Best Manual Espresso Machines: Espresso On a Budget

I love espresso, but even I find the equipment a little daunting in terms of upfront price and the frequency of necessary repairs. That’s why when I was first shopping for a high-end machine, I opted for a manual espresso machine. I’ve tested most of the models out there and have pulled well over 1,000 shots. After all that experience, I’m ready to share what I believe are the best manual espresso makers out there.

The Best Manual Espresso Machines

1. Flair Pro 2 — Best Overall

2. Flair 58 — Best Premium Option

3. Cafelat Robot — Most Convenient to Use

1. Flair Pro 2 — Best Overall

When it comes to manual espresso makers, the Flair Pro 2 is about as barebones as it gets—and I mean that in the best way possible. This machine is essentially just a solid steel brewing chamber, a sturdy lever to generate pressure, and a pressure gauge. That’s it. No electronics, no heating elements, no fancy extras. It’s an exercise in functional minimalism.

And yet, despite its simplicity, the Flair Pro 2 is shockingly capable of producing outstanding espresso shots once you master the required technique. It really demonstrates how you don’t need loads of expensive equipment to make great coffee at home—just the proper tools and a knowledge of the science of espresso brewing.

The Flair Pro 2 has an integrated cylinder that holds both your grounds and brewing water, but the sections detach, which allows you to preheat the part that holds the water while you’re prepping your puck. This helps combat the inevitable heat loss that happens when brewing with an entirely manual, non-heated system, which is a huge sticking point for some other manual espresso machines.

Speaking of heat loss, it’s still one of the biggest challenges users face with the Flair Pro 2. That stainless steel chamber is good at maintaining stable pressure during the shot, but it also bleeds temperature very quickly. Having good temperature management practices like preheating the water reservoir and working quickly are absolutely crucial for pulling drinkable shots that aren’t sour from underextraction.

There’s no getting around it—the Flair Pro 2 has an extremely steep learning curve, even for someone with prior espresso experience. Nailing your grind size, dose, tamp pressure, flow rate, and temperature takes a ton of dialing in. Your first handful of attempts will likely be failures as you figure out what’s working and what needs adjusting. But that’s part of what makes the Flair so rewarding once you get the hang of it.

Physically using the Pro 2 is a joy, as its mechanical simplicity results in super smooth motion during the shot pull. The stainless steel cylinder provides a perfectly stable base, the lever action is butter smooth, and the all-metal construction oozes quality. It’s built to last.

Best of all, the Flair Pro 2 is quite affordable compared to electric machine options. For equivalent quality in an electric machine, you could easily pay 4 to 5 times more. That price tag, coupled with the lack of maintenance/repair requirements, means it can pay for itself fairly quickly if you’re someone who buys a lot of cafe drinks. It’s an exceptional value for the level of performance it delivers.

My one gripe is that the Flair’s brew chamber has a small capacity and isn’t ideal if you prefer larger, milk-based drinks like lattes or cappuccinos with multiple shots. It’s better suited for single straight shots. But if you can live with that limitation, the Pro 2 is hands-down my top recommendation for an all-around amazing manual espresso experience.

2. Flair 58 — Best for Beginners

The Flair 58 takes the core formula of the Pro 2 and introduces some key upgrades to create a more beginner-friendly manual espresso experience. It’s significantly pricier than the basic Pro model. However, the added convenience and ease-of-use features make it well worth the investment if you’re just getting started with manual espresso.

The biggest difference is that the Flair 58 uses a separate heated reservoir for holding your brewing water, rather than an unheated integrated brew chamber. This water chamber has a built-in heating element that can bring the temperature up to a precise 200°F at the press of a button. No more fiddling with preheating techniques or battling fierce heat loss during the shot—the 58 maintains admirably stable brew temperatures throughout the entire process.

Having the heated water reservoir separated from the portafilter also more closely mirrors the experience of using a standard espresso machine. It makes the whole process feel a bit more familiar and approachable if you’ve never ventured into manual brewing before. It also reduces the risk of heat loss, as your portafilter is totally separate from the water chamber.

The 58 further reduces the learning curve by using a larger 58mm brew head, which is the industry-standard commercial portafilter size. Not only does this allow for a bit more headspace and a smoother, more forgiving extraction, but it also means you can use the exact same accessories and gear (baskets, tampers, etc.) as pro-level espresso setups down the line.

Despite having a couple of extra components compared to the Pro 2, the Flair 58 maintains a refreshingly straightforward industrial design made up of sturdy steel cylinders and pleasingly tactile controls. It’s elegant and rock-solid without being overcomplicated. Pulling shots still delivers that satisfying hands-on feeling.

My only minor critique is that by moving to the heated reservoir model, you do lose the ability to control the temperature of your brewing water. The 58 simply maxes out at 200°F, which is a good benchmark, but the three temperature settings aren’t ideal for smallest temperature tweaks. The Pro 2 allows for more experimentation in that regard if you want to push boundaries, but that makes it more challenging to use. So…take your pick!

