Review: Aram Espresso Maker 

Some animals can smell fear. James can taste pressure. Jokes aside, this is fascinating!

Tbh mostly clicked on this video to hear how James would pronounce my name if he ever greeted me irl

Let's be honest: Those B Rolls were amazing. It actually made me brew some coffee.

I bought one in the kickstarter. It’s still like new. It’s a tank. I had a learning curve. I dialed a lot with grind, dose etc… I pre heat it 3 times to the first coffee. From the second dose it’s ready. 21 grams of coffee to 45 grams out it’s my best receipt. I don’t use to make quick coffee. It’s part of my relaxing ritual everyday. Great machine imo.

I love the design, the price is silly. For that price you could just get a basic home espresso machine and a cheap travel espresso machine, both of which could brew the 1970s coffee which we all want to see James.

Spot on highlights, great review. We use ARAM commercially at our coffee shop on a daily basis for 2 years now. Regarding your comment about finding the start ot the screw's thread: take a look at the moon and the sun symbols, just align them and you should have no struggles screwing the filter. About temp control, yes, we do 3 scaldings before making the exctraction. The upside to that is that once someone at the coffee shop orders an ARAM other patrons get curious and also order their shots, so it is already warm and ready to go for a couple more extractions right at the customer's table.

Great video, as always! I'm from Brazil, and from the same city as the guys from Aram, so maybe I'm a little bit biased, but I do enjoy their espresso machine, and while it is expensive, I think the build quality and the fact they are a small company with mainly handcraft work, together with a great wood piece, justify the cost. Great to see a local product getting reviewed here!

I just received my Aram, i run two preheat cycles and then load up the portafilter and run a normal espresso cycle. I dose at 18gms of a light roast Panamanian coffee. I use the Comandante C40 at about 11 or 12 setting for espresso. I get lovely, sweet 36gm shots reliably and enjoy the process of “pulling” shots (screwing shots? Turning shots?). And it looks beautiful on my kitchen counter.

I love he speaks about the whole process. Not just the coffee, but the design and the experience. I think that’s a sign for a good content creator! Thank you James!

Still waiting on some of that delicious, rancid 1970s coffee espresso James 🤔

Can we talk bout how the 70's brewer seems to have gained a spot on the shelf?

Is it expensive? Very, however it has to be noticed that the whole ethos around its production (made by hand, by local people paid fairly) was not covered in the review. Would I have this as my main brewer? No, however it really depends on the issue you are trying to solve and the areas in which you are willing to compromise. In my case I needed something manual non-intrusive to sit at my desk in the office and the Aram fitted the bill nicely. I pre-heat it twice and I am fairly happy with the consistency of shots I've been "pulling".

8:21 As Boris said "Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work you can always hit them with it."

Universal way to find thread on any screw: Put bolt (or whatever has thread) into screw hole and turn the wrong way until you hear and feel a click. You have now found the engagement point of the thread. Now you can turn the correct way without any chance of damaging the thread.

I have one since last week. So far I like the experience very much. It is very easy to use and to build up pressure. As I prefer slightly darker roasts, I don‘t have a problem with the brew temperature. I will the brew chamber with close to boiling water and leave it there for 2-3 minutes while grinding the coffee and preparing the filter screen. Nice machine so far. The first coffee was almost perfect - didn’t expect that!

That is one of the only espresso mashiens that speaks to me, because it is so elegant! That is a beautiful piece of work 😄

Aside from the brilliant opinions of the equipment, you've really taken into consideration on how to develop great lighting setups for camera. Great work, James! Your dedication to this channel clearly shows :)

James let's be honest about this, when can we expect your "Aram Espresso Maker Powerdrill Edition Turbo" Video?

I used to live in Rio, and in one of my favorite coffee shops they had this Aram machines, which you could order your espresso on it. It was some of the best espressos I had. But, yeah, I think the temperature thing might be an issue, I remember being a bit more acidic some times, but I don't really mind. I've being living in NYC for a year already, and haven't found yet as good coffee as I used to have there. Aram went back to the top of my wish list again after seeing this video hahah.

I bought it two weeks ago and I'm in love with it. I'm aware of the temperature problem so normally I do two rounds of pre-heating and the outcome is actually very satisfying.

