In this article, we are going to talk about professional coffee machines: coffee machines that are far removed from common market standards. Their characteristics and prices do not have much to do with what we are accustomed to seeing in shop displays or large shopping malls.
We’re going to get to know them in-depth. We’re going to explain how these differ from home coffee machines. And finally, we’re going to propose a compilation of the ten best professional automatic coffee machines that you can buy right now.
- KuanDar Coffee Machine Commercial Professional Semi-Automatic
- LZ Coffee Machine Italian Semi-Automatic
But, let’s start at the beginning:
What do we mean by professional coffee machine?
First of all, we must clarify that none of these coffee machines is commercial coffee makers or bars coffee makers. A commercial coffee machine is oriented towards a particularly intensive use and is built thinking only of the needs of a cafeteria or a hospitality business.
The professional automatic coffee machines featured in this article are, for the most part, premium or very advanced versions of the top-of-the-range automatic coffee machines. In a large cafeteria, open to the public, using one of these machines would be equivalent to having to refill the water and coffee tanks continuously.
A professional coffee maker is a product sought after and demanded by a particular customer profile. Perhaps you are looking for a professional espresso machine for your office, your place of work or for a meeting room, where several people will use it every day. An activity, in any case, much more frequent than any standard domestic coffee maker admits.
They are also called professional espresso machines to justify your investment (we will talk later about the prices of these jewels). And because to take advantage of their multiple possibilities, it is necessary to have a certain level of knowledge of the barista profession. They are the only valid options to enjoy a professional experience at home, as long as you have a budget and enough space to afford it.
To sum up: Almost all the professional express coffee machines that we collect in this article could be placed on an intermediate step between the large automatic coffee machines and the coffee machines for the hotel and catering industry.
What characterizes a professional coffee machine?
These are the qualities (or at least some of them) that a professional coffee maker has and that we are not going to find in domestic automatic coffee machines.
- These are coffee machines prepared to support a high flow of services at the end of the day (dozens of daily extractions).
- Larger capacity: the coffee bean containers of the grinders or the water tanks are much larger than those used by domestic coffee machines. We find examples of up to 3 litres of capacity.
- Some professional coffee makers assemble two grinders that can be used simultaneously. They also have two flowmeters, two pumps or several independent heating systems so that different processes can be carried out at the same point.
- As a result, they are much faster than a conventional espresso machine.
- They are also much bigger and heavier than usual. It takes a lot of space to place them in an average kitchen.
- Professional automatic coffee machines allow a much wider variety of different beverages to be produced at the touch of a button.
- And, of course: the price.
Professional coffee machines: Guide prices
The price of a professional coffee maker is, in many cases, prohibitive for a particular user. Most of the professional coffee machines presented here cost between 1500 and 2000 pounds, and some even exceed that figure (double or triple it). An unthinkable investment to enjoy these coffee machines at home, but it does make sense if you are thinking of amortising it with dozens of extractions every day.
If we find an excellent discount, we can take home some of the professional coffee machines that we collect in our article for a price of around 1000 pounds. But these are real bargains.
As reference brands, apart from the specific models of coffee machines that you will find in this selection, we can also mention the Quick Mill, Pontevecchio, or Bezzera coffee machines. If you don’t know them, take a look at the reviews. You’ll get more than one surprise.
10 Professional coffee machines for home
We present to you a selection of 10 professional espresso machines that, in our opinion, are the best coffee makers in the world at the time of elaborating this ranking. A subjective appreciation, of course, but in any case founded and we believe very feasible. And the fact is that taking home one of these professional automatic coffee machines is not an option within everyone’s reach.
We have not ordered our ranking by any particular criteria. We include what we consider to be the ten best professional coffee machines on the market and comment briefly on their characteristics. Look for the one that best suits your needs!
Here we go:
Saeco Idea De Luxe
The Saeco Idea Deluxe is a coffee machine with a clear professional orientation, two groups and is fully automatic. It is mainly designed for offices and buildings with a large number of users, such as hotel buffets, restaurants and catering services.
