Thinking About Espresso


 
I have a Breville Express, and it's fine. I use it every day for basic coffee, an "Americano" to be exact, which is just a shot or two of espresso with hot water. Sometimes we'll have a couple of lattes and getting the foam right does take some practice. Before that, we had a Cuisinart EM-200, and that was also fine. Before that one, we had the Cuisinart EM-100, and yes, also fine. That one just wore out. These things operate under pressure so I suppose eventually they all give out. But between those three, I have been making coffee for 15 years, maybe twenty who knows.

I am not as fanatical as others about it. Each model we got cost a little more than the one before it, but nothing that I would consider crazy. I like that the Breville has lights to tell you when to clean and descale and they sell the stuff to do that also. That helps maintain the machine because of that wear I mentioned.

Years ago, we settled on a coffee we like and now get it from Amazon on a subscription, 12 cans every 3 months or so. That comes already ground, and as long as the coffee is good, I think pre-ground is just fine. I do get beans to grind in the machine, and that's nice, but in my opinion not so much better that it would justify an expense you might regret.

We have also a Faberware percolator from the 1970's, so I like that we have a coffee variety; I'll have both every morning.
 
A friend pulls hers from a La Pavoni! So, I am a little spoiled when I visit them! Hers are top drawer!! I never expect to get one of those until I have three more feet of counter space, that ain’t happening! So, for space co straits I’m still considering the Aeropress, a dedicated five to twelve hundred machine (yes, I would LOVE one!) is just not in the cards. Remember,I admitted a long time ago I’m CHEEEEEap!
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
A friend pulls hers from a La Pavoni! So, I am a little spoiled when I visit them! Hers are top drawer!! I never expect to get one of those until I have three more feet of counter space, that ain’t happening! So, for space co straits I’m still considering the Aeropress, a dedicated five to twelve hundred machine (yes, I would LOVE one!) is just not in the cards. Remember,I admitted a long time ago I’m CHEEEEEap!
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Go for the larger Aeropress. I have the smaller one, bought it maybe 15 years ago and always wish it were larger.
 
DanHoo said:
I bought this for a friend last year. It is currently $149 on amazon. I've had a number of cups made from this and the flavor is great. Lots of choices and variety of pods.


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I also bought this milk frother and it is fantastic for cappuccino or hot cocoa. It was $38 delivered.


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That little frother thing is nearly identical to what that guy shows in the video.

So here is where I am a little perplexed. I really want to be able to do as good a product as I can with as little $$$ outlay as I can get away with. My SIL and daughter tell me that Breville Infuser is a REALLY good machine. (I guess it should be to cost nearly $600 new). OTOH, being an old mechanic and technician at my core, I know that things which operate under high heat and pressure tend to wear out more quickly than things that don't.
So on the person with that Breville on FB Marketplace. Assuming it has all it's bits and pieces and works, I also have to assume it is likely a few years old. He's asking $225 (and I can buy the brand new KA for $229) and yeah I know it's not the same quality of device. BUT, and it's a big BUT, it's brand new with a warranty. Whereas the Breville is not, and if it craps out I am out whatever I chose to spend on it, or am stuck attempting to repair it.
So, I would almost take a risk on it but NOT for $225. More like $150 ($170 tops) is really all I care to risk. He's had the thing for sale for 6 weeks now. So, would I be a jerk for offering $150? My thing is you can either make someone think or insult them to the point they don't want to think and simply shut down any hope of a negotiation.
I just don't know enough about these machines and their intrinsic value to determine if that is what would happen.
 
Years ago I started out with a budget espresso machine (Estro sold by starbucks) on sale for under $150. It provided decent cup of espresso but I found that I would only use it several times/year do to the amount of effort to pull a couple of shots with cleanup.
I ended up going with a superautomatic espresso machine which requires far less time to pull a shot then my Estro and cleanup is effortless as well as the variety of coffee drinks available at the push of a button.
I also own various other type of coffee machines. My other favorites are my vacuum coffee pot and french press. The vacuum coffee pot requires the most time and the french press I use at work because the free coffee at work sucks.
 
Ray J. said:
Years ago I started out with a budget espresso machine (Estro sold by starbucks) on sale for under $150. It provided decent cup of espresso but I found that I would only use it several times/year do to the amount of effort to pull a couple of shots with cleanup.
I ended up going with a superautomatic espresso machine which requires far less time to pull a shot then my Estro and cleanup is effortless as well as the variety of coffee drinks available at the push of a button.
I also own various other type of coffee machines. My other favorites are my vacuum coffee pot and french press. The vacuum coffee pot requires the most time and the french press I use at work because the free coffee at work sucks.
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That’s nice information but, what superautomatic machine is it?
 
I started with a Jura ENA 9 (obsolete model) until I wore it out. I now own a Miele CM6360 that I purchased at a discount due to a customer return.
One problem with the superautomatics is that they tend to clog up with oily beans. My go to bean is Lavazza super crema.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Not happening for me, I’m way, way cheaper than Larry, I’m good for fifty bucks.🤣
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The expensive price is hard to swallow for sure but I paid approximately 1/2 price for a returned unit, still damn expensive though.
After owning superautomatics for quite a few years, if I were to divide the cost of the unit by the amount of coffee drinks served it is easier to justify. Or compare the savings to going to Starbucks every day. The real benefit is the quality of coffee drinks it produces. The coffee purists will put down the superautomatics because of lack of control (like a manual stick shift car vs automatic) but I am lazy.

Below is a picture of a shot of expresso:

IMG_0566.jpg
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
A friend pulls hers from a La Pavoni! So, I am a little spoiled when I visit them! Hers are top drawer!! I never expect to get one of those until I have three more feet of counter space, that ain’t happening! So, for space co straits I’m still considering the Aeropress, a dedicated five to twelve hundred machine (yes, I would LOVE one!) is just not in the cards. Remember,I admitted a long time ago I’m CHEEEEEap!
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I still have the La Pavoni that my Dad purchased in '78, when we lived in Naples, Italy back in the late 70's/early 80's and have loved espresso since.

