Olympia Express Cremina

The Cremina is a manual lever machine: the pressure that pushes water through the coffee comes from the arm of whoever is using it. Raising the lever lets the piston draw in a little water and press it onto the tamped coffee, which soaks and swells; lowering it drives the hot water through the grounds. Nobody sets the nine bar of an espresso: you find them in the pace of the downstroke.

The body is stainless steel; the group, portafilter and steam wand are chromed, polished brass, which lasts and cleans easily. The boiler is filled from the top and holds enough for about twenty espressos; the same boiler provides steam for milk. With no pump, the only sound it makes is the singing of the water as the boiler heats.

It takes practice: results depend on your hand and grow with experience. At twenty centimetres wide it fits in a corner of the kitchen. It is for someone who wants to make espresso with their own hands and has the patience to learn; anyone who wants the same result every morning from day one will be happier with a pump machine.