Customer Services

Coffee Machine Guide

Choosing the right coffee equipment

This is the start of your journey with Bella Barista, the type of coffee machine that will be right for you. Let us guide you to the perfect machine to suit you; our role is to use our expertise to help you make the right choice.

This guide will help you to decide which equipment you need to make your favourite coffee at home. Whatever you decide, rest assured that we have made sure the equipment we supply is:

• Reliable
• Durable
• Good value for money
• Easy to repair / spare parts are readily available

Manual Filter Coffee Brewers – Starting from £6

• V60
• Kalita Wave
• Chemex
• Aeropress
• Cafetiere

Stove top £29-£300

Considered the “traditional” Italian way of making coffee the “Bialetti” style stove top was made famous by Mussolini to show the advancement of the use of Aluminium in Italy. We have listed only Stainless steel pots as these give a better flavour. Ground coffee is placed into the centre compartment and then when the water boils it passes through the coffee into the top compartment. This method of coffee making appeals to those who like a strong brewed coffee.

Thermoblock Machines Price Range £99-£600

Thermoblock machines heat the water as it is used, similar to the way water is heated in a shower. This makes them smaller & much cheaper than a conventional boiler.  The vast majority of budget coffee machines (below £200) will have thermoblocks. There is a wide range available, some with one thermoblock, some with two, some with a thermoblock  AND a boiler.  Some single thermoblock machines allow you to heat the water for espresso, then immediately for steam, then back again for another shot of espresso. For steam, the water passes through more slowly thereby reaching the higher temperature needed.

Capsule: Price Range £300 to £1000

One of the most significant changes in the world of coffee largely due to the massive advertising budget of Nespresso . They offer convenience and simplicity but come with a high ingredient cost. Our range of these is not as we find that our customers are upgrading from this type of machine to enjoy the benefits of “real” coffe

  Bean to Cup

There are an increasing number of coffee drinkers that want to enjoy the benefits of freshly ground coffee but want the convenience and space saving of having the grinder and coffee machine in one package and are willing to give up the ability “to fine tune”  in return for a simple single button operation. There are also the customers that have recognised the convenience of having capsules but want to progress to a fresher and far more economical way of making coffee.It is to recognise and fulfill this demand that we have decided to include bean to cup machines in our range. As with all our machines these will have been rigorously tested before they are included in our range

Single Boilers (SB): Price Range £300 to £800

As the name suggests, one boiler does it all, but not at the same time.  First, it heats water to the correct temperature for your espresso. Then it takes time to reach the hotter temperature to make steam for the milk. . Conversely you have to wait until water cools down to make your next coffee extraction. . Most single boilers contain a reservoir for water; they are not connected to the mains supply.  Single boilers are at the low to mid end of the price range and with time spent to get it right, you will have a lovely shot of espresso.

Lever Machines (LM) £1300 to £3000

This is the most traditional “espresso” machine and was the first to enable water under pressure to pass through the coffee grains to give a better extraction. The pressure being gained by the compression of the lever. The lever method obviously requires some physical effort and was soon superseded in the mass market with machines that gained the pressure from electric pumps. Purists have come to recognise that the way the lever delivers the pressure in fact produces a perfect pressure profile for the perfect espresso. It must be pointed out that there is considerable pressure exerted by the lever and should be operated with caution.

Heat Exchanger (HX):   Price Range £800 to £1800

These clever machines have one boiler (WITH AN INTERNAL HEAT EXCHANGER) which heats the water for your espresso AT THE SAME TIME as creating the steam for your milk.  No waiting, less fuss. This is the largest selection of the Bella Barista range, the heat exchanger is a pipe contained within the boiler which the water heats as it passes through then mixes with the right amount of cold to make the perfect temperature for your espresso much more reliably. The beauty of these machines is, the super-heated steam for milk is available simultaneously.  The small down-side is, if there is a long time between pulling shots the water can become too hot. This is easy to overcome by flushing water through the group head for a few seconds, known as a ‘cooling flush’. Our range of Heat Exchangers includes models that can adjust temperature/pressure and you can choose from a mains supply, an internal reservoir machine or one that has both.

Dual Boiler: Price Range £1200 - £5000

Unsurprisingly, these machines have two boilers.  One heats the water for the perfect espresso, the other heats water perfectly for the steam.  With a dual boiler, not only can you do both at the same time but many dual boiler coffee machines let you control the temperature according to the coffee you are using, ultimate control to produce perfect coffee.

Pressure Profile : Price Range £2500 - £5000 |

 Other points to Consider

Full Automatic or Manual?

In a commercial setting, fully automatic machines tend to be used; a button is pressed & a shot is produced.  This sounds easy doesn’t it, but we believe it is important that you have full control.  With a manual machine, you can look at the shot being pulled and stop it if it ‘blonds’ (the extraction goes slightly paler indicating the less desirable parts of the coffee are being released into your cup). Again, this is something you will learn easily.

Vibration or rotary pump

Vibration pumps are smaller & less expensive so they are found in most domestic machines. Our machines that are fitted with vibration pumps will contain only top quality pumps. Rotary pumps tend to be slightly quieter and are a better pump to choose if you will be plumbing in your machine at any point. The rotary pump is designed for heavy commercial use so will last longer, but can be three times more expensive than vibration pumps to exchange so this should be factored into your choice..

PID

This is a precise, computer controlled thermostat which ultimately, gives better temperature control with a smaller ‘dead band’, preventing the machine overshooting or undershooting  the heat required by pulsing heat in short, rapid and controlled increments. PID comes into its own when used with dual boiler machines.  It means each boiler has its temperature regulated or adjusted.  The problem with some PID dual boilers is that when the PID is used to control the steam boiler, it can prevent the boiler from recovering temperature quickly.  Again, this is something that can be overcome by larger heating elements in the steam boiler or simply programming the PID to allow the steam boiler to recover quickly.

Grinder , Ready Ground or Capsule

18 is the figure used by many Italian coffee expert when quantifying the best time scales in the coffee production
Green Beans  Good for 18 months
Roasted coffee Good for 18 weeks (we say 6)
Ground Coffee Good for 18 minutes

As you can see from this ideally coffee should be drunk within 18 minutes of being ground which if you do not have a grinder is very difficult. Manufacturers over the years have tried various ways of sealing the coffee after it has been ground to retain the flavour, with out doubt the most successful has been the introduction of the capsule this  not only preserves the flavour but also  simplifies the coffee making process.  Of course there is no substitute for grinding your own to give the best and freshest flavour. Unfortunately grinders capable of grinding coffee fine enough for espresso machine do not come cheap