OT: Home Espresso Machines

[Echo]

Ok, so Im thinking that this is only sort of OT, if you guys are like me when it comes to the correlation of drinking coffee and or espresso and riding the bike. In any case, I have a great method of brewing coffee at home that Im really happy with, but am intrigued by the idea of an espresso machine.

So, the main question is, what machine do you use? Do you like it? Would you recommend it? The other aspect to this is that I don't want to spend a small fortune on a machine. I've been doing a little research online, and these things (much like a bike) have a tendency to get REALLY expensive REALLY quickly. Im thinking that keeping things around $250 or below seems doable.

So, what would you recommend?

[firerescuefin]

Use the search function. Some really great threads on this archived here.:cool:

[Echo]

As soon as I pressed Post, I thought of that... sorry...

[CDollarsign]

You should consider applying your $250 to espresso shots at your local coffee shop / roaster. You really couldn't even get a grinder capable enough of producing palatable espresso for $250.

Home espresso as good as a shop is hard to achieve. I would say you'd need at least a grand to buy a used machine and grinder worth keeping. Professionals dial in their grind multiple times a day pulling tens to hundreds of shots per day. Chances that you have the right grind and that your machine is at ideal operating conditions each time you want an espresso is slim to none, so you would probably spend as much time and money in coffee to make it worth going and getting a $2.50 shot...

Just my $0.02...

[firerescuefin]

I am sure this will re-ignite this convo, which as a espresso lover, always enjoy sitting in on and learning about.

[ceolwulf]

Concur with C$. Have looked into this a fair bit and concluded that an Aeropress or moka pot gives one a very satisfying drink along similar principles as an espresso without being anywhere near as fussy.

If you do end up wanting to go down the rabbit hole coffeegeek.com will have answers for you, and then further problems, and then possibly further answers or possibly not ...

[flydhest]

while I disagree that it is th that to beat most coffee shops, with a 250 dollar budget, I will agree. Grinders matter the most and 350 is a reasonable amount. But that has already blown your budget. For just espresso for one person Gaggia machines in the couple hundred dollar range IF paired with a good (see above) grinder can do the trick.

[Jerrous]

.

[aaronv]

Ok, so Im thinking that this is only sort of OT, if you guys are like me when it comes to the correlation of drinking coffee and or espresso and riding the bike. In any case, I have a great method of brewing coffee at home that Im really happy with, but am intrigued by the idea of an espresso machine.

So, the main question is, what machine do you use? Do you like it? Would you recommend it? The other aspect to this is that I don't want to spend a small fortune on a machine. I've been doing a little research online, and these things (much like a bike) have a tendency to get REALLY expensive REALLY quickly. Im thinking that keeping things around $250 or below seems doable.

So, what would you recommend?


Haters gonna hate but you can have a decent setup for not a lot of cash


http://www.delonghi.com/en-us/products/coffee-and-espresso/coffee-makers/pump-espresso/ec-155-0132104089

http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/hario-skeleton-skerton-coffee-mill
(http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/hario-skeleton-skerton-coffee-mill)


Total bill around $150. At that price you will have to grind your beans by hand and deal with a non-standard sized portafilter.


Flame on!

[holliscx]

Saeco used to make a model that Starbucks sold in stores under its Barista name I believe. I don't think they still make / sell it but research it as this unit pulled a very nice shot of espresso for right around your price range. For the money it's the best home espresso I've ever had. Not sure if there is a used market or not.

[ceolwulf]

I recommend that you buy this or a comparable product from Bialetti. They are fun, simple, and work really well for a very low cost: http://www.amazon.com/Bialetti-Express-6-Cup-Stovetop-Espresso/dp/B000CNY6UK/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1399301899&sr=8-11&keywords=mukka






Yep the moka pot I was talking about. Not espresso exactly but a very nice cup.

[lukasz]

Saeco used to make a model that Starbucks sold in stores under its Barista name I believe. I don't think they still make / sell it but research it as this unit pulled a very nice shot of espresso for right around your price range. For the money it's the best home espresso I've ever had. Not sure if there is a used market or not.

You can find them all over ebay. I had one for years. I agree that it can make a passable cup. The grinder is more important. What I experienced with good but cheap grinders is that they break--lots of plastic parts. But a Baratza refurb (I'd say Virtuoso and up) is not too expensive. Or if you can find it used on craigslist/ebay.

