Introduction
Buying a coffee machine is one of the most difficult decisions that a person can take. The reason is that when thinking about buying a coffee machine, many brands, sizes and designs comes to your mind. In this guideline, we will make it as simple as possible in order for any one can decide.
At the end of this page, there is guideline in PDF format demonstrating all information in this article.
NOTE: Please note that this guideline is not sponsored or paid in anyway buy any of the brands mentioned in it or even by any brand is not mentioned in it. This is just a general guideline as it is difficult to mention all brands with all models.
Ask your self
In order to decide which machine is the best for you, you have to ask and answer yourself the following questions in sequence and the answer of each question will lead you to the next one until you find the best machine that suits your requirements.
Questions are:
1. Are you a home user or a business owner?
This is first and the most important question to answer. The reason is that each machine comes in specific capabilities and specifications differentiate it based on the use and the outcomes you are looking for.
A. Home users:
In this category, there are mainly two options:
- All in one Solution: Many customers are looking for all in one solution where the machine has a built in grinder. This option is suitable for those people who really want something more connivance to use and portable at the same time. These machine which fall under this category can serve a good cup of coffee at home or at any place where coffee is an optional drink and not designed to operate under a heavy and busy place.
- Pros:
- No hassle of keeping separate grinder.
- Affordable when it comes to the cost
- Easy to move
- Cons:
- In general, you cannot grind light-mid roasted coffee as the motor can stuck during grinding.
- You don't have the full control on brewing temperature or pressure.
- If the grinder stoped working, machine can't be used for coffee extraction, unless you have an external grinder.
- In some cases, it is hard to fix due to the availability of spare parts.
- Coffee machine without grinder: On the other hand, other customers are looking for an advanced use of the machine, where they have the control on the grinder and the coffee machine as well. In this category, there are two main sub category for advanced usage of the machine:
- Standard extraction: These machines are usually brew the coffee under general and common standards where the pressure of the water is 9 bars.
- Advanced extraction: For people who wants to control the extraction parameters such as the pressure, infusion stage, water flow or all of them in some models.
- Pros:
- Rich notes and flavors in coffee.
- All levels of roasted coffee can be enjoyed using external grinder.
- Heavy use of machines.
- Easy in maintenance due to availability of spare parts.
- Cons:
- Price can be an issue.
- In some cases the maintenance can cost higher than the all in one solution.
B. Business owner:
In this category, the decision is more complicated than the home users. As you know, the coffee machine is the backbone of any cafe or restaurant, therefore, is is crucial to know all specifications and capabilities of the machine.
It can be confused to decide as a business owner than a home user, so in Refix we can make it easier for business owners by helping them defining their needs and what can each machine adds to the business and why he/she should by this one not that one based on the nature and needs of the business.
If you are a business owner and would like us to help, please contact us on :
Conclusion
The decision of buying a machine, really depends on many factors, you have to decide what do you want to get from the machine in terms the flavors and the extraction quality, at the same time what is your budget and how much you are willing to invest in the machine.
Here are two PDF files (in Arabic and English) guiding you to decide which machine can be the best option for you:
Your Guide to buy coffee machine