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Making coffee-quality espresso with a home coffee maker used to take a lot of practice, but the best new models have made it so much easier. What’s more, you can get a machine that can make great drinks for less than $1,000. After over 120 hours of research and testing, we have concluded that the Breville Bambino Plus is the best choice for beginners and intermediate enthusiasts. Powerful and easy to use, it produces consistent, rich portions and vaporizes milk with the perfect texture. Bambino Plus also has a sleek and compact design so it fits perfectly in most kitchens.
Quick and easy to use, this powerful little espresso machine will impress beginners and experienced baristas alike with consistent espresso shots and silky milk foam.
Breville Bambino Plus is simple, fast and pleasant to use. It allows you to prepare really delicious espresso at home. The user manual is easy to follow and with a little practice you should be able to take clear and consistent photos and even capture some of the nuances of a great roast. Perhaps most impressive is the Bambino Plus’ ability to produce silky milk foam that can rival your favorite barista, whether you’re using its ultra-fast automatic milk froth setting or manual frothing. Bambino Plus is also compact, so it will easily fit into any kitchen.
This affordable machine can produce amazingly complex shots, but it struggles to froth milk and looks a little dated. Best suited for those who drink mostly pure espresso.
The Gaggia Classic Pro is an updated version of the Gaggia Classic that has been a popular entry-level machine for decades thanks to its easy-to-use design and ability to make decent espresso. Although the Classic Pro steam wand is an improvement over the Classic, it is still less accurate than the Breville Bambino Plus. It also struggles to froth milk with a velvety texture (although this can be done with a little practice). First, the Pro isn’t as easy to pick up as our top pick, but it does produce shots with more nuance and acidity, and often more intense foam (video). If you prefer pure espresso, this advantage may outweigh the disadvantage of Gaggia.
Stylish and powerful, the Barista Touch features excellent programming and a built-in grinder, allowing beginners to prepare a variety of coffee-quality espresso drinks at home with minimal learning curve.
The Breville Barista Touch offers an extensive guide in the form of a touch screen control center with step-by-step instructions and multiple programs, making it ideal for beginners. But it also includes advanced controls and allows manual operation for more advanced users and those who want to get creative. It has a built-in premium coffee grinder as well as an adjustable automatic milk froth setting that allows you to control the amount of foam produced. If you want a machine that you can jump into right away and start making decent drinks without having to watch tons of how-to videos online, the Touch is a great choice. Even guests can easily walk up to this machine and make themselves a drink. But those with more experience are less likely to get bored; you can more or less control every step in the preparation process. The Barista Touch is as constant as the smaller Breville Bambino Plus, but more powerful, making well-balanced coffee and milk foam with ease.
A sleek, fun machine for those who want to hone their skills and experiment more, the Ascaso makes the best espresso machine we’ve tested, but it takes some practice to get the hang of it.
The Ascaso Dream PID is an elegant and very compact coffee machine that consistently produces professional grade espresso drinks. If you’re a little espresso savvy and want an easy-to-use coffee maker that can withstand extended practice, Dream PID offers the perfect combination of ease of programming and hands-on experience. We found it to produce very rich and complex espresso flavors – better than any other machine we’ve tested – with very little change in quality over a few rounds, unless we deliberately changed our settings. The steam wand is also capable of churning milk to the desired texture (if you make the effort to learn how to use it as there is no automatic setting), resulting in a latte that is creamy yet still rich. This is the first machine we’d recommend for more than $1,000, but we think it’s worth it: the Ascaso is a pleasure, and overall it makes better quality espresso than the competition.
Quick and easy to use, this powerful little espresso machine will impress beginners and experienced baristas alike with consistent espresso shots and silky milk foam.
This affordable machine can produce amazingly complex shots, but it struggles to froth milk and looks a little dated. Best suited for those who drink mostly pure espresso.
Stylish and powerful, the Barista Touch features excellent programming and a built-in grinder, allowing beginners to prepare a variety of coffee-quality espresso drinks at home with minimal learning curve.