Overall though, the Flair 58 eliminates so much of the guesswork around achieving balanced, properly-extracted shots. It makes manual espresso approachable for true beginners while providing a machine with longevity that can grow with your skills over time. If you have room in your budget, I can’t recommend this premium option enough as your introduction to the world of manual brewing.

3. Cafelat Robot — Most Convenient to Use

If the hands-on nature of manual espresso appeals to you but the Flair models seem a bit too minimalist, the Cafelat Robot offers a nice middle ground in terms of convenience. Like the Flair Pro 2, it uses an unheated single brew chamber for holding both your grounds and water. However, some smart design choices make generating pressure and maintaining temperature more user-friendly.

The Robot’s most distinctive feature is its dual articulating lever arms that provide a 1:4 leverage ratio when pulling a shot. You’re able to generate 9 to 10 bars of pressure far more easily than yanking straight down on a single lever. It allows even those without much arm strength to produce properly extracted shots with ease.

I’m also a big fan of the Robot’s sturdy, weighted base. It creates a super stable platform for the brew chamber that doesn’t budge an inch, even when applying maximum force with the levers. When I use my Flair Pro 2, I often have to stabilize the base with one hand and pull down on the lever with the other. With the Cafelat Robot, sloppy, uneven pressure is a non-issue.

On the downside, that single-piece brew chamber does make Cafelat’s design a bit more finicky when it comes to temperature management. Since the water chamber can’t be separated and preheated like the Flair Pro 2, you can’t preheat any portion of the brewing chamber without heating up your coffee grounds, which, of course, you don’t want to do. As such, temperature management is a bit more finicky with this manual espresso machine.

The Cafelat Robot strikes a nice balance between the high-end Flair 58 and the barebones Pro 2 in terms of cost. Its dual lever system makes it more approachable for beginners. But be prepared to put in plenty of practice to dial in your temperature regimen and pulling technique. It has a higher learning curve than the heated Flair 58 option, and it’s more finicky than the Pro 2.

Ultimately, if you want the convenience of a more classic lever-based system without lots of electronics, the Robot is a great choice. It retains much of the satisfying manual experience while providing a couple quality-of-life improvements. Just be ready to put in the reps while mastering heat management.

Before You Buy a Manual Espresso Machine

I’ll be the first to admit it: my affection for the Flair Pro 2 borders on obsessive. There’s just something so inherently satisfying about being in control at every step of the espresso-making process. BUT…manual espresso machines aren’t for everyone. There are a few things you should consider before you commit to one of these machines.

Learning Curve

Even as someone with prior experience using semi-automatic and super-automatic espresso makers, I was shocked by just how steep the learning curve is when you go fully manual. With all machines, dialing in factors like dose, grind size, yield, and shot time is critical. But at least with automatics, you have built-in PID temperature control and volumetric programming to nail a few of those basics consistently.

With a manual machine, you are suddenly in full control of literally every single variable—dose, grind, tamp pressure, temperature management, flow rate, yield, total shot time, you name it. Having that many factors to juggle from scratch with no automated assistance is extremely overwhelming for beginners.

My first couple weeks with the Flair Pro 2 were basically a nightmare. I was pulling shot after shot that was either quickly blonding and souring out from under-extraction, or harsh and unbearably bitter from over-extraction. I had never appreciated just how tight the window for properly balanced espresso really is.

Part of the struggle is that adjusting one variable like grind size creates a cascade of compensating adjustments needed for other factors. Go coarser on the grind and suddenly you also need a slower flow rate, a slightly hotter temp, or a higher dose to avoid sourness. Making multiple calculated changes with each shot is the only way to dial things in slowly.

It requires an extreme amount of patience, not to mention burning through a ton of coffee while you’re stuck in the trial-and-error phase. I’d go through an entire bag just trying to nail the simplest recipes like your basic shots or milk drinks. It can get expensive and demoralizing very quickly.

The temperature aspect alone is enough to drive some people mad. With the unheated Flair Pro 2, you have to preheat the chamber while simultaneously heating your water to a precise, consistent temperature each time.

Even once you think you’ve got the process dialed in, the smallest factors like disassembling and cleaning your grinder can throw everything out of whack. Suddenly those previously delicious shots are tasting horribly off again until you can identify and correct the new variable.

The learning cycle is extremely fun and rewarding if you truly enjoy being hands-on with your coffee preparation. But for many, it will prove to be too laborious of an experience compared to just using an automatic machine.

Unless you have a serious passion for tinkering and don’t mind struggling through lots of less-than-stellar espresso, I’d advise going with a more beginner-friendly option like the Flair 58 that removes the most finicky variables: temperature. Or better yet, stick to semi-automatic or super-automatic machines until you’ve developed your espresso palate a bit more. Manual brewers are not an ideal starting point for most novices.

Time to Brew

In addition to the technique struggles, manual espresso brewing is also just plainly more time-consuming than pushing a button on an automatic machine. From start to finish, I’d estimate that pulling and prepping for a single shot on the Flair Pro 2 takes me around 5 minutes on average. And that’s after getting fully dialed in—it was even slower when I was first starting.

