As a result many of the entry level home machines will disappoint. So i suggest;

Buy a great grinder first. A cheap grinder is a waste of money, in the same way that buying ground coffee is a waste of money. I suggest Rancilio Rocky & above only based on the information you have provided. If this means you cant afford the espresso machine for another 6 months, thats fine. By a Swissgold filter or some other inexpensive device to get your caffeine fix while you save a few more dollars (they make great coffee by the way - dont knock it until you’ve tried it).

Then match that to a great machine. Suggest you look to the reviews on Coffeegeek.com for machine reviews - no point in re-inventing the wheel.

In my Multi cultural House(I’m Mohawk Indian, Italian, French and Scottish, Mrs is Arabic, Taino Indian from Dominican Republic and Haitian) we have 2, 12 cup Mocha Pots and when we have extended family dinners we need to run both pots at LEAST twice after dinner. We also premake, Run the Pot and place the coffee into sealed containers, then when we make our caffe con leche we simply put sugar in the mug then an ounce or two of cold coffee and milk, then thow in microwave for 1 minute per cup. Tastes GREAT and is Quick to do. We are big fans of Bustelo , CostCo sells a 4 pack of vacuum sealed Bustelo for under $10, thats ALOT of Espresso! We like coffee but aren’t Coffee Geeks so your mileage may vary :-)

O:nen ki’ wahi’ Bye for now(That’s Kanien’keha aka Mohawk)

Given great beans, this was a winning combination for us. One day my wife poured the water down the grinder by mistake (tough to make morning coffee before you’ve had the coffee) and yet it has survived. We lived in a very humid, almost rainforest area, so the Gaggia case rusted to the point where we decided to replace it although it was still working, and we bought a Gaggia Deluxe. Now, “deluxe” means better than standard, right? Wrong. This one has a funny pressure valve that is leaking, instead of the overflow valve of the Classic. Other than that, it makes great coffee. I would get the Classic if I could do this over.

With the extra filter baskets I can pre-tamp filters and efficiently knock out espresso for everyone in short order. Don’t need inferior pods this way for pretty much the same convenience. And I keep the accessories in the drawer instead of using the drawer to knock out grinds and just clean up the filters with the dishes later.

You’d be better off with the cheapo aeropress and a killer grinder than a great machine and a sub-par grinder.

-Stu

HOWEVER, as much of a coffee geek as I am…with a full prosumer setup at home, at the office we have a Nespresso Cube and would get a super-automatic as well.

The main reason is that out of the whole office, there will likely be one or at the most two people that can make decent coffee from a “real” semi-automatic machine like the Rancillio. We had a ECM Giotto and it was a hassle when I was the only person that could pull a decent shot, and clients can’t be offered a coffee while they’re waiting…um…for me.

My suggestion is to get something that everyone can use withe push of a single button unless you have a whole office of espresso geeks that can pull consistent shots even while sleepwalking.

If you think this is a dumb suggestion, check out how the general quality of espresso has GONE UP since the Starbucks stores moved to superautomatic machines!

Have fun!

hit me up if you have any questions

GRINDERS
Bought the La Cimbali Max Hybrid
(http://www.chriscoffee.com/products/home/grinders/maxhybrid).

Spend is really personal. Could have spent $300 or $600 on the grinder, as discussed in the forums on various coffee sites, but wanted as close to the best grind as he could get. Assumption was that he’d wind up with feature envy so he went with the Max Hybrid and bought it after reading the Titan Grinder Project information.

ESPRESSO MACHINE
Uses the ~$600 Rancilio Silvia espresso maker.

PROCESS
I normally pull 4 double shots and then froth 1 pitcher of
milk each morning. This routine takes about 20 minutes.
No urge currently to upgrade the Espresso maker.

I am not ready to move to a higher level machine yet.

I just purchased a La Spaziale Mini Vivaldi II a few weeks ago after extensive research. I started out looking at Silvia, and then kept upgrading. I went with the huge jump in budget after repeatedly reading that nicer machines make it easier for a beginner to quickly gain the ability to consistently pull great shots. I wanted to minimize my variables. Silvia’s w/o the PID mod require temperature surfing for really good shots on a consistent basis (according to popular report). If you like milk drinks, especially if you will both want milk drinks at the same time, single boilers will slow you down a bit. You’ll need to either steam the milk first and then brew, or pull your shots, wait for the boiler to heat up more, and then steam the milk. If you plan to have guests and want to make several milk drinks or more, a single boiler will likely get old fast.

I have the KA Proline grinder, and found it works GREAT for non-espresso, and if you mod it (pull the step pins out and wrap the adjustment threads with Teflon tape), and move the burs closer together than the factory setting, it works “ok” for espresso. Hardcore espresso enthusiasts will scoff at it though. I likely will end up getting a nicer model (Mazzer Mini perhaps) and then keeping my KA Proline for non-espresso coffee once I get the budget. I’m already tired of not being able to dose directly into my filter basket and instead having to dose into the glass receptacle and then dump the coffee from that into my basket. I also suspect that the grind quality might be keeping me from pulling the amazing shots I was hoping for, though what I am making is vastly superior to all of the big coffee chains I have tried.

