By Jane de Graaff| 4 months ago

We all love a great coffee. Of course, it's always best when it's made hot and fresh for you by an expert barista at a cafe — and we should all support our local cafes.

But what if you're making them at home? There are ways to do it a little bit better each time. Check out the Today clip above to see some of the best coffee machines on the market, and to find out what coffee joke left Today hosts Karl Stefanovic and Ally Langdon and in stitches.

First up, know your machines and pick one that works for you. There are so many on the market; what you want to focus on is your budget and what you want from the machine.

Home espresso machines are great if you want to take the time to work out the best settings, pressure and details for your own coffee. You'll either need to buy pre-ground beans or get yourself a grinder to crack them fresh. It also means you'll need some bench space. Other than that, it's just about how much you want to spend.

Some of them are highly automated — like the Jura, where you can out settings in so that it's consistent every single time. Some heat your milk, but with others you'll use the accumulated steam and pressure to froth your own.

Nespresso has really cornered the market here, being the first and most specialised to create the machines.

The brand's current model is the Vertuo with the centrifuge pods, but its small, classic pods are still wildly popular too. The Breville machines are the top of the range for these — the latest model has personalised settings, is touch-screen-operated and lets you froth and heat the milk all in one go. but there are plenty of really simple pod machines on the market starting as cheap as $80 and going up from there.

Nespresso Vertuo Next, $189 ($249 with milk frother) — This is the newer pod machine from Nespresso, with five sizes of domed pod available, including one for carafes or pots of coffee. Each one has a barcode to let the machine know which pod is being used and is optimised for the best result. It's as simple as 'pop the pod in and press the button'. You'll need to warm and froth your milk separately as the machine does not do this, but it is classic Nespresso designed for the best experience. It's a compact machine that does not require much room and comes in different colours.

Nespresso + Breville Creatista Pro , $1,299 — This is the fan-favourite pod machine. Created with Breville, it's a sleek machine that does all the thinking for you. It has nine customisable coffee settings, a milk frothing wand as part of the machine's automatic functions, and a touch screen display to make your selections. It does the milk and the coffee functions at the same time, so it is the quickest of all the machines.

Aldi EXPRESSI Coffee Capsule Machine , $79.99 — This is a compact and easy to use machine. It's simple and stylish and has a small footprint for a pod machine. They have a large range of Expressi pods and this machine is excellent to get started with pods.

Big Tip: Don't forget that a lot of specialty coffee roasters also make their own pods that are compatible with various pod machines.

These are more classic and lower-tech items. They're great for lighter coffee and won't need the maintenance of machines. A lot of baristas swear by the simplicity and elegance of these methods when you can't have a barista-made coffee.

These don't heat your milk or incorporate it for you, so you will need to do that separately, but these classic methods are perfect for more delicate black coffees and they don't require much maintenance. They are also a lot cheaper than high-tech pressurised machines.

Prices vary depending on the item, but a simple French press can be as little as $10, while a stovetop designer espresso machine can be up to $1,000.

It's the little touches.

Grind fresh — Get a good grinder and grind your beans fresh for full aromatics. There are plenty of electric or manual grinders in all different price brackets. You don't need to spend a lot.

Prices range from $15 for small spice/coffee grinders to $30 for coffee-specific grinders with reservoirs for the beans, ranging up to whatever you want to spend.

Chocolate sprinkles — A shaker of chocolate powder gives that classic cappuccino finish and is an easy cafe touch.

Good cups — These make a coffee experience that much better. We used these lovely glass mugs from Target , set of two for $10.

Milk steaming/frothing — Having the right kind of jug will let you make better steamed or frothed milk, either a metal jug for your espresso machine or a milk-frothing jug or stick to heat and froth milk separately. Most pod machines also sell a frothing attachment.

Nespresso's Aeroccino3 milk frother retails for $99, while Aldi's Expressi milk frother retails for $29.99

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