Coffee

For a slightly more manual espresso maker, I've had my Elektra Micro Casa a Leva for nearly 20 years now, and will probably never replace it. It's simple enough that, of anything goes wrong, you can fix it yourself. It's a beautiful machine, and the steamer is peerless. The boiler is capable of continuous operation of pulling shots and steaming, limited only by the amount of water in the boiler, which is fairly large. It heats in a few (5?) minutes.

It's solidly made. The entire machine is brass and steel, with only the gaskets and the drip tray being non-metal. Oh, the lever handle grip is plastic(?), as is the grip of the portafilter it comes with; but the first thing I did was replace the portafilter with a naked portafilter with a wood handle, and I'll eventually replace the lever handle with wood - it just screws off. It will certainly outlive me. My niece has her eye on it, when I die, and I don't doubt it'll last for her as well. I've replaced the heating element once, at its 20th anniversary, and the gaskets every year or two. There's really nothing else to wear out.

Looks like they're running a bit more expensive now; I paid closer to $1000 new when I got mine. The current price is a bit shocking; maybe they're less in Europe, since they are made in Italy.

The downsides to the machine are first that the portafilter is smaller (49mm), while the standard in the US is 52(?); it makes for fewer accessory options. Second, if you do run low on water, you have to completely depressurize the boiler to add more water. There's no reservoir. It's literally a tank with a heating element that you fill and seal, and then pull either hot water or steam out of. So if you need to fill it, you turn it off, open the steamer, and wait until the pressure drops. It's an inconvenience I only ever encountered when we have a house full of guests, but it is then an inconvenience.

So, aside from the eye-watering current price, it's a fantastic machine.