The Affetto is on the expensive side, and as an automatic it can be simple. Just make sure it’s full of water and beans, and that you clean the waste container regularly, and it works like a dream.
Super Easy, Super Easy Cleaning
We love this machine. It’s the best Keurig we’ve used (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and has the best frother of any machine tested for this guide. Despite the fact that K-Café doesn’t technically make espresso shots (the K-cup system doesn’t justify itself under any pressure), it still makes a delicious “espresso-style” 2-ounce shot that tastes almost as strong, albeit without crema. which you may desire.
The real magic is the frother. It has three settings—cold, latte, and cappuccino—and frothed milk for perfection at the touch of a button. When you’re done, just pour your milk through the spout on the side. The jug is made of stainless steel, and the plastic spinner comes off, making cleaning as easy as a quick run under the faucet. It was so easy to use and clean that I would sometimes froth with it even when using other machines to make my espresso. I loved it so much, I didn’t care that the spout on the frother was made for right-handed people. The one on the left was happy to adapt.
While Keurig’s single-use coffee pods used to be difficult for recycling systems, they are now 100 percent recyclable. Unfortunately, the world’s recycling infrastructure is in a bit of trouble so for guilt-free drinking, it’s best to stick with Keurig reusable coffee filters; We suggest sticking to the branded ones, as we have found cheap dupes to be unreliable.
Best Handheld Milk Frother
Sometimes making a whole latte or cappuccino using an automatic machine can be time consuming. Not to mention, sometimes all you really want frothy milk. That’s where milk foam comes in. These machines blow air into milk, or milk substitutes, to get that nice creamy foam.
Most frothers create a stiff foam with foam that sits on top of the milk, which is not ideal for lattes or cappuccinos. Well-pasteurized milk is creamy, light, airy, and does not curdle or separate. That’s why our current favorite is the Nanofoamer from Subminimal.
The darling of Kickstarter, the Nanofoamer is now a real product. It looks like a very small immersion blender, which is more or less what it is. It has two separate screens that fit over the blade: one for fine-textured milk and one for ultrafine-textured milk. The difference is subtle, but a good filter creates milk that a slowly bubble rather than an ultrafine filter. The filters allow the Nanofoamer to do what baristas do with a steam wand: It how to do it your milk for that perfect, shiny.
Questions and Answers
Photo: Jeffrey Van Camp
How We Tested Each Device
The key here is automation. We wanted to test machines that make a cup of coffee for you with one touch, or as close to that as possible. So the products on this list are mostly automatic and semi-automatic types. You fill them in and they do all the hard work–or most of it anyway.
Setup and cleanup were very important, as well as durability. The whole point of a device like these is to save time and energy and/or to produce a drink of higher quality than would be possible without it, so we did not recommend any products that do not produce a delicious espresso. again save time.
Which Beans Should You Buy?
Even if you don’t make espresso, the first and best thing you can do to greatly improve your morning coffee is to buy locally roasted beans. Plug your city or state and “locally roasted coffee beans” into Google and you’ll be glad you did. The reason your locally roasted coffee will taste worlds better than anything you can buy from a big coffee roaster (like Starbucks, Illy, or Gevalia) is simple: Coffee grows in only a few parts of the world, and it’s starting to lose. flavor when fried.
Try to avoid brands that advertise their European origin. Coffee doesn’t grow in Italy or France or any other part of Europe, so you’ll always be buying roasted beans thousands of miles away that spend an unknown amount of time on the road before they get to you. Even if you order a bag of killer (and roasted) coffee beans from a coffee producer in the world, it won’t arrive before those flavors start to turn. Trust me, buy from a local roaster. You won’t regret it. For some of our favorite mail order products, check out our roundup of the Best Coffee Subscription Services.
What Else Do You Need?
Ground Coffee: If you’ve never made espresso before, and you don’t have access to a coffee grinder, we still recommend buying local roasted beans. Just ask your barista for a fine grind (espresso). We’ve tried many world-class espresso blends from famous brands like Lavazza, Gevalia, and Café Bustelo. They were all very dark and very bitter, because they were all imported or roasted in large batches and shipped all over the world. Grinding the coffee is another factor that causes it to begin to decline. Use your freshly ground, locally roasted beans within two weeks or you will be drinking dark, bitter, acidic, and sweet coffee. Our collection of The Best Coffee Grinders can also provide a guide here.
Distributor & Tamp: Most machines come with a plastic tamp, but few come with a proper distributor and tamp. You’ll need to check the size of your pot filter (it will say so in your machine’s instruction manual), but this combination distributor and tamp is a good choice for most machines.
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