Four short guides covering how espresso actually works, the machine types you'll run into, how to pick between them, and what the different drinks and roasts mean.
Manual lever, semi-automatic, super-automatic, portable — what separates them, and which one you're actually looking at in a product listing.
Read the guide → Buying GuideGrinder or no grinder, 54mm or 58mm, thermoblock or dual boiler — the handful of decisions that actually matter, in the order to make them.
Read the guide → BrewingDose, grind, tamp, extract: the standard ratios to start from, and how to read a shot that's running too fast or too slow.
Read the guide → Coffee BasicsRistretto, espresso and lungo are the same shot pulled differently. Here's what actually separates them, the milk drinks built on top, and what roast level changes.
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