You don’t need to buy a fancy machine to get a coffee-shop-caliber espresso drink

If you love a good latte, you’re probably used to frequenting your local cafe or Starbucks to get your espresso fix. But with inflation and rising prices, you might be looking to save some money on your high-end caffeine habit. One way to do that is to make your lattes at home. While that sounds like an expensive endeavor, you actually don’t need an expensive espresso maker or other fancy equipment to brew lattes at home.

To help you on your coffee crusade, we turned to the coffee taster who helps assess coffee makers in Consumer Reports’ tests for his secrets to making great lattes without all the extra equipment. (He’s an anonymous tester who tastes coffee for boutique and major coffee brands.)

Below, you’ll learn everything from the kinds of coffee beans to buy to frothing milk without a steam wand. And if after reading the steps you decide you’d like to upgrade to a coffee maker capable of making lattes after all, we’ve picked out the top models from our tests that turn out delicious espresso drinks lickety-split.

For more on our top-performing coffee makers, coffee grinders, and milk frothers, CR members can view our coffee maker ratings, coffee grinder ratings, and milk frother reviews.

Believe it or not, you don’t need to buy espresso beans. Medium-to-dark roast coffee that’s finely ground is great for lattes, says our coffee taste tester. Grind them fresh for each brew to get the most flavor, though. (Oxygen robs flavor from pre-ground beans.)

Use a high-quality burr grinder like those in our coffee grinder ratings, or see our review of the best and worst burr coffee grinders. Our taste tester prefers Baratza grinders, and the Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder earns a Very Good rating for fine grind performance.

Whatever you do, don’t rely on a spice grinder. “If all you’ve got is a spice grinder, then using the pre-ground beans is probably going to give you a better cup,” our taste tester says. That’s because spice grinders use blades, which don’t yield as consistent a grind as burr grinders that actually crush the coffee beans.

Baratza Encore Conical Burr Grinder

Skip the expensive espresso maker and use an AeroPress ($30) or a moka pot ($30 to $70 for those made by the popular Italian brand Bialetti) to brew espresso. Both use pressure to force water through the coffee grounds, similar to a real espresso machine. They yield brews that taste pretty darn close to the real thing. (A regular coffee maker won’t yield as rich a brew.)

With the AeroPress, you just put it over a mug and add fine coffee grounds and hot water. Then stir the water around for 10 seconds and use a plunger to slowly force the brew through the filter and into your mug.

Moka pots consist of three chambers that when heated on a stove force water through fine coffee grounds and a filter so you get espresso in the top chamber that you can pour out.

You don’t need an espresso maker’s steam wand to make foamed milk for your lattes. An affordable milk frother, such as the Aerolatte To-Go, $20, will do the trick. But if you don’t want to buy another appliance, you could also use a blender, hand mixer, or French press.

With a blender, simply pour warm milk into it and blend until you achieve your desired level of froth. The hand mixer method is similar; just pour warm milk into a bowl and aerate it. For the French-press method, our expert taste tester says to pour your warmed milk into the French press and pump it up and down repeatedly until you get a frothy milk.

You’d rather have a machine do all the work? Below are three of the best combination coffee/latte makers from our tests, all of which come with a milk frother. For more options, see our guide for the best combination coffee makers.

CR’s take: The Keurig K-Café Special Edition Coffee, Latte & Cappuccino Maker K84 uses K-Cup pods to brew coffee, lattes, and cappuccinos. It can even brew iced lattes and iced cappuccinos, but it lacks a mode for making traditional iced coffee. It’s admirably consistent in terms of brew size and temperature. It takes longer than the fastest models to heat up for the first cup, earning only a Good rating in that test, but it does better with subsequent cups. In addition to its built-in milk frother, this model comes with an auto-shutoff feature, a height-adjustable drip tray, and a removable water reservoir. But owners surveyed by CR gave Keurig coffee makers below-average marks for reliability.

