When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.
Learning how to make good coffee is hard trust me, I know.
Mastering coffee making isn’t just about owning thebest espresso machine.
Unfortunately, there’s so much more to it, which can be overwhelming for beginners.
There’s a reason new baristas wear a “trainee” badge for months!
Don’t know what a ratio or grind is?
Fret not I’m here to help.
It’s all about the perfect grind, ideal ratio, and, finally, quality coffee beans.
Let me teach you exactly how to get a barista-quality coffee at home: its easier than you think.
This is the espresso machine I personally have and use every single day.
Espresso coffee should be ground to about 300-500m, no bigger than 800m.
Thebest coffee grinderswill have a guide on which setting to grind for your brewing method: read it.
Comandante C40 MK4
The Comandante C40 is perhapsthehand grinder.
This is what most of the coffee aficionados use, and for good reason.
In my4.5-star review of the Comandante C40 MK4, I praised its build and versatility.
The build quality sets this grinder apart from the rest.
Everything is so purposeful, down to the wood veneer and the high-nitrogen steel burrs.
While it has a little learning curve, the C40 is the grinder for coffee aficionados.
The Comandante C40 MK4 grinder is so highly revered because it is a darn fantastic grinder.
Comandante has a user guide that tells you exactly how many clicks you need for each brewing method.
The grind uniformity on this grinder is like no other.
Given that this is a hand grinder, obviously it requires some physical exertion.
But when the grinder works as well as this, its a price Im willing to pay.
While the Comandante C40 is a more specialty-focused grinder, the Encore ESP is one for the newbies.
Simply fill the hopper and grind away.
What makes the Baratza Encore ESP so good is its budget price and unbelievable ease of use.
Theres literally nothing else to it.
No manual grinding, no counting clicks, nothing.
For beginner grinder users, this is the only grinder Id recommend.
Many coffee shops have specialized commercial espresso machines that do all the work for you.
Home espresso machines, for the most part, do not.
A coffee scale can help you perfect those ratios for the best tasting coffee possible.
Here are a couple of my recommendations.
The scale is very consistent and precise, and helped me master my espresso and pour-over alike.
While it has no flow-rate monitor, I think this is a great gadget for the price.
As I touched on just now, the Exagram Pro does lack a flow-rate monitor.
However, you might easily work this out by dividing your grams by time taken.
The Exagram Pro, like the Baratza Encore ESP, is a perfect first time scale.
It works similarly in pour-over mode, which calculates your ideal ratio.
For beginners, I recommend the Exagram Pro wholeheartedly.
This is a fantastic starter scale with very little wrong with it.
I know, $220 is a lot of money for what is basically a glorified digital scale.
Its more money than the Baratza Encore ESP grinder I discussed above.
On top of that, the precision is incomparable.
However, Ill spare you the boredom and quickly run through what makes it so excellent.
You dont need the Pearl S to use this app, but its so much better with it.
The Pearl S is great for pour-over, but it has an excellent espresso mode too.
The timer has auto-recognition, so you dont need to press start for it to begin timing each shot.
Its the same with coffee beans.
If youre in the U.S., the subscription serviceBeanzworks much the same as the one I personally use.
I can also recommendAtlas Coffee Club my editor Pete Wolinski says its coffee is delicious.
If you follow the advice Ive laid out here, youll be making barista-quality coffee in no time.
