If you're an espresso drinker, and have wondered if it is possible to make great espresso at home without spending too much money or counter-space, read on.
Why bother?
I live in San Francisco within a 20-minute walk of ~10 coffee shops that make great espresso. For years that was a good enough reason to just make pour-overs at home and not get a home espresso setup. I occasionally wondered how a coffee might taste as espresso instead of pour-over. If you’ve had the same thought, then it might be worth getting a home espresso setup so you have the freedom to make espresso with whatever coffee you buy. I tend to like lighter roasted natural processed coffee that isn’t a very popular choice for espresso at most cafes.
The general advice is to avoid making espresso at home. It can be a nightmare. However, if you don’t need to make milk drinks, are willing to put in a little elbow grease, and don’t want to commit a lot of counter space or money, here’s the setup I recommend. This has served me well through the pandemic, and has yielded many delicious espressos at home for a range of different beans.
Hand Grinder
1ZPresso JE Plus Manual Hand-Grinder. ($239) A hand-grinder is cheaper, and all the money is going into getting high quality burrs. It takes a little over a minute to grind 15g of beans .The JMax is a little bit cheaper at $199 and is also excellent for espresso if you prefer a unimodal style vs. creamier shots. See reviews for similar options (1, 2, 3). There are several good options at the $250 price-point.
Espresso Machine
Cafelat Robot ($310). With a manual machine, you’re not dealing with parts that break and/or need maintenance. It also does not need to be plugged into an outlet. The machine is beautiful, and made with fairly high-quality parts. The lever needs to be pushed with some force, but it is something most adults can manage fairly easily. See James Hoffman’s review here.
Scales
You need fairly accurate scales to measure your coffee and the yield (so you know when to stop extracting). These are $12 on Amazon and work just fine.
That adds up to about $560 + taxes. In the US, that’ll likely run you a bit more than $600. That’s it. You need a kettle that can boil water, and you should be able to make very good espresso at home. Enjoy!
