My best guess is that either the water extraction temperature is too low, or it’s a design weakness. This machine boasts a commercial sized filter basket, at 58 mm diameter. The EM4800 filter basket was 51 mm diameter. Thus the EM4300 has 1.34 times the cross sectional area. For the same charge of coffee grounds, that results in a 34 % reduction in flow path for extraction. From my experience in extraction of essential oils, this is bound to give an inferior extraction efficiency. If I was in a position to advise Sunbeam product development people, I would have advised them against changing their entry level espresso machine filters from 51 to 58 mm diameter. The machine runs an automated cleaning cycle after every drink, which only lasts a few seconds, but ensures that your coffee will keep tasting great. It also boasts an LCD control panel and integrated coffee bean grinder with 19 different settings. That makes this machine as customisable as it is value-friendly. In fact, with the V6, the home barista will benefit from Rancilio’s experience with making commercial espresso machines as this machine includes some of the same features.

To create silky textured milk, it also comes with a powerful steam wand which is perfect for making lattes, cappuccinos, and flat whites. Simply add milk to your jug, position under the wand and choose your preferred milk settings. The machine will steam your milk and stop automatically when the temperature is reached.

A great little espresso machine if you can find it on a sub-£200 deal, and a solid starting point for manual espresso beginners

ESE pod compatibility: Biodegradable pouches containing ground coffee that can be placed into the portafilter and minimise the mess of wayward grinds. The Mini Barista espresso machine is the perfect entry-level option for coffee drinkers who want a more hands-on experience with their morning brew. Tamp: The term used to describe the process of evenly compressing the coffee grinds in the filter basket. You use a tool called a tamper to tamp the coffee.

A semi automatic coffee machine gives you much more control over the grinding, brewing and frothing processes. Whether testing bean-to-cup or espresso machines, we use coffee with the same tasting notes — caramel, biscuit and chocolate. Then, a shot is given to an independent coffee expert who scores it in four key areas:

Coffee Machines

Now you may be wondering what the difference is between an automatic vs semi automatic espresso machine. We did find, when whipping up a cappuccino, that we had to wait a while for the pressure in the steamer to build up. Our expert also found the machine's espressos to be a little thin and felt the crema was poor. Despite this, the drinks were well-rounded in flavour, with initial raisin notes followed by brown sugar-esque sweetness. Now you have a better understanding of exactly what is a semi automatic espresso machine, let’s get into a few pros and cons. Advantages

The assisted tamping system will grind and auto tamp your grinds with the ideal tamp pressure. The intelligent system can auto adjust your next dose to achieve the perfect setting. Likewise, this machine includes programmed alerts for when the drip tray needs to be cleaned or users need to descale the device. Breville espresso models rival Sunbeam when it comes to quality customer service, too. To wrap upThis sounds good in theory, but you are entirely reliant on the machine and how it is programmed to brew your coffee.