Compared to many of you here, I've been financially limited with my equipment. I presume no one will deny that being a home barista is a comparatively expensive hobby. Your non-espresso-loving friends probably looked at you a little funny when you told them you just spent $1800 on a machine that makes coffee. Or how about when you bought that $400 fancy-shmancy Italian grinder when you could just grind it at the super market!
Of course, those of us on here know what it means to have fresh ground coffee, just seconds from the burrs. It undeniably makes a world of difference.
A lot of you jumped right in and spent a good chunk of money on that brand new Expobar and Macap setup right from the start. Even the Silvia at almost $500 new would be considered outrageously expensive to anyone too sane to possess such a deep passion for espresso.
Because of that price differential, I'd venture to say that more than half of us home baristas started out with a little Krups steamer, using preground coffee, and for a little while, that was satisfying enough. Obviously, products like the Krups steam machines wouldn't exist if they produced an end product that was invariably objectionable. But for some reason, whether it be you took a vacation to Italy, stepped in to a good coffee shop and got curious, or you just stumbled upon this wonderful site and became mesmerized by the naked portafilter pictures... along came the epidemic of upgradeitis, and you've made your way up towards espresso nirvana. It probably took you a few months (if not years) and a few hundred bucks. But few will disagree that it was worth it. And you're probably even still looking for that next greatest piece of shiny chromed stainless steel today.
It's been said that the four components of good espresso in order of importance (with some discrepancies perhaps) are the grinder, barista, blend, and machine. Unfortunately, due to the economics of the espresso industry (i.e. low demand), machines and grinders cost a lot of money. The coffee beans, not so much. But the barista - anyone with a passion for espresso has the potential to hone their skills to an exceptional level at no material cost, provided the right equipment. Key phrase. If one were to, say, plot a chart of average espresso quality versus price paid for machine (on average!), it might look something like this:
Where 1 is horrible, and 10 is godshot territory. Keep in mind though that this assumes the use of a fresh roasted, quality espresso blend, ground by a commercial quality grinder, pulled by a seasoned barista familiar with his/her equipment. So, the only "real" variable being considered is the machine's capability. Basically, one would experience diminishing returns on the purchase of increasingly expensive espresso machines. A Silvia at $500, according to the chart, would average a 7 - very good - whereas a machine 6 or 7 times the cost of the Silvia would only increase by 3 points, pushing the average into near-godshot. That is not to say, however, that a good barista is not capable of pulling an exceptionally delicious shot on a Silvia; it's just a lot less likely to happen. If the chart were maximum possible quality of espresso instead of average, it would shoot up to 9 or 10 at possibly the $200 mark.
For some people, a 700% increase in price is worth a 30% increase in average quality. Now of course these numbers don't actually correlate to any scientific data; they are merely my estimations based on what I've read and learned for the last ~14 months. Feel free to disagree and point out my flaws.
I've been criticized before on focusing too much on equipment, but I believe much of that criticism was slightly out of context. Perhaps I wasn't clear about the reason why I've added a pressure regulator, PID, pressure gauge, boiler insulation, etc. It may have seemed to some as if I were looking at the numbers too much, obsessing over the science, and ignoring the art - ignoring the fact that the taste is all that counts. I'll admit that initially, I thought that my machine was the source of all my problems, and that performing such extensive modifications would be the solution, being roughly equivalent to purchasing a more expensive machine, with the advantage of being much cheaper (and much more fun). It took me a while to realize that what I was actually doing was improving the consistency of my machine, which is desirable, but at the same time I began to disregard consistency in my technique, which is equally if not more undesirable - thus the two negated each other, and I whined about it.
I'd value the internals of my machine, stock, at about $180. That would put it at an average quality of about 3. Currently, with the modifications, I think it has become closer to a 5 or 6. This is certainly a welcome improvement for the money invested in the parts. But I'm not a seasoned barista, and my grinder isn't a commercial $900 wondermachine. So although my average shots still aren't too delicious, they're better than they were. And so, my point is that it's not only because I've become a better barista over time, but also because I've increased the capabilities of my equipment. That's my theory, at least. I hope most of you who upgraded from a Krups to a Silvia to a prosumer HX/E61 as your barista skills improved can relate to how I'm feeling. For the most part, you know when you've "maxxed out" your machine, and it's time to upgrade.
So basically, there is a possibility of a home barista's equipment holding back the true espresso potential, and it happens more than one would think. But not much attention is paid to it because upgradeitis is the solution, for those who can afford it.
I'll see how my theory stands once my Mininova arrives. For now, I'd like to hear some responses and opinions from those of you here who have actually had the pleasure to work with that $3000 dual boiler + commercial conical grinder + years of barista experience combination in their kitchens.
