Serious Delirium - the coffee thread

[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…

 

[user 28238]

+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.

 

[joeldering]

+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.

 

[Paul B]

I'd suggest the Sage Barista Express.

This comment was from 2023 and that machine died just within its 2yr warranty. Its replacement showed me there'd definitely always been something wrong with the timer/dose function (which gave too much even at min.) and it itself gave up after only a few months of use (it wouldn't shut off properly after using the steam wand). This actually worked out favourably as I've had a coffee machine for the past few years that in the end cost me nothing (warranty replacement then refund).

With that in mind (accepting where I lived had ridiculously high levels of Manganese and Iron that might've played a part), has anything changed with entry level espresso machines / bean to cup machines over the past 5yrs or has anyone tried something other than the Barista Express?

I can see my options as:

• Sage/Breville Barista Express
• Sage/Breville Infuser plus grinder
• Ninja Luxe Cafe Espresso
• Lelit Anita
• Lelit Anna plus grinder
• Rancilio Silvia plus grinder
• Gaggia Classic Evo plus grinder
• Marzocco Linea Micra/Mini plus grinder plus mortgage/second job

I'm currently living in an apartment which doesn't have an excess of counter space so bean to cup (semi-auto) machines are tempting although I do feel that I was shortsighted when I sold my Gaggia Classic some years ago as I simply couldn't wrap my head around dropping $$$ on a separate grinder. The apartment is literally opposite a coffee shop/roasters but they don't open weekends.