At-Home Coffee-Making Tips from a Barista

We recently attended a coffee master class with De’Longhi. The takeaway? Being a barista is harder than it looks.

Start with great beans.This part is easy: Choose locally roasted beans for maximum freshness (we’re partial to Dispatch), grind immediately before brewing and invest in a conical burr grinder, like De’longhi’s Dedica ($249.99).

Don’t wing it. Although taking shortcuts—especially pre-coffee!—is tempting, you’ll get best results by weighing your coffee grinds (14 to 18 grams for a typical shot) and timing the shot (about 20-30 seconds for 2 oz.). Of course, there are a ton of factors—tamp, temperature, brewing time, etc.—that affect the end result, so experiment and practice your way to perfect. Sounds complicated? It is, which is why fully automatic machines (read: 100% goof-proof) are wildly popular.

You can fake latte art. All you need is a toothpick. Who knew?! —Christine Laroche