We could consider the Saeco Idea Deluxe hybrid between an automatic coffee machine and a traditional vending machine. It combines the advantages of both systems: it satisfies a high demand (more than 150 coffees per day) with the exclusive functions of an espresso machine: compact size (as far as it goes), freshly ground coffee, perfect espresso, large capacity for pre-heating cups, steamer, automatic brewing (at the touch of a button) of a multitude of different drinks and we could go on and on and on.
This Saeco Idea De Luxe is a much larger capacity model – if possible – of the Saeco Royal Office, which Saeco puts on the market with small businesses or medium-large workplaces in mind. Not only because of its size but also because of its price, which exceeds £6,000. Its dimensions are 53 x 69 x 54 cms, it weighs more than 50 kilos and consumes a power of 3300 watts. The structure is made of galvanised steel, and the casing is made of ABS plastic and stainless steel.
Apart from the two groups of independent use, the Saeco Idea De Luxe also has two boilers (brass for water and stainless steel for steam) and three separate water circuits, allowing the simultaneous supply of coffee, hot water and steam. It includes an electronic pre-infusion system, and the coffee group – washable and removable – accepts doses of between 9 and 16 grams. The grinder, located at the top right of the unit, is fitted with 64 mm diameter ceramic grinding wheels and has a container for up to 2.1 kgs of coffee beans.
We are not exaggerating when we say that this Saeco Idea Deluxe, in any of its versions (Saeco Idea Capuccino, or Saeco Idea Duo), is the best coffee machine in the world at the moment.
Jura Giga X7
When we think of a professional espresso machine, one of the brands that come to mind is always the Swiss firm Jura. Jura is characterised for being a prestigious brand and a high elite in the segment of automatic coffee machines. For that reason, its most advanced models are real jewels conceived to be used as professional and commercial coffee machines. They have a very high price, always above 3000 pounds, and a series of qualities that are not taken advantage of if we dedicate them to purely domestic use.
The Jura Giga X7, along with other previous models (Giga X5), is today, the top of the range of Jura. It has two ceramic grinders with a capacity of 650 grams each, two flowmeters, two pumps and two Thermo blocks that make it possible to serve coffee and milk simultaneously. It can automatically process up to 32 (yes, you’ve read well: thirty-two!) different specialities and has a 5-litre water tank.
Some of the accessories included are two water filters, cleaning tablets, a transparent spigot for the foaming tube, or several tests to measure the pH of the water in the tank. These functions will help us to program the decalcification cycles at the optimum frequency.
To give you an idea of its speed, some of the preparation times measured with this Jura Giga X7 are, for example:
- One cappuccino = 46 seconds.
- Two cappuccinos = 1 minute and 30 seconds.
- 2 lattes = 1 minute and 41 seconds.
Finally, if you want a video of how it works and thus know some of the immense possibilities of the Jura Giga X7, take a look here:
Jura Impressa Z9
The model Jura Impressa Z9 is a good alternative if we do not want to make the astronomical disbursement of the previous coffeemaker of the line Jura Giga.
These two maximum exponents of the professional espresso machines of Jura (Z-line and Giga-line) differ above all in the capacity. In the case of the Impressa Z9 is still much larger than the domestic – almost 3 litres of water tank – but is far from the 5 litres of the Jura Giga X7.
The Jura Impressa Z9 coffee bean container is also huge (280 grams capacity). The dimensions of the brewer are slightly smaller (although it is still a considerable brewer to the house). And the number of automatic brews is also somewhat more modest.
Finally, the price of this Jura Impressa Z9 is well over 2,000 pounds… much more than a top-of-the-range domestic coffee maker, but almost half the cost of the Jura Giga X7. In short: we recommend it if you’re looking for a professional automatic coffee machine. But you don’t need the capacity or the large volume of the Jura Giga line (to put it another way, it’s more suitable for fewer daily services).
