Trying to figure out what this is, how it works exactly and whether it qualifies as an espresso maker: https://www.ebay.com/itm/144679987031
Anyone ever try one? If so, what are they like?

They show an air pump in the first photo (that's not included in the sale) that's used to pressurize the top section where you put the water in to force it through the coffee grounds. There's a similar setup posted here that also runs off an air pump/compressor that's not included.

Any idea what this espresso machine is called?

Thanks. I thought it might be like that with a pump, although the instructions in the ad make no mention of a pump.

I'm skeptical about the one on eBay. The seller says to apply a flame to generate pressure. This isn't the way these things work, assuming what's on offer looks anything like the photo. It needs a pump. Also, it does not seem to be well priced, as the AliExpress one, which I think is likely the same thing, is about half the price. Anyway, assuming it does run at 8-9 bar, not on steam pressure as implied don eBay, it's certainly an "espresso maker".

I found the maker's site and an instructional video showing how to use this with a torch lighter or an external air pump. Looks like the eBay listing may be missing the stand and the Teela site shows possibly an optional glass water reserve tank on top of the base unit. I was not impressed with the appearance of the coffee produced by this device in the videos.

https://teela-audiophile.com/pressure-c ... p486802510

It's actually a kind of moka pot at 20x the price, just that moka pot most likely makes better coffee (though I don't like it)

For similar amount of money you have a choice of several manual machines that are well proven to be able to make a good espresso

I agree with Vit. At best, this is an expensive Moka pot. The whole thing is rather sketchy. In the first video, the operator appears to be demonstrating that one can either use compressed air or heat to extract the coffee. In both cases, the pressure was far below the norm for espresso. Using air and a finer grind, it may be possible to extract at a higher pressure, maybe even 8 or 9 bar, as the thing appears to be built like a tank. But, that brings me to another issue, heat. They poured hot water in on the first go. That water had to be instantly cooled way below a reasonable espresso extraction temperature by the massive metal structure. Then, it was reheated to an unknown temperature by the torch. When using air, there was no preheating of the machine, so that coffee had to be rather cold. I'm not at all impressed. Perhaps if I understood Vietnamese, I'd have understood better, but I doubt it

I expect the pressure gauge to blow up due to the flame irradiation of the torch.
Probably the target was not the espresso at all, anyway, good luck to the inventor.

Small modifications of this device would actually make an espresso machine out of it. Maybe he actually saw a photo of my home made device that I posted here 5-6 years ago and tried to do it batter, who knows ... and I think there was even a similar coffee maker that failed on the market

So, the the pump attachment should be moved to the side, so that you can put the chamber with water on the stove with flat surface and bring it to espresso range temperature. Then you screw on the basket, attach the pump, turn it around (some kind of handle should be also there), put it on that stand and apply the pressure with suitable pump (however, in espresso range)

Giampiero wrote:Probably the target was not the espresso at all, anyway, good luck to the inventor.

That was my thought given that the gauge only goes to 2bar.

He probably had fun making it but using that torch is kind of a Rube Goldberg way to make coffee. It makes me wonder if anyone has used explosives to brew a cup of mud.