About Barista Bench
Barista Bench started from a simple frustration: shopping for home coffee gear is needlessly confusing. Every machine claims 20 bars of pressure and a "real barista experience," the spec sheets bury what actually matters, and half the reviews online read like they were paid for.
So we built the opposite. We read the specifications closely, dig through what real owners say on forums, Reddit and video reviews, and then write it down in plain English. Every product gets a transparent Bench Score across the five things that actually matter, plus an honest verdict that includes who should skip it. Our data studies publish their full datasets and methods.
Who runs this
Barista Bench is written and run by Paul Tanswell, a British-born digital generalist living in northern Sweden, a country that treats coffee breaks as a load-bearing institution. Before this site he spent five years as a staff photographer and digital imaging specialist at Haynes Publishing, then more than twenty years building software and e-commerce platforms, from aerospace logistics systems to running an international direct-to-consumer brand. He still takes on freelance photography work.
His degree is in Physics. That shapes how this site works more than any coffee credential could: specifications get verified against manufacturer sources, opinions get grounded in researched owner consensus, scores come from a published rubric, and when we do not know something, the page says so. We do not claim hands-on lab testing, and we never will unless we actually do it.
Contact
Email hello@baristabench.com. Journalists on a deadline, fact-checkers, manufacturers who think we got a spec wrong, and readers with a question all land in the same inbox, and we answer it.
Corrections
If we publish an error, we correct the page promptly and note the correction on it. Factual claims on this site carry sources, and our datasets record where every number came from, so checking us is easy and encouraged. Spotted something off? Email hello@baristabench.com with the page link.
Using our data and graphics
Our data studies publish downloadable datasets and embeddable graphics. You are welcome to use them in editorial coverage with attribution to Barista Bench and a link to the study page. If you need a quote, a custom cut of the data, or a spokesperson, email us; that is the fast lane.
How the site makes money
Affiliate links, disclosed openly. They never decide our picks. If a machine is overpriced for what it does, or a "bargain" that will frustrate you within a month, we say it. The full policy is on the disclosure page. Better coffee at home, without the guesswork.