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Do you prefer manual units like ROK Espresso Maker over automatic Espresso machines?
Espresso drinks were prepared inside heavy bulky machines which made the processing hard and challenging. But now we can pull out authentic espresso shots anytime we want, with the help of ROK manual espresso maker, automatic or other semi-automatic espresso press systems.
ROK has well-contributed for the change. It is a Manual or as you call the Lever Espresso Machine that literally runs on your energy. On this ROK Espresso Maker Reviews, you are in charge of each brewing step and it even doesn’t require electricity.
One fun fact, I know there are many ‘Espresso’ models out there and you may also like the one you are using. But to be frank, coffee makers like the Aeropress or even the Nespresso – they don’t fall next to the actual espresso drink. It could be enough for you, but when it comes to taste and the experience of Espresso, you ought to get the best. But when I tried ROK Espresso, it gave the true essence of Espresso. I am no kidding.
My elder sister had ROK at her place, and I was there spending my Christmas holidays. The review is based on my week’s experience on ROK coffee press.
Rok Espresso Maker Review | Manual Espresso Machine
The traditional espresso makers may freak you out. First of all, it is complicated in design with the dials and frothier setting. Secondly, it is bulky and dear.
ROK company, as a team believes that ‘anyone can make the best coffee if provided with the right tools’. They call themselves as the tool people. With the help of ROK Espresso Maker, you can feel the coffee, and enjoy the craft of preparing professional quality coffee without any worries.
In 2004, ROK released their first Manual Espresso Machine as the Presso. Later in 2012, they re-released the model with a few improvements and changed the name to ROK Manual Espresso Maker or ROK Presso Manual Espresso Maker. The people at ROK has tried to design a model that gets you quality coffee with the not-so-complicated design.
Overview of Rok Espresso Maker
ROK has been designed keeping all the product specs and company rules in line.
Now, let’s get deeper into the espresso machines. When we say espresso machines, there are many products that can fall close to it. Traditional coffee makers give you the authentic espresso, but if you have the perfect coffee grinders, experience, and knowledge – then you may able to create a better espresso on the manual machines than that of the traditional ones.
Also, another point to note here is the customization or the variability factor. The traditional or the automatic espresso makers have a fixed technique of making the coffee. Whereas, in the manual systems, there is some probability of error and also changes in the type and quantity of coffee ground.
On ROK Manual Espresso Maker, you can generate about 5-10 bar of pressure. All the world-class espresso drinks are made at standard 9-bar pressure, so you can easily achieve that value on ROK model.
The THREE Highlighting Qualities of ROK Espresso Maker are as follows:
- PRICING
I don’t know how much you are concerned with this, but I like going with the quality budget. ROK is undoubtedly one among those few brands focussing on this point. If you take a look at the traditional espresso machine and compare their price with ROK Presso Manual Espresso Maker – this one’s pretty cheap and also gets the job done. Cool, right?
- EASY-GOING
There’s a myth about the Manual systems that they are tiring and hard. Manual requires some efforts, but it’s all worthy in the end. ROK has still tried to simplify the process for you so that you could make your favorite espresso drink effortlessly.
- DESIGN
Gone are the days when you had to use heavy machines! ROK manual espresso maker review is sleek in design and made out of high-quality metal alloy. On the base, you will find four rubber made slip-resistant legs which keeps ROK Espresso Maker in place and prevents the sliding.
These three qualities are the top things that I could recall when I picture ROK Espresso in my mind. The model is delivered inside a steel tin, and as soon as my sis took it out – I had to say ROK espresso review team has immensely worked on the look and feel. It looks stylish, and you won’t keep calm until you try it.
Almost all the machine parts are made of heavy-weighted steel. The only parts which aren’t metal include the glass chamber, rubber seals, plastic handle near ROK portafilter, and the plunger. You get a 10-years warranty on the metal parts which is encouraging, while the other components are easily available in the market and are also inexpensive.
