I imagine “connoisseurs” would try to disagree, but Mr Coffee makes a legitimately decent all-in-one machine for $230 - the One Touch CoffeeHouse. I mostly drink lattes and while they are not as frothy and airy as one from an actual coffee house, for the price and ease-to-make they are astonishingly good.

I just use a mokapot :)

Mokapots are great. We had an espresso machine, but it took more space and cleaning time than a mokapot.

Freshly roasted beans are more important for flavor than the preparation method.

And a nice grinder

Burr grinder

Flat burr grinder

Conical please.

Below, what Google's Generative AI [https://www.google.com/search?q=flat+v+conical+burr+coffee+b...] says about this:

Consistency: Flat burrs are known for being more consistent and producing a more balanced extraction

Noisiness: Flat burrs can be noisy and heat up quickly without good ventilation

Price: Conical burr grinders are cheaper than flat burr grinders

Coolness: Conical burr grinders are cooler than flat burr grinders

Gentleness: Conical burrs are gentler on the coffee beans, which can result in a sweeter cup of coffee

Control: Flat burr grinders offer more control, which is good for cafes or commercial uses

Espresso brewing: Conical burr grinders are good for pulling espresso shots

Grounds: Flat burrs often retain more grounds than conical burrs

This is a bit inaccurate, and that is reflected in the top results when you google it.

Conical burrs are not cheaper. You call this when you look at them, the shape is pretty complex. They often don’t have good (low) retention as they are often on massive commercial equipment. They are consistent as all hell.

> I imagine “connoisseurs” would try to disagree, but Mr Coffee makes a legitimately decent all-in-one machine for $230 - the One Touch CoffeeHouse.

The Specialty Coffee Association has a certification program and list of machines that have passed:

* https://sca.coffee/certified-home-brewer

Units by Cuisinart, GE, Oxo, and Zwilling are on the certified list and can be founded listed for US$ 230. One of the main items for certification is getting the water consistently to the correct temperature.

Or you can spend $30 on a dripper and $50 on a (simple on/off) kettle:

* https://cleverbrewing.coffee/products/clever-dripper

With the difference going to a good grinder so you're making coffee with fresh beans.

I briefly looked through the website, does the SCA have a list of "Certified" consumer-level espresso machines specifically? I was disappointed to see that they had certified home brewers for drip coffee and commercial espresso machines that cost $15k, but no espresso machines that I could afford.

> Dozens of machines are submitted for testing every year, but only those that bear the SCA Certified Espresso Machine mark have met our rigorous testing standards:

* https://sca.coffee/sca-certified/espresso-machines

Maybe there is no list of "consumer-level espresso machines" because no machines have met the certification criteria?

DeLonghi dedica or similar. ~150 bucks for a great espresso and the grinder is included. Highly recommended

Well, you can't let a cheap espresso machine touch your $25 bag of single-origin coffee beans...

It’s the grinder that gets ya.

I don't spend that much money on coffee beans but I have the cheapest blade grinder I could buy (one day I will be able to justify replacing it, probably with a Wilfa).

The trick is to shake the grinder up and down while it is cutting. I can get a surprisingly even grind that doesn't get too hot. Good enough for a trouble-free Aeropress plunge, anyway.

These days I am all about the cheap solutions; I'll probably treat myself to a lever-press espresso machine at some point.

An even better solution is just picking up a decent hand grinder [1] especially since you’re doing work anyway.

[1] https://www.hario-usa.com/collections/grinders

If you’re relying on anything other than your own fingertips, it’s time for some grip exercises. Lovingly hand-crafting your beans to fine powder—this is the way.

PSA: Buy a used Bunn G1 and put SSP burrs in it. I did mine for about $600, which seems steep, but it's way cheaper than comparable grinders and will probably last me decades.

Also check out the G-IOTA, it's sold under several different names but it's the best espresso grinder you can get for the money. It has flat burrs, which are superior to conical burrs.

https://reddit.com/r/espresso/comments/lw8pbo/probarista_gio...

It should be partially compensated by your health insurance.

don't spend more than $600 tbh