How the symbiotic relationship between home baristas and cafés is key to the success of both, with each playing an essential role in the coffee experience.
While high-quality home coffee machines can produce café-level brews, they are not intended to replace the café experience – they are designed to complement it, according to Leon Wolf, Head of La Pavoni Australia.
He says there’s room for both. Coffee lovers can enjoy the freedom to experiment at home while still appreciating the skill of a professional barista.
“One doesn’t negate the other; instead, they complement each other,” says Leon.
He adds that being a home barista brings the joy of creativity and the satisfaction of crafting the perfect cup, while also allowing coffee enthusiasts to explore different beans and experiment with new techniques.
“But the experience doesn’t end there. Visiting a local café remains just as important – not only for enjoying expertly crafted coffee but also for discovering new flavours, exchanging tips with baristas, and soaking in the café atmosphere,” he says.
By striking the right balance between home brewing and café visits, coffee lovers can fully immerse themselves in the best of both worlds.
In this way, home machines and cafés work hand in hand, enhancing the overall coffee experience with community, barista expertise, and connection. In fact, Leon says the home barista plays an integral role in the broader coffee community and culture.
“What makes a home setup truly special is the ongoing learning you get from your local café, baristas, and coffee suppliers. When people spend time in a café, whether it’s observing, chatting with the barista, or reading coffee-related material, they’re absorbing valuable knowledge that they take home with them,” he says.
“This is why investing in a home setup doesn’t necessarily mean a loss for the café scene. In fact, it often means that customers will still visit cafés for that human connection and expert advice, reinforcing the overall coffee culture.”
Everyone is feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. Leon believes while the home barista sector is growing, the home setup won’t replace the ritual of a coffee run which is ingrained in Australian culture.
For those looking to upgrade their home setup, he recommends La Pavoni’s Cellini Evolution model as a great entry point for replicating a commercial coffee experience at home.
The La Pavoni Cellini Evolution offers a professional-grade coffee experience with a rotary pump, copper boilers, and an E61 group head, all features typically found in commercial machines. Unlike thermal block systems, which can require more frequent maintenance and have a shorter lifespan, the Cellini Evolution is built for longevity and consistent performance. Leon says its 58-millimetre portafilter enables home baristas to replicate the café experience more accurately than machines with smaller portafilters and thermal blocks.
And, because aesthetics can be just as important as the internal mechanisms for users, La Pavoni has taken note of the colours trending in kitchen interiors and has launched the model in a white design with timber finishes.
“This model is also ideal because it reduces the need for customers to make additional customisations – many people buying semi-professional machines want them customised, which can increase costs. We’ve ensured the Cellini Evolution comes pretty much ready to go, with those features included out of the box,” he says.
From a cost perspective, Leon suggests domestic baristas can offset the price of a home machine by cutting back on one daily café visit.
“The beauty of investing in a home coffee setup is that, when you consider the cost of replacing just one café coffee a day, say, a $6 cup, it quickly becomes clear how worthwhile it is. With a $3500 investment in a home machine, that equates to about 582 cups of coffee, which would take roughly a year and a half to pay off. Plus, the machine comes with a two-year manufacturer’s warranty, so you’ll have fully covered the cost of the machine within that period. After that, every cup you make is essentially money saved,” says Leon.
While a home setup offers financial benefits and the freedom to experiment, he says it can’t replace the sense of community found in a café. Leon recalls a visit to a popular café in Melbourne on a Tuesday morning, where the energy was palpable: customers were picking up trays of coffee at 6.30am and baristas were sharing their expertise.
“It was a fantastic example of café culture in action,” he says. “Ultimately, investing in a home coffee machine doesn’t mean giving up the café experience, it simply adds another dimension to a coffee lover’s journey.”
Beyond the $6 a day savings, these machines are designed for efficiency and are not typically left on all day. For instance, the Cellini Evolution uses only 1400 watts of power, which is under 10 amps. And since grinders consume very little power compared to the coffee machine itself, from an energy consumption perspective, Leon says it’s a relatively low-cost investment.
“If you’re only using it for about 30 to 45 minutes a day, the cost of running it is quite minimal. At most, it could cost around $1.20 to $1.50, depending on your energy rates,” he says.
Although there may be a learning curve for home users going from heaping instant coffee into a cup to extracting their own shots, La Pavoni is easing consumers into the process with newly launched pre-purchase and post-purchase coffee classes in the company’s Collingwood showroom in Melbourne, which are held twice a month.
The pre-purchase coffee class is for people who are considering investing in a home coffee machine. In this one-hour class, La Pavoni will walk them through the different types of machines, the components, and what it takes to make a great cup of coffee.
“Our goal is to help guide them past just buying an entry-level machine, like a pod or fully automatic machine, and show them the benefits of learning the craft of making coffee,” says Leon.
Then, for the post-purchase support, if someone has bought a machine and is having trouble setting it up or using it properly, they can come into the showroom for dedicated support sessions.
“We’ll set aside days for this, where we’ll walk them through important steps like adjusting the grind, getting the right dose in the portafilter, and understanding the difference between a single shot and a double shot. We find that a lot of people still don’t fully understand these basic coffee-making principles, and that’s where we can step in and offer valuable hands-on guidance,” he says.
But ultimately, Leon says it’s the education from the café – the conversations and insights shared by the barista – that makes it the ultimate education hub, keeping coffee lovers coming back. Many customers may not know the difference between a long black, americano, or piccolo, and when baristas take the time to explain, it deepens their appreciation for the coffee.
“This exchange of knowledge makes people more likely to invest in their own home setups while still relying on the café for guidance, which creates a balanced relationship,” says Leon.
“A lot of cafés serve as community hubs. That’s something a home coffee setup can’t replace: the human connection, the conversations, and the culture. This is why there must be a balance between home brewing and café visits. Both serve different but equally important purposes.”
For more information, visit lapavoni.com
This article appears in the April/May 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
