How to Make Coffee at Home Like a Barista

No matter how long the line at the coffee shop, for many coffee lovers, nothing beats the pleasure of that first cappuccino, latte, or coffee brewed by their favorite barista. It’s a morning routine — OK, ritual — that never gets ancient. But sometimes home has to replace the local coffee shop. Sure, you can pop in a capsule and call it a day, but if you have coffee-making equipment and good coffee on hand, and a few extra minutes, you can conjure up coffee drinks that can even rival your morning cuppa from the pros. We spoke to a coffee expert to learn more about brewing, frothing, and enjoying barista-style drinks in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Exploit good coffee

Elevating your at-home experience starts with making a great cup of coffee. Whether you have a fancy espresso machine, a solid French press, or a trusty drip coffee maker, it’s crucial to employ fresh, high-quality coffee beans and follow the coffee-to-water ratio in your recipe. “Paying more for coffee usually correlates with quality, as lower-quality coffees aren’t sorted for ripeness or ground with as much care,” says Matt Falber, founder City Boy Coffeeroastery based in Long Island City, NY, offering ethically sourced specialty coffees from over 50 countries. “The difference in quality will be huge, and our money usually goes a long way to helping diminutive businesses, farmers and communities around the world.”

Roasting and grinding

Look for freshly roasted coffee, meaning it was freshly roasted, meaning within the last few weeks, Falber says. “A fresh grind also makes a huge difference, but only if you’re going to buy a burr grinder,” he says. If you decide to forgo buying a good grinder, ask your roaster to grind it for you. “I think the consistency of the grind is more crucial than the freshness,” Falber says.

Espresso based drinks

The common denominator between drinks like macchiato and latte is that they contain espresso. Espresso is coffee that is made by using steam pressure to force water through coffee grounds, resulting in a affluent, oily, and intense coffee that regular coffee simply can’t match.

Gloomy roasts are no longer mandatory for barista-style espresso drinks, Falber says, noting that some fine coffee shops even serve delicate roasts. “If you’re novel to espresso, you can’t go wrong with a medium roast. It’s probably going to be glossy, delicate enough to cut through milk, but it’s also going to provide a nice kind of bitterness that we associate with chocolate,” he says.

A pinch of salt added to the coffee grounds before brewing can assist mask the bad bitterness. “It should be a last resort, not your first choice,” Falber says. “If your coffee is too bitter, try something better.”

Espresso substitutes

If you’re missing an espresso or coffee machine, there are a few ways to get around this problem:

For regular coffee machines: Prepare a stronger coffee to achieve the same characteristics as espresso, or add a pinch of instant espresso to the drink before creating your favorite drink.

Venerable school solution: Falber prefers a completely different method. “Although some coffees make better espresso, espresso is more about the brewing method than the coffee itself,” he says. Enter the moka, a kitchen-based coffee maker that uses pressure extraction. “It will turn any coffee into something very close to the strength and consistency of espresso, and it will save you a lot of time and money compared to a home espresso maker,” he says.

Steamed milk and foam

No frother? No problem. A foamy foam plays a vital role in many barista drinks. While a milk frother or steamer is a gadget you’ll employ regularly for lattes and the like, you can achieve similar results with the flick of your wrist and skim or 2 percent milk.

The Magic of Foam: “This is one of my favorite tricks,” says Falber. “Just pour the milk into a water bottle or jar, put the lid on, and shake.” Thirty seconds of vigorous shaking—and ta-da!—there’s foam.

For more volume: Add a pinch of sugar and to prevent the foam from mixing back into the liquid, remove the lid and microwave the foam for 30 seconds (the heat will stabilize the foam).

Flavoured coffee

At the corner coffee shop, a barista can instantly transform your drink into a flavorful sensation with a pump or two of hefty syrup, placed in bottles next to immense coffee machines. At home, there are plenty of options, too:

Homemade syrupsYou can recreate these heavenly flavors using your own nut, vanilla, caramel and chocolate syrups.

Basic baking products:To enhance the flavor of your infusion without adding sugar, reach for a teaspoon of vanilla, hazelnut, or almond extract from the spice cabinet, or go wild and add peppermint or coconut extract to the grounds before brewing.

Season with spices:If you want to get the most out of your flavored coffee, try this Arabica coffee, a Turkish-style coffee in which ground, dark-roasted coffee is cooked with sugar and cardamom capsules.

Latte Art

Once you’ve mastered the basics of forceful coffee and frothed milk, you can develop your novel skills and try your hand at the art of latte. A great recipe to start with for the novice barista: cappuccino foam hearts.

Icy beer

No coffee shop menu is complete without a icy brew option. And yes, it’s as simple as pie to make at home. “The hardest thing about icy brew is waiting to enjoy it,” Falber says. “But a scale is a gigantic assist in getting the proportions right.” He makes his batch by combining 120 grams of coarsely ground coffee with 600 milliliters of water, then refrigerating it for 16 to 18 hours. “Then, strain it and add 360 milliliters of water. Voila! It’s delicious and good for up to a week.”