Author's posts
Mar 17 2024
La Marzocco Espresso Machines: Models, Features, Pros, Cons & Buying Guide
La Marzocco occupies an unusual place in the home espresso world. This isn’t a company that started with inexpensive countertop appliances and eventually moved into premium espresso. La Marzocco built its reputation making professional café equipment, and its home machines bring much of that commercial engineering into the kitchen. That means features such as: It …
Mar 16 2024
Best Stovetop Espresso Makers: Moka Pots Compared & Buying Guide
A stovetop espresso maker is one of the simplest ways to make strong, concentrated coffee at home without buying an electric espresso machine. Usually called a moka pot, this compact brewer uses heat and pressure to push hot water through ground coffee and into an upper chamber. The result is richer and more concentrated than …
Mar 15 2024
Gaggia Espresso Machines: Models, Features, Pros, Cons & Buying Guide
Gaggia is one of the most recognizable names in home espresso, but choosing a Gaggia machine can be surprisingly complicated. That’s because the company doesn’t make just one type of espresso machine. On one side are manual and semi-automatic machines such as the Gaggia Classic E24, Classic UP, and Classic GT. These machines are designed …
Mar 14 2024
Caffeinated Tea Guide: Types, Caffeine, Flavors & Brewing Tips
Tea can be delicate and floral, dark and malty, grassy and refreshing, earthy and aged, or rich enough to stand up to milk and spices. Yet many of these dramatically different drinks begin with the same plant. Traditional black, green, white, oolong, yellow, and pu-erh teas all come from Camellia sinensis. What changes is the …
Mar 13 2024
Philips Espresso Machines: Models, Features, Pros, Cons & Buying Guide
Philips espresso machines are built around a very different idea from traditional home espresso. Instead of asking you to grind beans, dose a portafilter, tamp the coffee, time the extraction, and steam milk manually, Philips’ fully automatic machines handle most of the process for you. Fill the bean hopper. Fill the water tank. Choose your …
Mar 12 2024
Lavazza Espresso Machines: Models, Features, Pros, Cons & Buying Guide
Lavazza is one of Italy’s best-known coffee companies, but its approach to home espresso machines is very different from brands such as Gaggia, Philips, JURA, or La Marzocco. Most Lavazza home machines aren’t traditional espresso machines with portafilters. They aren’t bean-to-cup machines with built-in grinders either. Instead, Lavazza specializes in single-serve espresso systems designed around …
Mar 11 2024
Best Espresso Accessories: Essential Tools for Home Baristas
Buying an espresso machine is only the beginning of a home espresso setup. A good machine provides hot water, pressure, and—in many cases—steam. But consistently good espresso also depends on everything that happens before and after the machine’s brew button is pressed. You need coffee ground finely and consistently enough for espresso. You need to …
Mar 10 2024
Farberware Espresso Maker Review: Features, Pros, Cons & Performance
The Farberware Espresso Maker is an interesting option for anyone who wants to experiment with homemade espresso without spending several hundred dollars on a machine. The model covered in this review—the Farberware 15-Bar Espresso Machine, model FW61100042872—is a compact semi-automatic machine equipped with a stainless-steel boiler, pressure gauge, removable 47-ounce water tank, single- and double-shot …
Mar 09 2024
How to Make French Press Coffee: Ratio, Grind Size & Brewing Guide
French press coffee is one of the simplest ways to make a rich, full-bodied cup at home. There are no paper filters to fold. No complicated pouring pattern to master. No pump, capsule, or electronic brewing system. At its simplest, you need only: But simple doesn’t mean foolproof. French press coffee can taste wonderfully sweet, …
Mar 08 2024
Is Instant Coffee Bad for You? Health Benefits, Risks & Caffeine
Instant coffee has a reputation problem. Because it is processed, inexpensive, shelf-stable, and ready in seconds, it’s easy to assume that instant coffee must somehow be less healthy than coffee brewed from freshly ground beans. But is instant coffee actually bad for you? For most people, plain instant coffee is not inherently unhealthy. It is …
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