Personally I'd stick with Aeropress if I wanted to keep things reasonable, and save some pennies/scour classifieds to eventually get good gear that won't break.

[blantonator]

My family uses Nespresso. It's good and convenient, but a little pricey. I use an Aeropress, but I'm cheap.

[hida yanra]

A burr grinder is the first key.
Spend your money there, then get a mokapot. Around $20 gets you a no-hassle, no fuss solution that makes quite nice coffee. To consistently get beyond moka-pot quality will take a ton more $$ and significantly more effort.

[donevwil]

Saeco used to make a model that Starbucks sold in stores under its Barista name I believe. I don't think they still make / sell it but research it as this unit pulled a very nice shot of espresso for right around your price range. For the money it's the best home espresso I've ever had. Not sure if there is a used market or not.

That was the Barista Athena, it had great reviews at the time and was judged to yield a cup on par with units 2-3x the cost. I bought two (one for mom) about 10 years ago for $149/ea on sale and retired ours only last year. It more than paid for itself, was very reliable and yielded a very good espresso with a better than average frother. It finally started to leak a bit and loose some oomph, so we upgraded. I agree that the better (more consistent) the grinder the better the cup.

With any espresso maker remember to descale often (especially if you have hard water) and use frother cleaner regularly. A dirty, calcified, plugged maker will lead to any early death and earlier poor quality.

[Echo]

Concur with C$. Have looked into this a fair bit and concluded that an Aeropress or moka pot gives one a very satisfying drink along similar principles as an espresso without being anywhere near as fussy.

If you do end up wanting to go down the rabbit hole coffeegeek.com will have answers for you, and then further problems, and then possibly further answers or possibly not ...

I currently use a Hario hand crank ceramic burr grinder (love the thing) and an aeropress for my coffee. Has been an excellent setup thus far, but I haven't tried it for espresso yet...

[ceolwulf]

I currently use a Hario hand crank ceramic burr grinder (love the thing) and an aeropress for my coffee. Has been an excellent setup thus far, but I haven't tried it for espresso yet...


Nice, I've been thinking about a Hario. Which model?

Currently using a Porlex hand mill until I get around to fixing my Baratza Virtuoso (PSA: there's a nylon gear upgrade/update kit for those, without which the drive is not likely to last long - mine failed twice in two years).

[Echo]

Nice, I've been thinking about a Hario. Which model?

I have a Skerton (I think) that I've been using for roughly 2 years now, with no problems what-so-ever. Great product!

[echelon_john]

We use a variety of devices/methods depending what we're in the mood for. Chemex (probably my least favorite; too clean/thin for me), Moka pot (Bialetti), French press, and an espresso maker.

We have a Saeco Classico espresso maker that I bought about 8 years ago. Works great, easy to maintain, and pulls a decent shot, while being great for frothing. No doubt it's not going to pull a world class shot, but to be honest, it gives a nice crema, shots are very consistent, and I've been nothing but happy with it. I think it was about $250 when we bought it.

We recently got a new grinder; a Baratza Encore:
http://www.amazon.com/Baratza-Encore-Conical-Coffee-Grinder/dp/B007F183LK

Again, it's no threat to a high end grinder, but it's easy to clean, not too bad static-wise, has an impressive range from very fine to very coarse, and we've found it to be a huge improvement on our old Saeco burr grinder.

Like bikes, or guitars, or watches, or anything else, it's easy to see how folks can spend thousands on coffee setups, but we've been very happy with what we've got.

I also recommend beans from New Harvest Coffee in RI; www.newharvestcoffee.com; super fresh, not over-roasted, and nice variety.

[bcroslin]

Nespresso. No $300 espresso machine comes close.

[William]

A good burr grinder, roast my own beans, and have a decent Saeco espresso machine = very few coffee places come close.


http://cdn.gifbay.com/2014/01/espresso_machine_slow_motion-112796.gif








William

[flydhest]

Uncle William, I was going to go down the roasting route, but OP is trying to limit capital investment. Now, you are getting me all giggly to talk about roasting!


In all seriousness, though, pulling a shot on par with even a really good shop does take a bit of practice, but is readily attainable.

