Want to build your own espresso machine, complete with open-source software to drive it? The diyPresso might be right up your alley.
It might not be the cheapest road to obtaining an espresso machine, but it’s probably the most economical way to turn high-quality components (including a custom-designed boiler) and sensors into a machine of a proven design.
Coffee and the machines that turn it into a delicious beverage are fertile ground for the type of folk who like to measure, modify, and optimize. We’ve seen DIY roasters, grinders, and even a manual lever espresso machine. There are also many efforts at modifying existing machines with improved software-driven controls but this is the first time we’ve seen such a focused effort at bringing the DIY angle to a ground-up espresso machine specifically offered as a kit.
Curious to know more? Browse the assembly manual or take a peek at the software’s GitHub repository. You might feel some ideas start to flow for your next coffee hack.
Yeah, except it costs a small fortune….
(saw this previously the other day)
I don’t get it. If you need coffee to stay awake can’t you just buy a jar of Nescafe? No need for fancy equipment, just drop a spoon into a mug and fill it with hot water.
Real espresso is different. I mean even your lousiest gas station in Italy has like a $5000 espresso machine. I just think you could get a quite half-way decent Italian commercial countertop machine and hack to your life’s content out of it. This offering, just seems too steep for me for the price.
IDK, We have been lucky at thriftstores lately, Have found a Humanscale and Aeron office chair for less than 50 USD total. Looking them up I see they are both retailing for $1,500 or more. We also found a Le Creuset dutch oven for $20, which retails for $550 and a flywheel exercise bike for $30 that retails for $1300.
In comparison, this doesn’t sound like a bad deal. As soon as we find one for less than $50 in a thriftstore, we’re buying!
There are usually an assortment of used Espresso machines available for sale in many areas and online and at times for reasonable prices. Bargains can also be had for these machines if things are not working… and so as you state… hack away. The benefit of using an existing platform is that core parts can be available and at times very reasonably priced… and it would make maintaining the system much easier than any DIY system. On my side I picked up a uber high end machine ($12K when new) for under $2K (unit was 3 years old) that needed some TLC… and I have had the machine for over 10 years with minimal repairs (couple of relays). If I decided to sell it, I would get almost what I originally paid.
Honestly, even a $100-200 low end espresso machine off Amazon will typically do a decent job. At $1200, I wouldn’t expect to build it myself.
This! I’ve repaired a quite a few machines I’ve picked up off facebook marketplace etc, for a very low amount of money. You learn a lot and the end result, if it’s a decently built machine, is a machine that makes coffee like when it was new.
Many folks actually enjoy the taste of proper coffee and cant drink instant. It’s the difference between drinking spring water and old dish washing water IMO.
You can take it even further. Skip the spoon, mug and water. Just pour the granules straight in your mouth.
Those granules are actually somewhat tasty, even though they burst with flavor so much I only want to eat tiny amounts at once. But where instant coffee really shines is when you put it into yoghurt (and add sugar or honey to taste). That’s one very accessible, quick and not expensive way to get some bitter flavor in the morning.
Also while I’m here I might just add that at the moment I drink lots of instant coffee; somehow I got hooked up on the taste. When folks tell me “that’s a very poor coffee that can’t compare to $whatever”, and, sure, they’re right. I can do a decent pour-over at home, or use a Vietnamese phin if I want to feel fancy. I’ve owned multiple espresso makers and other paraphernalia over the years and I feel it’s just not worth it—at home. Just like Adam Ragusea managed to convince me not to prepare french fries at home (somewhat dangerous, what you do with the oil, costs), I feel if I need that great cuppa I just go to a cafe and shell out the money for being served one. And I don’t have to care about the machinery.
Also, instant coffee, hermetically sealed, will be the only coffee available the morning after the zombie apocalypse.
if you just want caffiene it comes in pill form.
if you just want calories you can buy meal replacement drinks.
if you just want sleep you can lay down on the ground.
come on this brand of “i don’t understand why people like things i don’t” comment was boring 20 years ago.
Ah, the legendary antisnob! Their existence was theoretically predicted as a compliment to far more common positively-charged snobbery particles, but to see one out in the wild!
“Their existence was theoretically predicted as a compliment to far more common positively-charged snobbery particles” – I never compliment snobbery particles, as it just feeds their conceit.
Sarcasm noted. But I swear by time-release caffeine capsules (e.g., Genius Caffeine brand).
Seems like just the control software is open source, the machine is a closed diy kit from a startup. Understandable, but far from hacker-friendly diy..
long term spare parts?
Agreed, wonder if the authors getting a big kickback for driving traffic and potential purchases to the site, cos this stinks at £1,250 and not even a sign of anything except spare parts, no option to even pay for the models to acquire and build one yourself. Vey closed ecosystem
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of laws surrounding pressure vessels so there’s a risk that if they open sourced the hardware, someone might make an unsafe boiler and cause an injury or worse.
I can support a little bit of partially closed source projects when it’s done in the name of public safety.
The price of €1250,- looks reasonable for what’s in the kit. But it’s a pump machine and not a lever machine, so I’ll pass.
It’s DIY in the same sense that IKEA is DIY furniture. You get to assemble it. Outside of the software (arduino CPP) I don’t see any customization options. The warranty is this weird 14 days if you can prove defects and 3 months total if we (manufacturer) feel like it.
For 1250 you can get a pretty good “super automatic” that does everything and the only difference I see is you don’t get to point it out to your date and say “look I built that”.
By providing a kit the seller can avoid the long legal warranty period in Europe and might also circumvent patents and associated fees. A century ago many radio sets were sold as a kit for exactly the same reasons.
That’s not necessarily the only reason. Think of Prusa printers.
€1250
Wish that was in the write up or easy to find on the website.
Not judging, just stating it
James Hoffmann, a coffee guy on YouTube to put it mildly, had a fantastic video on a startup espresso machine and how and why it failed. Mostly marketing distribution etc instead of good vs bad product per se, if I remember right.
Yeah, building an espresso machine is hard. Building one that’s very cheap, still decent, and has profit margins is dang near impossible
much more fun to hack a salvation arm espresso machine — although some of those come the the smell of electrical fire