Affetto is on the expensive side, and as an automated machine it can be finicky. Just make sure it’s topped up with water and beans and that you regularly clean the container of used dirt and it works like a dream.
Most convenient, easiest cleanup
We love this machine. It’s the best Keurig we’ve used (8/10, WIRED recommends) and has the best frother of any machine tested for this guide. Although the K-Café doesn’t technically make espresso shots (the K-cup system doesn’t put its grounds under any pressure), it still makes a delicious “espresso-style” 2-ounce shot that can taste almost as good strong, but without the crema you might want.
The real magic is the frother. It has three settings – cold, latte and cappuccino – and froths milk to perfection at the touch of a button. When it’s done, you simply pour your milk with the spout on the side. The jug is made of stainless steel and the plastic spinner comes right off, making cleanup as easy as a quick run under the tap. It was so easy to use and clean that I sometimes frothed milk with it even when using other machines to make my espresso. I liked it so much that I didn’t even mind that the spout on the frother was designed for right-handed people. This lefty was happy to adapt.
While Keurig’s single-use coffee pods were previously tough on recycling systems, they are now 100 percent recyclable. Unfortunately, the world’s recycling infrastructure is in a bit of a crisis, so for guilt-free sips, it’s better to stick with Keurig’s reusable coffee filters; we suggest you stick to the branded items as we have found the cheaper dupes to be unreliable.
Best handheld milk frothers
Sometimes making a full latte or cappuccino using an automated machine can be time-consuming. Not to mention sometimes everything you really want is frothy milk. This is where milk frothers come into the picture. These machines blow air into milk or milk substitutes to get that lovely creamy foam.
Most frothers make a stiff froth that sits on top of the milk, which isn’t great for lattes or cappuccinos. Properly textured milk is creamy, light, airy and never stiff or separated. That’s why our current favorite is Nanofoamer from Subminimal.
A treasure on Kickstarter, Nanofoamer is now a real product. It looks like a very small hand blender, which is more or less what it is. It has two different screens that fit over the blade: one for fine-textured milk and another for ultra-fine-textured milk. The difference is subtle, but the fine filter creates milk that is one little bubbles more than the ultrafine filter. The filters allow the Nanofoamer to do what baristas do with a steam wand: It textures your milk for the perfect, creamy top.
Questions and answers
Photo: Jeffrey Van Camp
How we tested each machine
The key here is automation. We wanted to test machines that make you a cup of coffee with a single push, or as close to it as possible. So the products on this list are mostly of the automatic and semi-automatic variety. You fill them up and they do all the hard work – or most of it anyway.
Setup and cleanup were especially important, as was durability. The whole point of a device like these is to save time and energy and/or produce a higher quality drink than can be made without it, so we didn’t recommend products that didn’t produce tasty espresso and save time.
Which beans should you buy?
Even if you don’t make espresso, the first and best thing you can do to dramatically improve your morning coffee is to buy locally roasted beans. Plug your city or region and “locally roasted coffee beans” into Google and you’ll be glad you did. The reason your locally roasted coffee will taste worlds better than anything you’d buy from a major coffee roaster (like Starbucks, Illy, or Gevalia) is simple: Coffee only grows in a few areas of the world, and it starts to lose flavor the moment it is fried.
Try to avoid brands that advertise their European origin. Coffee doesn’t grow in Italy or France or any other part of Europe, so you’ll always be buying beans roasted thousands of miles away that spent an unknown amount of time in transit before reaching you. Even if you’ve ordered a bag of killer coffee beans from (and roasted in) a coffee-producing region of the world, it won’t arrive until the flavor starts to turn. Trust me, buy from a local burner. You won’t regret it. For some of our favorite mail order brands, see our roundup of the best coffee subscription services.
What else do you need?
Ground coffee: If you haven’t made espresso before and you don’t have access to a coffee grinder, we still recommend buying locally roasted beans. Just ask your barista for a fine (espresso) grind. We tried a lot of ground espresso blends from popular companies like Lavazza, Gevalia and Café Bustelo. They were all very dark and very bitter, in part because they are all either imported or roasted in large batches and shipped all over the world. Grinding coffee is another thing that causes it to start breaking down. Use your freshly ground, locally roasted beans within two weeks or you’ll be drinking dark, bitter, sour, and kind of funky coffee. Our roundup of The best coffee grinders can also provide some guidance here.
Distributor & Tamp: Many machines come with a plastic tamp, but few come with a proper distributor and tamp. You’ll need to check the size of your portafilter (it will be in your machine’s instruction manual), but this combo distributor and tamp is a good choice for most machines.