Espresso nerds in the house?

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single dosing in a commercial grinder can work pretty well IF you start the engine and then drop your beans, too much hassle for me!

The La Fattoria Malva oil is a lot less peppery, I like this one most, it's our standard EVO. (together with a lot of other products)
 
I’m pretty tinker-prone and handy, but i never got a commercial grinder to work well for me as a single doser. Got a hand grinder and haven’t looked back. I find the 83mm mazzer conicals to be awesome for everything from light roast espresso to drip brew
 
Nobody builds the lever I want, so I’ve started playing around with my own designs lol - nice thought experiment at least.
 
Your grinder is THE single most important part of your espresso result, I'd invest what I can in that part, get a nice espresso machine and save the rest of $$ for the real software; great beans
Same is true for French Press coffee. Found that out the hard way when my Baratza needed parts, and I resorted to one of those whirly things. I expected the coffee to be a bunch less good than usual, but it was awful.
 
Cafelat Robot manual leaver machine, and
Kinu m47 manual hand grinder.

It's so good I got a 2nd pair for the office!
Can't go wrong with a Robot. Love mine. Do you use the puck filters? I find they preserve the life of the gasket and make cleanup a lot less involved.
As for hand grinders I use a 1zPresso JE with the discontinued Italmill 47mm conical burrs. Works great at home and in the Campervan for pourover.
 
The Robot is so good! Mine is paired with a Kafatek flat, and still see no reason to upgrade.
 
Can't go wrong with a Robot. Love mine. Do you use the puck filters? I find they preserve the life of the gasket and make cleanup a lot less involved.
As for hand grinders I use a 1zPresso JE with the discontinued Italmill 47mm conical burrs. Works great at home and in the Campervan for pourover.
I'm lazy and no paper filters for me! A quick wipe down of the piston for me.

So blessed to have good coffee beans and equipment!
 
If, hypothetically, you had a spare single-dose grinder you weren’t using for coffee…

Would you put spices through it?

Whole peppercorn, cumin, etc into powder
No way. That'd be a spice-y lesson to learn.
Even if not used for coffee, I assume eventually it'd end up in the hands of someone who will. Between different spices you'd probably want to clean it anyway, which would probably be a pain.
 
If, hypothetically, you had a spare single-dose grinder you weren’t using for coffee…

Would you put spices through it?

Whole peppercorn, cumin, etc into powder
Spice grinders are cheap and don't need careful increments like coffee bean grinders! And once spice grinding you will never get rid of the taint!
 
If, hypothetically, you had a spare single-dose grinder you weren’t using for coffee…

Would you put spices through it?

Whole peppercorn, cumin, etc into powder
I happen to have a spare Mazzer Super Jolly, and have thought about that....yes I would....but I also jave the Lyn pepper grinder...so in need of some spice I'd probably test that first but if in need for whol groecery bags full of ground spice I'd be fetching the Super Jolly!
 
Spice grinders are cheap and don't need careful increments like coffee bean grinders! And once spice grinding you will never get rid of the taint!
having cleaned a few used commercial grinders that propably always had been used with a roast level akin to my 'black hole' roast I can vouch for the fact that it's perfectly possible to get rid of any smell...unless you try that with a plastic heavy grinder.

Steel and aluminium will clean up nicely, probably running a few hands full of minute rice (parboiled the raw stuff is way too hard) might be enough.
 
I haven’t read through all of this but I’m hoping you guys can point me in the right direction.

I currently have a Kuereg and a Nespresso. I hate both of them. I’d like to buy my wife and I a new espresso machine but I’m not looking to spend thousands and I don’t want a bunch of different things.

Any suggestions for an all in 1 machine? The breville that was sold on BST was a steal and I’m mad I missed it.
Budget ~$500 ideally.
 
I haven’t read through all of this but I’m hoping you guys can point me in the right direction.

I currently have a Kuereg and a Nespresso. I hate both of them. I’d like to buy my wife and I a new espresso machine but I’m not looking to spend thousands and I don’t want a bunch of different things.

Any suggestions for an all in 1 machine? The breville that was sold on BST was a steal and I’m mad I missed it.
Budget ~$500 ideally.
My first 'proper' espresso machine was a Rancilio Silvia. I believe it is still a contender but there are some new kids on the block. Check out this review for a few.
But remember the best machine will not work well with an average grinder. Budget for one with a good rep and your taste buds will reward you. If you don't mind hand grinding then the 1Zpresso is the way to go. I have a JE with Italmill burrs.

 
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Breville is definitely a great way to go. Love my dual boiler. The grinder will definitely be...not the best though. I had the seperate smart grinder pro and you can do much better. Also it broke after like 2 years ago. I would personally get something like a Bambino plus and a decent grinder. However if you really don't want to...this wouldn't be a bad way to go at all
 
Rather avoid a separate grinder but might not be a better option.

I also have access to one at work I could always use I suppose.
Having a grinder not nearby is not really an option. If you are using a non-pressurized portafilter (which is "true" espresso), you need to be able to adjust the grind precisely for a new bag of beans. Honestly would highly recommend just getting a Bambino/Bambino Plus + a separate grinder, like Baratza Encore ESP (ESP part is important). Grinder is more important for the quality of coffee than the machine. Together that’s 500. You’ll be satisfied with the all in one, but this will be better and you’ll have less frustration.
 
I had the Sage Barista Express and it ticks a lot of boxes and has lots of worktop appeal. However after having many years of Nespresso machines, I decided to go deeper in to coffee and purchased the Sage Barista Express so that I could freshly grind and make coffee to order. It was a huge improvement on the Nespresso, however it just didn't quite hit the mark and I quickly upgraded. I agree with everyone that the grinder is more important than the machine and also I would recommend you get a machine with an E61 group head. Hope this helps. Also if you like hot milk with your coffee, I would recommend getting a dual boiler but these are more money.
 
buy a vintage lever like a La Pavoni or a new Cafelat Robot and a used cafe grinder, clean it up and put some new burrs in...sets you back like 500 USD and gets you in the premier league of coffee after a bit of tinkering.
 
I had the Sage Barista Express and it ticks a lot of boxes and has lots of worktop appeal. However after having many years of Nespresso machines, I decided to go deeper in to coffee and purchased the Sage Barista Express so that I could freshly grind and make coffee to order. It was a huge improvement on the Nespresso, however it just didn't quite hit the mark and I quickly upgraded. I agree with everyone that the grinder is more important than the machine and also I would recommend you get a machine with an E61 group head. Hope this helps. Also if you like hot milk with your coffee, I would recommend getting a dual boiler but these are more money.
No chance I’m going dual boiler unless I find something used. I’m not really looking to dive down the rabbit hole too far and $1500+ isn’t an option right now
 
Dual boiler is great but not essential and does push the cost up considerably. Also dual boilers are a PIA to descale compared to single boiler.
 
Dual boiler is great but not essential and does push the cost up considerably. Also dual boilers are a PIA to descale compared to single boiler.
descale? Feed it destilled water with a few mg of Potassium Bicarb and never worry about scale or corrosion!
 
descale? Feed it destilled water with a few mg of Potassium Bicarb and never worry about scale or corrosion!
That’s really interesting. I am in the UK and as I use the water tank and not a plumbed in filtered option, I was recommended to use one of a few specific mineral water brands to heavily reduce the limescale however they still recommend a 24 month descale as part of a full service.
 
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