This coffee and espresso maker from Ninja is a great choice for espresso beginners because it does a little bit of everything. It can brew your regular pot of coffee and make an espresso with the “rich” setting, OR iced coffee.
Additionally, it’s got a fold-out milk frother built right in so you can easily make your favorite specialty drinks, and it’s a great price for an introduction to espresso.
Another bonus? It can make single cups or full pots of coffee without expensive pods.
However, some reviewers say that the water reservoir is leaky and others say the espresso flavor is subpar.
If you’re really starting to get into home espresso, you might want one that has a built-in grinder to grind your beans directly into the portafilter. This one also features a sizing dial so you can choose your grind size to see which makes your favorite cup of espresso.
In addition, this one from Breville has all of the features that a home barista is gonna be looking for — like a steam wand, and the ability to brew 2 cups at once. And according to Breville, you can go from “bean to espresso” in less than 60 seconds.
People highly recommend this machine and say it’s worth the splurge. But because it’s a semi-automatic machine, it *does* require some technical know-how that reviewers say makes it a bit high maintenance. They also say it requires a lot of cleaning and/or troubleshooting.
