What machines would you guys recommend for the home that is not expensive like a commercial machine?

HB wrote:Depends on your budget. See How to choose an espresso machine and grinder at the "right" price and CoffeeGeek's How to buy an espresso machine for the ins-and-outs. Search the site, e.g., budget by subject only lists recent discussions on the topic.

Thanks. I was not aware of these threads yet. I will take a look at them now.

If buying new, the minimum cost of admission for "real espresso" is somewhere in the vicinity of $1000 for a grinder, espresso machine, and the necessary accessories. Assuming your purchases are well chosen, the more you spend the more consistent and easier to use your equipment will be.

The most common type of inexpensive machine is what's called a "single boiler, dual purpose." The good ones do an adequate job of espresso -- with occasional forays into the very good; and they're also okay at steaming small amounts of milk for one or two cappuccinos -- but they do a piss poor job of steaming milk for multiple drinks and even one large one may be too much if you want quality milk.

SBDPs are the way many people start in quality home espresso brewing, but if you can afford it I think it's worthwhile to spend an extra few hundred on what's called an HX (heat exchanger) machine. Not only are they (almost always) capable of doing far better with milk; they're also (almost always) a lot easier to consistently dial in.

There are other choices as well.

Espresso machines are very expensive, for sure. But the real sticker shock for most people is the comes with the cost of an adequate grinder. It's easy to think of the grinder as an accessory, rather than a co-equal partner of the brewing chain -- but that woefully underrates its importance. Good grinders are expensive, no two ways about it. $200 will get you a barely adequate grinder. Take a deep breath and think of $400 as a minimum to step up to decent.

As with many crafts one of the highest hurdles every beginner faces is determining what his actual goals are. Then, if the budget is there, it's fairly easy to match the equipment to them -- God knows you'll get plenty of advice. Another thing common to many crafts -- so called "entry level" equipment, the sort marketed for beginners is the most difficult to master and will produce the most inconsistent results.

Think of it as being something like optics -- no matter how good your eye, or how carefully you focus, you can't get sharp images from bad lenses. Photography is a good analogy because one of the goals of choosing and making coffee is revealing all the preferred nuances in the beans.

A reasonably skilled home barista, using decent equipment and good beans, can do much better at home than all but the very best espresso specialty stores. Given those good beans, and that threshold level of equipment, it's more about attention to detail than anything else.

Hope this helps,
BDL

boar_d_laze wrote:If buying new, the minimum cost of admission for "real espresso" is somewhere in the vicinity of $1000 for a grinder, espresso machine, and the necessary accessories. Assuming your purchases are well chosen, the more you spend the more consistent and easier to use your equipment will be.

The most common type of inexpensive machine is what's called a "single boiler, dual purpose." The good ones do an adequate job of espresso -- with occasional forays into the very good; and they're also okay at steaming small amounts of milk for one or two cappuccinos -- but they do a piss poor job of steaming milk for multiple drinks and even one large one may be too much if you want quality milk.

SBDPs are the way many people start in quality home espresso brewing, but if you can afford it I think it's worthwhile to spend an extra few hundred on what's called an HX (heat exchanger) machine. Not only are they (almost always) capable of doing far better with milk; they're also (almost always) a lot easier to consistently dial in.

There are other choices as well.

Espresso machines are very expensive, for sure. But the real sticker shock for most people is the comes with the cost of an adequate grinder. It's easy to think of the grinder as an accessory, rather than a co-equal partner of the brewing chain -- but that woefully underrates its importance. Good grinders are expensive, no two ways about it. $200 will get you a barely adequate grinder. Take a deep breath and think of $400 as a minimum to step up to decent.

As with many crafts one of the highest hurdles every beginner faces is determining what his actual goals are. Then, if the budget is there, it's fairly easy to match the equipment to them -- God knows you'll get plenty of advice. Another thing common to many crafts -- so called "entry level" equipment, the sort marketed for beginners is the most difficult to master and will produce the most inconsistent results.

Think of it as being something like optics -- no matter how good your eye, or how carefully you focus, you can't get sharp images from bad lenses. Photography is a good analogy because one of the goals of choosing and making coffee is revealing all the preferred nuances in the beans.

A reasonably skilled home barista, using decent equipment and good beans, can do much better at home than all but the very best espresso specialty stores. Given those good beans, and that threshold level of equipment, it's more about attention to detail than anything else.

Hope this helps,
BDL

Wow, I did not expect to see such a high price tag for something in the "decent" range. I was thinking something along the lines of the Saeco via venezia with the Saeco Titan grinder because a local store has the package for $580. Spending $1000 is definitely not within my budget at the moment.

What are some brands and models that I should keep an eye out for?

boar_d_laze wrote:Think of it as being something like optics -- no matter how good your eye, or how carefully you focus, you can't get sharp images from bad lenses. Photography is a good analogy because one of the goals of choosing and making coffee is revealing all the preferred nuances in the beans.

I think photography is a terrible analogy in that it photography is art and making coffee is a more science-based craft. This is not to say photography is a more noble endeavor. As an aerospace engineering student, I'd be more inclined to say that art is the less noble endeavor and that there are too many artists already...

That Silvia and Lelit PL53 combo does look like a very good deal for a low price espresso setup.

I have owned the Silvia and although it is a very unforgiving machine when you make mistakes it is a solid performer that is built like a tank. Be prepared to learn the fine art of temp surfing and near perfect espresso grind dosing, distribution and tamping.

I have owned an innova connical which uses the same Tre Spade burr set as the stepless adjustment Lelit PL53. The Tre Spade burr set is by now a time tested and proven burr set that is long lasting and capable of producing grinds that compete with high end commercial grinders in the thousand dollar and even higher price range.

What it not is a commercial grinder. The Lelit PL53 and simular grinders are not capable of handling any near the duty cycle and abuse of a commercial unit and they are not nearly as big.

For home use it should not be an issue but changing from an espresso grind to lets say a drip grind is a real pain that will require a couple of hundred rotations of the fine adustment knob otherwise it is an excellent espresso grinder allowing fine adjustments to be made on the fly.

A fiend such as myself would buy huge, ugly, highly used, and filthy countertop scarring second hand commercial pro equipment on the bay. Then I would prepare for a long nighmarish cleaning, rebuild, and refurb project that would have me spending even more money but not nearly as much as I would pay for the stuff new.

When all is done I won't have to worry about quality and upgrades for many years.

I don't have a wife so I won't have to worry about her eyeballs going wide followed by horrific screaming and her throwing iron skillets at my head when she sees what I have done to her kitchen and countertop.

I have the twist also and I do not recommend it. The twist had spotty quality control as I experienced with my unit and is a plain pain to use even when it works right. You cannot steam milk with the twist either so forget about cappucinos.

The twist can really put a limit on your capabilities and choice of coffee beans due to it's limited temperature range that is on the cool side. Making hotter pulls with the twist requires jumping through a lot of hoops. The only redeeming factor of the twist is it is small, portable and with the right beans you can pull top quality shots.

It still is however a very limiting device that requires learning a new set of skills worthless on any other normal machine and does not favor beans that require hotter temps. Trust me don't get it mine just sits.

The twist is a very bad choice for beginners.

opother wrote:The twist is a very bad choice for beginners.

If you're not willing to spend a decent bit of money or buy used equipment, there are few good choices for beginners.