The time-sucks add up quickly: preheating the chamber, boiling the brewing water, precise grinding, dosing, puck prep, the actual shot pull at the slow prescribed flow rate, and clean up…it’s far more involved than just tossing some coffee into an electric machine and pressing a button.

For some, that 5 minute routine won’t be an issue at all. If you’re already accustomed to manual pour over or immersion methods like French press or pour over, adding espresso to your morning ritual isn’t that much more taxing. The same focus and patience is required.

But if you’re used to firing up an auto-drip machine and having a full pot ready in 2 minutes, the transition to manual espresso can be jarring. There’s a decent time investment required to do it properly.

Effort

Speaking of that hands-on morning routine, it’s important to note that pulling manual espresso shots isn’t just slower—it’s also a legitimate physical effort. These machines require more exertion than an electric machine that uses a pump to create the ideal pressure for espresso.

To extract properly and avoid under- or over-extraction, you need to generate around 8-10 bars of pressure through the puck of coffee grounds. On lever-style machines like the Flair and Robot mdels, that means putting some serious arm power into that pull. The levers offer mechanical leverage, but you’ll still feel the burn quite quickly.

It’s not a dealbreaker by any means. The extraction only lasts under a minute. But it’s something to be aware of, particularly if you struggle with grip strength due to age, injuries, or other conditions.

So, be prepared for a little sweat equity with manual espresso if you want to do it properly. It’s extremely rewarding, but there’s no denying it involves more physical exertion than just pressing a button.

Convenience

At the end of the day, manual espresso machines are the antithesis of convenience when it comes to brewing coffee. Their entire value proposition is literally trading morning creature comforts for complete control and connection to the process.

With an automatic machine, you just grimace through a couple of button pushes and have a drinkable (if not spectacular) shot waiting for you in under a minute with basically zero effort. With a manual setup like the Flair, you’ve gotta execute a whole choreographed routine just for the possibility of amazing espresso.

We’re talking meticulously preparing every component—heating water to precise temperatures, preheating the brew chamber, carefully grinding and distributing your dose, cautiously tamping with the right pressure, and operating the lever with smooth and steady pressure. Mess up any individual portion of the process, and you’ve completely tanked the shot.

By comparison, even the most hands-on semi-automatic espresso machine keeps things relatively streamlined. At most you’re fumbling with a grinder for 30 seconds before having piping hot espresso at the press of a button.

With a super-automatic machine, you’re looking at maybe adding milk to the automatic frother, and then pressing a single button. And if you don’t need steamed milk, you can even schedule a shot to be ready when you wake up. Genuine beginner-proof, no-skill convenience.

So if your morning routine prioritizes speed, ease, and minimal effort above all else, a manual lever machine is simply not going to cut it. There’s too much active involvement required to recommend them for prioritizing convenience.

I will say, though, that I find that the control you get in exchange for convenience makes owning a manual espresso machine extremely enjoyable and fun. Just don’t expect the same convenience as you’d get from an electric machine.

So, What’s the Best Manual Espresso Machine for You?

After countless shot pulls, tweaks, and adjustments, I’ve settled on recommending the Flair Pro 2 as the overall best manual espresso machine for most home enthusiasts.

While the upgraded Flair 58 is impressive with its heated reservoir and more approachable user experience for beginners, I simply couldn’t justify the higher expense for most shoppers—that’s entering premium automatic machine territory.

The Pro 2, on the other hand, delivers the exact same stellar espresso quality as the 58, arguably with even more potential for extreme tinkering and recipe refinement. Yet it does so at a far more affordable price point thanks to its brilliantly pared-down design centered around a single innovative brew chamber.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do manual espresso makers last?

Manual espresso makers lack the electronic components and pumps that typically wear out over time on automatic machines. As long as you properly maintain them by promptly cleaning the shower screen and keeping the seals lubricated, a quality manual lever machine can easily last over a decade with heavy home use. The all-metal construction and simplistic design means there are very few failure points.

Can I use non-pressurized/unpressurized baskets with manual espresso makers?

Absolutely! One of the major benefits of high-end manual machines like the Flair 58 is their use of full-sized 58mm commercial baskets and portafilters. This gives you the flexibility to use the exact same premium baskets as pro coffee equipment, allowing you to take full advantage of unpressurized baskets with more headspace for perfect puck preparation. Just keep in mind that other manual espresso makers typically don’t have the 58mm portafilter, so there’s less customization available in terms of equipment you can use.

What’s the maximum shot size I can pull on a manual espresso maker?

While automatic espresso machines have reservoirs that allow for pulling extended shot volumes, manual brewers are more limited by their compact chamber size. Most have a maximum capacity of around 2 to 3 oz, which is perfect for producing single or double shots in the classic Italian tasting ranges. If you want larger americano sizes or milk-based drinks bigger than a cortado, you’ll need to do a second pull or look into manual machines with expanded headspace. But for straight sipping shots, a standard manual machine is all you need.