Secrets to Making a Great Latte at Home
You don’t need to buy a fancy machine to get a coffee-shop-caliber espresso drink
By Daniel Wroclawski
If you love a good latte, you’re probably used to frequenting your local cafe or Starbucks to get your espresso fix. But with inflation and rising prices, you might be looking to save some money on your high-end caffeine habit. One way to do that is to make your lattes at home. While that sounds like an expensive endeavor, you actually don’t need an expensive espresso maker or other fancy equipment to brew lattes at home.
To help you on your coffee crusade, we turned to the coffee taster who helps assess coffee makers in Consumer Reports’ tests for his secrets to making great lattes without all the extra equipment. (He’s an anonymous tester who tastes coffee for boutique and major coffee brands.)
Below, you’ll learn everything from the kinds of coffee beans to buy to frothing milk without a steam wand. And if after reading the steps you decide you’d like to upgrade to a coffee maker capable of making lattes after all, we’ve picked out the top models from our tests that turn out delicious espresso drinks lickety-split.
For more on our top-performing coffee makers, coffee grinders, and milk frothers, CR members can view our coffee maker ratings, coffee grinder ratings, and milk frother reviews.
Secret #1: Start With Whole Beans
Believe it or not, you don’t need to buy espresso beans. Medium-to-dark roast coffee that’s finely ground is great for lattes, says our coffee taste tester. Grind them fresh for each brew to get the most flavor, though. (Oxygen robs flavor from pre-ground beans.)
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Use a high-quality burr grinder like those in our coffee grinder ratings, or see our review of the best and worst burr coffee grinders. Our taste tester prefers Baratza grinders, and the Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder earns a Very Good rating for fine grind performance.
Whatever you do, don’t rely on a spice grinder. “If all you’ve got is a spice grinder, then using the pre-ground beans is probably going to give you a better cup,” our taste tester says. That’s because spice grinders use blades, which don’t yield as consistent a grind as burr grinders that actually crush the coffee beans.
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder
Secret #2: Use an Espresso Maker Alternative
Skip the expensive espresso maker and use an AeroPress ($30) or a moka pot ($30 to $70 for those made by the popular Italian brand Bialetti) to brew espresso. Both use pressure to force water through the coffee grounds, similar to a real espresso machine. They yield brews that taste pretty darn close to the real thing. (A regular coffee maker won’t yield as rich a brew.)
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With the AeroPress, you just put it over a mug and add fine coffee grounds and hot water. Then stir the water around for 10 seconds and use a plunger to slowly force the brew through the filter and into your mug.
Moka pots consist of three chambers that when heated on a stove force water through fine coffee grounds and a filter so you get espresso in the top chamber that you can pour out.
Secret #3: MacGyver Your Way to Frothed Milk
You don’t need an espresso maker’s steam wand to make foamed milk for your lattes. An affordable milk frother, such as the Aerolatte To-Go, $20, will do the trick. But if you don’t want to buy another appliance, you could also use a blender, hand mixer, or French press.
With a blender, simply pour warm milk into it and blend until you achieve your desired level of froth. The hand mixer method is similar; just pour warm milk into a bowl and aerate it. For the French-press method, our expert taste tester says to pour your warmed milk into the French press and pump it up and down repeatedly until you get a frothy milk.
Vitaliy Halenov
Best Coffee Makers for Lattes
You’d rather have a machine do all the work? Below are three of the best combination coffee/latte makers from our tests, all of which come with a milk frother. For more options, see our guide for the best combination coffee makers.
Keurig K-Café Special Edition Coffee, Latte & Cappuccino Maker K84
CR’s take: The Keurig K-Café Special Edition Coffee, Latte & Cappuccino Maker K84 uses K-Cup pods to brew coffee, lattes, and cappuccinos. It can even brew iced lattes and iced cappuccinos, but it lacks a mode for making traditional iced coffee. It’s admirably consistent in terms of brew size and temperature. It takes longer than the fastest models to heat up for the first cup, earning only a Good rating in that test, but it does better with subsequent cups. In addition to its built-in milk frother, this model comes with an auto-shutoff feature, a height-adjustable drip tray, and a removable water reservoir. But owners surveyed by CR gave Keurig coffee makers below-average marks for reliability.
Keurig K-Café Special Edition Coffee, Latte & Cappuccino Maker K84
Mr. Coffee Occasions Coffee and Espresso System 2092271
CR’s take: The Mr. Coffee Occasions Coffee and Espresso System 2092271 is a variant of the CR-tested Mr. Coffee Occasions BVMC-O-CT (a discontinued model). This coffee maker is a combination coffee and espresso machine with a twist: It can brew coffee from either fresh grounds or Keurig K-Cup pods. It also features a built-in milk frother, allowing you to whip up lattes and cappuccinos. It earns a Very Good rating for brew performance in CR’s tests. The appliance comes with a thermal carafe, a removable water reservoir and drip tray, a permanent filter, and automatic shutoff.
Mr. Coffee Occasions Coffee and Espresso System 2092271
Ninja Specialty CM401
CR’s take: A more affordable take on Ninja’s Coffee Bar brewers, the Ninja Specialty CM401 is a terrific all-in-one machine capable of brewing hot and iced coffee, lattes, macchiatos, and other specialty brews. In our tests, it receives an Excellent rating for brew performance, and its glass carafe is easy to hold and pour. This model is also packed with features, including an over-ice brew mode for iced coffee, a built-in milk frother, brew-strength control, and brew-size adjustment for everything from travel mugs to full carafes. It’s one of the most versatile coffee makers we’ve tested. For a Ninja brewer that can make cold brew and tea, check out the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System CP307. And for a versatile Ninja brewer that works with K-Cup pods, see the Ninja DualBrew Pro 12-Cup CFP301.
Ninja Specialty CM401
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