Calling all espresso fans…

[chasy]

On 10/9/2025 at 12:38 AM, messymerlion said:

I used to work in coffee during the third wave boom for about a decade. I’ve since become a “corporate sell-out”.

Back then, making espresso was a simple art even in the cafe once the coffee was dialed in, we grind, tamp, and pull a shot. These days we have all of these knick knacks and a 10-step ritual to pull a single shot.

My two cents is that convenience and simplicity plays a huge role in enjoyment. I used to have a trusty old Breville single pump boiler that would heat up in no more than a minute (just enough time to empty the tank in the morning). 

Niche Zero grinders were the first line of good single dose grinders and till this day I haven’t seen anything new that can beat it int terms of grind and build quality.

I also freeze all of my coffee in single dose tubes, not only to preserve them, but you’ll be amazed at what it does for grind consistency, which means that you can use the same calibration every single time for that coffee.

With this combo, I get a fuss free, delicious espresso every morning within 5 minutes without fail. 

I’ve drank everything from $1 coffees to $100 coffees (used to work with world coffee champions) and till this day no expensive coffee is worth beating yourself up every time you mess up a shot or if your $10k machine decides it hates you on a Monday morning.

Then again, I saw that Fellow just launched a sleek machine going for $1.3k, which is very enticing.

Ok, for those of us who don’t want to spend thousands and who also value their time. What’s the foolproof set up for home?

[LOMTL]

23 hours ago, chasy said:

Ok, for those of us who don’t want to spend thousands and who also value their time. What’s the foolproof set up for home?

Find a used, well maintained Lelit Mara or even better an older PL62, change gaskets and the E61 gets it done, also find a used Faustino. Used that set up for 8 years. Worked like a charm, got tired of 1 min foaming and 30sec grinding though...good excuse to upgrade.

Now operating a Prima paired with a Eureka EX 65. I pull my god-shot every day. Mostly classic Italian roasts, nice and forgiving.

Cue that all is lined up perfectly? The volumetric program hits the right ratio at all time. The biggest step up in taste since I changed? Setting the temp to 89.5c and brew pressure to 8 bar, then making micro-step grind adjustments to keep extracting those rich chocolate notes for weeks from the same batch.

Steam pressure is dry and strong, foams milk like a dream. I keep reading about problems...none for me. And in teal color, she’s a beauty.

Cons? Get it plumbed, because of shallow tray and small reservoir...but if I touch this peribonka countertop, I'm finished lol!

Have a great caffeinated day y’all!

[FOHgetaboutit]

Great setup! 

[Fuzz AI]

7 hours ago, chasy said:

Ok, for those of us who don’t want to spend thousands and who also value their time. What’s the foolproof set up for home?

Super automatic machine like a Jura or DeLonghi. Is it going to be as good as a separate grinder and coffee machine? No, but it is a one touch machine that makes a good cup of coffee and takes less than 1 minute.

[poorman]

On 11/2/2025 at 6:55 AM, chasy said:

Ok, for those of us who don’t want to spend thousands and who also value their time. What’s the foolproof set up for home?

Drive thru coffee. 

Seriously though, I’ve had my machine for a couple of weeks now, and I can’t believe I didn’t do this sooner. It takes me less than two minutes to make a cappuccino or cortado now, after the machine is ready. This includes grinding the coffee.

My poor V60…