Spyke

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View original on sh.itjust.works

20 replies

It depends on your end goal.

It’s a common assumption that costlier espresso machines add features that benefit an experienced user, but for the first several hundred dollars they add features that are kind of core to good espresso machines. These include even heating, consistent and predictable flow control, easier maintenance, and universal and interchangeable baskets. These features are most helpful for beginners over experienced brewers, who can sometimes claw good coffee from cheap machines. This listing claims several such features, but it’s being sold for $70. Were it as good as a $250 Breville, the firm that made it would have it on every YouTube channel under the sun and it would be $200.

If the end goal is to develop coffee as a hobby and get amazing, cafe or better espresso, $70 spent on a device that you’re planning to make obsolete is $70 that could go toward a great espresso machine or powered grinder.

That said, many people really like this sort of machine. I have some friends who adore their cheap espresso machine and this thing looks better than what they have. But to them, it’s not a first machine, it’s just their espresso machine and they accept that a cafe will do better.

2

It has a boiler which is good to see (as opposed to a thermablock or something similar). For $70 probably not terrible but I doubt it’ll last long and it’s a no name brand so I’m not sure how reliable they’ll be for servicing and such. If you want a budget espresso machine, check out the DeLonghi Stilosa. I’m not sure how much it is in your local currency (I’m not American) but in Canada it’s around $150 and regularly on sale for $100 and is probably the best machine you can get for the budget end.

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Whaddaya want from us 😅 It looks like a bare bones espresso machine, tuned to work with a pressurized basket. It has collected a couple of short reviews. The Amazon page sums it up nicely, i think: "Easy to make prefect coffee."

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lemmy.ml

Forced back into the office this week (boo) so I took my Aeropress, hand grinder and a couple of mugs to heat water in… now everyone gets to listen to me grind and bang around and make amazing coffee while they swill their BS K-Cup filth.

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BurntWitsreply
sh.itjust.works

So, FrickAndMortar, would you say you’re back to working at a brick and mortar location?

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I’m still completely obsessed with my setup. Fellow Stagg EKG Pro, DF54 with red titanium burrs (imitation SSPs), Cafelat Robot. I’ve been enjoying lower pressure light roasts with it. The absolute best coffee I’ve ever had, every time I have coffee now. It’s fantastic. For the first time, I don’t have an itch to get something else. If I need to do back-to-back shots or am too lazy to use the Robot (or want to steam some milk) I still have my Gaggia Classic Pro which also works pretty great.

5

After buying nearly 2kg of coffee and buying an expensive subscription, I wandered into a local cafe that I hadn't seen before and bought this because I have been craving some bergamot notes. That makes for almost $200 in bean spending. Time to take a break.

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lemmy.world

I finally got my hands on some Philz New Manhattan, at the suggestion of someone here. Really enjoying it. Used a Clever dripper initially, have a few other methods to try out.

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lemmy.world

I initially got it for a camping trip but it’s gotten a lot of use at home. Wish the mechanism worked on all my mugs though — a couple are just a little too large.

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It is my office brewer due to the small amount of time that I need to invest in making coffee every morning.

I use a V60 or Kono MDK-42 pour over brewer at home.

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lemmy.ca

I'm deep into the moka pot rabbit hole after buying my second one. Not sure when my V60 or Aeropress will see daylight again.

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Primarily using a 3-cup unless my wife wants some then I use a 6-cup

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Zensatereply
lemmy.world

When you feel like it, get yourself a prismo! It'll re-ignite your aeropress love all over again

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I have some dark roast in the freezer. Posts like this make me want to dust off the 6 cup moka I have in storage.

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