this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2026
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I'd like to point out that you do not need to buy an espresso machine to enjoy good coffee. An Aeropress, a Chemex, a french press, a v60 pourover, or even a drip machine, with burr grinder can produce amazing coffee...
I have an AeroPress for camping, love it but it’s more of a faf than I like, I really don’t like single use filters if I can help it, and so far the stainless mesh filter has not produced any good coffee so I’m back on the paper.
One thing I did consider is energy use, I still have to boil a kettle, with enough water to not have limescale in the pour-off (hard-water area) I wonder how much power this would use in comparison to my Espresso machine.
Have to say an AeroPress is not so cheap here at ~£35 compared to my ~£70 basic espresso machine.
but you do need an espresso maker to make espresso, which still tastes better than the coffee pour overs or drip machines can produce 😅
but you can also buy a bare-bones, manual press-lever espresso maker for much cheaper - it's smaller, easier to maintain, has no electronic parts
Ah, there's the bias. Espresso is just concentrated coffee made with pressurized water, it's not a different level in quality. You can make bad espresso just like you can make amazing Aeropress, french press, pourover, and yes: drip coffee. You're perfectly allowed to prefer that style of coffee, but even the experts agree: it's not automatically better than other types.
oh, of course - sorry, I don't mean to imply there is no such thing as bad espresso, or no such thing as good french press coffee, or that all bad espresso is better than all good french press, etc.
but I will say that each method has its particular benefits and downsides
no other method creates the crema and concentrated flavor espresso makes
but neither espresso nor french press are particularly stable, so if you want coffee that doesn't quickly become bitter (e.g. when you make coffee in an office and want to be able to drink a few cups over a few hours), making a pot of drip coffee makes more sense, because drip coffee is more stable and has fewer free-floating coffee grounds that continue to leach astringent chemicals.
So, you're right - it's entirely a matter of taste, purpose, and context - not everyone even enjoys good espresso.
But I personally still think it doesn't get better than the way espresso tastes so rich and creamy - it does feel like the highest / best form of coffee to me.
For those thinking about it, I picked up a second hand Rancilio Silvia (model 2 I think) for like $150 (more now, people have cottoned on) like 12 years ago and they are real BIFL. The frame eventually rusted (should have painted) so I replaced it with stainless last year, you can still get all the parts from the manufacturer, there's even fan made temperature / pressure add-ons or better pumps if you want. So worth it.
that's awesome! I didn't make espresso for the longest time because I didn't want a big, expensive machine that had too many bells and whistles.
What I ended up going with was a brand new Flair manual lever espresso maker, which incidentally also only costs $150, and I've made excellent espresso with it so far.