About the Cremina

The Cremina is one of the longest-running home espresso machines still in production. It is a single-boiler machine with no electric pump, operated entirely by hand: lifting the lever draws hot water into the piston chamber for pre-infusion, then lowering it pushes the water through the coffee. The barista controls the pressure, so there is no fixed pump curve and no programmable settings.

Build quality and history

Olympia Express was founded in Switzerland in 1928 and spent its first decades building commercial espresso machines for cafes and restaurants. It moved into the home market in 1961, and the Cremina as it exists today dates to 1967, when production was brought fully in-house. The design has changed very little since, which is why many machines from the 1970s and 1980s are still in daily use with little more than periodic gasket replacements.

The machine is still hand-assembled in Switzerland from durable materials throughout. The boiler is stainless steel, the brew group and portafilter are chromed and polished brass, the steam wand and nozzle are chrome steel, and the casing is finished with a hard-wearing powder coating and a polished steel front. Plastic is kept to a minimum, and nearly every wear part can be serviced or replaced, which is what gives the Cremina its decades-long working life. Both the New York Times and Neue Zürcher Zeitung have at various points described it as among the finest espresso machines made.

How it works and who it suits

Because you set the pressure by hand, the Cremina rewards practice and gives a tactile, repeatable result once you learn it. The boiler sits at a low standby pressure of roughly 0.7 to 0.8 bar (brewing temperature around 92 °C), and you reach the working pressure of about 9 bar through lever force and timing. It is built for quality over volume: it makes excellent single and double shots and steams milk for a drink or two, but it is not designed for back-to-back service at a busy household gathering.

Cremina vs. Cremina SL

Olympia Express sells two versions. This is the standard Cremina with a direct lever, where the force you feel is the actual brew pressure. The Cremina SL uses a spring-loaded group: you raise the lever to load a spring, and the spring delivers a steady descending pressure for you. Choose the direct lever for full manual control and feedback, or the SL for more hands-off consistency.

Specifications

Good to know

• The boiler is filled by hand through the top, not plumbed and not fed by a reservoir and pump.
• Since 2017, EU models include an automatic shut-off that cuts power after about an hour. Switching the machine off and on again resets the timer.
• Gaskets are a wear item and need occasional replacement, which is normal for a machine designed to last decades.