AMZCHEF Espresso Machine 20 Bar, Professional Espresso Maker with LCD Display & Milk Frother, Compact Stainless Steel Coffee Machine with Adjustable Temperature for Latte, Cappuccino, Home Use

Coming from years of drinking K-cup coffee, I’m used to inserting a pod, pressing a button, and having coffee ready in 60 seconds. No fuss, no effort. But K-cup coffee is mediocre at best and you have few options to customize the taste of the coffee.I’ve used commercial espresso machines that grind the coffee for you, brew the espresso, froth the milk, mix it all in, and dispose of the grounds automatically. Those machines are great but they take up a huge amount of counter space and often cost thousands of dollars.This machine sits in between these two extremes. It’s semi-automatic, meaning you still have to grind the coffee and pack it up into the tray, but then you can just press a button and let the machine figure out how to produce the espresso. You get a choice of one or two shots. I always go with two because once I go to the effort to get everything set up, I might as well make the double shot to enjoy.The quality of espresso that comes from the machine is excellent. It produces a nice crema and a consistent flavor. I use Lavazza espresso beans but any espresso bean you prefer should be fine.Once you brew the espresso, you need to prepare the milk. This is where it gets tricky. The first few times I tried it and ended up with milk splattered all over my kitchen. The trick is to insert the wand just deep enough into the milk container to get it to froth. Once it froths you can insert the wand all the way down to finish heating up the milk. After a few tries I decided that it’s easier to microwave my milk first for about 15 seconds, and then just use the steamer to froth it up a bit.The steamer does an OK job frothing, but it’s probably the weakest part of the machine. Other machines have their own milk container and tube and tend to be better at frothing, but the trade off is they take more effort to clean once you are finished. With the steamer you just run it for a few seconds to push water through it and then wipe it down with a wet cloth.I’ve found that making espresso with this machine is more art than science. It takes some experimenting to figure out what coffee, how much coffee, how much milk, how long to brew, etc. But if you’re willing to put in the effort to experiment, you will end up with a great tasting cappuccino or latte at a fraction of the cost of going to Starbucks.