Bambino Plus

Breville bambino plus $400~ any grinder $400~ plus 200 in accessories. You don’t need a 4000 machine to start.

Breville’s great, though most people here won’t recommend a machine with a built in grinder. That one comes with a Smart Grinder Pro, which is great for most bean types specially if you’re into Italian espresso/based drinks. You could go for a Bambino Plus and spend the rest ($600ish) on a much bett

Breville Bambino Plus is convenient and just about fits the budget with some stretching. Can't go wrong at that price point, HOWEVER you may want to budget for a grinder to go with it as well

used gaggia classic pro is prob the best bang for buck imo. built like a tank, easy to mod later if u get obsessed, and holds resale value. paired with a decent grinder it’ll easily give you real espresso without spending breville dual boiler money. for something simpler, the breville bambino or bam

Some top tips for the Bambino Plus, and in no particular order: -- With all due respect to it, no need to pay Breville prices for Breville (or via Breville, other) branded cleaning products. Urnex brand gets recommended here and has worked well for me, at a lower price, and buying larger-sized conta

The grinder matters more than the machine, and you should budget a decent amount for that too. You also will likely need to budget $100-150 or so for accessories like a scale, decent tamper, distribution tools, and in some cases a nicer portafilter and basket. Some recommended combos: De’Longhi Stil

Looks like a baratza encore maybe the esp and à Breville bambino plus. You can get the base level bambino (basically the same without the automatic steaming) and an encore or df54 for around $500. I got my bambino for $250 used with a handful of upgrades. I’ve since upgraded but it was a great entry

I’m guessing adding some combination of shots + flavoring + alt dairy. Personally I got a decent machine and grinder and started reading up r/espresso. Factoring for the cost of the machine, grinder, dairy, coffee, beans, and flavoring, your break even is pretty quick vs a coffee shop. Breville Bamb

Get a small espresso/cappuccino machine. Breville Bambino Plus has paid for itself. And I enjoy the experience of making it now. Sort of science + art.

Love the different views this topic will generate :) Barista Express (and most of the all-in-one Breville's) are good in the longish term. Parts fail and these machines have limited repairability. I have a refurb, and this is my second personal Breville machine, and 4th of their's I've bought/used o