Saeco Xelsis EVO
We continue with Saeco, this time with a model that is not a 100% commercial coffee maker, as is the case with Saeco Idea Deluxe. This one acts as a transition coffee maker between the best domestic automatic machines and the professional espresso machines of the Italian brand. The Xelsis Evo is ideal for small businesses (or private users who can afford a large budget).
The great advantage of this Saeco Xelsis Evo over the other professional coffee machines in this article is its size. It has compact dimensions (37 x 28 x 42 cms), much more bearable than those of other competitors.
It has repercussions above all on the water tank, which is much smaller (1.6 litres capacity) than those fitted by other professional automatic coffee machines.
Besides, we are dealing with a coffee machine of magnificent appearance, stainless steel, a touch screen, a large container (350 grams) for coffee beans, and a wide variety of beverages to produce with a single press of a button. There’s no shortage of a steamer or an additional milk tank so that we don’t have to move around during the brewing process.
The Saeco Xelsis Evo is a great luxury coffee maker with endless details that significantly improve even the best home automatic coffee makers from Saeco, such as the Saeco Exprelia Evo, the Saeco Incanto or the PicoBaristo.
Saeco GranBaristo
Here we have the big sister of the PicoBaristo: the Saeco GranBaristo.
The PicoBaristo is one of Saeco’s best “at home” automatic coffee machines, so if you give them a twist, improve a lot of details and expand the catalogue of automatic brewing beverages to a total of 18… yes, the result is this Saeco GranBaristo. Simply Spectacular.
The Saeco GranBaristo has ceramic grinders with five grind settings and is capable of brewing up to 5000 drinks without having to worry about limescale filters. Thanks to Saeco’s exclusive VariPresso system, the pressure is automatically adjusted to suit the various types of coffee extraction. This ensures that every one of the 18 different drinks will come out perfect and just right.
Want to know more? Then visit the Saeco GranBaristo page on Amazon and discover, among other features, the six different user profiles, the thermo-speed boiler, the grinder’s bean switch system, the 270 grams of bean container capacity, the 1.7-litre tank, we could go on ad infinitum!
Saeco Aulika One Touch
The Saeco Aulika has an appearance that immediately conveys the sensation of a professional coffee maker without going into more detail. It is not a coffee maker that one would expect to find in any corner of the kitchen, not in vain; it belongs to the vending and catering section of Saeco.
This model has professional homologation, so it is valid both for private users (with high demands and a large budget) and for establishments. We recommend it above all for small businesses and workplaces (not so much for hotels).
Get to know it better through this video:
As you can see, this Saeco Aulika (or Aulika Focus) is characterised by a large storage capacity: 350 grams in the grain container and 2.2 litres in the water tank. It has a double water circuit for the water, with a double pump and double boiler, which in practice means that it is easier to serve milk and coffee/water at the same time and that mixed drinks can be made more quickly. It is fitted with a steel conical grinding wheel grinder and weighs a total of 15 kilograms.
Its dimensions are 33 x 38 x 45 kilograms, and its price is relatively affordable in comparison with the rest of the professional coffee machines for the home that we are reviewing in this ranking: just over 1100 pounds.
Siemens EQ9
Siemens EQ.9 is the top of the range of Siemens, a company with an extensive range of automatic coffee machines, some of which we have already evaluated in our pages (Siemens EQ5, Siemens EQ.6 or Siemens EQ.8).
However, this Siemens EQ9 goes one step further than all of them and is situated on that border halfway between the domestic coffee machine and the professional espresso machine. The reasons for this leap? Let’s take a look at them below:
To begin with, the Siemens EQ9 is a coffee machine with a higher capacity than its sisters in the range. It has a substantial 2.3-litre capacity tank, a container for 235 grams of coffee in the grinder. An extensive range of preparations that we can have ready in the cup by merely pressing a button on the touch screen. Also, each drink can be customised to unsuspected limits.
