I’m an ex-barista and I know why the coffee you make at home isn’t as good as Starbucks — 3 tips for brewing the perfect cup

a red smeg espresso machine with burr grinder is photographed against a blue background
(Image credit: Future)

Making coffee is as much a science as it is an art. Yet, coming from someone who performed very poorly in high school science class, the science is pretty fun to learn about.

It's not just about getting the best espresso machine. There's more to it, however overwhelming that can feel at first.

There are three main rules by which I make my coffee: you need the perfect grind, ideal ratio, and, finally, quality coffee beans. While I can’t recommend exactly what beans suit your taste, I can help point you in the right direction.

You need the perfect grind, ideal ratio, and, finally, quality coffee beans.

Alongside a genuine interest and passion for good coffee, I also have three-and-a-half years of professional barista experience under my belt. At university, I worked at one of the U.K.'s main chain coffee shops (Costa) and then an artisan coffee shop in my uni city.

Then, during the pandemic, I was a shift supervisor at my local Starbucks, so I have a varied knowledge of different coffee practices.

Due to this experience, I often get asked, “Erin, why doesn’t the latte I just made on my espresso machine taste as good as the cafe down the road?” My answers are always the same: your coffee is stale, your grind isn’t right, and your ratios are off.

Let me teach you exactly how to get a barista-quality coffee at home: it’s easier than you think.

De'Longhi La Specialista Opera
De'Longhi La Specialista Opera: was $897.50 now $680 at Amazon

This is the espresso machine I personally have and use every single day. It’s not the most specialty-coffee friendly machine out there — changing beans always has around a 5-drink adjustment period — but it’s a super simple, super easy-to-use machine, and you can certainly get cafe-quality coffee with the semi-automatic 21-bar pump and powerful steam wand.

How to make great coffee at home: You’re not using the correct grind

This is the number one cause of bad coffee: using the wrong grind for your chosen brewing method. Espresso coffee should be ground to about 300-500μm, no bigger than 800μm. The best coffee grinders will have a guide on which setting to grind for your brewing method: read it.

Comandante C40 MK4

The Comandante C40 is perhaps the hand grinder. This is what most of the coffee aficionados use, and for good reason. In my 4.5-star review of the Comandante C40 MK4, I praised its build and versatility.

Comandante C40 MK4
Comandante C40 MK4: $277 at Amazon

The build quality sets this grinder apart from the rest. Everything is so purposeful, down to the wood veneer and the high-nitrogen steel burrs. While it has a little learning curve, the C40 is the grinder for coffee aficionados.

The Comandante C40 MK4 grinder is so highly revered because it is a darn fantastic grinder. The chamber is pretty small — around 50g to fill it depending on the bean — but seeing as a double espresso shot requires 18g of coffee, I was able to grind enough for multiple shots in one go.

To adjust the grind size, you need to physically press the dial on the underside of the grinder and ‘click’ it until you reach your desired consistency. Comandante has a user guide that tells you exactly how many ‘clicks’ you need for each brewing method.

the comandante c40 mk4 hand coffee grinder with a glass catch chamber and high nitrogen steel burrs

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The grind uniformity on this grinder is like no other. My review has an in-depth table and explanation of consistency comparison, but to paraphrase: the uniformity basically leapt from 1% to 95% (between two sieve sizes), which is what you want to see.

Given that this is a hand grinder, obviously it requires some physical exertion. It’s the inherent nature of a hand grinder: you might need to break a sweat to make a coffee. But when the grinder works as well as this, it’s a price I’m willing to pay.

Baratza Encore ESP

Now this is a recommendation for the beginners: the Baratza Encore ESP is an electric grinder that requires little to no user participation. While the Comandante C40 is a more specialty-focused grinder, the Encore ESP is one for the newbies.

Baratza Encore ESP
Baratza Encore ESP: $199 at Amazon

In my 4-star review of the Baratza Encore ESP, I praised its ease of use and complete lack of learning curve. If you’ve never used a coffee grinder before, it might require five minutes of reading the instruction manual, but after that it’s a breeze. Simply fill the hopper and grind away.

What makes the Baratza Encore ESP so good is its budget price and unbelievable ease of use. There’s no struggling with manually adjusting the burrs, no real maintenance at all really, and it’s also really affordable as far as coffee grinders go.

All you have to do is pour beans in the hopper, set your grind size (there’s a handy label on the grinder itself telling you where espresso-fine is), and press go. There’s literally nothing else to it. No manual grinding, no counting ‘clicks’, nothing.

the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Although its grind is a touch more inconsistent than the Comandante C40, this is the most beginner-friendly grinder I’ve ever tried. I was able to clean the burr without reading the instructions at all (no screwdriver necessary) and the cleanup is pretty straightforward, all things considered.

For beginner grinder users, this is the only grinder I’d recommend.

How to make great coffee at home: Your ratios are off

Another reason why your home espresso might not taste as good as a cafe’s is because you’re not getting the correct ratio of coffee to water. Many coffee shops have specialized commercial espresso machines that do all the work for you.

