Astra espresso machines are not the type of machines that you would use for ordinary everyday use in your personal kitchen. In fact, these are professional grade commercial espresso machines in every sense of the word. So if you’re looking to start a coffee shop or add an espresso machine to your restaurant, Astra may be just right for you.
These coffee machines come with all the bells and whistles you could ever hope for. “Feature packed” would definitely be how I would describe them. All Astra coffee machines come standard with self tampering and pre-infusion capabilities, automatic water fill, automatic low water shutoff switches that reset, a microprocessor controlled diagnostic system in case anything ever goes wrong, and an internal power breaker for even more safety.
Astra machines are basically broken down into four product lines. These include:
- The Gourmet Line
- The Mega Line
- Steam Machines
- Classic Style Machines
The Gourmet Line: these are very nice stainless steel machines that are sort of on the compact side, at least relatively speaking. You can expect to pay between $3000 and $4000 depending on the model. They each come with a 4.2 L boiler and an internal full-sized rotary vane pump and motor. Models include the gourmet auto, gourmet semi auto pourover, and gourmet auto pourover.
The Mega Line: these larger models are very nice looking and come equipped with restaurant sturdy legs. They range in price from $4000 up to $7000. These are great machines for coffee shops because of their high capacity (up to 720 cups per hour on some models). Models include the Astra Mega I through III.
Steam Machines: at between $2700 and $5000, these are again slightly compact machines but incredibly high quality machines that should require very low maintenance for years to come. They have full-sized motors and nickel plated boilers and fittings as well as a stainless steel bases and covers and rotary procon pumps.
Classic Style Machines: the workhorse of this line is the Mega II Cho. Basically this is a machine with fancy accessories to make it look neat or nostalgic with different finishing options. Basically you can have these options added to any mega machine series from the mega line but you’re going to expect to pay a lot of money for this option.
Where do you purchase Astra machines? You can’t really find these commercial machines in stores, you really need to contact the company or a distributor to flesh out your exact options as well as prices.
Astra Espresso Machines aren’t for everyone, and in fact they’re definitely not for home use unless you’ve got thousands of dollars burning a hole in your pocket. But if you’ve got a coffee shop or restaurant that caters to people who know a good cup of coffee or espresso, then they may be the exact coffee machines and espresso machines for you.