As the title of this article suggests, the super automatic espresso machine is the pinnacle of coffee making technology. However, I'm not going to say that super automatics are necessarily the best. It's important for you to decide what espresso machine best suits your fancy. Perhaps you enjoy making the beverage as much as you do drinking it - like some mechanics almost enjoy building hot rods more than they do driving them. Suppose you like to grind, tamp, extract, and provide elbow grease to keep your machine looking and functioning beautifully - you may be interested in a piston style manual espresso machine. Personally, I'm a glutton, and as much as I respect any artist's work, particularly when it comes to food and drink, I'm more concerned with consumption than creation, and furthermore, how fast I can get to that point. If all I have to do to get the juice is plug it in, that's perfect!
Of course, tender loving care isn't the only thing that separates the archaic from the state-of-the-art. Price point is another consideration. If you're set on a super automatic, be prepared to spend anywhere from $500 home units to $4000 commercial espresso machines depending on the included features. There are a couple of steps in between the two aforementioned machine styles, being the semi automatic and fully automatic (if you started reading on this paragraph, we're talking espresso, not firearms), which you may want to consider if you have simpler needs, and a smaller budget. On the flip, if you're running a business and you have other things to worry about, or you're just a huge freakin' caffeine geek, super auto is your ticket.
Using the piston method, your morning espresso making event can take you quite a long time. Using a big dog, like the Delonghi Magnifica super automatic espresso machine can compress the whole process, start to finish, in under 10 minutes. With a super automatic, you just let the machine know how much you want, and it will grind and tamp the right amount of beans, extract your specified amount of java, and clean up after itself - all with the push of a button. Those, of course, are just the basics of one of these gems. The best super automatic espresso machine is going to be packed with features.
You're going to be hard pressed to find a super auto that doesn't have a modular frothing feature. Where manuals and semi-autos rely on boilers, super autos use an uber tech process called "thermoblock". Though it's the polar opposite of bringing water to a boil, I can probably best explain thermoblock technology by comparing it to freezing water. You can think of an "old fashioned" boiler as putting a tray of water in the freezer and waiting for it to form ice cubes. Where with the thermoblock process, you're making ice by flash freezing it. Super automatic espresso machines pump the water through a tube and essentially flash it with the ultra hot thermoblock steaming process. This is one contributing factor that makes super automatics so much faster than their predecessors.
My favorite special feature, which you can find on many super automatics lets you control how strong and how much espresso coffee you want to make. My folks have a Saeco super automatic espresso machine that pumps out extra strength doubles on demand. You'd be surprised how easy it is to press that magic button after three double espressos. I'm a huge baby who's always burning his mouth, so a must-have feature for me is temperature control. Of course, due to my wussiness, I also have the tendency to make it too cold...built in cup warmers are another lovely extra to consider.
All super automatics come equipped with top notch, adjustable grinders, but say you want push your laziness even further and avoid having to choose and wait for whole beans to grind. The solution is simple, get a super with a bypass doser. A bypass doser lets you load up the machine with the preground stuff. This is a popular choice for decaf drinkers (pffff!), and folks concerned with their whole beans going stale. I know I've been preaching speed and mindlessness, but I've done a taste test with freshly ground beans versus the preground stuff, and you can definitely taste the difference. Pre ground is still great, but darn it, freshly ground is the best. Of course, the bypass doser is still a great option to look for if you're concerned with flexibility.
All super automatic espresso machines require far less maintenance than other styles on the market, but the level of required maintenance is one of the most cost varying aspects of these machines. One feature you'll find in nearly all of these machines is the internal dump box which automatically discards of the used coffee grounds (the puck). Most machines will alert you when the box is full, and many will also alert you when you need to add water, or replace a troubled component. Again, depending mainly on how much money you're willing to spend, you can find super automatics that have programmable self cleaning, rinsing and descaling sequences (descaling, also called decalcification, removes mineral build up in your machine's tubing, which can cause flavor and mechanical problems), providing nearly no required maintenance on the part of the owner. The DeLonghi Gran Dama 6700 will do all these things and then some, but it'll run ya three grand.
I know I already mentioned this, but even if you have the money to drop on one of these beasts, you still want to make sure it's a good fit. Super automatic espresso machines make a darn fine cup of coffee, but if pressing a series of buttons doesn't quite meet your "personal touch" standards, a super automatic may not be for you. You may just want to get yourself a piston style, and buy the Grand Dama for me!
