The Espresso School - Barista Courses and Barista Training in Melbourne

The Espresso School prefers students train with machines that are single boiler and above, although we can do training on almost all domestic coffee machine brands including Sunbeam, Breville and Saeco through to ‘prosumer’ espresso machines. We highly discourage is the use of superautomatic (superauto) machines. As a bare minimum we require a machine that has unpressurised baskets (if you don’t have any, we can supply some).

Here are some examples of machines we can do trainings on:

• thermoblock or dual thermoblock typically less than $500 - “Thermoblock” technology means that the water is heated in a multi channel metal block with an exterior element. In the “flat” thermoblocks used in most machines the interior water volume is quite small, and stable water temperature is theoretically achieved by adjusting the flow rate of water through the block.








• single boiler typically between $500 and $1000 - single boiler machines contain 2 thermostats that regulate the temperature of the water. There is one thermostat for coffee mode and another thermostat for steam mode. The same water in the boiler is utilized for espresso extraction and for steam production. As the operator of the machine turns on a single boiler espresso machine, the machine is set to reach a certain temperature for coffee. When the steam button is depressed, the steam thermostat is engaged to allow the boiler to go to a higher temperature so that steam is produced.








• single boiler heat exchanger (HX) typically $1000 to $3000+ - heat exchange boilers have a pipe or tubing that goes through the upper and lower(sometimes only upper, and sometimes only lower) parts of the boiler. This pipe or tubing is the heat exchanger. This pipe within the boiler will heat cold water to espresso brewing temperature, whilst the water and steam inside the boiler itself is used for hot water (long blacks and tea) and steam. What this means is that you are able to brew espresso and steam milk simultaneously unlike single boiler or thermoblock espresso machines.