Now there is an awesome pressure gauge for it, the pressure is shown by little concentric discs that rise up every 2 bar pressure increments, and people are also fitting pre heating coils, which makes it even more compeling

Thanks for another informative review, James. I’ve been pulling shots with the Aram for a few years now (I purchased it it right after the Aram team visited Seattle for the 2018 SCA). A few cons: it took about two months to arrive after ordering, with very little communication during that time. The tutorial was not very helpful so learning how to achieve a great shot is a bit of a crash course. I don’t think it would perform well at all while traveling. In my experience, pulling (or in this case pushing) a great shot requires more than what comes in the box. I use the Comandante for the grind- which needs dialing in because rarely will you have equal results between roasts; though I concede the likelihood of carrying multiple roasts in one’s carry bag may be a stretch for most- which further illustrates the point. In addition to the Aram, and a good grinder, you’ll need to heat your water to the right temperature (and the means to maintain that temperature), AND you’ll need a scale. Granted, all of this could fit into a custom made case- but it’s not really compact then, is it? Finally, it requires a bit of strength to achieve 9 bars in a timely fashion (and yes the seals will fail if used often at high pressure). The stand is really helpful in this regard- but again, not easily stored. In its current design, stabilizing it against one’s knee or in the air is unrealistic. Maybe if they updated the crank to something resembling the Comandante, this might be possible. Lastly, the craftsmanship and price tag accompanying it discourages me from taking it camping or anywhere else (and I actually brew coffee on most hikes I go on- using the Pourigami, a stove, kettle, and pre-measured beans which I grind with a spare Comandante, that I carefully pack- all of which weighs me down considerably. Of course, I could and have used fire, it’s not always an option nor easy to moderate the water temp). That said, as a home manual espresso machine, I love it. It took significant trial and error to get it right, but having figured it out, I use it almost daily with amazing results. How fast is it? Several of my friends have machines in the 3-4K range and it seems they spend the same if not more time dialing them in as I do the Aram. I am not concerned with speed, I am concerned with quality outcomes. I enjoy the mechanics of it all. There is a reward at the end of measuring out the beans, hand grinding them, and then pressing them into a shot that automation cannot provide for me. Jay Leno mentions the relationship he finds from driving classic automobiles: they need his interaction to function, unlike modern cars where everything is automated and virtually operate independently. I submit, brewing espresso manually requires the same level of attention. It’s a craft, and depending what one puts into it will determine the outcome. If I were to upgrade, it would be to a Cremina... which I am secretly considering....

I’ve been loving my Aram. It does take a bit to get it up to temp as you mentioned but the espresso it produces is so much more forgiving I’ve found than my big machine. Darker roasts do particularly well in it, producing a wonderfully creamy sweet shot in my experience. I find It’s less finicky with grind size adjustments and tamping, I suppose because of the manual nature of the extraction. I travel a lot (and was just too curious not to try) so I was ok with the buy but it it is pricey, no doubt. As always, thanks for the review!

That tactile feedback is one of the reason i love lever espresso machine.

I've waited literally years for a review of the aram

Little caveat about the thermocouple set-up that may be worth checking: Yellow connection are for Type-K thermocouple; Green wire are usually for Type-S thermocouple Using Yellow connector with green wire may actually lead to temperature measurement errors of few degrees;

7:13 - James Hoffmann: "No corners have been cut." Me, an intellectual: "But it's a cylinder..."

I'd need to have a coffee BEFORE using this contraption in the morning

As a Brazilian barista, I've been waiting for this review for so long. I have played with it a couple of times, and I love the final result.

About taste and shot size: this machine has a naked filter basket which produces a wide range of outcomes. For instance, the taste of the last drip is vastly different than first drops. My wife prefers the tailings when I make myself shots... I found the second crank produces strong coffee that can smooth out harshness when mixed together (I just uncrank and generate a second shot until all water is out of the chamber, which also creates an easy to clean, dry puck).

The wood on the exterior is very aesthetic, you can't knock that

I tried Aram in São Paulo, and guess what? I had one of the best coffee cups of my entire life! Of course the coffee beans they used were awesome as well, so if you have ARAM + Good quality coffee bean, you are on the way to the happiness. :)

The RU-vid gods have recently blessed me with your content, I've gotten hooked to your videos, thank you so much for everything you do 👍

Ooo, perfect timing. I just finished roasting some coffee, looked up and there was this. Seems like a fairly unique manual machine but definitely on the expensive side.

