Anniversary and wife wants espresso/latte machine

[jyl]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Thanks all. Alan the Breville dual boiler is on the list for sure. Seems to have a lot of nice features just a bit worried about long life.

Jyl with the dual boiler is that the main thing that makes milk drinks easy/quick to create? On grinders that Opus is considerably cheaper than the other choices...might have to go with it.

Espresso brew temp ideally around 200F, which is below boiling, so too low for steaming milk.

Typical single boiler consumer machine has a small boiler (8 oz?), heats to 200F to brew, then you have to wait for it to raise the temp enough for steaming. To reduce the wait time, the boiler is small. Small boiler and the waiting means machine can't keep up with fast consecutive shots or steaming large volume of milk.

Dual boiler consumer machine has a (smaller) boiler for brew and a (larger) boiler for steam. Each is held at the correct temp. May still be limited in how fast repeated shots can be pulled (I don't know), but there's no waiting from pulling shot to steaming milk.

Don't necessarily need dual boilers, if things are large enough. My Elektra holds boiler temp about 230F (1.5 bar pressure) which is great for steaming. To brew, it sends cold house water through a heat exchanger in the boiler, raising water temp from 50-60F to 200F as fast as the water flows. So it has only one boiler, but it is 11 liters with a 3500 w heating element, plenty of heat storage for shots and steaming even if two baristas are working side by side as fast as they can.

If you go the manual route, you can get the inexpensive Opus, if its not great then keep an eye out for a used Mazzer commercial grinder, and later use the Opus for decaf. Assuming the vendor confirms the Opus is ok for espresso.

But manual may or may not be what your wife actually wants. Like if you buy her a 3.0 911 but she actually wants a Toyota Camry.

[p911dad]

One of our kids has the Jura S8 and all I can say is "wow!" Great coffee, easy to figure out.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I have had a Gaggia classic for probably 10 years now. Single boiler. I don't do too much frothing of milk, but works ok when I do. I have a nice Baratza Sette grinder which makes the process much more consistent.

[LWJ]

I have a profitec. Wife bought it for me. Don’t know any specs or cost. It wasn’t cheap. It is awesome. Grinder is super important.

Any heads up on beans???

[astrochex]

Regarding grinders, I have had a Baratza Sette 270 for around 10 years. While it is a little loud, it is very consistent with the grind and the grind is very easy to adjust and does fine increments. The grind loss is very low too. While there is plastic externals, the grinding elements are metal and robust.

[Otter74]

I've had a Breville Barista Express and love it. If I were doing it over again, I'd get a Barista Touch (which good friends have and also love), which sounds like the Breville that would probably suit your wife best - you only really have to do the testing/setup once, or occasionally, and once a drink is dialed in you just push a button. My morning coffee always has milk in it unless I'm out of milk, and I like the steamer/frother much better than the Nespresso steamer I used to use.

[KevinTodd]

https://pasquini.com/collections/espresso-machines/products/bezzera-bz13-mn-pid


We love our Pasquini and have enjoyed it for many years, trouble free.

[berettafan]

Ok at this point i'm leaning hard towards the Pro 300 and trying to work through a grinder choice.

[Bill Douglas]

Very nice! Matched with a mini Mazzer grinder it will be an excellent setup.

[908/930]

Berettafan are you totally confused yet? I bet you did not know that espresso grinders can cost $7k or more, I know I did not, most of those are shop grinders and not great for home use, intended to be run all day and then be cleaned.

I suggest considering single dose grinder, they are simple and intended to self clean. They do require weighing the amount of beans or guessing and then just run through the grinder most have a bellows to push to clean the remaining grind out. Whatever you look at make sure it is intended for espresso, I tried a couple grinders I borrowed from friends and none really had the fine adjustment necessary for espresso.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

If you are looking for a good machine, Costco has this one on sale for the next 5 days. My daughter has one of these and I thought it was overkill at first. But, it makes a damn good coffee, expresso, latte at the push of a button.

https://www.costco.com/jura-s8-automatic-coffee-machine%2c-piano-black.product.100664000.html

Buy that. Job done.