Home espresso machines, for the most part, do not. For getting the ideal ratio, you’ll need one of the best coffee scales, like the affordable Wacaco Exagram Pro or the premium Acaia Pearl S.

the acaia pearl s coffee scale with an LED screen, on/off, tare button with slip-proof feet and a premium white exterior plastic casing photographed against the tom's guide blue background

(Image credit: Future)

An ideal espresso ratio is 1 part coffee to 2 parts water, extracted between 25-30 seconds. If you have a coarser grind (recommended for dark roasts) or a finer grind (recommended for lighter roasts), the time will be longer or shorter respectively.

A coffee scale can help you perfect those ratios for the best tasting coffee possible. Here are a couple of my recommendations.

Wacaco Exagram Pro

In my 4-star review of the Wacaco Exagram Pro, I discussed how the affordable price and compact size makes it one of the best beginner-friendly coffee scales out there.

Wacaco Exagram Pro
Wacaco Exagram Pro : $49 at Amazon

One of the best things about the Wacaco Exagram Pro is its price, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s a cheap and cheerful product. The scale is very consistent and precise, and helped me master my espresso and pour-over alike. While it has no flow-rate monitor, I think this is a great gadget for the price.

As I touched on just now, the Exagram Pro does lack a flow-rate monitor. However, you can easily work this out by dividing your grams by time taken. For example, if I get 36g of coffee in 25 seconds, I know my flow rate is 1.44g/s, which is within the parameters of a perfect espresso (1.5g/s-2.5g/s).

The Exagram Pro, like the Baratza Encore ESP, is a perfect first time scale. It has physical buttons to switch from ‘espresso’, ‘pour-over’, and ‘normal’ mode, which means no fiddling with annoying button mashing to change mode.

A black Wacaco Exagram Pro coffee scale

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The ‘espresso’ mode automatically tares a cup’s weight so you don’t have to fiddle with it once it’s on the machine drip tray. It works similarly in ‘pour-over’ mode, which calculates your ideal ratio.

For beginners, I recommend the Exagram Pro wholeheartedly. This is a fantastic starter scale with very little wrong with it.

Acaia Pearl S

This is by far the most impressive coffee scale I’ve ever tested — my 4-star Acaia Pearl S review goes into full, comprehensive detail.

Acaia Pearl S
Acaia Pearl S: $220 at acaia.co

I know, $220 is a lot of money for what is basically a glorified digital scale. It’s more money than the Baratza Encore ESP grinder I discussed above. However, there’s simply nothing else like the Pearl S. The scale links up to your phone and can actually teach you, step-by-step, how to make coffee. On top of that, the precision is incomparable.

If left to my own devices, I could spend thousands of words waxing lyrical about the Acaia Pearl S and why I love it so much. However, I’ll spare you the boredom and quickly run through what makes it so excellent.

While other scales simply weigh coffee and water, the Pearl S weighs coffee and water, connects to your phone via Bluetooth, teaches you how to make coffee, and gives you access to the fantastic Acaia Brewguide app.

the acaia pearl s coffee scale with an LED screen, on/off, tare button with slip-proof feet and a premium white exterior plastic casing photographed against the tom's guide blue background

(Image credit: Future)

You don’t need the Pearl S to use this app, but it’s so much better with it. Roasteries and coffee shops can upload their recipes to Brewguide and you can follow them gram-for-gram at home.

The Pearl S is great for pour-over, but it has an excellent espresso mode too. The timer has auto-recognition, so you don’t need to press ‘start’ for it to begin timing each shot.

How to make great coffee at home: You’re using low-quality coffee

I know it’s tricky if you don’t live in a big city with a range of artisan coffee shops and roasteries, but you should always try to get small-batch, specialty-roasted coffee beans.

Imagine you’re trying to make a sandwich, but you’re using stale bread and deli meat that’s been left out all night. No matter how fresh your veggies are or how delicious your mayo is, that sandwich is never going to taste good.

espresso machine making two shots of espresso

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

It’s the same with coffee beans. I’m in the U.K., and all my coffee testing is done with artisanal beans from Hard Lines coffee, which is based in Cardiff. If you don’t live in a city with easy access to a small roastery, you can always get subscription beans online.

If you’re in the U.S., the subscription service Beanz works much the same as the one I personally use. I can also recommend Atlas Coffee Club — my editor Pete Wolinski says its coffee is delicious.

How to make a great coffee at home

There are three main things to remember: grind, ratio, and coffee beans. If you follow the advice I’ve laid out here, you’ll be making barista-quality coffee in no time. Happy brewing!

More from Tom's Guide

Erin Bashford
Staff Writer, Reviews

Erin Bashford is a staff writer at Tom’s Guide, covering reviews. She has a Masters in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from the University of East Anglia and 7 years of experience writing music, events, and food reviews. Now she’s turned her attention to tech for Tom’s Guide, reviewing everything from earbuds to garlic crushers. In her spare time you can find her reading, practising yoga, writing, or stressing over today’s NYT Games.

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