Apart from the main ROK Espresso Maker unit, you will find milk frothier, two plastic cup attachments for the portafilter, and one plastic scoop that doubles as a tamper.
Can I make the Best Espresso on this ROK Espresso?
The designing part is done, and now we move towards the processing. It could be a messy thing for the beginners, and that’s totally understandable. Something that happened to me.
» Recalling the first ROK Espresso I made…
I read ROK espresso maker instructions and started prepping for the Espresso. I filled up the portafilter with the coffee ground (enough for one cup) and then added water to the tank till the top portion. After doing this, I gave in some time for the coffee grounds to pre-infuse for a few seconds.
Amidst all this, I forget to note the time & weight, so kindly excuse me for that. I pressed the espresso lever for a double shot. The water chamber was not heated well, and also I skipped the heating of the portafilter portion. But But! The coffee turned out to be fine! (I have made worse Espresso shots before!) This was totally unexpected. I didn’t consider all the preheating or the time, just followed the basic steps, which gave me a not-so-bad result.
ROK Espresso Maker was a 6/10 for me, although I didn’t take care of many things – I was impressed with how it worked for an amateur barista like me.
Not only I skipped the pre-heating step, but also messed up with dose and the grinding too. Lol, you might be like ‘what were you up to’? I kinda feel the same. Yet ROK didn’t give up and just produced a pretty decent coffee no matter how messed the preparation was. I can’t say it was the best espresso that I ever made, but definitely, ROK manual espresso maker gave me the motivation to try out more coffee recipes on ROK.
The espresso had a decent amount of ROK espresso crema on the top, and the taste was fine too. Espresso was a bit cold, and that’s when I realized that about skipping the preheating step. Although I messed up the processing, in the beginning, ROK, however, impressed this careless barista.
I didn’t stop brewing from ROK espresso maker.
» Next Trial!
This time I made up my mind to give another shot with my brewing skills. Yeah, both the first and the second trial happened the same day.
This time, I read the instructions and pre-requisites more carefully than before. Preheated the water chamber and the portafilter as I was supposed to do before. The results came out more effective, and much better than the first one. Crema was thicker, but you may over-extract the coffee at the initial trials, which is pretty fine for the ROK espresso reviews.
ROK provides you real Espresso Coffee, not the Espresso-style Coffee. Note the difference.
More importantly, your espresso will highly depend on the grind quality of the coffee. It’s not just about ROK espresso maker, that you need to focus upon. You need to use a fine coffee grind for making the espresso, and try your best to use the freshly ground coffee instead of using the stored coffee ground.
ROK Espresso Maker is light in weight, and compact too which makes it easy to install at any favorable place. Whereas you can place the whole machine inside the sink for cleaning. The operation is simple, and there won’t be much waiting once the kettle starts boiling.
Brewing Instructions for ROK
- First, you got to put the ground coffee into ROK portafilter.
- Pour the boiled water inside ROK Espresso water tank, and raise the levers.
- Add pressure on the levers, and bring them down while pressing the espresso coffee grind.
It’s efficient in functioning, and if you want to make authentic and crisp espresso – then make sure you follow the instructions out well. You don’t need to be a pro to pull out a classic coffee drink, but smart enough to take each processing step into consideration.
Quick Feature Check for You
In case, you missed out on any espresso maker detail, here’s a quick listing of ROK Espresso features along with their description:
ROK Espresso Maker – Gains & Losses
Each and every machine comes with some pros and cons. I haven’t seen a product that is entirely flawless, that’s just an ideal scenario.
Why do you need to know this info?
As a user perspective, it’s important that you know the facts about the commodity. There’s no point in reading just the features of ROK espresso maker review and making out the purchase. You are equally entitled to know the problems that may evolve and get a solution from the users who have already tested ROK manual espresso maker. This helps in being proactive, and you can also be better prepared for it.