Keurig K-Café Special Edition Coffee, Latte & Cappuccino Maker K84

CR’s take: The Mr. Coffee Occasions Coffee and Espresso System 2092271 is a variant of the CR-tested Mr. Coffee Occasions BVMC-O-CT (a discontinued model). This coffee maker is a combination coffee and espresso machine with a twist: It can brew coffee from either fresh grounds or Keurig K-Cup pods. It also features a built-in milk frother, allowing you to whip up lattes and cappuccinos. It earns a Very Good rating for brew performance in CR’s tests. The appliance comes with a thermal carafe, a removable water reservoir and drip tray, a permanent filter, and automatic shutoff.

Mr. Coffee Occasions Coffee and Espresso System 2092271

CR’s take: A more affordable take on Ninja’s Coffee Bar brewers, the Ninja Specialty CM401 is a terrific all-in-one machine capable of brewing hot and iced coffee, lattes, macchiatos, and other specialty brews. In our tests, it receives an Excellent rating for brew performance, and its glass carafe is easy to hold and pour. This model is also packed with features, including an over-ice brew mode for iced coffee, a built-in milk frother, brew-strength control, and brew-size adjustment for everything from travel mugs to full carafes. It’s one of the most versatile coffee makers we’ve tested. For a Ninja brewer that can make cold brew and tea, check out the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System CP307. And for a versatile Ninja brewer that works with K-Cup pods, see the Ninja DualBrew Pro 12-Cup CFP301.

More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples

Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2022, Consumer Reports, Inc.

There are a bevy of coffee machines to pick from, so we've done the heavy lifting and are sharing the best of 2022.

Whether you're in a pinch to make a meal or want to preserve certain foods while they're in season, these are the expert-approved frozen items you should never be without.

When it comes to easy dinner ideas that involve ground beef, the options are endless. Ground beef tacos, pasta, pizza, stir-fry... but nothing is as easy as these 24 best ground beef casserole recipes, which range from cheesy and hearty to layered and loaded with flavor. Related: Ground Beef Crock ...

Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields, who has been vegan since 2020, told Insider what he eats to get protein and carbs to be in prime condition.

School-lunch snacks, cozy soups and meal-starters like dumplings and sausages are just some of the great deals at Costco this month.

“Who bring the salad?” When someone in my family asked that question, it meant one thing: “Who brought the potato […] The post Is your potato salad Labor Day ready? If one of these 5 food items is in it, honey child, it is not appeared first on TheGrio.

I'm Krista, and I've been making and sharing my zero-effort dinners with y'all, so — busy people — if you're in the market for some super-easy recipes, I've got 19 more you can save. Let's goooo!View Entire Post ›

Cookbook author Katie Lee Biegel says sheet pan dinners are among her go-to ways to whip up a meal in a hurry.

While gyros were undoubtedly invented in Greece, enterprising Chicagoans played a surprisingly important role in popularizing the meaty sandwich across the United States. Starting in the 1970s, local companies such as Grecian Delight, Kronos Foods and Olympia Gyros were able to mass produce the meat cones that restaurants could then cook on vertical rotisseries. Decades later, you can still ...

Get dinner on the table in no time with these chicken breast recipes.

"Once I started doing this, the act of cooking went from stressful and chaotic to fun and satisfying."View Entire Post ›

The entire menu — of burgers, sandwiches, and shakes — is plant-based. One item was up there with the Popeyes chicken sandwich for me, and I genuinely couldn't even tell that it was vegan. (I said what I said.)View Entire Post ›

New study shows that ultra-processed foods are linked to cancer, mortality and poor mental health. Examples of ultra processed foods and how to avoid processed foods.

Everything is slowly getting more expensive, including pumpkin spice lattes, but that doesn’t mean you have to go without thanks to these DIY essentials.

Don't want rotten garlic? Follow these storage tips.

One of the reasons I love baking so much is that it requires only a few simple, shelf-stable ingredients to make something way more delicious than the sum of its parts. Sugar, flour, butter, salt, and eggs—that’s all you need to treat yourself.

A "Chopped" champion is opening The Lobby, a new fast-casual restaurant that uses local ingredients, in Tucson. Here's where, when and what to expect.

Potterheads rejoice! This at-home Butterbeer recipe is the closest thing I've found to the Wizarding World treat.

Consider this everything you need to know about the versatile, rice-shaped pasta.

Apples and spice and everything nice.