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Espresso Machine

4,381 Views | 30 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by Ted Lasso
mrmill3218
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AG
For a while I was looking at the Breville Infuser, but I just can't seem to convince myself into spending $500. I was look at the Flair line of manual espresso makers. Does anyone have any experience with these? Seems like a pretty cool thing but also maybe a bit of a hassle.
04.arch.ag
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We have a Breville BES870. I think it was like $700 but when you start backing out $4 lattes from wherever it doesn't take long to add up. We have had it for 2+ years and I would say it is adequate to good. Our neighbor is kind of a coffee snob and has a couple thousand dollar unit and his is a lot better especially the steamer function. Ours takes a bit to get the milk steamed and its a slow pour for just hot water for my americanos but I can wait an extra 20 seconds for $1500. The built in grinder is good as well since we don't have a tone of counterspace for a bunch of independent pieces. Needs to be cleaned every 2 months or so even with using distilled water
agtwister_5
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AG
I was lucky enough to get a "beginner" machine and would love some recommended espresso grinds to try. And go...
Mathguy64
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AG
agtwister_5 said:

I was lucky enough to get a "beginner" machine and would love some recommended espresso grinds to try. And go...
I like Lavazza Super Crema and Top Class. I really like Maromas Orphea. I get whole bean, grind on a Rocky Rancilio and use a Gaggia Classic.
kithas
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AG
Long time Gaggia Classic fan. Works great and easy to learn and grow with. You can buy Lavazza ese espresso pods to get a consistent brew with a much smaller mess than dealing with loose grinds (typically around $0.35/shot and make a weekday brew much easier. I also recommend shopping at WholeLatteLove.com - awesome sales and technical customer support.

Nothing beats finding fresh roasted beans, however.
one MEEN Ag
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From friends who are coffee/espresso snobs what I've been told is that, 'amateurs talk about coffee beans, professionals talk about grinders.'

You could make yourself dang good cup of espresso/amercano with a Baratze Sett 30 coffee grinder and a Krups espresso machine. Total spend would be around $300.

Burn-It
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AG
We have the DeLonghi Magnifica and really like everything about it. Add your beans, set the grinder & volume settings and you can make just about any type of coffee/cappuccino/espresso/hot water for tea you want.

De'Longhi Magnifica
AKA 13-0
RangerRick9211
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AG
I fall into the snob/prosumer hobbiest camp. There are few hobbies that you get to enjoy every day like coffee - so I didn't mind dropping the money. These machines will last years and some decades.

My favorite starter machine is the Rancilio Silvia. If you like to tinker, another $100 in the aftermarket will add a PID. But Brevilles are great machines. Home-barista (HB) loves the dual boiler one as the ultimate DB value buy.

It's true on the grinder. It doesn't matter how good the machine is if the grinder isn't up to snuff: grind, repeatably and uniformly, fine enough for espresso. There are plenty of advocates for a cheap lever machine and then the rest of the budget on grinder. There's a guy that has an old La Pavoni (~$200) and an EG-1 (a $4k grinder!!!) on HB.

I would look at Baratza's line up. I started with a used Vario from Ebay for $150. Good luck on the search!
Mathguy64
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I agree the grinder makes a big difference. I have a Rocky. It's 50% more than my Gaggia
steve00
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Got this setup last month and it is really good.

Lots of stuff to learn about pulling a proper shot. There are some good instructional videos and articles on this site.

https://clivecoffee.com/

mrmill3218
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Love hearing and seeing all the different thoughts and posts.

I decided I'm going to go with the Flair Espresso Maker as soon as I can afford one. I have a Baratza Encore grinder right now and I'm going try that out before I decide to upgrade the grinder.
RangerRick9211
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AG
Solid!

James was fairly bullish on the Flair: You should be able to deliver excellent espresso.

And if you get the itch, you're well versed in levered machines and can transition to an element driven. Lelit and Londinium are beautiful. I dumped way too much money - like beg forgiveness from the wife too much - on my dual boiler machine. In hindsight, I wish I would have gone for an entry HX (for capps and flatwhites) and a lever for manual pressure profiling!
mrmill3218
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RangerRick9211 said:

Solid!

James was fairly bullish on the Flair: You should be able to deliver excellent espresso.

And if you get the itch, you're well versed in levered machines and can transition to an element driven. Lelit and Londinium are beautiful. I dumped way too much money - like beg forgiveness from the wife too much - on my dual boiler machine. In hindsight, I wish I would have gone for an entry HX (for capps and flatwhites) and a lever for manual pressure profiling!


I watch a lot of James Hoffmann vids. Have really enjoyed his v60/chemex technique. Going to have to check out all these machines you mentioned above. Let's keep the espresso posts rolling in!
mrmill3218
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AG
Also, what does a dual boiler mean?
heddleston
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Two separate water boilers. One for the espresso and one for the steamer. Lets you do both without having to wait.
mrmill3218
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Ahh that makes sense. Appreciate it.
mrmill3218
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AG
Bump for some more espresso talk!
agtwister_5
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AG
Thanks for all the info that everyone is posting. It's definitely getting in the expert level for me. I was originally going to buy pre-ground espresso, but now I feel like I need to buy a grinder. I'm not really interested in an expensive one, so are there are any that would do well in the $50 range?
WES2006AG
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AG
I noticed America's Test Kitchen recommends the Gaggia Anima. Does anyone have any experience with that machine?
mrmill3218
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AG
You can get a pretty decent manual grinder for that.
RangerRick9211
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mrmill3218 said:

Bump for some more espresso talk!
My two year old daughter got her end-game machine for Christmas.

mrmill3218
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AG
Very nice! What's the thing on the left? What machine is that?
Keeper of The Spirits
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I recently got a mooka express that makes a good
One but not in the league of most of these
RangerRick9211
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That's a HG-1 grinder. This is my end game under threat of divorce. So it's full gas on the set up.
mrmill3218
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What espresso machine is it though?!
DallasAg2
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I got this machine for Christmas and so far so good.

https://www.amazon.com/Delonghi-EC680M-Espresso-Machine-Stainless/dp/B00KA8YC6A

My favorite coffee to use is Buon Giorno Estate espresso.

https://bgcoffee.net/collections/all/products/espresso-estate-12-oz?variant=16261954404386
RangerRick9211
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mrmill3218 said:

What espresso machine is it though?!


Oh, Lucca M58!
mrmill3218
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RangerRick9211 said:

mrmill3218 said:

What espresso machine is it though?!


Oh, Lucca M58!

Brilliant.
mrmill3218
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AG
Has anyone tried the Flair?
Ted Lasso
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Not the fanciest setup like some of the above posters (JEALOUS!), but my wife and I enjoy our breville smart grinder pro + delonghi dedica setup. We switched over to using a non pressurized bottomless portafilter recently, and it pulls a damn good shot for the $. Friends and family always walk in and ask for a drink.
kithas
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How do you like your grinder? I'm wanting a new one and that one is intriguing.

Is it fairly noisy or messy when grinding - and do you grind directly into the portafilter?
Ted Lasso
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For the price point I think it does great. Portafilter fits directly into the grinder. We don't find it particularly noisy....i guess as much as one would expect.
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