Hi all, I always liked coffee but for the last year or so I’ve actually started looking into the brewing side of things. I’ve experimented with some good home brewers. My favorite so far is the Aeropress.
Anyway, I think I’m ready to get my first espresso machine. I’m a student, so kinda tight on budget. Around $500 is what I can spend on it right now. Can the more experienced people give me some suggestions? I’m happy to get a second hand machine if that’s a reliable option.
Or should I just wait a few more months and save more money? Please let me know what you think. Thanks.
If you like tinkering, maybe you could get a gaggia and mod it later with https://gaggiuino.github.io/ if you want to go to the next level.
Yo… That’s super cool! Thanks.
Does your existing grinder do espresso? if not you may need to also factor that in.
Another factor is whether you’re okay with a manual machine that can’t froth milk. (E.g., Flair, Uniterra Nomad, Wacaco Picopresso, Cafelat Robot). If you’re just doing straight espresso or you don’t mind picking up a separate milk frothing device like a nonfoamer, this can save you quite a bit over a machine with a boiler and pump. However, the workflow will probably be more fuss.
For a full machine sub $500 I think a lot of folks go for something like the Breville Bambino or the Gaggia Classic. Some modding may be required for best results on the Classic.
(My espresso setup is an 1zpresso J-Max and Uniterra Nomad)
I currently have a Timemore C3. It can do espresso, but I’ll probably need to buy something else later.
I don’t mind having a separate frother. Honestly, I’d prefer it, since it gives me more modularity and I can just upgrade one part later if I need to. But I don’t really like the idea of a manual machine.
Do you know where I should look to buy these?
Breville machines, anywhere you would buy a home appliance, probably, they’re a pretty ubiquitous kitchen machine brand. Something like a Gaggia Classic you’d probably be looking at a distributor that handles them; there are several, but I don’t know if any are better than the others.
You can definitely also find such machines used, lots of entry level espresso machines are given as gifts to folks who later decide they don’t really want to fuss around with them.
The Rancilio Silvia is a indestructible, reliable machine that will fit perfectly.
I absolutely love my Flair even more than a more expensive machines because you can totally geek out on different pressure profiles. But, I was describing it to a friend and he thought it was way more trouble than it’s worth. He wanted something more convenient.
Ngl, I don’t really dig the idea of a manual machine.
I have the Breville Bambino as my first one. Got it late last year, and it’s been great. I have to tamp the coffee myself, which I actually enjoy and I learned to steam milk properly with the wand.
It took some time to dial everything in properly, but I can make some excellent espresso with that I have.
I’ll second this recommendation, I personally want really good espresso with minimal fuss ( since I’m usually making it when I’m half awake), and the bambino fits the bill. It still required a bit of dialing in everything to get there, but now can consistently pull really nice shots quickly. I don’t care as much about milk frothing, but from what I’ve seen it works well.
Only comment is that it doesn’t have a grinder. Thankfully I had a good one already, but if your grinder is struggling with consistency it’s going to be really hard. I might find a used barista express if thats the case for you.
Absolutely love my Flair too, but I agree, it’s one of the least practical ways of making espresso. Dialed in, it’s capable of producing incredible shots tho.
Totally. I’ve kind of gotten into a groove with it, but other people think I’m a little nuts. It’s fun and you can dial it in, but there’s a decent learning curve to get there. Most of my friends see it and are fascinated by it, and then are like, “nah, I would never do that.” 😂
Most of my friends see it and are fascinated by it, and then are like, “nah, I would never do that.” 😂
Same 😂 Most of mine are like “This is some really good coffee, but I’m not sure it’s worth it” too… Most of them are nespresso or superauto users tho.
I managed to convince one single friend who was an Aeropress diehard, he ended up buying a Cafelat Robot 😂
Spoiler alert, it’s totally worth it.
Are you looking for a traditional machine or a superauto?
Traditional
I’m interested to see others opinions on this, but from my own experience I’d recommend saving up just a little more to grab one of the Brevelle Baristas.
Edit: Unless you already have a nice grinder?
Gaggia Classic. You can probably get by with your Timemore C3 for a while. If you are upgrading and sticking with a handgrinder, there are grinders in the 1zpresso and cheaper Kingrinder ranges that will have a much wider range for espresso grinding.
1zpresso J-Max owner here. Great grinder, incredibly precise (too precise?), super fast, very well built. Love it.
I have the Kingrinder K4 which I think shares the burrs with some of the 1zpresso range. The speed is great. Take me less than a minute to grind 18g for a shot. Plus the number of clicks it has is crazy.
Breville/Sage Barista Express. Buy it second-hand for an even lower entry point.
TLDR; Point being here invest in the drink you want not the tools to make it.
Honestly there is a lot of coffee snobs out there making way too much money off selling us on the 5-600 or 1.5-3K model machines which only matter if your running an actual cafe that needs to serve 20 people in ten minutes. The biggest thing to consider is bars of pressure, maintenance, and basket size. Average models would do 15 to 20 bars of pressure [usually more than enough for all kinds of drink types] and hold around 14 to 16g of espresso in a 58mm basket.
So with that in mind. Here’s my journey.
- Started with something similar to an IMUSA USA GAU-18202 4 Cup Espresso/Cappuccino Maker ($35 on amazon, or $20 at Walmat in the early 00’s). This lasted about 8 years of heavy use [e.g. 3 to 4 servings a day]
- After my old machine’s plastic bits on the handle and the steamer completely destroyed I shopped around and got a 20 Bar Braville similar to amazon.com/dp/B0C68T5Z2C. Still works great and gets twice the usage without any failure to produce great coffee.
- Instead of investing into coffee machines I put that into the quality of the roast and grinders.
- First thing was instead of buying pre-ground coffee which easily has at least 18 months on the shelf before you get it home. I got my own roaster and cooler [amazon.com/dp/B07Q3KZ5G6 and amazon.com/dp/B07S9XYC48] then explored several types of green beans. Found the flavor profiles that work best for a cafe quality city roast is from Smoking beans [amazon.com/dp/B00LSSAGPW]. Honestly Smoking beans is a great producer. Loved thier honduras sourced mexican blend [amazon.com/dp/B00LSSAOG8] mixed with sumatran or blue mountain. Made for a really clean and smooth expresso that complimented nearly every kind of drink I made. Best part is one 5lb bag lasts around two months at about 3 to 4 shots a day with a self tailored flavor profile for the price of two weeks supply of Cafe Bustelo or Medaglia D’Oro.
- As for grinder I went with a Mr Coffee Electric Burr Coffee Grinder just for its flexibility but recently upgraded to Sozen hand grinder [amazon.com/dp/B07HMTFRXC] to get actual fine powered coffee and its worth it too. That fine of a ground really pulls out all the great flavors and more caffeine than anything else out there. Plus its super quick too, the amount of time it takes for my machine to heat up I would have already ground 2.5 pulls worth of espresso meaning I’d have 40g of espresso ready for use long before my first pull and another doppio with a ristretto ready by the time I’ve pulled one more.
Where I’m going from here; might try a manual lever espresso (e.g Flair NEO) but since these get 9 bars of pressure instead of the usual 15 bars for cafe quality (starbucks goes for 19 bars in their machines) I’m going to wait for someone to gift it or it comes down to the $30 range on ebay. Also been doing a lot of turkish coffee which is really inspiring. The hand grinder allows me to add aromatics directly into the grind (like chicory, dried citrus peels, allspice, and/or cardamon pods) so I get a very fresh flavor added to the profile right before a pull. Even been following the trend in professional competitions to copy “drinkologists” with adding cocktail techniques into thier espresso which surprising does work to really add a bit more to the drink.