A sleek, fun machine for those who want to hone their skills and experiment more, the Ascaso makes the best espresso machine we’ve tested, but it takes some practice to get the hang of it.
As a former head barista with 10 years of experience in major coffee shops in New York and Boston, I know what it takes to make the perfect espresso and latte, and I understand that even the most experienced barista can face obstacles in order to make the perfect mug. Over the years, I’ve also learned to recognize subtle variations in coffee flavor and milk texture, skills that have come in handy through many iterations of this guide.
While reading this guide, I read articles, blog posts, and reviews from coffee experts, and watched product demo videos from sites like Seattle Coffee Gear and Whole Latte Love (which also sell espresso machines and other coffee equipment). For our 2021 update, I interviewed ChiSum Ngai and Kalina Teo from Coffee Project NY in New York. It started as a standalone coffee shop but has grown into an educational roasting and coffee company with three additional offices – Queens is home to the Premier Training Campus, the state’s only specialty coffee association. In addition, I have interviewed other top baristas as well as product experts in the Breville drinks category for previous updates. This guide is also based on earlier work by Cale Guthrie Weisman.
Our choice for those who love a good espresso and want a solid home setup that combines the convenience of automation with modest skill development. Those who know about espresso by visiting third wave coffee shops or reading a few coffee blogs will be able to use our selection to develop their skills. Those who might be overwhelmed by coffee jargon should also be able to navigate these machines. If you’re familiar with the basics of grinding, dosing, and compacting, you’ll already be practicing the basic components of what baristas call “espresso brewing.” (More advanced users can start adjusting the brew time and boiler temperature if their machine allows these settings.) For more instructions, see our getting started guide on how to make espresso at home.
Making a good espresso takes some practice and patience. Here is our guide.
Regardless of the complexity and power of a particular model, it takes some time to get used to the process of the machine. Factors such as the temperature of your kitchen, the date your coffee was roasted, and your familiarity with different roasts can also affect your results. Making really delicious drinks at home takes a certain amount of patience and discipline, and it’s worth knowing before you decide to buy a machine. However, if you read the manual and take some time to appreciate how good your shots are, you will quickly become familiar with the use of any of our picks. If you are a coffee drinker, taking part in cupping tests and experimenting with brewing methods, you can invest in a machine that is much more expensive than the upgrade options we offer for enthusiasts.
Our main goal was to find an affordable and affordable espresso machine that would satisfy both beginners and intermediate users (even veterans like me). At a basic level, an espresso machine works by forcing pressurized hot water through finely ground coffee beans. The water temperature must be correct, between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature is much lower, your espresso will be under-extracted and diluted with water; hotter, and it can be over-extracted and bitter. And the pressure must be constant so that the water flows evenly over the ground for consistent extraction.
There are three different types of coffee machines (with the exception of capsule machines like the Nespresso, which just mimic espresso) that give you more or less control over the process:
When deciding which semi-autonomous machines to test, we focused on models that fit the needs and budget of beginners, but we also looked at some models that would leave room for more advanced skills. (In the years since we started writing this guide, we’ve tested machines ranging in price from $300 to over $1,200). We favor models with quick set-ups, comfortable handles, smooth transitions between stages, powerful steam wands and an overall feeling of solidity and reliability. Ultimately, we looked for the following criteria in our research and testing:
We have only looked at single boiler models where the same boiler is used to heat the espresso water and steam pipes. It takes a while to warm up on lower models, but the technology is advanced enough that there was almost no waiting between steps in our two selections. While dual-boiler models allow you to extract shot and steam milk at the same time, we haven’t seen any model under $1,500. We don’t think most beginners will need this option as it requires multitasking, which is usually only needed in a coffee shop environment.
