A super-automatic coffee maker for the preparation of espresso coffee, comprising an external box-shaped cupboard enclosing least one elongated vertical piston controllable by means of first motorised means from a raised position to a lowered position and vice versa; at least one boiler supplied by a water mains and provided with thermostatted heating elements to prepare water and steam heated to pre-set temperatures; at least one container containing coffee beans to be ground and associated with grinding means of the coffee beans, actuated by second motorised means, to prepare doses of ground coffee to be channelled downwards by means of channelling means (24, 25); pumping means and valves connected with said boiler and said water mains; means of selection of the machine operating cycles, incorporated into a control panel of the machine; and electronic control means powered by the electricity network and connected operatively with said heating elements, said pumping means, said valves, said selector means and said first and second motorised means (19, 23), so that, depending on the operating cycles respectively chosen by means of the selector means, said control means memorise the cycles and control the electric components of the machine to cause performance of said operating cycles, said collection and brewing means of each single dose of ground coffee, applicable in a removable way in the lower part of the coffee maker during the brewing step and removable from said lower part at the end of each brewing step, being arranged in an underlying position and corresponding with the one of said piston and at the lower part of said channelling means (24, 25) of the ground coffee, so as to receive the ground coffee channelled by said conveyor means and to supply the espresso coffee produced during brewing into a container beneath, and said piston being provided with at least one tube for circulation of the hot water coupled with said boiler by means of said valves and being shaped to adapt with its lower head with said means of collection and brewing, said piston being controllable during each operating cycle in its raised position, moved away from said collection and brewing means, to allow introduction into them of the ground coffee in said grinder, in the condition in which said valves are closed and the hot water does not circulate through said circulation pipe, and said piston being controllable in its lowered position so as to press with its lower head the ground coffee, with a pre-set pressure dependent upon the quality and flavour of the espresso coffee to be obtained; and after said pressing through said circulation pipe of said piston, hot water being made to circulate, by means of opening of said valves and insertion of said pumping means, to cause passage of the hot water through the ground coffee introduced into said collection and brewing means, and the consequent supply of the espresso coffee obtained into said container, said collection and brewing means being finally first removed from the lower part of the machine to detach the used pod from them and clean them manually, then being once again applied in the lower part of the machine, in the condition wherein said piston is once again moved into its raised position and wherein said valves and said pumping means are switched off to prepare the machine for a subsequent operating cycle, characterised in that said collection and brewing means comprise a filter - holder element, formed of a cup-shaped container fixed and supported by an elongated handle gripped by the operator, and provided with a perforated filter to contain the dose of ground coffee, said filter-holder element being positionable and removable with respect to an attachment element fixed in the machine, so that, in the operating position of the filter-holder element, said cup- shaped container is in an underlying position coinciding with the head of said piston, and, in the lowered position of the piston, that said head may be adapted in the chamber of said perforated filter, with interposition of means of hermetic sealing fixed with said head and serving to hermetically seal said chamber during the brewing step, and that said filter- holder element is removed from the machine at the end of each operating cycle, to remove the used pod and clean said element, and that said perforated filter is coupled at its bottom with a small spout-shaped tube for supply of the espresso coffee prepared.