Drinks
Cortado
Espresso cut with a roughly equal amount of warm milk, barely textured. Small volumes are unexpectedly demanding — most automatic systems cannot steam 60 ml of milk without scorching it.
- SageBarista Express BES875A PID, a real wand and a burr grinder in one body, which is why it is the machine most people learn on. It is also messy to dose and makes you wait between brewing and steaming, and both are the price of the format.Espresso8.6
- GaggiaClassic Evo ProA commercial 58 mm group and a real wand at a domestic price, with a brass boiler since the E24 revision. No PID, so you learn to time the warm-up — and almost everything on it can be replaced by hand.Espresso8.5
- SageBambino PlusThree seconds from cold to ready, and an automatic wand that textures milk better than most people do by hand. Buy it for the milk and the speed; buy the grinder separately, because there isn't one.Espresso8.4
- RancilioSilvia V6A 300 ml brass boiler and a wand borrowed from Rancilio's café machines: steam that does not run out halfway through the second jug. Heavy, no PID, and a reputation built over nearly thirty years.Espresso8.3
- LelitAnna PL41TEMThe cheapest way into a PID and a brass boiler, which is the combination that stops you guessing at temperature. The 57 mm portafilter is the catch: almost no accessory in the shops fits it.Espresso8.2
- JuraE8Sealed, one-touch and built to repeat itself for a decade. The brew unit is not meant to come out, which is the trade: you get consistency and give up the ability to service it yourself.BeanToCup8.1
- De'LonghiLa Specialista Arte EC9155A grinder, non-pressurised baskets and a wand the maker genuinely aims at latte art, in a body smaller than its rivals. Eight grind settings is the constraint, and 51 mm baskets limit what you can buy for it.Espresso7.9
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