We focused on heaters that provide consistency and speed as these elements add a fun and easy rhythm to what promises to be a daily ritual. To do this, some machines (including all Breville models) are equipped with PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controllers that help regulate the boiler temperature for a more even butt spray. (Seattle Coffee Gear, which sells espresso machines with and without PID control, made a great video explaining how a PID control can help maintain a more even temperature than a conventional thermostat.) It’s worth noting that the Breville model we recommended, also has a ThermoJet heater that makes the machine heat up surprisingly quickly and can switch between pulling shots and steaming milk; Some drinks take a little over a minute from start to finish.
The pump of an espresso machine must be powerful enough to properly prepare espresso from well-packaged, finely ground coffee. And the steam pipe must be powerful enough to form a velvety milk foam without large bubbles.
Boiling milk properly with a home espresso machine can be tricky, so choosing to froth milk manually or automatically is a welcome bonus for beginners (provided the machine can mimic professional barista standards). Automatic foam has a real difference in texture and temperature, which is great for those who can’t do it manually at first. However, with a sharp eye and the sensitivity of the palm to the angle and temperature of the steam pot, as well as the skill developed in manual use, one can better distinguish the exact nuances of milk drinks. So while both of our Breville picks offer excellent automatic inflation procedures, we don’t see this as a deal breaker that our other picks don’t.
Many machines come pre-programmed with single or double pull settings. But you may find that your favorite coffee is brewed less or longer than the factory settings allow. Your best bet is to use your judgment and stop the extraction manually. However, once you’ve dialed in your favorite espresso, it’s nice to be able to reset the brew volume accordingly. This can help simplify your daily life, as long as you continue to carefully monitor the process of grinding, dosing and tamping. It is also important to be able to override preset or saved settings if your coffee is extracted differently or if you are using a different blend of coffee beans. (Probably more than you need to worry about when you’re just starting out, but you can quickly tell by repeating if you’re hitting the ball faster or slower than usual.)
All models we tested came with double wall baskets (also known as pressure baskets) which are more resistant to mismatches than traditional single wall baskets. The double-walled filter only squeezes out the espresso through one hole in the center of the basket (rather than many perforations), ensuring that the ground espresso is fully saturated within the first few seconds of hot water delivery. This helps prevent unbalanced extraction that can occur if the coffee is unevenly ground, dosed or compacted, causing water to flow as quickly as possible to the weakest point in the espresso washer.
Many of the models we tested also come with a traditional single-walled mesh basket, which is harder to get hold of, but produces a more dynamic shot that better reflects the settings you make to your grind setting. For beginners interested in learning, we prefer machines that use both double and single wall baskets.
Based on these criteria, we tested 13 models over the years, ranging in price from $300 to $1,250.
Because this guide is for beginners, we put a lot of emphasis on accessibility and speed. I worry less about whether I can take stunning, character photos and more about consistent retrieval and intuitive ease of use. I have tested all espresso machines and found that any problems I encounter are a real disappointment for the inexperienced.
To get a better idea of what each machine is capable of, I took over 150 photos for our 2021 update using Hayes Valley espresso blends from Blue Bottle and Heartbreaker from Café Grumpy. (We also included the Stumptown Hair Bender in our 2019 update.) This helped us evaluate each machine’s ability to brew different beans well, brew specific roasts and grind in sequence, and crafting tips. Each roast promises more unique flavor shots. For the 2021 tests, we used Baratza Sette 270 ground coffee; in previous sessions we have used both the Baratza Encore and the Baratza Vario, with the exception of testing two Breville grinders with built-in grinders (for more information on grinders, see Choosing a grinder). I didn’t expect any espresso machine to replicate the experience of the commercial Marzocco, the model you’ll come across in most high-end coffee shops. But if the shots are often spicy or sour or taste like water, that’s a problem.
We also noticed how easy it is to switch from spinning to milk making on each machine. In total, I steamed gallons of whole milk, used both manual and automatic settings, and poured in plenty of cappuccinos (dry and wet), flat whites, lattes, standard proportion macchiatos and corts, and more to see how easy it is to make what you want. milk foam level. (Clive Coffee does an excellent job of explaining how all of these drinks are different.) In general, we’re looking for machines that produce silky foam, not big foam like a pile of foam on top of hot milk. What we hear matters too: Steam wands that deliver a smooth sound rather than an obnoxious hissing sound have more power, foam faster, and produce better quality microbubbles.
