[regulation_d]

> You can spend more but the coffee doesn’t get better

I went down the espresso rabbit hole during covid, as did a good buddy of mine. We both upgraded from setups in the ~$1k range and are experiencing much better results in the cup. Obviously you'll see diminishing returns at some price point, but most of my friends/family agree that a latte from my new setup is noticeably better than one from my old setup.

[etrautmann]

can you elaborate on your current setup?

[regulation_d]

for sure!

My grinder is a Weber EG-1. It has really large (80mm) flat burrs. Very forgiving; like I don't have to be dialed in perfectly for the espresso to be very good. It's essentially a cafe quality grinder, but optimized for a single-dose flow.

My machine is an Olympia Cremina, which is a manual lever machine. I've modified it with a pressure profiler to control and track the pressure of the shot I'm pulling. All that manual control is really nice for the kind of coffees I like which are usually naturally-processed light roasts. However, manual levers are not for everyone and have a definite learning curve.

If you're curious about either of those, James Hoffmann has good reviews of them both on YT.

I really enjoy the nerdiness and tactile feedback of the manual lever, but if I didn't want go manual, I'd look at a Decent DE-1.

If I had to shave a bit off that budget, I think I'd go with a Rancilio Silvia Pro X, which is half the cost.

[etrautmann]

Thank you! I appreciate your writeup, and that's an extremely sweet home setup.