Best machine

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Best option for making a cappuccino at home

What is a cheap option for making good cappuccino at home?

This answer is probably not what you would get everywhere, but based on some of our experience around making a good cappuccino.

If you want to make a good cappuccino at home, the best option is to buy a Graef or Elektra espresso machine , along with one of their grinders as well (or if you really want to take in, one of La Marzocco's espresso machines and grinders ). In both cases, you are looking at approximately SEK 20,000 - 40,000. None of the cheaper alternatives (like DeLonghi machines or Jura or similar) would give you a sensible espresso, or be able to produce enough steam for a good foam (which is what a "good" cappuccino requires).

A Graef machine or an Elektra can provide good enough steam to make a really good cappuccino with microfoam, and espresso brewing needs to be of at least as good quality, with freshly ground coffee beans , which requires a good grinder. But these are not the simplest machines - they are machines that require some time to master. You need to get the right temperature of milk frothing, and the right amount of coffee and running time of espresso. Something that requires you to do one daily for a good number of weeks, before it sits in the muscle memory.

The equipment mentioned here is not the cheapest, but the one that provides good quality. But, there are alternatives as well. There are some who buy machines like these but never learn to use them completely, or they learn them but "Upgrade" to even more advanced machines. Or it could be a smaller company that has machines and replaces them, and now they are selling used ones. Both mean that there is a fairly good second-hand market for machines like these. So keep an eye on the block or similar and see if you can make a good bargain. But, also beware - if the machines are too large, they may require 3-phase electrical outlets, which many do not have at home.

The great thing about a machine like these (as opposed to the cheap DeLonghis) is that they use standard components and can be fully serviced for relatively little money. You can more or less build a Silvia from scratch, and make it work as good as new. These are machines built to last a long time, and to be able to be easily serviced and replaced. Unlike, for example, DeLonghi, which cannot be serviced easily or uses standard components.

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Is there really no cheaper alternative?

Ok, what if you can not afford machines like these, and can not find them used? If you want to save money, the best option is a Nespresso capsule machine and a milk frother. This may sound very "unprofessional", but for the money, Nespresso makes a much better espresso-like shot than any machine that is cheaper than a Graef. So it is very good quality for the money. And, it does not even require an expensive mill.

One more thing

Should you buy an espresso machine and a grinder, then every coffee expert will tell you that it is better to spend more money on the grinder than the espresso machine. So if you have a good machine, the best way to improve it is to buy a good grinder, not an even more expensive espresso machine. This is because better and larger espresso machines can make more espressos faster and more often, they have more steam and can skim more milk. But if you do not want to make many espressos at the same time (which is common in a café, but not at home), then these are features you do not need. But that costs a lot. So a more expensive (good) espresso machine does not make better espressos, only more.

Nespresso + milk frother does not give you a really good cappuccino. But it will make a better cappuccino-like drink than anything you can buy new for less than SEK 20,000. And a Nespresso machine with a frother costs only a thousand bucks, which gives a lot of money for better Nespresso capsules (we strongly recommend Lavazza or one of the alternative coffee capsules, much better than any of the Nescafe varieties).

If you have the opportunity, buy the right equipment. If you do not have it, then settle for Nespresso, instead of spending a few thousand kroner on equipment that does not provide better quality anyway.

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