James, preheat with boiling water you can reach over 90 C easily. Preheat twice with boiling water you can get up to 90 C. Depending on where you live ,Three times you pass 95C. With a little patience you can get several profiles for different coffees. There are factory test videos measuring pressure that reaches 9 bar easily

Hello, James; Thank you for all you do. I just saw this ( I think it is the 1st time). Lovely machine but I'm on disability & could never afford it. BTW, 2 tips for you. When you want to start 2 threaded parts together without cross-threading, here is what to do. Turn the part you hold backwards, as in unscrewing it while pressing slightly into the mating part. You can feel the ends of the threads slip past each other & then turn it correctly. Works great, always. [Unless you are drunk?] To 'preheat' a part to make coffee put the part in (very) hot water or in a pot of water & heat it. By preheating that way you can get the temperature desired. Hopefully helpful. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!

James, the easiest way to find the start point of any screw is to start by rotating it backwards while applying slight pressure until you hear or feel a "click" this will guarantee you are indeed starting on the correct thread. All screws and bolts are designed like this. Cheers from the US!

This guy brewing coffee through a 400$ manual expresso: "Tastes pretty good, tastes like the pressure is off, more heat would bring out more flavor." Me brewing coffee through a sock: "This is amazing, I'll have 20 cups."

Dear James, thanks for the video. I have one and I'm happy with what it does. About preheating, I "solved" by running as follows: 1. I put the water at 97º C in the machine, wait 2 minutes and empty it when placing it upside down. That's right, without turning the crank. 2. I put water at 97º C again, I wait 3 minutes, but now I don't need to turn the crank normally. 3. I put the water at 97º C and perform the extraction. yes, it's a little frustrating, but I'm really happy with some really good espressos. thanks for everything.

Pleasantly surprised to see this is more than just a novelty. Really interesting and aesthetically pleasing product.

ARAM and Robot owner here. I've been using both machines for a long time. I do agree with JH about heat management. As for me, ARAM is capable of brewing light roasts, but you'll need to do at least 2 pre heat cycles (I always do it 2 times, no matter what roast profile, to have more stable temperature thoughout brewing). Not sure if people use lighter roast then I, which is totally possible, and for lighter roaster ARAM could be a problem. About brewing pressure, it's really unfortunate they didn't include option to add a manometer (besides we insisted in request that). But I think 9 bar is not an issue to get. Actually, there are some users that used so much pressure that filter basket bottom got rounded!

"with the ancient money of temperature" 😂 Loved that one!

I really love the cinematography on your videos, I have watched quite a few of them and I don't even drink coffee regularly

Dear James, Thanks for the review. I think lots of people want a good compare video between, Flare. Rok, Robot and Aram. please consider this. You're AWESOME as always.

Aram is perfect for home use! I am using everyday in the morning

You don't have to turn the crank all the way up to let the water go out at pre-heating, one turn is enough. Also screwing the brew basket is not really fiddly, because there is a full moon on the Aram and a half moon on the basket. If you align them, you have the right position to srew it easily. But you are right, pre-heating takes some time. I always pre-heat twice and use 100 °C water and never had more than 93 °C inside the Aram. So temperature control and also pressure control is an issue. I also recommend darker roasts, lighter roasts come our very sour with the Aram. I use 21-22 grams of coffe with my Aram (it depends on the beans), after tamping the basket is filled up until the line. With turning the crank all the way up and down I get 50 ml in my cup (~1:2.3).

That is an absolutely beautiful piece of engineering that I have absolutely no desire for. I love seeing interesting ideas in how to change everyday devices and I’m excited to see what comes next.

Love all of your manual espresso machine reviews. Price is a huge deal with these machines, where for me the whole point is to allow the average home consumer to get great tasting, proper shots at home without breaking the bank

Feels weird to see you test something that actualy taste good :D

This device reminds me a great deal of my Staresso V3 with it's hand pump instead of a screw. The Staresso is more portable, much cheaper, and made of black plastic and metal. Very utilitarian in design (reminds me of a Star Wars Droid). I am just starting to get it figured out for pulling my morning shots, and appreciate the new (to me) knowledge that the water temperature being high is so important for proper extraction of less dark beans. That explains why I am getting acidity when using medium roasts !