Aero presses and moka pots are nice, but it is a different drink. If I was on a budget, good grinder, good roaster, and a pourover.

[ceolwulf]

Roasting is fun :)

I built one of these, cheap and works pretty well:

http://biobug.org/coffee/turbo-crazy/

[Wesley37]

http://www.remodelista.com/files/styles/733_0s/public/img/sub/uimg/01-2012/640_presso-arms-down.jpg

I bought a La Pavoni manual lever espresso machine off of EBay. This is more elegant and trouble free, as well as cheaper. But my Pavoni is brass plated, so it is purty.

[ceolwulf]

^ way cool. Want.

[Echo]

Any other suggestions from everyone? Still deciding if I want to try and delve into this...

[druptight]

I don't do espresso at home at this point, but if you decide to delve into it and want a less manual grinder than the hand one you're using now, I've enjoyed mine:

http://www.casa.com/p/capresso-560-infinity-conical-burr-grinder-238099

I got it there and with the initial customer discount I think it was under $75. I did a bunch of research and this seemed to consistently be the best pick in the under $100 category. Good even grind and 16 different grind sizes from espresso & Turkish on up.

[bostondrunk]

You can read reviews till yer blue in the face, too many choices out there. I'll save you time. Sure your wife or girlfriend will be mad for a while, but espresso is more important than marriage.
Just get:

http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/rocket-espresso-giotto-premium-plus-with-pid


and

http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/compak-k3-touch-doserless-grinder

You're welcome!! :)

[William]

http://www.remodelista.com/files/styles/733_0s/public/img/sub/uimg/01-2012/640_presso-arms-down.jpg

I bought a La Pavoni manual lever espresso machine off of EBay. This is more elegant and trouble free, as well as cheaper. But my Pavoni is brass plated, so it is purty.

What model is that?






William

[paredown]

FWIW, we received an econo Capresso machine (http://www.amazon.com/Capresso-EC100-Espresso-Cappuccino-Machine/dp/B004NTBLR0/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1399467465&sr=1-2&keywords=capresso+espresso+machine) for Christmas--and it was with some dread that I fired it up.

Borrowed a burr grinder and pulled some shots.

It's missing some features like a shot control, etc, so you have to time your shots to get volume, but it pulls a surprisingly good shot for a cheap machine, and does a decent job foaming as well. It is light years better than the cheap machines that were available BITD when I did my stint at $bux.

Coincidentally, my lovely wife was at the Housewares show in Chicago this year and had a chat with the Jura folks (who own Capresso) and he confirmed that the pump is the same as the considerably more expensive Jura machines.

[Gsinill]

+1 on the manual lever La Pavoni.

We brought a Professional back from Italy in ’99 for next to nothing since the $ was out of control back then.
Using it every day with a Nuova Simonelli grinder and I would challenge most baristi with their $10K+ fully automatic machines.
Down side: cranking out several cups of Latte takes time, especially if you have guests. Making coffee just for my wife and I on the other hand is almost Zen like and relaxing, comparable to an old fashioned shaving job, which I am a big fan of as well.

You won't get anywhere with your budget but you should consider this as an investment that will last you forever, especially the La Pavoni which can be rebuilt easily without spending a fortune – all you need is a set of seals and gaskets every once in a while.
If you are not in a hurry you might get a used La Pavoni on the Bay that needs a little TLC for around $300.

Just my 2 cents…



I bought a La Pavoni manual lever espresso machine off of EBay. This is more elegant and trouble free, as well as cheaper. But my Pavoni is brass plated, so it is purty.

[mister]

i have a gaggia factory which is basically a pavoni millenium
works pretty well, took a while to get really consistent shots but it's good now.
cost was pretty minimal, used off of ebay...you could probably do the same picking up a pavoni and replacing the seals

[classtimesailer]

We have an Expobar Office Lever. Bought new 10 years ago. Put it on a timer and it is ready to go every morning. We don't need to wait for it to recharge between shots and my wife and son do cappuccinos. We haven't sprung for a nice grinder yet. We get a pound ground at the local shop. Sometimes their grinder is a little too fine or course, but they are good about replacing the mistake. If you like espresso, save your money and get a good machine.