[jyl]

Look on your local classified, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace for Mazzer grinders. There are other brands of commercial grinder but Mazzers are the most common. I’m seeing a Mazzer Super Jolly, which is a very serious grinder indeed, for $400. Commercial grinders, other than the Mazzer Mini perhaps, are too tall to fit under upper cabinets. The consumer espresso grinders are generally smaller.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by jyl

Look on your local classified, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace for Mazzer grinders. There are other brands of commercial grinder but Mazzers are the most common. I’m seeing a Mazzer Super Jolly, which is a very serious grinder indeed, for $400. Commercial grinders, other than the Mazzer Mini perhaps, are too tall to fit under upper cabinets. The consumer espresso grinders are generally smaller.

I get what you are saying, but it’s for his wife. In the morning. Before she goes to work.

My advice is still a one-button. So the Jura.

[jyl]

Opus review. https://youtu.be/_MeJdAHgrWQ?si=F4PGKGTgEazbCsJ6

Looks perfectly fine for a starter grinder, maybe never need to upgrade.

For milk drinks, dialing in the grind isn’t too critical. The steamed milk masks bitter, sour, etc in the espresso. For shots, some think it is critical. I’m personally not uber-fussy. YMMV.

The Opus looks like a little bit of a pain to dial in grind size, if you are constantly switching between different beans from shot to shot. If you simply use up a pound of beans, then no big deal. In my experience, each batch or bag of beans will want a grind adjustment, then there’s usually not much need to fiddle until the next batch.

[berettafan]

Absolutely overwhelmed but also enjoying the deep dive into a world populated by irrational hobbyists. Feels like home

Grinders in contention are the Niche from UK, Eureka oro mignon, Eureka silenzio. Think I’ve ruled out the sette 270 based on noise. Am seeing mention of conical plate grinders getting a more chocolatey flavor. Wife would prefer that. Single dose for sure is the focus now with quiet operation important as it’ll be used early am.

Talked with a sales guy at whole latte love today. He was helpful on grinders and had me laughing talking about how some people are whackos over coffee and he’d be afraid to be in a room with them while brewing.

[gprsh924]

I picked up a Jura Z10 last week. Incredible coffee. Very easy to use. Love it so far.

[908/930]

I think the Eureka Oro and Silenzio are both flat burr, 65mm and 50mm. I was also looking at those. If considering flat burr do look at the DF64p grinder. One advantage of the 65mm burrs is there are many different ones available and reasonably priced.

I would really like to compare the taste of a super-automatic machine vs a semi manual or full manual like mine side by side. I can say that I have not tasted any better than what I make at home.

[jyl]

https://youtu.be/bgjvLQu5NlE?si=ThTHoUTY_maImMq1

James Hoffman is always an entertaining and informative source. This is his grinder 101 video.

https://www.home-barista.com/

HomeBarista.com is the Pelican of espresso. I spent many, many hours there, when I was in my obsessed stage.

Here is my old thread on restoring my espresso machine. For a while I couldn’t sleep because I was drinking six shots an evening. Now things are under control. I have two more in the garage waiting restoration. Seeking Coffee Snob Opinions - Espresso Machine

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I love James Hoffman!

https://www.youtube.com/@jameshoffmann/videos


Check out his latest video

The Manument: The Swiss Watch Of Lever Espresso Machines

[greglepore]

Had a Breville DB and loved it, but eventually all the little orings and fittings gave up. Have a vivi PID e61 now and couldn't be happier. I don't do milk drinks, but the pid makes it easy even though its an hx.
Grinder is key. Mazzers are great but they are tanks with a big footprint. I have a similar size grider (Orbel, branded Pavoni) but an indulgent s/o.