Barista Express Impress

I was in a similar boat and researched all these models, too. I ended up getting a Touch for a few reasons: Auto milk frothing: This has been really helpful because as a person who has never brewed my own coffee other than k-cups, I could just focus on learning how to dial in the expresso first and

Exactly this. Only change would be step 2 with aeration. Depending on the strength of the steam wand it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a minute to add in the proper amount of air. I have the breville BEI and it has a very underpowered steam wand

Like i said, the niche is a sidegrade over the integrated grinder. It's weak at light roasts and fine grinds, and accordingly to a commenter here, coarse grinds as well. It's a fantastic bit of kit for dark roasts, and moka, and french press, yeah, but that's about it ... Once you want medium light