Best Home Espresso Setup?

LJessC on 27/02/2023 - 15:25
Last edited 27/02/2023 - 19:20

I know there are lots of topics similar to the title already, but I want to try and ask something unique.

Imagine the following scenarios / tiers, with the OzBargainer caveat of wanting to save money / needing a justified purchase:

You have $10,000, $5,000, $2500, or $1000 to spend on a home espresso setup. What products would you choose and why?

Say, if you had $10k, would you just go with something like the Jura GIGA series, even though it's an automatic, or would you rather an expensive manual espresso machine with an expensive grinder? Or if you had say $5k, would you prefer to cheap out on the espresso machine and get say a Breville, while keeping the expensive grinder and maybe getting some expensive espresso accessories? And why, would it be worth it or not?

Now, would any of the above change if you were a beginner to espresso machines and making your espresso coffee? And why?

This is all hypothetical.

Electrical & Electronics Coffee

Comments

  • boomramada on 27/02/2023 - 15:32
    +2

    $10,000 budget ? I would just walk to the nice café daily the atmosphere lol

    • JessC on 27/02/2023 - 15:34

      Haha, it was a hypothetical to account for any machines / setups that are priced really high (i.e. a person where money isn't an issue, but not too crazy). But there needs to be a justification / want to save money without much compromise of the end coffee.

    • Seraphin7 on 27/02/2023 - 16:29

      I simply cannot understand why anyone would spend $10k on a coffee machine. There surely can never be a business case for this.

      Or to put it another way, I don't know how much money I would need to have to justify $10k on a coffee machine, just so people can say, "Ooooo … it's a $10k coffee machine".

  • ihbh on 27/02/2023 - 15:37
    +3

    $10,000 budget ?

    Take a couple of months off work to enjoy your ~$100 machine.

  • djsweet on 27/02/2023 - 15:40

    At any budget I'd get the best machine and grinder I can. At a higher budget (say 10k), the grinder would make up a smaller proportion of the budget. Maybe an option-o P100 https://www.option-o.com/shop/lagom-p100. Maybe a Rocket R Nine One https://www.jetblackespresso.com.au/shop/p/rocket-r-nine-one. At a lower budget (3-5k) the grinder would likely make up the majority of the budget.

    • JessC on 27/02/2023 - 15:44

      Ooh, that looks fancy! Although, in the end would the Rocket really be worth it compared to a lesser machine in this instance (exceeded $10k)? What about the other budgets?

      • djsweet on 27/02/2023 - 16:25

        Well yeah, I'd probably just grab a cheaper rocket if I really needed to stick to under 10k. At a lower budget maybe a Rocket Serie Grigia or a Lelit Bianca V3

  • whapkaplit on 27/02/2023 - 15:48
    +2

    At lower budgets, the general rule of thumb is that you should spend about half on the grinder and half on the machine. Way too many people skimp on the grinder and get a shitty one to go with their nice machine and wonder why their coffee sucks.

    I have a Speciality Eureka Mignon grinder, it's overkill but I love it. Machine is a Rancilio Silvia, which is a great machine on the lower end of the spectrum. It's got no frills, but it's built like a tank, lasts forever and can be serviced anywhere. If you're considering dropping serious money on a coffee setup, I'd definitely go manual and learn how to use it properly. But that assumes you enjoy the process of making coffee.

    • kiitos on 27/02/2023 - 17:22
      +1

      What grinder, if any, did the Eureka replace? Why do you say it's overkill?

      • whapkaplit on 28/02/2023 - 00:13
        +1

        It replaced the Breville Smart Grinder, which honestly was totally fine. It's overkill because, while it is better, it's not a huge difference. You pay a big premium to get incrementally better performance.

        I don't care though, it's a high quality grinder and I like having it.

  • Gunnar on 27/02/2023 - 15:54
    +1

    $10k - Rocket Cinquantotto and Mazzer Kold
    $5k - Rocket Apartmento and Eureka Atom
    $2.5k - Lelit Victoria and Eureka Specialita (similar to my current set up)
    $1k - Probably some Ozbargainer favourite Breville combo

    • boomramada on 27/02/2023 - 16:00

      With all these machines, isn't coffee taste still based on the barista? and the beans?

      • Gunnar on 27/02/2023 - 16:02
        +1

        Yep. Biggest change you can have with your coffee is fresh beans, next is knowing how two use your equipment

        Both are far cheaper than fancy machines

  • Drakesy on 27/02/2023 - 15:58

    Picked up a Jura J9 off gumtree for $350 and loved it.
    Also picked up a Gaggia Velasca Prestige automatic for $100 and loved it. These all in one's seem to come up at these prices a fair bit.

    Jura got the dreaded error code and i offloaded, the Gaggia is still going to this day.
    Not a coffee snob though.

  • ChrisLevo on 27/02/2023 - 16:20

    Expobar Leva for around $2k.

    Breville The Smart Grinder Pro $300.

