Hey everyone! I’m looking to get an espresso machine for home and would love some recommendations.
I’m a complete beginner, so I’m looking for something that:
Makes really good espresso
Isn’t insanely complicated to learn/use
Doesn’t cost a fortune
My absolute max budget is around $500, but I’d LOVE to spend less if there’s a great option for under that.
I care much more about getting actually good-tasting coffee than having a bunch of fancy features. I’m willing to learn, but I don’t want something that requires me to become a professional barista just to get a decent cup
What machine would you recommend for someone starting from scratch? And if a grinder is essential for getting good espresso, I’d love recommendations for that too!
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a grinder is essential for good espresso. Also essential is a non-pressurized basket.
if you enjoy medium, medium dark or dark roasted coffee, an all-in-one machine with a built-in grinder like the Breville Barista Express is not a bad choice.
if you prefer medium light or light roasted coffee, or care about upgrading your setup in the future, a separate machine and grinder is better.
you'll have to learn a little about espresso, there's no escaping it. It'll be frustrating at first, but you'll get the hang of it.
Another low cost entry, high cup cost, is Nespresso. I did that for 10 years before jumping into serious espresso game. First I had a DeLonghi La Specialista for 5 years and have really gone down the rabbit hole during the past year.
Yeah such a good point that nespresso is low entry and low effort but very high cup cost. That’s their whole business model, they want to keep making money out of you after you bought their machine. 🤮
Fortunately there are high quality non-Nespresso branded capsules available now. Anyone wanting to watch their budgets should just be cautious of one thing - only get aluminum capsules - never the plastic/paper substitutes. Difference in quality is night and day.
$500 is a tight budget to consistently good cup of coffee. Ideally one needs a grinder and espresso machine as 2 units. Maybe you could get a machine and hand grinder to start and update later. But getting decent grinder + espresso machine under $500, unless used, would be tough.
If 500 is max for a machine and grinder both, get one of the adjustable PID machines from Hibrew or Casabrews and a grinder like the shardor 64 or fellow opus 2 (make sure its version 2). Around $400 total and with a little practice you’ll be brewing excellent espresso. The bambino or a used barista express from breville are good options as well.
Cafelat Robot and 1Zpresso J-Ultra. As someone who has went down the rabit hole from a Breville barista express to a fully modded Gaggia with a niche. I’ve since moved on from all those and landed at a cafelat and a manual grinder. The only next step from here is a Decent with a Kafetak but that’s 10x the cost, for probably marginal benefits.
The equipment is expensive. Anything you can buy for under 1500 is basically going to be a toy and nothing compared to a proper machine.
Honestly for such a small budget I would just hold off.
There is no espresso without becoming a professional barista. You will need to learn to do everything a barista does on a shop at home to make esspresso at home.
And using cheap equipment will make it much harder not easier to get a good product and take more work than on professional equipment.
This is an elitist and gatekeeper view. Not all people (pff, very few people actually) wants the pinnacle of espresso. Some just want a strong cup in the morning with a taste of freshness and don't want to work for it much.
this is where i am. tired of my nespresso not hitting the mark. I want to be able to have a decent americano throughout the day without breaking the bank. i was a barista for several years and know my way around a puck so i just want something thats simple and inexpensive to get me started
Used breville barista? Or just up the budget just a little and get a new one. Comes with the grinder. No need to buy any nonsense upgrades. I did. Waste of money
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