CoffeeForums Coffee Facts

Q: I need some help learning what I need to make cappuccino. I know this may upset many of the experts here and this is not my intention. So if the use of heretical words like Starbucks and budget offend you, then you might not want to continue reading, hahahaha. I would like to be able to make my own cappuccino. I grew up not drinking coffee, but in the last couple of years I've grown to enjoy a cappuccino. I only know the difference between really back cappuccino and what Starbucks servers, so I don't have the palate or needs that many of you have. My hours are rather random with many late nights or early mornings when local coffee shops are not open, so making my own will get me coffee when I want it and hopefully help me to improve my understanding of what is good Espresso. I don't yet even know what I don't know. From watching this group for a couple of weeks, I need a machine, grinder, thermometer and what else? I'd like to keep the budget under $500. Can this be done with the lower standards that I have? If I threw another $100 at the budget, would I get a noticeable amount more? Please help with any suggestions to get me started so that in 6 months I can probably know what I really want.

A: You have issued a lot of maybe-s and what if-s there. If you would settle for something "like" a capuccino, and would be happier spending closer to around $150-200, you could get a nice, stainless steel moka pot (often referred to as a stove-top Espesso maker) for around $75-100, and a budget grinder- around $50-125. Avoid the electric moka pots and stick to the stove top ones. You could get a better grinder now (around $200-300) to use with the moka pot, and if you decide to step up to a "real" espresso machine later you will already have the grinder. For speed, you could add an electric whip of some sort to whip up the milk so you wouldn't have to wait fo steam pressure in the moka pot (or at least, have the milk ready while the coffee is brewing). If the person working in the store demonstrates then you get a demonstration of what he can do, not what the machine can do - if you're looking at a crap machine and the guy demonstrating it is a first class barista who's had time to work up a grind and roast for that machine, you'll get a better shot than with the best machine on the market and some random sales clerk demonstrating it with five year old beans ground for a random time in a whirlygig. If it's the same person demonstrating a dozen different models using the same grind you'll get a dozen different results and whichever machine happens to like that grind the best is the one that is going to come out on top, even if it's actually the worst machine of the lot. If the OP does the trial, well, if he knew enough to pull a decent shot he'd already have enough experience to have an idea what he wants in a machine, so again he finds out what he can do and not what the machine can do. Further, if you go into a "gourmet cooking store" maybe in Los Angeles or New York there's one with decent equipment set up, but not in most of the country. As for coffee shops, darned few of those other than Starbucks retail equipment and what they use is way over a $500 budget.