Quick and easy to use, this powerful little espresso machine will impress beginners and experienced baristas alike with consistent espresso shots and silky milk foam.
Of all the models we tested, the Breville Bambino Plus proved to be one of the easiest to use. Its steady jet and ability to efficiently froth fine milk foam make it the most powerful, reliable, and fun machine we’ve tested for under $1,000. It comes with a steam pot large enough for a latte, a handy tamper and two double-walled baskets for pens. Set up is easy, and despite the small size of the Bambino Plus, it has a 1.9 liter water tank (slightly smaller than the 2 liter tank on larger Breville machines) that can fire about a dozen shots before you need will refill.
The beauty of Bambino Plus lies in its combination of simplicity and unexpected strength, accentuated by a rather elegant aesthetic. Thanks to PID control (which helps regulate the water temperature) and a fast-acting Breville ThermoJet heater, the Bambino can maintain a constant temperature for multiple jets and requires virtually no waiting time between blasting and switching to the steam wand. We were able to make a complete drink from grind to sizzle in less than a minute, faster than most other models we’ve tested.
The Bambino Plus pump is powerful enough to draw medium to very fine powder (not very fine powder, but certainly finer than can be separated individually). In contrast, models that don’t cut will fluctuate in pressure with each shot, making it difficult to determine the ideal grinder setting.
The Bambino Plus has automatic single and double shot presets, but you will need to program them to suit your requirements. Figuring out the ideal grind size to use on this machine was relatively easy and only took a few minutes of fiddling. After a few full-bodied cups at my preferred grind, I was able to reset the dual brew program to brew just under 2 ounces in 30 seconds—ideal settings for a good espresso. I was able to repeatedly achieve the same volume even during subsequent tests. This is a good indication that Bambino Plus maintains the same pressure every time you brew coffee, which means that once you reduce the dose and fineness of the coffee grounds, you can get very consistent results. All three of the blended espressos we used came out well on this machine, and at times the brew offered some nuance beyond the slightly earthy dark chocolate flavor. At its best, Bambino is similar to Breville Barista Touch, producing toffee, roasted almond and even dried fruit flavored shots.
For dairy drinks, the Bambino Plus steam wand creates delicious, even foam at incredible speed, ensuring the milk doesn’t overheat. (Overheated milk will lose its sweetness and prevent frothing.) The pump regulates the aeration in such a way as to provide an even rate, so beginners do not have to worry about manual power control. The steam wand is a clear step up from older entry-level models like the Breville Infuser and Gaggia Classic Pro. (Among the models we tested, only the Breville Barista Touch snorkel had significantly more power, although the snorkel on the Ascaso Dream PID has more power when first turned on, but then tapers off to allow more movement to tilt the milk jug.) The difference between a Bambino Plus steam wand and a steam wand Gaggia Classic Pro are especially cool; The Bambino Plus comes close to replicating the control and precision that professional baristas have mastered on commercial models.
Those with some experience should be able to steam milk by hand in much the same way as a trained barista on a professional machine. But there’s also a really nice auto steam option that lets you adjust the milk temperature and froth to one of three levels. While I prefer manual steaming for more control, the automatic settings are surprisingly accurate, and are useful for making large quantities of drinks quickly or if you’re a beginner looking to improve your latte art skills.
The Bambino Plus manual is easy to understand, well illustrated, full of helpful tips and has a dedicated troubleshooting page. This is a great basic resource for absolute beginners and anyone who is afraid of getting bogged down in mediocre espresso.
The Bambino also has some thoughtful design features like a removable water tank and an indicator that pops up when the drip tray is full so you don’t flood the counter. Of particular note is the steam wand’s self-cleaning function, which removes milk residue from the steam wand when you return it to the upright standby position. Bambino also comes with a two year warranty.
