Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The Affect is on the expensive side, and as an automated machine it can be finicky. Just make sure that it is filled with water and beans, and that you regularly clean the container of dead soil, and it works like a dream.
The more comfortable, the easier the cleaning
We love this machine. It’s the best Keurig we’ve used (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and has the best frother of any machine tested for this guide. Despite the fact that the K-Café doesn’t technically make espresso (the K-cup system doesn’t put its grounds under pressure), it still makes a delicious “espresso-style” 2-ounce shot that can taste almost like it. strong, though without the creaminess you might desire.
The real magic is the foam. It has three settings – cold, milk and cappuccino – and froths milk to perfection at the touch of a button. When it’s done, just pour your milk with the spout to the side. The pitcher is made of stainless steel, and the plastic spinner comes right in, making cleaning as easy as a quick run under the faucet. It was so simple to use and clean that I sometimes frothed milk even when I used other machines to make my espresso. I liked it so much, I don’t even care that the beak on the foam was designed for straights. This left was happy to adapt.
While Keurig’s single-serve coffee pods were tough on recycling systems, they are now 100 percent recyclable. Unfortunately, the the world’s recycling infrastructure is in a bit of a crisis so for guilt-free sipping, it’s best to stick with Keurig reusable coffee filters; We suggest sticking to the branded ones, as we have found the cheaper dupes to be unreliable.
The best portable milk frother
Sometimes, making a latte or a whole cappuccino with an automated machine can be a suck time. Not to mention, sometimes anything you really want it’s frothy milk. This is where milk frothers come in. These machines beat the air into the milk, or milk substitutes, to get that nice creamy foam.
Most frothers make a stiff froth that sits on top of the milk, which isn’t great for lattes or cappuccinos. The properly structured milk is creamy, light, airy, and never stiff or separated. That’s why our current favorite is the Nanofoamer from Subminimal.
A Kickstarter darling, the Nanofoamer is now a real product. It looks like a very tiny immersion blender, which is pretty much what it is. It has two distinct screens that are placed on the blade: one for fine-textured milk and another for ultrafine-textured milk. The difference is subtle, but the fine filter creates milk that is a little bubblier than the ultrafine filter. The filters allow the Nanofoamer to do what baristas do with a steam wand: It textures your milk for that perfect, creamy top.
Questions and Answers
Photography: Jeffrey Van Camp
How we tested each machine
The key here is automation. We want to test the machines that make you a cup of coffee with a single touch, or as close as possible. So the products on this list are mostly of the automatic and semi-automatic variety. You fill them in and they do all the hard work – or most of it anyway.
Installation and cleaning were particularly important, as was durability. The whole purpose of a device like these is to save time and energy and/or produce a drink of higher quality than can be made without it, so we do not recommend any product that does not produce an espresso tasty and save time.
What Beans Should You Buy?
Even if you don’t make espresso, the first and best thing you can do to dramatically improve your morning coffee is to buy locally roasted beans. Enter your city or region and “locally roasted coffee beans” into Google and you’ll be happy to do it. The reason your locally roasted coffee will taste worlds better than anything you buy from a major coffee roaster (like Starbucks, Illy, or Gevalia) is simple: the coffee grows in only a few regions of the world, and begins to lose. flavor the moment it is roasted.
Try to avoid brands that advertise their European origin. Coffee doesn’t grow in Italy or France or anywhere else in Europe, so you’re still buying roasted beans thousands of miles away that have spent an unknown amount of time in transit before they reach you. Even if you ordered a bag of killer coffee beans from (and roasted in) a coffee-producing region of the world, it won’t arrive before those flavors start to return. Trust me, buy from a local roaster. You won’t regret it. For some of our favorite mail-order brands, check out our roundup of the best coffee subscription services.
What else do you need?
Ground coffee: If you haven’t made espresso before, and don’t have access to a coffee grinder, we always recommend buying locally roasted beans. Just ask your barista for a fine grind (espresso). We have tried many pre-ground espresso blends from popular companies such as Lavazza, Gevaliaand Cafe Bustelo. They were all very dark and very bitter, in part because they are all either imported or roasted in large batches and shipped all over the world. Grinding the coffee is another thing that causes it to start to degrade. Use your freshly ground, locally roasted beans within two weeks or drink a dark, bitter, sour and funky coffee. Our roundup of The best coffee grinders can also provide guidance here.
Distributor & Tamp: A lot of machines come with a plastic tamp, but few come with a proper distributor and tamp. You need to check the size of your filter holder (said in the instruction manual of your machine), but this combined distributor and tamp it is a good choice for most machines.
