Best Espresso Machine Under 200 Dollars: Myths, Pros and Cons

The bar figure on the box is the pump's maximum rating. Espresso is extracted at about 9 bar. The Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano lists 9 bar ± 1 among its conditions for a certified espresso, and the heritage SCAA definition, as published by the Specialty Coffee Association, says 9 to 10 atmospheres. Even Breville, whose machines carry 15 bar pumps, writes 'the 15 bar Italian pump' in its manual and treats a gauge that does not reach 9 bar as the problem to fix.

So a 20-bar CASABREWS and a 15-bar De'Longhi are both aiming at the same 9 bar. What decides whether they get there with your coffee is the basket and the grind.

Pre-infusion is the spec worth looking for instead. CASABREWS lists low-pressure pre-infusion on the 3700 Essential and the 5418 PRO, and Breville lists it on the Bambino. It wets the coffee at low pressure before full pressure builds, which is what a maker means when it lists it as a separate stage. It is a far more useful line on a spec sheet than the pump's maximum.

A pressurised, or dual-wall, basket has a second wall with a tiny exit hole. Breville explains what it is for: dual-wall baskets are for pre-ground coffee and 'regulate the pressure and help to optimise the extraction regardless of the grind, dose, tamp pressure or freshness'. Single-wall baskets are for freshly ground beans and let you experiment with grind, dose and tamp.

Under $200, most buyers do not own an espresso grinder, so the pressurised basket is the right tool to start with. The trap is the other way round: putting pre-ground supermarket coffee in a single-wall basket, which usually runs fast and sour because the grind is too coarse.

How do you tell which basket you have? Breville labels them in its manuals as single wall and dual wall. Hold one up to the light: a dual-wall basket usually shows a single small exit hole on its underside, while a single-wall basket has a grid of many fine holes across the base. If your machine shipped with both, keep the single-wall basket for the day you buy a grinder.

Two brands fill most of our shortlist for the best espresso machine under 200 dollars. CASABREWS states PID on every model and uses a 51 mm portafilter on its cheapest two. De'Longhi uses a boiler on the Stilosa and a thermoblock on the Classic, and states neither PID nor a portafilter size. The table adds the Chefman CraftBrew and two non-electric options.

Every machine in this group is light. Makers give weights of 8.14 lb for the 3700 Essential, 8.38 lb for the 5418 PRO, 8.6 lb for the CM5418, 10.99 lb for the Stilosa and 11.55 lb for the De'Longhi Classic. Power draw is 1350 W for the CM5418, 3700 Essential, Chefman and Classic, and 1100 W for the Stilosa. None of those figures changes the shot, but they tell you all of these machines fit on an ordinary kitchen circuit and can be moved to a cupboard between uses.

For straight espresso, a manual press is a serious option at this price. The Flair Classic puts the pressure in your arm: you pour kettle water into the cylinder and pull the lever while watching a gauge marked for 9 bar. Flair lists a 40 mm portafilter, 60 ml of water per shot and a detachable brewing head.

The Wacaco Minipresso GR is smaller still. Wacaco's listing says it needs no battery or power: you add ground coffee and boiling water and pump to build pressure. Wacaco does not publish the pressure it reaches, so treat it as a travel tool, not a home machine.

It helps to be clear about the limits, so you know what you are trading. These are the gaps in the sub-$200 group, from the specs makers publish:

You can, though, build a complete fresh-ground setup for not much more than $200. A CASABREWS 3700 Essential at around $110 with the SHARDOR grinder at around $70 comes to roughly $180, and a CM5418 with the same grinder to about $210. SHARDOR's listing gives 51 settings from the finest for espresso and a portafilter cradle, though it does not publish the cradle's size, so check it fits the 51 mm portafilter.

The finder is preset to a $200 budget, so every result is a candidate for the best espresso machine under 200 dollars. Tell it whether you drink milk drinks and how wide your counter space is, and it returns the machines that fit, with today's prices. If nothing suits, set the budget to $500 and look at the split between a machine and a grinder on our under-$500 page.

Before you order, run through four checks. Does the maker state PID or a temperature setting? Which baskets are in the box, single wall, dual wall or both? Is the portafilter size published, so you can buy a tamper that fits? And do the published dimensions say which figure is width? A machine that fails all four is not necessarily bad, but you will be buying it with less information than the alternatives give you.