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Can You Make Tea In An Espresso Machine?

Can You Make Tea In An Espresso Machine?

So you just bought yourself an espresso machine, but wonder if you can make more than just espresso. Not that there's anything wrong with a great espresso! It’s just nice to know that you can get more out of a “one drink” machine. Because you may not want espresso everyday, maybe sometime you’d like to drink some great tea too!

Can you make tea in an espresso machine? Yes! You simply need a few things to make it work. Artificially Awake says you’ll need the espresso machine, portafilter, grinder and tea leaves.

Grind up the tea leaves into little particles and put them in the portafilter before brewing the tea. You might find some crema atop the tea, but it will taste fresh and like you had steeped it.

Given that making tea can be so easy, feel free to try it with your own espresso machine. There are even cafes that are using espresso machines to make their tea, or even tea lattes because of how quickly it brews.

Plus it tastes like you put the time into making the tea. So, why not give yourself the option to make such a great drink at home, too? 

 

What Espresso Machine Works Best? 

You can essentially use any espresso machine to make tea! It just matters how you put the tea into the machine. An espresso machine takes finely ground coffee grounds, so be sure your tea leaves are also finely ground. This will prevent messing up your machine as well as getting the best taste out of the leaves.

It may take a few tries to get the exact taste you’re looking for, but it will be well worth it! One of the machines that works well with rooibos and black tea tests is the Capresso EC PRO Espresso Machine. It’s pressurized portafilter provides a smooth and strong tea taste in a little over a minute of brewing time.

It will be a learning process to get the right flavor down. The espresso machine can make the tea leaves flavor weaker if brewed with too few tea leaves or if the leaves aren’t ground finely enough.

Don’t be discouraged if your first cup is pretty weak in flavor, or you need to add some sweetener or syrup to pump it up. You’ll get it with practice!

 

Is It Easy To Do? 

That depends on your definition of easy. It is easy once the tea leaves are ground and you are used to using your espresso machine.

If you just bought your machine and are still learning how it all works, it may be a bit harder for you. You will also need to clean the brew head and the basket that goes into the portafilter.

So, if you go between tea and coffee often it can be a pain to have to clean it thoroughly to make sure the flavors don’t mix. You’ll need to be more thorough with a tea that has a strong flavor, because it will linger longer.

Same with strong coffee or flavored coffee. If you aren’t deterred by cleaning the machine often, feel free to enjoy all the coffee and drinks!

Check out this brief video on how to make tea with an espresso machine!

 

What Kind of Tea Can You Brew?

You can make an assortment of teas and even tea lattes if you so choose while using your espresso machine. A couple of examples are:

  • Matcha tea
  • Green Tea
  • Black Tea
  • Chai Tea
  • Decaf Tea

All of these can be turned into tea lattes if you add milk. You can also make the iced teas by adding ice to the drinks in the summertime. So not only do you get tea whenever you want it, you can make alterations to that tea to make it better. If you get tea leaves it will be fresher, but you will have to grind them down to fit into your machine.

If you aren’t sure how to make these teas, or just like to follow recipes to make sure you’ll do it correctly, check out this website. It offers great recipes for all sorts of tea drinks you can try with your espresso machine!

 

Summary

We’ve discussed that tea can be brewed with your espresso machine and how well it can turn out. It can be a fun and quick experience that you can do at home for yourself or with others.

It may take some time to clean afterward, especially if you switch between drinking tea and coffee often.

But it will be worth the extra work when you come to find how versatile your espresso machine can be when it comes to making tea or tea drinks.

It’ll be a learning process when you first start, but once you pick up on it you’ll be brewing great quality homemade tea whenever the need arises. Enjoy!