    Local roaster - priceless.

  • sumyungguy on 27/02/2023 - 16:23
    +1

    There's a paramater missing from your post: usage. How many espresso serves per day of what varieties?
    Spitballing here as I don't own any of them: Top-shelf, Slayer Single Group; $5K Sanremo Cube; low-end, Breville The Bambino Plus. Grinder extra for each option

  • Banj0 on 27/02/2023 - 16:46

    At $1k, I'd buy a secondhand machine, and a good hand grinder…maybe:

    https://www.jetblackespresso.com.au/shop/p/rancilio-silvia-v…
    https://www.amazon.com.au/KINGrinder-Adjustable-Aeropress-Co…

    Could go for a Breville electric grinder when on special.

    I would have gone 1Zpresso for the grinder, but the prices on those seem to have gone stupid.

    $100 leftover there for a steaming jug, cheap scales and whatnot. I could make a cafe quality white coffee out of this setup no problem. Could probably save more buying the machine privately used (but would need to wait for the right one).

  • iamherenow on 27/02/2023 - 16:56
    +2

    The auto machines are for people who want convenience and will sacrifice coffee quality. A coffee enthusiast doesn't want that.

    Sometimes you need to try out the cheaper stuff to find out what you value.

    Examples:
    you can get a single boiler for $800 that will make great occasional espresso, but far too slow for milk drinks.
    You can get a 2-3k e61 hx that's hard to beat for outcome and looks snazzy, but it won't be robust and reliable like a commercial machine.
    You might want commercial style steaming power, so looking at larger boiler than your typical domestic hx. But then heat up time gets long.
    You may want plumbed in so you don't have to constantly fill a tank.
    You may want rotary pump (possibly under bench) for quietness.
    You might want hot water tap for long blacks.

    • Banj0 on 28/02/2023 - 19:13

      On single boilers - I do one or two milk espressos every day on my SB. It's well under 10 mins from measuring out the coffee to drinking it….probably closer to 5 mins (I really should measure it sometime - I just know it's more than 5, and less than 10mins). I think about 40 sec gets the boiler from pour to steam, and I've worked my routine around it.

      Sucks for catering to more than one person on this machine of course…but when it's just me it's a process I really enjoy, and a nice reset from work.

      I wait longer at the cafe in my office building when I go there, and they have a big four group monster.

  • Marty-69 on 27/02/2023 - 18:59
    +1

    After years of instant coffee, I upgraded to Nespresso. A $79 machine with expensive cups and great coffee but very bad for the environment. So, I went all overboard and got an $800 SMEG fully automatic coffee machine. I chuck in fresh beans, it grinds and it brews. I really enjoy that coffee. It has 8 different coffee settings, a few different grind settings, does 19 bar and I can chuck in different beans when the coffee container is empty. One machine does it all :-)

    This definitely shows I'm not a coffee connoisseur but do you really taste the difference if it is brewed with 18 or 22 bars? Grind fine or coarse? If it's a $2000 or $4000 machine? Especially when you drink coffee with all kinds of milk and sugar. I always drink my coffee black, unless I go to a coffee shop as most shops are just shit with black coffee so I need a double or triple-shot latte to taste some coffee and mask the rest with milk :-) (btw, quite often the coffee looks like tea, hence the extra shots)

    My mate has a grinder, frother and $4000 machine. It takes up a lot of room and 10 minutes to make a cappuccino. Doesn't taste anything special and since I drink 4 to 6 coffees a day, I don't have an hour for that.

    • djsweet on 27/02/2023 - 22:20

      Well I’m glad you are happy. I certainly wouldn’t be, but I guess I’m not the target market for auto machines.

      • Marty-69 on 27/02/2023 - 22:38

        Did you ever try an auto machine? You also think coffee on sale tastes different so maybe you're influenced by price of the machine and price of the beans?

        I serious don't get why coffee from a $4000 machine can be so much better. So much that you can taste $3000 difference. Must be between the ears.

        • djsweet on 27/02/2023 - 22:47
          +1

          Yes, many times. The coffee is pretty bad. And you don’t need to be a snob to tell that. My machine costs considerably less than yours. But it’s manual, and it make much nicer coffee than the several-thousand dollar auto machine at work.

          • Marty-69 on 27/02/2023 - 22:56

            @djsweet: Thanks, I didn't know there are manual machines for less than $800 except for the drip things and percolators. What do you use?

            • rumblytangara on 03/03/2023 - 17:59

              @Marty-69: I use a $50 plastic gadget (Aeropress) and a decent manual grinder to make coffee.

              Some of the best coffees I've had in the past year were done with a gooseneck kettle and a $20 Hario V60, the things that made the difference were that the guy using this gear was an obsessive coffee nut who knew his beans and knew his technique.

              (We have Nespressos in the office, and I will only use them when I have no other options or am feeling too cheap to go to a cafe. It's drinkable (preferably buffered with milk and sugar) but it's not what I'd call good.)

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