Coffee

As briefly discussed in the Espresso Guide, beans are the key to any espresso based drink you will be making and require extra care in the selection process. The date of roast is especially important to any blend, perhaps as much as the composition of the blend itself. Old espresso blends do not extract well and do not reflect the quality of the beans. Purchasing beans that are less than ten days old will usually provide you with a good window of peak usage.

Espresso blends (for they most often are blends of anywhere from two to seven different kinds of coffee beans) are available everywhere from supermarkets to cafés to the internet. Single-origin espresso made with just one type of bean does exist but is fairly unusual to find. High quality filtered coffee, on the other hand, is often single-origin as opposed to blends. Your best bet to purchase espresso blends is from local cafés whose coffee you enjoy. There you can usually find baristi more than happy to share their experiences with you, and more often than not you can sample the espresso you plan to buy. The next best place would be directly from the roasters themselves who usually provide online ordering through their websites. There are a myriad of reputable roasters to choose from, including but not limited to Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, Counter Culture Coffee, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Terroir Coffee, 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters, Paradise Roasters, and Vivace Roasters.

The other advantage to buying beans at a local café is that if you don’t own a grinder at home, they usually can grind the beans for you. Ask a barista to grind for the espresso machine you have; the more specific you are the more likely you’ll receive a grind to deliver optimal results.

Grinders

If you are serious about pursuing the ultimate in coffee, however, it’s to your advantage to invest in a grinder for your home. The pros are many, including a longer shelf life for your espresso blend (as whole beans last much longer than ground ones), more complex flavors from your espresso, and the added fun and challenge of a more hands-on experience.

Choosing a grinder is the same as any other big purchase in that a little research goes a long way. More than anything, you want to make sure that your grinder can produce consistent levels of grinds without fluctuation. Espresso with particles of varying sizes doesn’t extract evenly, compromising the resulting flavors, and the same goes for filtered coffee. You don’t want to purchase a pound or more of coffee beans only to have the experience thwarted by an inconsistent grind.

You should be able to dial in distinct settings depending on the manner of preparation you plan to use. For instance, French Press filtered coffee requires a very coarse grind, while Turkish coffee needs the finest setting. These settings can vary slightly depending on the make and model of your equipment, the age of the beans, and even (to an extent) humidity and other environmental conditions.

There are three general categories of grinders, broken down as follows:

High Speed Grinders are suitable for both drip coffee and espresso, usually hold about six to nine ounces of whole bean and ground coffee in separate hoppers. While adjustable to dial in the desired grind, the cost-efficient smaller motors run at high speeds and create a great deal of noise and static buildup while imparting more heat to the ground coffee (potentially altering the end flavor). That being said, these grinders are better alternatives to department store generic offerings and range in price from $60 (Capresso Burr Grinder Select) to $100 (Gaggia MM).

Low Speed gear-reduction grinders are a step up in quality from the high-speed grinders. Suitable for espresso as well as French Press and filtered coffee, they tend to have more features and provide more control for the user than high speed models. They run at lower speeds, therefore producing less noise and static while adding less heat to the ground coffee. The gear reduction system provides more torque than high speed motors and is more resilient against typical wear and tear. These grinders tend to be larger and heavier and range in price from $100 (Baratza Solis Maestro) to $200 (Baratza Solis Virtuoso, Gaggia MDF, and KitchenAid Proline).

Low Speed direct-drive grinders are high-end products and are often found serving light to medium commercial volume. Using heavy-duty motors adapted from commercial machines, these grinders tend to be heavy, weighing in at fifteen to twenty-two pounds. Suitable for all grind settings, these machines are quiet, build up almost no static, and transfer very little heat to the ground coffee. Prices range from $300 (Rancilio Rocky) to $450 (Mazzer Mini).

Tampers

Tamping is probably the most overlooked part of espresso preparation, and at times can greatly affect the final outcome. Stainless steel or aluminum models provide better weight and balance than their wooden or plastic counterparts, and are usually an investment worth making.

Finding a tamper that suits the size of your filter’s basket is important, as untamped areas around the edges of the puck extract differently than the centrally tamped area. Many coffee fanatics are shocked at the change in quality when changing to an ideally suited tamper and employing level, consistent tamping to their espresso.

Prices can range from $12 for plastic models to upwards of $100 for name brand, handcrafted tampers.

Espresso Machines

There are a daunting number of options to face when choosing to buy a home espresso machine. With research and patience, however, wading through the sea of options becomes less overwhelming and even a little bit fun.

Steam powered “espresso machines” are a bit of a misnomer, as espresso requires 9 bar of pressure that steam is incapable of producing. Luigi Bezzara patented the first steam-powered machine in 1901, and little advancement has been made since. Most department store token offerings are of the steam-driven variety.

Piston-lever espresso machines debuted in 1947 with Gaggia’s industry revolutionizing Crema Caffe Machine, considered by many to be the first modern espresso machine. The manually operated lever is capable of producing the pressure required to extract quality espresso, and the technology of the setup has changed little since its inception until now. Lever machines are capable of producing excellent espresso, but the learning curve is very high (especially for espresso newcomers). Recommended for patient espresso lovers who appreciate a fully hands-on experience, La Pavoni offers several models retailing from $600 to $1000.

Semi-Automatic espresso machines replaced the lever machines because of their relative ease of use. They’re powered by electric pumps that regulate previously inconsistent pressure produced by the lever machines. A switch controlled by the user engages and disengages the electric pump, affording the user control over the amount of water run through the coffee grinds. Home machines typically have one boiler to heat water for extraction and milk steaming, but some have a second reservoir for the latter that must be filled manually. The ease of use appeals to many and, with an average learning curve, does not take too long to master. Expect to spend anywhere from $300 to $1500 on a home semi-automatic espresso machine.

Fully-Automatic espresso machines are virtually the same as their semi-automatic cousins except that they are equipped with built-in timing mechanisms. Users can preset amounts of time for extraction depending on the type of drink they’re making. Often, fully automatics have the ability to function as semi-automatics. It’s important to note that these machines are not capable of higher quality than semi-automatics, and only provide a more forgiving learning curve once the presets have been installed. The price range increases slightly over the semi-automatic models.

Super-Automatic espresso machines perform all of the requirements to prepare espresso and even milk-based espresso drinks in very short periods of time. They are built with water reservoirs, integrated coffee grinders, dosers, tampers, and an internal disposal box for used grinds. More expensive models even include self-cleaning systems and automatic milk frothers that add steamed milk and foam directly into your drink. Ease of use is obviously excellent with a very low learning curve, making these machines preferable to consumers who want a decent coffee without the hassles and mess of preparation. Basic models cost about $450 (Saeco Vienna) and high-end home machines can cost as much as $3600 (Jura Capresso Impressa Z6). Expect to spend anywhere from $1000 to $1800 for a capable model.