Greetings. I've been using an 870XL for about a month, but decided to return it, mostly because I didn't like the grinder.

I just placed an order for a Niche Zero as I always single dose and I like the idea behind it. I will weigh the beans on a scale.

I'm looking for suggestions on an ideal machine to pair with this. I've read many reviews but get analysis paralysis. On the low end I'm considering an Infuser. But I'll go into the 1500-2250 range if I see good reason to.

Personally I just make a couple shots of straight espresso per day. I will measure and time everything, and I'm good about basic/ quick cleaning, but I don't want an excessive cleaning or maintenance ritual I need to perform each day. My wife is less interested in measuring/weighing, and also doesn't want an excessive cleaning routine.

I will buy a timer/wifi plug control to warm it up before she wakes up, but the machine needs to get hot upon receiving power (ie there will be no one there to press the power button after the unit receives power).

Personally I prefer the looks of the polished stainless machines, but I could also go for wood grain, or even white.

I primarily want perfect espresso, but my wife dabbles with cappuccino and latte (tho she doesn't have much patience for it), and I'd like to make these for guests occasionally as well.

Thank you

Another option worth considering is the Lelit Elizabeth if espresso is your primary concern. It is a dual boiler so when you wish to make drinks with milk you are good. I do not own this machine but I am interested in it for myself. What I find attractive is the saturated ring group for ultra stable brew temps. Owning both a HX and a dual boiler each equipped with the e61 group, I'm looking to get away from the temperature fluctuations inherent to the e61 system.

My only reservations are the drawing of pre-infusion water from the steam boiler and what appears to be a generous use of plastic tubing in the water path. The first is probably not a big problem as long as the steam boiler is kept supplied with fresh water. The second comes from quickly looking at a blurry photo of the machine with the case off.

Jake_G wrote:Can't argue with the BDB for your price range.

I agree with Jake. I don't own a BDB but my last machine was a Breville. The product is really user friendly and it would be an easy switch from the 870. It is a serious machine that you can grow with and it has a real following of users just poke around on HB and you will see.

I cant speak for if the BDB will work with a wifi switch or not. I am sure a BDB user will chime in.

BDB is great. It won't work with a WiFi plug. It has a built in timer though, so it can be programmed to come on once a day. For milk drinks, the dual boiler, with the ability to steam and brew at the same time is nice. That's not something you'll get with the infuser. It'll make a difference when serving guests milk drinks. It also has an automated backflush routine for weekly cleaning. When and if it breaks, you call breville, pay em $400, and they fix whatever is wrong / replace the machine. That $ amount pays for shipping both ways and they mail you a box to send it to them in. A few members have had to use this and most of them got new / refurbished machines. The turn around time is reportedly fast. From time to time you can find them at Costco and they have an amazing return policy.

With your niche, you can set up a pretty simple workflow for other people in your house that want espresso but don't want all the scales.

Once you have a coffee that you like and you get a recipe that you like, just get some of those single dosing test tube things, pre weigh a few days worth of doses and set them at your coffee station. Your housemates can then dump the test tube in the niche, grind, prep the portafilter basket, lock and load. The BDB has a shot timer. Now I know it is deriguour to weigh the shot, but if your basket prep is good, the timer should get you to within 95% of perfect. In my home, that makes the people who don't want to weight the shots very happy. I usually have about 4 days of coffee ready to go in my grinder hopper and over the course of 4 days, I rarely (never) have to re dial in my grinder. I buy 5lbs of coffee at a time and freeze it in 4 day batches. I freeze it after it has rested. So the coffee I pull out of the freezer is automatically dialed in. A distribution tool and a puck style tamper are nice tools for helping other users with their basket prep consistency.