I found the folks at the Home-Barista.com forums to be extremely helpful in making my decision, as were the reviews on CoffeeGeek.com.

Before you take the plunge, think carefully about how you will use it. I started looking for a machine for weekend only use, but within a couple of weeks of my purchase I put it on a timer and have it ready and waiting during mornings and evenings and keep it on all weekend. Once I learned to pull good shots consistently, I really liked being able to make a cappuccino before work most days. With the double boiler, I have plenty of hot water for a bowl of instant oat meal in the morning, or a cup of hot tea at night before bed. My wife loves it when I steam milk for her hot chocolates too, and most of these uses are things that I hadn’t thought of when I first started looking for a machine. Had I gone with a single boiler, I’d probably already be looking to upgrade by now.

Chat Plus: Espresso Makers
Wednesday, September 5, 2007; F02

Washington: Any suggestions for a decent at-home espresso maker? There’s quite a variety out there, and I’m not looking to spend more than $150. Thanks!

Joe Yonan: I took your question to Mark Prince at Coffeegeek.com, a Web site that posts incredibly detailed reviews of just about every machine that comes down the pike. The surprising news (to me, anyway) is that even though his favorite espresso makers can cost more than $1,000, Prince has found entry-level models at your limit (and a little higher) that he promises can turn out a decent shot.

He suggests you look at:

? Krups XP-4030 (about $150).

? Gaggia Carezza (about $200).

? Krups XP-4050 (about $250).

In all three cases, check prices online, because they can vary considerably. “Please stress that these are my minimum recommendations,” Prince said. “If people are really strapped and they want decent espresso at home, this is the cheapest I can recommend.”

He had another plea: Consider investing $100 in a better coffee grinder, which will make all the difference — especially with a lower-end espresso maker.

Unlike simple blade grinders, which create uneven pieces and can heat up coffee beans, distorting their flavor, so-called burr grinders crush the beans more evenly without heating them. Although some cost several hundred dollars, Prince suggests you consider the Baratza Maestro Classic ($100 to $150).

“The insider secret about espresso at home is that it’s about the grinder, not the maker,” he says.

My wife and I have used countelss espresso machines over the years, and we’ve settled on a cold-brew system called the Toddy. The simplicity of the system is beyond measure. You brew a pound of coffee at a time, which will last you a couple weeks or more. Steps: 1) buy course ground coffee, 2) dump in brew container, 3) fill with water, 4) leave for 12 hours, 5) drain. Now you have concentrate coffee that you can use in several ways; dilute with hot water for a “regular” cup of drip coffee/americano, add milk (hot or cold) for a latte, add ice and water for a iced americano. The benefits are:

Easy. In the morning we pour in 2 shots of coffee into a 20 ounce cup, add 2-4 pumps of flavor (I bought pumps online), and fill with ice and milk or water. Alternately, you can microwave water or milk for a hot latte - we just prefer iced.

Cheap. The system costs $30. (Correction, they’ve gone up to $37)

Smooth. Because it’s a slow brew system, there is much less acid in the coffee than with regular espresso, so it will be a smoother cup of joe.

The downside. It does not produce foam. So, if you like foam with your latte, or you like cappuccinos, this is not the system for you. Also, coffee aficionados will turn their nose up at this system as it’s not true espresso. And they are probably correct - however, it makes a damn good cup of coffee, and it’s super simple in the morning when you are bleary-eyed and stumbling for a pick-me-up.

Linky:
http://www.toddyproducts.com/shop/product.php?productId=67

Not to say that the “cafe scene” does not also have some great features and we love those as well when we are out and about, but there is that “at home” aspect as well that we love.

So, who is planning on being the master Barista, you or Veronica? or both?

If my house were on fire, I’d probably burn to death trying to decide whether or not to take my Gaggia or my Macbook.

Honestly, I haven’t tried those other machines. I can just tell you this, my machine has never broken in the four years I’ve owned it. If you’re worried about reliability, I learned something recently that I wish I knew when I bought my machine.

KithcenAid makes an espresso machine in their Proline series, but KitchenAid doesn’t make it, Gaggia does. It’s a Gaggia twin broiler machine, in a KitchenAid enclosure. It’s about $600, and I’m not sure if you’ve delt with KitchenAid regarding warranties, but they’re amazing. I have a friend that has the KitchenAid Proline machine, and I don’t tell him this, but I’m a bit jealous.

I’m sure you know this, but I have to say it. The best espresso machine in the world is going to make s*it coffee if you have a s*it grinder. Don’t forget to get a good burr grinder!

But I am interested in this question since I am about ready for a new espresso machine as well.

Obsession alert: You and V both seem to have slightly obsessive personalities (ie, when you get into something, you REALLY get into it), like so many of us, and this is one of those deep oceans of potential obsession. Great fun, though (not to mention the major savings on retail drinks!).