Overall, the Bambino Plus impresses with its size and price. During testing, I shared a few results with my wife, who is also a former barista, and she was impressed with the well-balanced espresso and excellent texture of the milk. I was able to make cortados with real milk chocolate flavor, a rather subtle flavor captured by the synthetic sweet microcream and rich but not overbearing espresso foam.
On our initial attempts, the Bambino Plus’ pre-programmed two-shot setting cut off the draw too quickly. But it’s easy to reset the brew volume with the timer on my phone, and I highly recommend doing this ahead of time – it will help speed up the build of the espresso. During a subsequent testing session, I had to adjust the grind setting slightly to get the desired results from the coffee we sampled.
I also took fewer difficult shots with the Bambino Plus than with the other options. While the difference is relatively minor, it would be nice if this model included the traditional non-pressure handled colander that comes with the Barista Touch, as it allows you to better develop your taste, technique, and sensibility in the dialing process. baskets with walls allow for even extraction of coffee grounds, but they generally produce darker (or at least “safer” tasting) espresso. The complex crema you see in the crema of your espresso in a trendy café often indicates the actual brightness and depth of your drink, and these crema are even more subtle when you use a double basket. This does not mean that your drinks will lose character or become undrinkable; they will be easier, and if you like cocoa flavored lattes with a slightly nutty flavor, this might be the one for you. If you want to hone your skills, a compatible traditional basket can sometimes be purchased separately from the Breville website; unfortunately it is often out of stock. Or you might be more comfortable using one of our other options like the Gaggia Classic Pro or Ascaso Dream PID, which have a single-walled basket and produce harder hits (the latter is more stable than the former).
Finally, the compact size of the Bambino Plus leads to some disadvantages. The machine is so light that you may have to hold it with one hand and lock the handle in place (or unlock it) with the other. The Bambino Plus also lacks the water heater found in other Breville models. This is a useful feature if you like making americanos, but we don’t think it’s necessary since you can always heat the water separately in the kettle. Given the extremely compact size of the Bambino Plus, we think it’s worth sacrificing the water heater.
This affordable machine can produce amazingly complex shots, but it struggles to froth milk and looks a little dated. Best suited for those who drink mostly pure espresso.
The Gaggia Classic Pro usually costs a little less than the Breville Bambino Plus and will allow you (with some skill and practice) to take more complex photographs. The steam wand is difficult to use and the resulting milk foam is unlikely to match what you get from a Breville machine. Overall, however, the footage we shot with the Gaggia was consistent and intense. Some even capture the dynamic flavor profile of each roast. Beginning coffee drinkers who prefer pure espresso are sure to develop their palate with Classic Pro. But it lacks some of the features that make the Bambino Plus so easy to use, such as PID temperature control and automatic milk frothing.
The only machine in its price range we tested, the Gaggia Classic Pro often produced shots with dark leopard spots in cream, a sign of depth and complexity. We tried the shots, and in addition to dark chocolate, they had bright citrus, almond, sour berry, burgundy and liquorice notes. Unlike the Bambino Plus, the Classic Pro comes with a traditional single wall filter basket – a bonus for those looking to improve their game. However, without a PID controller, if you are taking multiple shots in a row, it can be more difficult to keep the shots consistent. And if you’re trying a more whimsical roast, be prepared to burn some beans while typing.
Gaggia has tweaked the Classic Pro quite a bit since we last tested it in 2019, including a slightly upgraded steam wand. But as before, the biggest problem with this machine is that it still often produces impressive milk texture. Once activated, the initial power of the steam wand drops fairly quickly, making it difficult to froth milk for cappuccinos over 4-5 oz. By trying to whip up a larger volume of latte, you run the risk of scalding the milk, which will not only make it taste bland or burnt, but also prevent foaming. The right foam also brings out the inherent sweetness of the milk, but in Classic Pro I usually get a foam without silkiness and a little diluted in flavor.
Post time: Jan-11-2023