We brewed 10 pounds of coffee to find the best espresso machines for every skill level
A creamy shot of espresso is the caviar of the coffee world. It's luxurious and can be hard to find outside of a cafe, which is why we enlisted two coffee experts to test the best home espresso machines. Don't let decoding the lingo or the daunting price tag deter you: we found machines for every budget and experience level.
To find the best espresso machines, we consulted industry experts, held taste tests, and inspected every inch of each machine. Our favorite for most people is the Gaggia Classic Evo Pro; it's ideal for those who want to be involved (but not too involved) in the brewing process. For absolute beginners, we love the Breville Barista Express Impress. Both are solid, semi-automatic machines that ring in under $1,000.
If you're interested in espresso, but don't want to make a huge investment, check out our guide to the best budget espresso machines.
Best overall
The Gaggia Classic Evo Pro is a no-frills machine for people who are serious about espresso. Don't let its straightforward interface and simple design fool you: this is the best at-home espresso machine to pull full-bodied, flavorful shots. After testing, we realized there's a serious learning curve to dialing parameters and pulling a proper shot, especially for beginners.
Beyond adjusting the grind size and tamping the grounds, you also control the Gaggia's extraction time. The middle button starts and stops brewing. When we tested this machine, we started a stopwatch right as we began brewing. If the grind size and tamping are right, pulling a shot should take between 20 and 30 seconds. The tricky part is that the Gaggia doesn't stop brewing automatically, so you have to time each pull and watch for when espresso stops coming out of the group head to switch off brewing.
Once you get used to it, and espresso hobbyists will love the process, the Classic Evo Pro produces stellar coffee.
Gaggia updated the EVO Pro a few years ago, and the new design elements are definite upgrades. The group head is now entirely brass, and the included portafilter is stainless steel. The boiler has a non-stick coating on the interior, which should help prevent scaling and mineral leaching from the aluminum.
We firmly believe a dedicated espresso grinder and one of the best tampers are needed to make the best use of this machine. The Classic Evo Pro comes packaged with a flimsy, plastic tamper a few millimeters short of properly fitting the portafilter, so we highly recommend an upgrade.
Best for beginners
Espresso is an inherently involved affair, from burr grinders whirring and overflowing, to gadgets galore. We've run tests on most of Breville's espresso machines to find the best espresso machines for beginners. While the Barista Express Impress may not be the fastest or most feature-equipped, it is the first machine you can operate from start to finish with one hand, mess-free. For a more budget-friendly option, the Bambino is simple and impressive. Check out our full Breville Bambino review.
This is thanks to the assisted tamping and dosing system. The portafilter sits beneath the grinder, which doles out your grinds with a dosing button through a shoot (25 grind sizes, adjustable and programmable for single and double shots).
Breville's proprietary "Impress" Puck System differentiates this machine from the original Barista Express. The built-in tamper operates via a lever on the left-hand side — it's precalibrated and turns at precisely seven degrees, leaving a clean, even finish atop a perfectly formed puck.
The Express Impress also comes with all of the features and accessories you'll find in any Breville machine: 15 bars of pressure (you only really need nine), a 67-ounce water tank (enough for a week's worth of espresso), a convenient water spout, a half-pound sealed bean hopper, a steaming wand, a frothing pitcher, two double-walled and two pressurized portafilter baskets (a single- and double-shot size of each), and the Razor leveling tool. You'll also find a brush with a clog-clearing pin and some descaling tablets.
There isn't another machine that is as easy to operate one-handed or mess-free. You'd have a hard time finding all of the quality features in this package tidily wrapped in stainless steel, ready to adorn any countertop in style. The Breville Bambino Plus is next on our list to test against this machine — it has Breville's signature brewing technology in a more petite and less expensive package.
Read our full Breville Barista Pro review, where we compare it with the Express Impress.
An automatic espresso machine lies somewhere between a pod machine and a semi-automatic one; you can control the grind size and the extraction time, but the process isn't fully hands-on. The Café Affetto is the best automatic espresso machine because it is cheaper, smaller, and better at making espresso than most of the others we've tried.
You're not going to get the best grind with the Café's built-in grinder, but you can still use freshly roasted beans and get a shot of espresso (or something close to it) at the push of a button. Two standout features make this one of the best super-automatic espresso machines: the options for an Americano (or long black) and a custom "my cup" setting.
We frothed both whole milk and almond milk and noted that the frother worked every bit as well as those on most semiautomatic machines. We also like that the wand is removable and washable. Oftentimes, automatic machines will have a milk pitcher and hoses that you insert into the machine. This keeps everything very tidy and behind the scenes, but it's too easy to forget the milk when it's out of sight and end up with a rancid mess. This much more traditional layout, where the frother is directly attached to the body, is far more error-proof.
Jura's Z10 is the best automatic espresso machine we've tested out of well over a dozen: it actually makes espresso and not a watered-down version. That's largely thanks to Jura's "product-recognizing grinder" (PRG), which automatically monitors grind size and adjusts in real time. It is a luxury espresso machine, coming in at around $4,000, but you won't get better barista service at home.
