Credit:
Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
Products are chosen independently by our editors. Purchases made through our links may earn us a commission.
Credit:
Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.
Learn more about our product testing
With a user-friendly touchscreen and assisted dial-in and tamping technology, this machine is great for beginners. It also produces delicious espresso. Read More
This espresso machine features a commercial-style MyLatteArt steam wand, which can help you easily refine your barista skills at home. Read More
If you're familiar with espresso brewing, you may consider this Gaggia that extracts the smoothest shots with thick crema. Read More
For beginners, this machine is a great learning tool and can extract superb coffee. Read More
If you're new to espresso, this machine is the most intuitive we've tested for everyone. Read More
The best espresso machines make it simple to produce good espresso at home. But even straightforward machines can be daunting at first. That’s why we selected 11 popular espresso machines across mid-range price points and brewed countless shots of espresso with them. We judged the machines on criteria like ease of use, durability, versatility, and taste.
we chose the Breville Barista Touch Impress (available at Amazon for $1,499.95) as our best overall for its convenience and excellent performance across a variety of tasks. With its intuitive touchscreen design, it’s perfect for both beginners and experienced espresso snobs who appreciate consistent, high-quality shots.
However, our best value pick, the Gaggia Classic Pro pulled the most delicious shots of coffee. And we thought the De'Longhi La Specialista Arte excelled at frothing milk for latte art.
The Breville Barista Touch Impress is the best espresso machine we've ever tested.
De'Longhi La Specialista Arte is the best espresso machine we tested when it came to frothing milk.
The Gaggia Classic Pro is our best value pick.
The Breville Infuser is our top pick for espresso beginners.
Pressure Gauge
Compact design
Affordable
Less customization
Beginner-friendly
Easy to clean
Produces high quality espresso
Expensive
Less customization
Built-in grinder
Smart touch screen
Strong frothing performance
The odd shape makes it difficult to fit
Easy to use
Can fit in any space
Takes too long to extract espresso
Compact
Pressurized portafilter
Not intuitive enough to dial in fast
Easy to use
Affordable
Settings for different coffee drinks
Produces low quality espresso
Inexpensive
Options for coffee drinks
Hard to fill the water tank
Average coffee
Here's everything you should know before investing in an espresso machine.
Venturing into the world of espresso machines is like learning a new language. To help you get started, here are some things to know about brewing espresso.
Dialing in refers to the adjustments you make before brewing to get the perfect shot. This includes getting the right grind setting, brewing time, and brewing ratio. Different varieties of beans have different density and oiliness, so baristas have to constantly re-dial in machines to make sure the coffee has been appropriately extracted.
Over-extracted coffee can be bitter, and under-extracted coffee can taste sour. To draw out the perfect flavors, it’s crucial to understand dialing in. That’s why the first thing we looked for in each machine is a straightforward dialing-in process.
We calculated the brewing ratio for our tests.
The next thing to understand is the brewing ratio. This is the weight of ground coffee to the weight of liquid espresso in the cup. By adjusting the ratio of a shot, we can change the taste and mouthfeel of the espresso.
Generally, a 1:1 to 1:2 ratio is a ristretto espresso, a 1:2 to 1:3 ratio is a normale espresso, and a 1:3 to 1:4 ratio is a lungo espresso. Smaller ratios give more full-bodied textures, but larger ratios give more clarity in the shot. For context, a typical cup of brewed coffee is around a 1:15 ratio.
To achieve the most precise shot of espresso, we recommend measuring the coffee grounds with a digital scale before you start brewing the espresso. Every country (or even region) has different brewing ratios, as barometric pressure and climate changes the humidity of the coffee grounds. We carefully measured the ratio during our tests to eliminate any chance of unfair judgment on a cup of coffee.
The Gaggia portafilter (left) is wider than the Breville one (right).
A portafilter is a spoon-like device that houses the coffee grounds. It attaches to the grouphead (brewing head) while the brewing process takes place. It has a handle, a spout, a filter basket, and a spring clip.
Typically, an espresso machine offers two sizes of filter baskets. More advanced machines might have four filter baskets, including two single-walled filter baskets. The single-walled baskets are for experienced users, who are more comfortable creating espresso shots to their personal preferences.
To securely attach the portafilter to the brewing head, insert the notches (on the edge of the filter) under the grouphead and give it a slight twist. Although the mechanism is almost always the same, different types of portafilters can suit different needs.
For beginners, it’s wise to start with a pressurized portafilter, which gives the ground coffee additional pressure to ensure consistency. It greatly reduces small mistakes that newbies might make in terms of tamping and grind size. As your skills improve, you can move on to more advanced portafilters and baskets, including bottomless options.
We spent 80 hours researching machines and drinking coffee.
By forcing hot water under high pressure through finely-ground coffee beans, espresso machines produce gorgeously syrupy, dense coffee. In 1884, Italian inventor Angelo Moriondo patented the first known steam-driven espresso machine. Today’s electric machines generate even more pressure.
The optimal output pressure on the grouphead is between 9 to 10 bars. To reach that, the water pump must achieve 15 bars. You can buy machines with more powerful pressure pumps, if you want. But for at-home use, anything beyond 15 bars won’t do much, except maybe raise your utility bill.
The steam wand on the Breville Infuser can froth different types of foam.
To create the most nuanced latte, an espresso machine should produce silky, velvety microfoam without large bubbles. The quality of the steam wand can change the whole value of a machine. Lower-grade wands tend to create milk foam that’d be called a “latte-cino,” which is a barista’s nightmare.
The Breville Barista Touch has a built-in burr grinder.
In our roundup, we tested four machines with built-in burr grinders. The big issue with a built-in grinder is longevity, and it’s hard to gauge that during a testing period. Although Breville sells the burr replacements on Amazon, it may still be a hassle to have to fix a broken grinder.
If you’re determined to buy a machine with a built-in grinder, avoid oily coffee beans. The oil makes cleaning and maintenance more difficult.
For coffee drinkers with a tight budget, we advise dividing the budget in half, and getting a high-quality grinder along with your espresso machine. Low-end grinders don’t micromanage the size of the grind, making it impossible to get the espresso you want.
We measured the volume and thickness of each espresso shot in our tests.
We've spent over 80 hours researching and testing popular espresso machines.
We use one of our favorite coffee grinders, the Baratza Encore, to dial in the espresso machines that don’t come with a built-in grinder. For the ones with built-in grinders, we evaluate the reliability and user-friendliness of the grinders, and measure how long it takes to dial in the best shot of espresso.
We evaluate the consistency of the temperature and taste. We also test the wands’ ability to froth milk well enough to create microfoam for latte art. We pull (at least) four shots and froth two cups of milk from each machine, sometimes using them over a matter of weeks in our own home to monitor for any hiccups. Then we taste-test countless espresso drinks, bringing in other Reviewed staffers to help.
Valerie Li Stack is a senior staff writer for Kitchen & Cooking. She is an experienced home cook with a passion for experimenting with the cuisines of countries she's visited. Driven by an interest in food science, Valerie approaches the culinary scene with a firm grasp of cooking processes and extensive knowledge of ingredients. She believes food speaks to all people regardless of language and cultural background.
Monica is Reviewed's Kitchen & Cooking editor and an avid home cook; she's been testing a wide range of kitchen products at Reviewed for three years. Previously the Digital Editor at Culture Cheese Magazine (and a former barista), she's also had her work published in The Boston Globe, Modern Luxury, Boston Magazine, and more.
Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.
Shoot us an email
