LIKE ANY self-respecting espresso snob, I’ve a battery of beans and grinders and brewing apparatuses at residence. However crafting an ideal espresso shot is one trick I’ve at all times been content material to depart to practiced baristas with way-beyond-my-budget, cafe-quality espresso machines.
That’s, till a pal tipped me off to the Aptitude Professional 2—the flagship in a set of handbook espresso machines that has been incomes accolades from bean nerds since a 2016 launch. As a devotee of low-tech java devices just like the moka pot and AeroPress, I used to be curious if the horny Aptitude provided greater than geek cachet. Might I actually produce top-level espresso at residence for a number of hundred bucks, utilizing little greater than my very own elbow grease?