The machine is fully customizable, offering 24 pre-programmed espresso-based drinks and eight cold-brew-based beverages. However, we think calling it cold brew is a bit of a stretch. Instead of steeping the grounds overnight, the machine produces coarse grounds, steeps them briefly in cold water, and then brews using pressure, creating something like nitro brew.
The Z10 is also compatible with an app (J.O.E.) so that you don't even have to set foot in your kitchen to brew — just make sure there's a cup in place ahead of time. You can set specialty preferences from your Apple Watch.
Apart from the price, the real drawbacks are the size (over a foot wide and tall), the fact that the bean hopper is on top (so this likely isn't fitting beneath a cabinet), and that the Cool Control and Stainless Steel Milk Pipe are sold separately and take up even more counter space. But then, anyone looking at a fully automatic espresso machine worth its weight and footprint can expect as much, whether it has a four-figure price tag or not.
Read our full Jura Z10 review and see why it's the only automatic machine to win us over.
What else do you need to make espresso?
Most of the espresso machines we recommend come with everything you need to start brewing, but a few accessories that will take your café experience to the next level.
What to look for in an espresso machine
Price and value: Asking yourself how much you want to spend will eliminate a lot of potential machines. For a quality machine that can build and maintain pressure and is designed to be both upgraded and repaired, you want to budget somewhere in the $500 range. Beneath that, we recommend a fully manual device or machine or one of the best Moka pots.
Do more expensive espresso machines make better espresso?
Unfortunately, yes. An espresso machine contains a powerful motor that pumps near-boiling water through a chamber and out the group head at high pressure. Everything needs to be expertly sealed so that it can contain piping-hot water under immense pressure, or the machine won't work at all.
Any of our recommended budget espresso machines will brew good espresso, but it tends to be a less consistent process and a less intense flavor.
Size: A home espresso bar can pretty quickly overwhelm a kitchen. Consider the footprint of the machine you're looking to buy relative to the countertop space you have. If you're short on space, consider a pod machine or manual model.
Pressure: Any good espresso machine must be able to not only reach the required eight bars of pressure to make espresso but also maintain it. Beware machines that boast pressure levels. The cheapest machines can reach 15 bars of pressure, but how well they maintain it is the key to a great cup of coffee.
What are the types of espresso machines?
There are three main types of espresso machines: manual, semi-automatic, and super-automatic.
How we test espresso machines
To gauge a machine's performance, we spent dozens of hours grinding and pulling shots from more than 10 pounds of fresh coffee beans. We also factored in pricing to determine a machine's overall value.
Consistency: We wanted to make sure we were getting true espresso, which is generally agreed to be at least 7% to 12% total dissolved solids (TDS). To measure TDS, we used a device called the Atago Pocket Barista, which gave us concrete proof that some machines are better able to churn out richer brews without over-extracting than others. We pulled four shots in a row to confirm our findings.
Taste tests: We held several side-by-side blind taste tests and used the freshest roasts we could get our hands on from Atlas Coffee Club, Stone Street Coffee Company, and Counter Culture Coffee. These taste tests involved dialing a grinder to prepare grounds for 30-second extraction times, then having five participants taste shots from four machines that became our final contenders.
Espresso experts we consulted
Espresso machine FAQs
Do I need an espresso machine?
Of course not, but there are few things as rewarding in the world of home coffee as achieving an immaculate shot of velvety espresso all on your own. On the flip side, if you need something quick and easy on your way out the door in the morning, consider the Nespresso system.
How do you clean an espresso machine?
Because all espresso machines are made differently, you'll want to defer to the brand in order to properly clean your specific machine. The most essential tasks are regularly flushing and descaling with something like Urnex Cafiza powder, purging the steam wand, and backflushing on occasion.
A few basic tips and tricks, though: Running the machine without the portafilter in place helps flush the group head and keep it grit-free; Cleaning the drip tray regularly will keep mold, bacteria, and even fruit flies at bay; purging the steam wand after each use will keep dairy and non-dairy milk alternatives from getting stuck and developing bacteria; cleaning the water basin (if it's not built-in) will keep your coffee tasting its best and the machine running smoothest.
Can you make regular coffee with an espresso machine?
The closest thing you can get to drip coffee with an espresso machine is an Americano, or a long black. Simply pull a shot of espresso and then add whatever amount of hot water to fill out your cup. But you may want to save your money and buy one of the best coffee machines. Consider a stovetop Moka pot to have on hand for an espresso-like drink.
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Function is, of course, more important than appearance, so I think it's reasonable to look past this plasticky aesthetic. However, it could raise some questions about longevity. As I'm often reviewing espresso machines simultaneously and in quick succession, I haven't had a chance to put the Stilosa to the long-term test yet. Sometimes plastic drip trays can erode and get a little flaky after long-term use, and sometimes plastic attachments can break off. However, De'Longhi offers a minimum warranty of one year, and my parents' De'Longhi Icona Vintage (£126, not available in the U.S. anymore) is still clinging onto life at nine years old. So, I'd have some faith in the cheap and cheerful Stilosa. In terms of cheap espresso machines, there's really no competition. No other budget machines I've used can rival the Stilosa. Let me know what you think in the comments. Do you think that the Stilosa worth $149/£104? Do you think it could go head-to-head with a pricier espresso machine?
