Barista Extraordinaire

Best Home Espresso Machines

Home Barista Extraordinaire | You’re serious about your espresso drinks; you’ve been practicing your latte art, making excellent drinks for guests at dinner parties and brunches, and now it’s time to buy a machine that can keep up with you.

Single Boiler | Single boiler espresso machines have one boiler for steam production and espresso brewing. These machines have 2 thermostats to separately control the steam and brew temperature.


While you aren’t able to steam milk and brew coffee simultaneously, it’s quite simple to get the rhythm of heating to steam mode, frothing your milk, cooling the machine down, preparing your espresso and then pouring your latte or cappuccino.


Heat Exchanger | Heat exchange machines have a single boiler that is always set to steam temperature. A metal tube runs through the boiler, which flash heats the water at around 200 degrees to the grouphead. This clever design delivers fresh water from the pump to the grouphead, and mimics the capabilities of a double boiler machine.


With a heat exchanger machine, dry steam and hot water are available at all times, without the need to flip any switches or switch any modes. Also, you are able to steam your milk and brew your coffee at the same time, leading to the freshest, professional-style latte.


Double Boiler | Double boiler espresso machines have one boiler each for steam and espresso. You can steam and pull shots simultaneously. Additionally, the steam boiler has a dedicated power switch, which gives the user the option to provide power only to the group head boiler if milk steaming won’t be necessary.

PID | A PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) controller closely monitors and electronically regulates the water temperature at the brew group. PIDs are not required for a good espresso shot, but they do allow you to precisely dial in your brew temperature. This is especially important for single origin espressos and straight shot enthusiasts.

Direct Plumbing | Hook your espresso machine up to your kitchen plumbing and you’ll never have to worry about filling up your water tank! Direct connect kits usually attach to your cold water line going to your refrigerator. These kits are designed to be installed by the homeowner, without extra trips to Home Depot. You can call us with any questions when installing your direct connect kit.

No Burn Wand | Steam and hot water wands are double-insulated so they're cool to the touch, even while steaming.