What a fascinating ,thorough and comprehensive review. Brilliant!

I realise I've been subconsciously drawing inspiration for my living room corner design from your background

The cost of actually paying humans to make something. It is absolutely beautiful. Kind of want to get one.

Nice Review, the Aram looks indeed very nice. My all time favorite is still the Lapavoni Europiccola. Would be interesting to see that James think about it.

Love the man talking about the things I will never buy but cannot stop listening to

Yes its expensive (subjective) and takes time and efforts compared to other manual machine out there. But i like it and using two to three times a day. This review made me aware of this product. Thank you James.

James: "...brewing in the 90's..." My brain: Initial D

'the ancient money of temperature' HAHAHAHA

I bought my Aram Espresso maker several months back and have been using it consistently since then. Yes, it's on the pricey side, but so far I think its worth every dollar, the build quality is great and I thoroughly enjoy the user experience. The pre-heating is an issue, but if you pre-heat it while you grind your beans this isn't much of an issue, and while it takes time to heat up, it will also hold the heat as well, so if you're in habit of making multiple shots of espresso you don't notice it much. The extraction and pressure vary greatly according to the dosage, grind size, roast, and quality of the bean, but that's part of the fun, discovering the properties of each bean and its roast. Once you find the right grind size for the bean and roast it's easy to get a good extraction, tweaking the grind size can achieve much greater pressure without over extraction. It does work best with 22grams, anything less than 20 and you tend to lose pressure.

This is an era of manual espresso makers. ROK and now this. Which is excellent! Lots of choices between 200 -500 $ I am pretty happy with the ROK thanks to your recommendation

Since I’ve just bought an espresso machine I would love to see another dialing in episode. Other than that keep up the good work, love it.

There's a similar design made in Poland - but it's more robust, less of a luxury item. It's called Kazak Rota and it is priced at PLN 1500 (300 GBP).

That feel when you invoke the "UI/UX" element of an experience in use. 10/10 Would love to hear more of your opinions around the UX of the labor involved with machines, not just the product interaction itself. All in all, huge fan!

Nice video James, i am from Brazil and I know the creator of Aram. I’ve talked to him a couple of times in Curitiba (South of Brazil). He is very passionate in what he does, a young guy with a lot of ideas for the future.

Now please review the Portaspresso--both models--as the Aram is clearly inspired by it. Also, EspressoForge and Pink's Expression.

I love manual coffee makers. The price is a bit high, but I I will definitely get it!!

I watch so many videos of yours. Yet I drink instant coffee because I can’t afford a machine. Yet I ljve vicariously through you!

I love the totally different direction they took with the style and functionality of this espresso maker

It's so cold where I live this morning that people are skipping work and school. - 44C. So I'm watching a James Hoffmann vid instead. Thanks man.

James' sweater game is unreal.

Amazing review as always, however if may add, thermal-mass/inertia is a double edged sword, as while it requires more heating passes to reach the required temperature, it will retain more heat while making the actual espresso shot, ceteris paribus, so I wouldn't simply call a larger thermal-mass downright a disadvantage. Keep up the good work sir.

Nice little system, but for $500 - it should have a pressure gauge and a better method for pre-heating. I used an Espresso Forge + Lido E for a while. The Forge has a pressure gauge, getting to 9bar was incredibly simple and pre-heating was also very easy since you can stick it over a kettle and steam heat it in a minute or so. This Aram thing looks pretty, but it clearly a ways to go in terms of engineering.

I would be really interesting to see a blind test between this, a lever espresso, and an aero press shot.

This is such a dangerous piece of equipment! If I get one, I swear I'll inevitably pour beans into it (and hot water in my grinder!)

So nice to see something from my country reviewed on your channel.

I think this concept was commercialized first in the portapresso Rossa. It’d be interesting to see a review of that device and their grinder too.

I think I'd have nosed around a lot of the manual options and still ended up with the europiccola i bought used 13yrs ago.. its daft and infuriating but an amusing change from a synesso

Blind taste of espressos made at different pressures. Genuinely interested on how accurately you could determine them

I love the way it looks

This is fantastic video - well structured, showing how it works with your own editorial comment and opinion. Thanks James.

