Elektra Verve Domestic Espresso Machine – 1 Group

Most professional machines need a water line before they can do anything. The Verve does not, until you want it to.

It runs off an integrated five-litre tank or a mains connection, and you switch between the two. That single decision is what makes it work in a tasting room, a pop-up, a venue where plumbing is not allowed, or a café that starts on a tank and gets plumbed in properly a year later.

Everything behind it is commercial. Two independent boilers mean the coffee boiler and the 1.6-litre stainless steam boiler hold their own temperatures, so steaming milk never pulls heat out of the next shot. A rotary pump does the work — quieter than a vibration pump, steadier under pressure, and built for the duty cycle a paying customer puts on a machine. The group is Elektra's professional one, with preinfusion adjustable from zero to twenty seconds, so you can dial in a light roast properly instead of fighting it.

It connects to Wi-Fi, and settings are managed from a phone. In practice that means a machine on your floor can be adjusted without anyone kneeling behind it with a screwdriver.

The bodywork is stainless steel with wooden side panels. Part of Elektra's Contemporary range.

Where it belongs

Boutique cafés, small restaurants, tasting rooms, event bars and offices where the coffee is taken seriously. One group, so it is built for considered service rather than a commuter rush.

Specifications