Stilosa

No and No. Most machines at this price point are junk but if you can find a De'Longhi Stilosa, you could work with that.

This is easy to figure out. Go to a good local cafe (I'd say NOT Starbucks, but a small private cafe with a good reputation), try an espresso or a double (doppio) espresso, and perhaps also a macchiato (not cappuccino or latte which are mostly milk). Don't eat anything with it, and perhaps do it the

Do some research on the difference between pressurized and non-pressurized espresso extraction. Less expensive machines like the ones you mentioned brew pressurized. This allows them to work with pre-ground coffee. However, pressurized brewing puts a low ceiling on the quality of espresso produced.

If you’re in that $250 zone, the Breville Bambino is honestly one of the best beginner machines you can grab. The big advantage it has over the DeLonghi Stilosa is its temperature stability and faster heat-up time. The Bambino makes it way easier to get something consistent without fighting the mach

Ditch the Nespresso. Those pods are landfill stuffers and the "recycling program" is largely greenwashing bullshit. They do recycle some of it, but it's about 25% of what's returned, and we all know many people can't be bothered to take the bag of pods to a UPS store. Espresso in general isn't reall

If you have that tight a budget, get a De'Longhi Stilosa or ECP and a hand grinder like a Kingrinder K2 or Timemore C3 ESP Pro. You lose a bit of the convenience of the Bambino + electric grinder, but for around $200 (plus some accessories) you can make some amazing coffee.

For the budget, I recommend the DeLonghi ECP or the Stilosa. And a precise scale (that can measure in 0.1g). Then a WDT (tool), a grinder (manual for 70-150 or electric for 200+), an unpressurized basket, a better tamp, a puck screen, ...

Was ist den Budget? Copy Paste von einem anderen Post: Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Kaffee/s/rPJJoOZU7n Die Billigste Variante die mir einfällt ist: Milchschäumer: DREO BaristaMaker ca 110-130€ Zb https://amzn.eu/d/6aGawc0 Mühle: Baratza Encore ESP 160€ https://www.coffeefriend.at/p/kaffeemuehle-b

Echo the De'Longhi Stilosa. Even without upgrading the basket I found it was a great way to learn and definitely scratched an itch that kept me form upgrading to more expensive stuff too quickly. And I got it used (but basically mint condition) on eBay for about $40. I've thought about getting espre

The grinder is what makes espresso espresso. You can get a sub $100 machine that pushes 90-95 C water through a puck with 4+ ml/s flow rate. But if you don’t have properly ground fresh coffee in that puck, it’s useless. Get a De’Longhi Stilosa, ECP, or Flair Neo Flex. Then get a nice hand grinder li