This Siemens EQ9 s300 coffee maker has 19 bars of pressure, 1500 watts of power, additional milk tank. The SensoFlow system guarantees a perfect temperature (between 90º C and 95º C) for our espressos. In short, a super precise coffee maker with infinite possibilities and with the maximum quality and technology that the prestigious German company can offer at the moment.
The Pavoni Domus Bar
La Pavoni is a firm of absolute distinction and prestige in the world of espresso coffee. All you have to do is take a look at the famous La Pavoni EuroPiccola piston coffee maker to corroborate it. This model, titled La Pavoni Domus Bar, is the closest thing to taking home an commercial coffee maker or a miniature catering coffee maker.
The Pavoni Domus Bar has an extensive surface area on the roof to pre-heat cups, much more significant than in a conventional espresso machine. Also, some unusual figures in an espresso machine in use: water tank of 3.5 litres (enough for 75 cups of espresso without having to refill it).
It has a built-in grinder with seven levels of grinding adjustment and 150 grams of storage capacity, a Capuccinator system, manometer to control the extraction pressure manually. Without a doubt, a semi-automatic espresso machine is ideal for baristas or for enjoying a professional experience at home.
The dimensions of this La Pavoni Domus Bar are 31 x 37 x 26 cms, and its construction is based entirely on stainless steel. The boiler has not one, not two, but three thermostats: one for water, one for steam, and one for safety. In short: durability and professionalism are guaranteed.
The Marzocco Mini
This one is a unique coffee maker because it is a machine specially built for domestic use but excessively expensive for the internet market. However, it may well be the best professional coffee maker for domestic use, and that is why we are obliged to give it a place in this ranking. Or if not the best, then at least the one that offers an experience closer to that of the hotel and catering coffee machines.
This Marzocco Mini is a single-group coffee maker, but with all the qualities, even aesthetic, of a catering coffee machine. Just look at the photo and read the analysis:
Bosch VeroBar
The Bosch automatic machines present two great exponents in the domestic environment, such as the VeroAroma and the VeroCafe Latte. However, this Bosch VeroBar is a step above them and acts as a transition coffee machine between 100% domestic service and professional automatic coffee machines.
It is a 2.1-litre capacity coffee machine with 1700 watts of power, with an LCD screen (non-touch) and a ceramic grinder that can store up to 300 grams of coffee beans. The Bosch VeroBar 100 (which is the reference we present here, although there are more recent models such as the VeroBar 600) weighs more than 10 kilograms and has a size of 30 x 38 x 45 cms.
As you can see, there are also stainless steel toppings, the integrated capping system and the possibility of customising any espresso parameter in each extraction.
ECM Classika II
And we come to the end of our ranking with the spectacular ECM Classika II. Its appearance speaks for itself: an authentic, perfectly greased machine for traditionally extracting espresso. It’s 100% stainless steel construction, and it’s a manual express coffee maker, working like the La Pavoni Domus Bar we’ve seen before.
Being a coffee maker oriented to the professional elaboration of espresso, the ECM Classika II boasts a stainless steel boiler (0.75 l capacity) and a large tank of almost 3 litres of water. All the pipes and internal conduits of the coffee maker are made of copper, with brass finishes.
The heating period of the coffee maker must be quite short but because all its components are metallic. We recommend that you always start it up a little earlier to ensure that not only the boiler is heated but also the rest of the circuits through which the water will circulate.
As you can see in the photo, the front of the coffee machine incorporates an indicator to control the extraction pressure manually. In short: the Classika II ECM is a real gem for actual espresso baristas and artisans.
To finish our analysis, here’s an in-depth video review of this impressive Classika II ECM express coffee maker:
By the way, if you want to see more similar models, you can have a look at our review by the ECM coffee maker brand.
More business coffee machine options?
Also, we have reviewed here the Lavazza Blue series of coffee machines, the line that the Italian company Lavazza makes available to users interested in vending machines or to offer many consumptions a day.
Or you can also consider any of these other options:
We talk about it in greater depth in this post: the best coffee machines for the office.