Try the Portaspresso, please. I have been using the Rossa PG since last year and it is superb for its price & pressure modulation capability, IMHO

ya boy drinking espresso shots and knowing the pressure like a pressure gauge

Some of the camera angles in this video were absolutely stunning. Keep it up James!

With some calibration, it should be actually pretty easy to add a pressure gauge in the form of a beam torque wrench/gauge used in place of the crank.

Seems like an expensive novelty that would quickly get turned into shelf decor.

The heatsoaking issue is definitely a deal breaker for me, especially at that price tag. 'Espresso' as the name implies, shouldn't take more time to make than a pourover IMO. I was pretty keen to get a Flair Espresso and would be keen to see James' PoV on it. EDIT: just found out he's already reviewed the Flair.

I'm a Flair man through and through, about to get the Pro 2 but this is an eyebrow raiser. Foremost I can tell the cranking, as you said, wouldn't have the same sort of tactile feedback and I can see myself getting frustrated there. Still, a beautiful piece of kit.

My morning brewing whilst watching your channel is now habitual.

It looks like the fancy version of Aeropress + PRISMO. But instead with a basket/portafilter and bit more pressure :D For that money better get a Europiccola

[chanting] 70s espresso! 70s espresso! For real tho I love your videos and this looks like such a cool and different machine but far and away out of the price range of my student hiney xD

A great looking machine, Very well demonstrated; I’d love one ☕️👍

Love your videos! I've learned so much and have so much fun watching them. Really appreciate your humour 😉 greetings from a Salvadoran in Germany!

Great to see another of these manual espresso makers being rewieved :) Thank you! I am using Portaspresso Rossa Air for over 5 years (this design is "inspired" /if I can use an eufemism/ on original Portaspresso Rossa), and as much as I like the designers approach to Aram, I think that lack of pressure gauge is the largest issue from my POV .. I also have to do about two preheat cycles, but its pretty easy to pour the water in, and then out from Rossa .. probably you could also just pour it out, not having to wind it all up and down? The other one is probably because of material - Rossa is brass (and a really thick peace of brass) and after two short preheats the temperature drops to about 95-94 ... and it does not loose heat fast. Stainless steel is probably different in that regards.

Thank you for another good review James. And I wonder you have any plan to review La Pavoni lever machine. It would be great if you review one of those.

You have such a relaxing, lovely speaking voice.

Suggestion from a total outsider here (I don't even drinks coffee). Seeing the need for preheating on those manual machines, is the concept of manual expresso maker with an embedded electric preheating fonction a thing to even think about ? I can totally imagine this model with all the electrical stuff in the base, wired to mains, and a connection in the metal ring to a heating device in (or around) the brew chamber. This way, you keep the portable travel coffee maker for an expresso on the go (with the need for a preheat cycle with the kettle from your hotel room), but at home you flick a switch and, in the time needed to grind your coffee, your chamber is at temperature. If you see it on Kickstarter in a few month please remember you read it here first !

Think you'd like to know... but your kit is down

Man, it’s a gorgeous brewer. Sometimes I find it a bit difficult to reconcile equipment like this that falls into the slightly niche category. $495 is definitely steep. They’re a smaller company, and don’t have the benefit of driving cost down with a huge production volume. Materials, build quality, and overall design seem fantastic and thoughtful, and you get what you pay for. Manual espresso machines are never going to have the broad market appeal of cheaper or more robust automatic brewing equipment. The well-built ones will always be somewhat expensive as a result. I’d love to have one, but the cost coupled with the learning curve makes it unattainable for me for the foreseeable future. I hope people do keep buying them, though. I love that beautiful things like this are being made, and they can only continue to do so if people buy them.

Some of the sharpest 4K footage I've seen in a while. Your lenses are on point sir.

1. Great jumper 2. It's a very beautiful and elegant device. Love the wood. And I wondered if the crank could make it easier to get more consistent pressure. Though I do like how the Flare has the option of a pressure gauge attachment. 3. Still, the price is beyond my budget when my Breville/Sage Bambino has nearly all I could ask for for a home machine, as a non-coffee professional, which I got for $95 less. 4. For travel, I still feel so much contentment with the lightness, versatility and ease of the aeropress. The included glass, funnel, and THAT WOOD all get aces in my eyes.