Our Team

The Mechanics Behind the Extraction

Marketing departments sell you a feeling. We show you the brass, steel, and circuitry inside the box. Espresso Tech Guide exists to bridge the gap between glossy brochures and operational reality. We tear down espresso machines. We measure burr tolerances. We rebuild rotary pumps. You can’t engineer the perfect extraction without understanding the exact mechanical limits of your hardware.

Coffee hardware requires brutal honesty.

We built this team because we kept running into the same blind spots in manufacturer manuals. We saw users destroying expensive equipment through simple maintenance errors. We watched companies hide cheap plastic fittings inside premium steel casings. Our team brings decades of hands-on, bench-level experience to every review, teardown, and maintenance guide we publish.

Meet the Team

Tibor Mondok, Lead Technical Editor

Tibor Mondok runs the floor at Roastar Zrt. as Plant Manager. He spends his days diagnosing failed solenoids, realigning flat burrs, and managing the after-sales service for commercial-grade espresso equipment. He knows exactly why a machine fails after three weeks of heavy use. He fixes the problems that manufacturers ignore.

Tibor brings a dual perspective to Espresso Tech Guide. He understands the deep mechanical intricacies of brewing equipment. He also pulls shots as an accomplished barista. He frequently represents his team at international trade fairs. This means he knows the math behind the extraction and the mechanics behind the pump. He translates complex engineering concepts into practical maintenance routines. You can view his professional background on LinkedIn.

Matteo Varese, Grinder Dynamics Researcher

Matteo spent four years machining custom burr carriers for specialty cafes. He analyzes particle size distribution. He tests grinder retention down to the tenth of a gram. Matteo cuts through the noise of marketing claims to tell you exactly how a grinder performs under the friction of back-to-back morning rushes.

Elara Vance, Boiler Maintenance Specialist

Scale kills espresso machines.

Elara maps water profiles against boiler degradation to stop that from happening. She writes our descaling protocols and teardown guides. She spent six years refurbishing heat exchange and dual boiler machines. She knows exactly which valves corrode first and how to prevent it.

Our Editorial Standards

We refuse to publish rewritten press releases. Our testing methodology is entirely physical. We buy the gear. We run it hard. We open the casing. Every piece of content adheres to strict operational rules:

• No theoretical reviews. We test actual production models. We ignore cherry-picked prototypes.
• Component-level analysis. We check the wiring harnesses, verify pump pressure claims, and measure actual temperature stability at the group head.
• Zero brand interference. We don’t accept sponsored reviews. We don’t let brands dictate our testing parameters.

Three years of testing. Zero shortcuts. Real results.

If a thermal block is cheap, we say so. If a two thousand dollar machine uses plastic fittings on high-pressure lines, we photograph them. We hold manufacturers accountable for their build quality. Every guide on this site undergoes strict technical review by Tibor before publication.

Get in Touch

We want to hear about your hardware failures. If you found a flaw in a popular grinder or need clarification on a teardown guide, reach out. We read every technical inquiry. We reply within 48 hours. Send your questions to our technical desk via our contact page. Let us help you keep your machine running.