[IanP]

1g CO2 per gram of paper[/url] and about 7g CO2 for Google search 

Very old link there, talked about 200m to 500m searches per day which sounded low, a quick google (!!) says it's more like 5.6 billion per day.  And a google search of 'how much co2 per google search' (!!!) says 0.2 grams.

[joel182]

1g CO2 per gram of paper[/url] and about 7g CO2 for Google search 

Very old link there, talked about 200m to 500m searches per day which sounded low, a quick google (!!) says it's more like 5.6 billion per day.  And a google search of 'how much co2 per google search' (!!!) says 0.2 grams.

Yeah wouldn't shock me if it's wrong, was just the first couple of sources I found! Google has done a bunch of cool work using AI to help improve data center efficiency which has apparently been very effective.

I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over what coffee filters I'm using or how many searches I'm doing.

[TobyD]

Surely this is all pretty irrelevant, if anyone really wanted to deal with climate change, noone would drink any tea or coffee, unless it's nettle tea.

[SA Chris]

I grow my own chamomile organically in the garden, it's the only way.

[dunnyg]

Unnecessarily heating up water is the devils work. People should be having cold brew nettle tea, and be glad of it.

[SA Chris]

using rainwater obv.

[TobyD]

It's all only a matter of time before the only option is drinking your own recycled urine like Kevin Costner in Waterworld.

[SA Chris]

or your own sweat like Dune.

Not there yet Baldrick.

[Will Hunt]

You'll all be glad of cold brew nettle urine tea when the Climate Wars have disrupted global supply chains. You'll sit there with your fellow refugees, keeping warm around a burning bundle of now-useless £50 notes, taking it in turns to swap stories and rumours.

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. A mile-wide flotilla of Javan coffee barges torpedoed by a Montenegrin U-boat off the shoulder of Oman."

[James Malloch]

A friend is looking for a home espresso machine. He would like to use his own beans but i suspect he isn't too bothered if it’s bean to cup, or a manual machine.

Budget is up to around £500 but he’s a fancy man so I’m sure than can be increased a bit if needed.

He’s moved out into the sticks but wants to ensure he can still get good espresso now he's not close to any cafes.

Anything in particular to look out for when deciding what to buy?

[Paul B]

I'd advise watching the James Hoffman videos on this.

If he doesn't want a new hobby I'd suggest the Sage Barista Express. It's the right level of messing about for me. Otherwise you're looking at a Gaggia Pro and something like the Iberital (sp?) grinder (£1:£1). There are others at a similar price point but not many.

[Muenchener]

The grinder is as important as the machine, and electric grinders capable of producing a consistent espresso grind don't come cheap.

if your mate does't already have a good grinder, it might be worth considering a hand grinder. I have a 1zpresso, which was pretty much state of the art when I bought it a couple of years back, and I don't find the under 30 seconds it takes me to grind a shot's worth of beans onerous.

Second the recommendation to check out what James Hoffmann has to say.

[James Malloch]

Thanks for the advice. Ive pointed him in the direction of James’ videos. And also a good point on the grinder - i guess for espresso you’ll need something high quality.

It’s making me want a home espresso setup now - if only we had a bigger kitchen…

[Dingdong]

+1 for sage and in terms of a grinder I always recommend people pick up a Timemore C3, around 70 quid and does a grand job for the price.

[joel182]

+1 for sage and in terms of a grinder I always recommend people pick up a Timemore C3, around 70 quid and does a grand job for the price.

It's really hard work to get an espresso grind with my Timemore C2 - and not very adjustable in the espresso fine settings either. Personally wouldn't recommend it if espresso was the goal, absolutely love mine for making pourovers and aeropress though.

[Paul B]

It’s making me want a home espresso setup now - if only we had a bigger kitchen…

The Sage Bambino from what I understand is just the Express with the grinder removed and it's a fairly small footprint. If you can fit it, and a hand grinder in your cupboard then the footprint could be pretty small?

We also went for the Express as it actually fits (just) underneath the overhead cabinets where other grinders were quite a lot taller (or significantly more £££ - Niche).

I'm still really enjoying Rave Coffee which was recommended to me on here too.

[sdm]

1zpresso are generally the go to for a good quality, budget friendly hand grinder.

Commandante with redclix is another good option.

It's worth noting that some people find hand grinding for espresso to be quite a chore, especially with light roasted beans which are denser and more work than darker roasted beans. Some people are fine with it.

To get a similar quality in an electric grinder is going to cost a few hundred quid extra unless you get a good second hand deal. There's been quite a lot of good quality, budget friendly grinders released in recent months, which James Hoffman's channel hasn't reviewed (yet?). Other channels like Lance Hedrick, Kyle Rowsel and RealSprometheus (if you can tolerate the editing) have covered reviews of pretty much everything out there.

Bean to cup is for someone who wants reasonable espresso at home with minimal effort (i.e. not looking for a new hobby). You don't get the same control over all of the variables of brewing. A well dialed in espresso machine and grinder will always lead to better results than if you spend the same amount on a bean to cup machine. If the goal is something that beats Starbucks / Costa, then decent beans in a bean to cup will achieve that. If the goal is to match/exceed the espresso of a good specialty coffee shop, then a bean to cup won't cut it.

Bean to cup also aren't upgradeable if you end up going further down the fancy coffee rabbit hole.

If you aren't interested in steamed milk drinks, then you can get excellent quality espresso at a reasonable price from manual lever espresso machines like the Flair or the Cafelat Robot.