Best Tools to Make Perfect Espresso at Home
Make authentic espresso and cappuccino at home with this clever coffee maker and the right accessories
By Paul Hope and Daniel Wroclawski
Do you love the taste of freshly brewed espresso? If you’d like to make it part of your morning coffee habit but you aren’t quite ready to drop hundreds of dollars on a countertop espresso maker, a stovetop brewer is a great (and affordable) alternative. Water boils in the base of the carafe, creating steam, which forces the water through the grounds above and into the top of the carafe, where it’s ready to pour. We love the classic option from Bialetti, the Italian company that first built these brilliantly simple appliances in the 1930s. New models from other companies work the same way but offer updated designs and finishes.
Of course, a great brewer is only part of the equation. Using the right proportion of properly ground beans is key. And unless you’re drinking a pot or more a day, you’ll want to invest in a good burr coffee grinder, which allows you to grind fresh beans for each batch and properly store them, whole, in the interim. If you find the taste of plain espresso too bold or you want to whip up lattes, cappuccinos, and macchiatos, you’ll also need a milk frother.
Ready to get your caffeine on? Consumer Reports has you covered. Read on for our experts’ top brewer, grinders, and frothers for making espresso-based drinks at home.
Stovetop Espresso Maker
Bialetti Moka Express 6-Cup Stovetop Espresso Maker
Price: From $35
Where to buy: Amazon, Sur La Table, Target, Walmart
This Italian icon hasn’t changed much in the 70 years since its debut. The company claims the octagonal aluminum body is the perfect heat diffuser—whether that’s true or not, it does boil quickly. And our experts felt that the shape makes it exceptionally easy to screw together, which is critical for getting a tight seal to contain the steam needed for delicious espresso. Bravissimo!
Electric Burr Coffee Grinders
Here are three of the best burr coffee grinders from our tests. For more options, see our coffee grinder ratings.
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder
CR’s take: The Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder performs well in our tests, especially when it comes to coarse- and fine-ground coffee; it’s a great choice if you prefer cold brew or espresso. However, it doesn’t do as well with medium grind, which is ideal for drip machines. This machine was very easy to clean and convenient to use but is somewhat noisy. And though the Baratza allows for a lot of precision with 40 individual grind settings, it’s more expensive than the other models here and lacks many features the other grinders have, such as the ability to select a preset number of cups and an auto-stop feature to halt grinding after a certain number of cups or minutes.
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder
Bodum Bistro Electric Burr Coffee Grinder
CR’s take: The Bodum Bistro Electric Burr Coffee Grinder earns solid scores in all our grind performance tests, including an Excellent rating for coarse grind performance (great for cold-brew and French-press coffee). This model is easy to clean but not as convenient to use as other top-performing models, due to unclear markings on its controls. The Bodum is also one of the two noisiest grinders in our tests—we’re talking loud enough that constant exposure over a long period of time could cause hearing loss. But because you’re using your coffee grinder for only a minute or two at a time, it’s more of an annoyance than a health issue. This model features 12 grind settings, an auto-stop feature, and a timer.
Bodum Bistro Electric Burr Coffee Grinder
Oxo Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
CR’s take: The Oxo Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder is a fantastic grinder and one of the more affordable models that does well in our tests. It receives strong scores in our grind performance tests, making it a good choice for any brew method you want to use. It also earns a Very Good rating for convenience, thanks to its clearly marked and easy-to-use controls. Our testers find it extremely easy to clean, too, because it has a removable hopper. This Oxo is a bit noisy, but nothing like the Bodum above. It features 15 grind settings, a 12-ounce bean hopper (one of the largest), an auto-stop feature, and a timer.
Oxo Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
Milk Frothers
Here are three top-tier milk frothers from our at-home review. For more options, see our evaluation of the best milk frothers.
Nespresso Aeroccino4
Price: From $120
Where to buy: Amazon, Crate & Barrel, Nespresso
Sometimes you do get what you pay for, and when it comes to versatility, this old adage seems to be true for the Nespresso Aeroccino4. This carafe-style frother is the most expensive of the models we reviewed, and it’s the only one that handled just about every type (and temperature) of milk well. The Nespresso has four modes: cold macchiato, hot milk, cappuccino, and latte macchiato. The cold macchiato and (hot) latte macchiato modes worked the best across the four types of milk we tried to froth.
Aerolatte To-Go
Price: From $20
Where to buy: Amazon, Walmart, Williams Sonoma
The Aerolatte To-Go is one of the most popular frothers on the market, and we can see why. It’s able to whip up plenty of foam across the milks we tried, and it’s a breeze to clean. The Aerolatte doesn’t include directions for frothing cold milk, but it didn’t have a problem frothing hot or cold, plant or dairy. Because it’s handheld, there is a bit of a learning curve to using it. But once you get the hang of it, the handheld, cordless design of the frother makes it easy to move around the cup or glass and froth the remaining liquid milk.
Instant Milk Frother
Price: From $38
Where to buy: Amazon, Instant, JCPenney, Walmart
While the Instant Milk Frother isn’t as versatile as the Nespresso Aeroccino4, it also costs a quarter of the price. That alone makes it worth considering, provided you don’t care to froth cold whole milk or warm soy milk. For some reason, this frother didn’t work that well with those specific types/temperatures of milk, but it did well with the rest. Like the Nespresso, the Instant also offers four modes: cold foam, warm foam, warm thick foam, and warm no foam. Of the two warm foam modes, the regular warm foam mode seemed to perform better across the different milk types, yielding froth that’s easier to pour (helpful if you want to try making latte art).
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