The pumps are cheaper. Maybe 30 bux. Steam valves less than 20 bux.
**ALL** of that can be mostly avoided by frequent descaling. I didn't do mine often enough and paid the price. All my repairs except for the steam valve on my Vienna were the result of my sorry, lazy ass. Not the machines. The machines both perform well and constantly. It is I who failed them. Not the other way around.
Here's my service guy's website. Check this one out too. He has a boatload of good info on all manner of espresso makers.
http://www.partsguru.com/default.aspAnyway .... I could go on ...... but my recommendation is a Saeco superautomatic.