[The Merits]
1. Size and Portability
If you compare ROK espresso Review with the top espresso makers, you will realize who compact and portable ROK is. This amazing manual espresso maker doesn’t weigh much, where you can lift it up using one hand and put in your office bag or any suitcase that you are carrying. This wouldn’t have been much easy with the electric based espresso machines.
2. Compact
Portability allows you to carry the model wherever you wish to. Along with this, the compact shape of ROK espresso maker makes it fit even in the smallest space in your home. You can take it along with you during your tripping, and enjoy hot espressos on the go.
3. Durable
ROK is simple in design and comes with no electric parts on. The only parts that may require replacement include the O-ring or the rubber gasket (3 of which are already included in the package). You can also get the maintenance kit (plunger, water chamber, filter) and run ROK manual espresso maker for a pretty long time. Warranty of 10 years, of course!
4. Easy to Operate
The ease factor would be varying from one person to another. Depending on your experience and patience, you may find it easy or moderately easy to operate. The espresso-making steps are short and interesting, but all above that, the waiting for the pre-heating session is reduced to a significant value on this. No need of waiting for 15-20 minutes with the preheating.
5. Cost
It’s a budget product, considering the pricing of a standard espresso model. Espressos are costly among all the coffee maker types. ROK Espresso Maker is exceptional, and because of them, espresso is now like a home brewing thing.
6. No Electricity Required
A total energy saver! First, the water needs to be boiled, and then it’s added to the espresso maker. Only the boiling work needs electricity, other than that ROK doesn’t need any sort of external power. You can use the presso coffee makers in hotels or during camping, as long as you have hot water kettle.
[The Demerits]
1. No Boiler
Well, I know ROK is compact, light in weight; but all of this is mainly because there is no boiler included on this espresso model. No boiler simply means you cannot boil or steam water/milk whenever needed.
But here’s another fact, not all the domestic espresso units come with an efficient steamer or boiler. The steam wand that you might have seen on the commercial espresso makers create an amazing foam and crema layer on the top. This quality is missing on ROK Espresso Maker but well, the feature is even missing out on other home-espresso makers.
2. Inconsistent pressure
ROK Espresso reviews works on the pressure generated by the user, and this won’t remain consistent at all the times. A few manual espresso models have an inbuilt pressure gauge on it that could help you in keeping a check on the pressure values.
On the other hand, if you take a look at the price-friendly espresso models, all of them are based on inexpensive pressure pumps. This issue remains the same for ROK expresso maker.
- Click here to check out the best espresso machines on the market.
Tips on Using ROK Manual Espresso Maker
The following tips and suggestions are based on my use and experience. We may have differences. It’s up to you if you need to follow them or not.
- Starting with the tamper, I didn’t find the plastic tamper much appealing. Instead of that, if you are willing to invest then you can go for a proper tamper that will remain sturdy on the hands, and last longer than the plastic one.
- Portafilter needs to be pushed an extra cm towards the left side, to fully lock it.
- To pull out the best espresso drinks, it’s important to consider the time and weight factors. This way you will know how much coffee ground is needed for the consistent taste and texture.
- Use freshly ground coffee beans. Always.
- No drip tray alert! Keep a bowl handy while you are on ROK Espresso Maker. If you want to use up the water inside the chamber, then you can keep the bowl and rinse out the machine after use.
- Since the espresso doesn’t have a boiler, make sure you pre-heat the portafilter along with the cup so that a bit warmth is maintained within the system. If you skip this part, then your drink will be more on a cold side. (something that no one wants for their espresso)
If you consider the above factors carefully and make the Best ROK Coffee for your loved ones. Also, ROK Espresso drinks work on precise data and quantity. You can keep notes of the proportion of the water used, or the weight of the coffee beans for making out espresso just the way you like it!
Getting the job done is not the only thing to focus, maintaining consistency is what matters.
As the popular Italian food chemist Ernesto Illy once quoted:
The quintessential expression of coffee is Espresso.
I have a couple of the older Roks with the plastic cup. Can i just replace that, which leaks all over, with the glass cup? Thanks