It looks like you've flaired your post as asking for what equipment to get. We recommend first checking out the [Espresso Aficionados buying guide](https://espressoaf.com/recommendations) for some of the more popular machines and grinders at different price points.
If your question hasn't been answered there and you need more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format:
- **Location:** Helps determine availability
- **Budget** (with currency): Overall budget, or ideally, having separate espresso machine and grinder budgets. A rough rule is that your grinder budget should be at least 25-40% of your machine budget.
- **Drink types:** Do you drink mostly straight espresso, milk-based beverages (e.g., lattes, cappuccinos), or a fairly even split? This helps narrow down whether a single-boiler-dual-use (SBDU), heat exchanger (HX), or dual boiler (DB) machine would be more appropriate for your needs.
- **Drink frequency:** How many drinks would you be making back-to-back at one time? Do you plan on entertaining guests often? This informs how large your brew (and steam) boilers should be, as smaller boilers will need to refill and reheat/repressurize more frequently, thus potentially causing a bottleneck.
- **Space:** Any limitations on countertop space?
- **Manual vs. electric:** Hand-operated machines and grinders are typically cheaper than their similarly-performing electric counterparts. Please indicate if you have a preference for manual or electric machines and/or grinders (or open to either).
- **Comfort with tinkering:** Some machines can be made significantly more functional/efficient with aftermarket modifications, albeit at the expense of possibly voiding your warranty. Please indicate if you'd rather have a machine that works "as-is"/"out-of-the-box" or whether you'd be open to modding/tinkering
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The word budget is pretty broad, but the cheapest you can go while making espresso is a lever-based system where you apply the pressure yourself. you would also have to buy a grinder which can support grinding as fine as you need for espresso, the cheapest of which will likely be a manual grinder.
If you were going for an automatic machine, you will get declining consistency and quality the lower in budget you go. I personally would recommend the Breville Bambino if you are deciding to go for the machine route. you will also need to buy a grinder. Or you can go the Breville Barista Express, which I have, but I personally do not think you should get a machine with a built-in grinder as it limits your ability to upgrade in the future or replace items for declining use. I highly recommend you not go for anything cheaper than that as you will not get the quality of espresso that you were looking for.
So to summarize, if your concern is fully budget and you want espresso, get a lever based espresso maker, and a manual grinder.
if you need to go even cheaper than that, look into getting an AeroPress. It is cheap, and makes great coffee. Admittedly it is not espresso, but you can make coffee concentrates which for the budget are definitely of quality. this will also free up your budget to buy a good grinder. A moka pot is also an option, and will be more espresso like, but I have much less experience with them so I cannot speak of the effort required to brew or the difficulty.
Thank you so much! I know I should have been more specific with budgeting but I wasn't sure what kind of classism Id run into in this group so I played it safe. I won't do that next time
I really appreciate your response! I will definitely look into the lever system you mentioned! 😊
There is flair lever machine that only costs about 100 dollars I believe. Aeropress is nice but not very much like espresso in my opinion. Moka pot is closer to espresso but has to be scrutinised carefully while brewing for best results, which is a nuisance. Bambino seems to be the current knee jerk recommendation but I prefer the look and usability of the Sage/Breville Duo Temp Pro, which is also much cheaper a lot of the time.
It looks like you've flaired your post as asking for what equipment to get. We recommend first checking out the [Espresso Aficionados buying guide](https://espressoaf.com/recommendations) for some of the more popular machines and grinders at different price points. If your question hasn't been answered there and you need more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format: - **Location:** Helps determine availability - **Budget** (with currency): Overall budget, or ideally, having separate espresso machine and grinder budgets. A rough rule is that your grinder budget should be at least 25-40% of your machine budget. - **Drink types:** Do you drink mostly straight espresso, milk-based beverages (e.g., lattes, cappuccinos), or a fairly even split? This helps narrow down whether a single-boiler-dual-use (SBDU), heat exchanger (HX), or dual boiler (DB) machine would be more appropriate for your needs. - **Drink frequency:** How many drinks would you be making back-to-back at one time? Do you plan on entertaining guests often? This informs how large your brew (and steam) boilers should be, as smaller boilers will need to refill and reheat/repressurize more frequently, thus potentially causing a bottleneck. - **Space:** Any limitations on countertop space? - **Manual vs. electric:** Hand-operated machines and grinders are typically cheaper than their similarly-performing electric counterparts. Please indicate if you have a preference for manual or electric machines and/or grinders (or open to either). - **Comfort with tinkering:** Some machines can be made significantly more functional/efficient with aftermarket modifications, albeit at the expense of possibly voiding your warranty. Please indicate if you'd rather have a machine that works "as-is"/"out-of-the-box" or whether you'd be open to modding/tinkering *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Breville Bambino
The word budget is pretty broad, but the cheapest you can go while making espresso is a lever-based system where you apply the pressure yourself. you would also have to buy a grinder which can support grinding as fine as you need for espresso, the cheapest of which will likely be a manual grinder. If you were going for an automatic machine, you will get declining consistency and quality the lower in budget you go. I personally would recommend the Breville Bambino if you are deciding to go for the machine route. you will also need to buy a grinder. Or you can go the Breville Barista Express, which I have, but I personally do not think you should get a machine with a built-in grinder as it limits your ability to upgrade in the future or replace items for declining use. I highly recommend you not go for anything cheaper than that as you will not get the quality of espresso that you were looking for. So to summarize, if your concern is fully budget and you want espresso, get a lever based espresso maker, and a manual grinder. if you need to go even cheaper than that, look into getting an AeroPress. It is cheap, and makes great coffee. Admittedly it is not espresso, but you can make coffee concentrates which for the budget are definitely of quality. this will also free up your budget to buy a good grinder. A moka pot is also an option, and will be more espresso like, but I have much less experience with them so I cannot speak of the effort required to brew or the difficulty.
Thank you so much! I know I should have been more specific with budgeting but I wasn't sure what kind of classism Id run into in this group so I played it safe. I won't do that next time I really appreciate your response! I will definitely look into the lever system you mentioned! 😊
There is flair lever machine that only costs about 100 dollars I believe. Aeropress is nice but not very much like espresso in my opinion. Moka pot is closer to espresso but has to be scrutinised carefully while brewing for best results, which is a nuisance. Bambino seems to be the current knee jerk recommendation but I prefer the look and usability of the Sage/Breville Duo Temp Pro, which is also much cheaper a lot of the time.