It's a lever press machine, (not sure of the model #). There's an art to making a great cup of espresso with old girl, (and cappuccino if that's what you like), but you'd be hard-pressed, (pun fully intended;)), to find a better cup of espresso, anywhere.

It's been used so much, that the seals had to be replaced, back in the late 90's and she's down for the count now, because I have to replace the seals again. I've been putting it off because I don't drink espresso enough to justify the counter space...and it's expensive because I have to send it out to get the work done.

I'm generally not a beer, or whiskey, or food snob..(you like what you like), ...but....when it comes to espresso, I'm a huge snob and one of those purists that @Ray J. mentioned in his post. :LOL:
 
I've liked the idea of the superautomatics. My experience with them stems from my last career which required frequent trips to Germany. There was a commercial grade superautomatic in the office break room.
It saw fairly heavy use...Germans like their coffee. It made a variety of different espressos, cappuccino, etc..It had a plumbed in water line with a filter. I'm sure there was a service contract to keep it running considering the use it saw. What's interesting to me is the price range of these superautomatics....$400-$4000+. I think many are Italian or Swiss made.
 
Back to the original post, I would check to see if there are parts available to "rebuild" the unit which mainly consists of screens and gaskets.
Which if available the machine will last for a longer time as opposed to a throw away unit.

As for the pricing, it wouldn't hurt to politely ask if they would consider a lower offer.
 
Ray J. said:
Back to the original post, I would check to see if there are parts available to "rebuild" the unit which mainly consists of screens and gaskets.
Which if available the machine will last for a longer time as opposed to a throw away unit.

As for the pricing, it wouldn't hurt to politely ask if they would consider a lower offer.
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Well, I actually did send him a message today. Explaining I am interested and "what would be rock bottom cash in your hand price" today. So far, crickets. KA has their unit on sale for only $229. It's very well received and normally about $350, I lost out on a brand new Breville Bambino for only $200 waiting for the person to respond.
I just don't understand people. You put something up for sale RESPOND TO AN INQUIRY for cripes sake! People................I swear. Just SMDH
I would really like the nicer machine, rather than a raw "entry level" if I can get it at a decent $$$$. But, I guess if I go brand new I have the advantage of mfgr warranty or at least the return period.
So, I give up maybe a some features but get a smaller foot print, new vs used (so less risk), though that risk did work out nicely for me with my Breville drip coffee maker. I was able to learn using it, and how enjoyable it is to use (except for one fault it had). Coffee cooled down FAST in the thermal carafe. Apparently they made some improvement to the design and insulation as I was able to find a brand new one (well open box though still everything sealed), for under $200. Given that the carafe alone is about $85 it seemed like a good trade off.
Made coffee this AM with it. Great coffee AND it stayed hot for at least 3 hours. No need for Chef Mike to warm it up. So a win win. At least I was able to give one a go without having to drop $350 for it until I could bide my time and wait for a bargain one.
So was kinda my thought with that Breville Infuser machine.
 
Well, my opinion is that the amount of money you are looking at for this machine is the right amount to spend if you are still being exploratory. We started with (~$30):

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Then tried this for a while (~$250)

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Now, using this (~$800)

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So, very much like you we wanted to see how deep down this rabbit hole we wanted to go. We got the Delonghi and it actually did fine until at one point it just stopped pushing water. We couldn't figure out what was up. So, we upgraded to the Breville and used the same coffee that we had been using on the Delonghi and it didn't work either. What we discovered is that we bought beans and had the coffee shop grind them for espresso and it turns out it was too fine so it wasn't working. Once we started grinding with the Breville everything worked fine. So, we gave the Delonghi to our daughter.

The crazy thing is we got the Breville and chose the Barista Pro based on being more able to adjust and personalize. Thing is, once we got it dialed in on the grind size/time and brew time, we've not touched any of the controls. lol. So, we also wanted to explore and ended up spending over $1k in the process.

So, in my opinion dropping between $200 and $300 on the exploratory phase is a good alternative.


Ray J. said:
The expensive price is hard to swallow for sure but I paid approximately 1/2 price for a returned unit, still damn expensive though.
After owning superautomatics for quite a few years, if I were to divide the cost of the unit by the amount of coffee drinks served it is easier to justify. Or compare the savings to going to Starbucks every day. The real benefit is the quality of coffee drinks it produces. The coffee purists will put down the superautomatics because of lack of control (like a manual stick shift car vs automatic) but I am lazy.

Below is a picture of a shot of expresso:

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The Miele is what I really want. Yes, the purists definitely poo poo the superautos but I'm sorry, that is a sexy damn coffee maker. lol. I will have one at some point. Being that I'm not the crazy 100 step process guy. I like good beans and a good maker and that's good enough for me.

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This is the one I want and it's MSRP of $1800 but on sale on Amazon for $1420 right now. I almost pulled the trigger when it was about $1100 right after Christmas, but decided to wait. But, the wife will still always use her Breville and then I'd be the 2 very expensive coffee maker guy. lol. I'm not sure I want to be that guy yet. Someday, maybe.....
 
Not only is coffee (caffine) addictive, but the coffee makers as well.:sneaky:

Below is a picture of my early coffee equipment: (not pictured is my french press or my Bialetti Mukka Express)
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Then I refurbished and eventually sold my built-in Miele:
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And my current go-to Miele:
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The current Miele has many options to adjust the grind, temperature, amount of coffee to one's liking.
Several co-workers who bought superautomatics (Jura) never went back to Kurig coffee.
 
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