Are cheap espresso machines a bad idea?

[ThankDog]

If you're on such a limited budget I second the Aeropress ($50) but if you must have crema your quest may be impossible until you save more money.

Never say never!

I have some health issues which make finding and keeping work difficult but when I do get work I tend to save money very quickly. Living cheaply has its perks as it teaches you frugality and necessity. Coffee is a luxury I'm willing to work at finding a way to get the best I can for the least money. And when I finally manage to save up, I'll go buy a nice, broken, shop machine for cheap, fix it up, and have my first $4,000 coffee

Until then, it's a popcorn maker and whatever else I can scrounge together

As for grinders, there seems to be a lot of importance placed on them. I was looking at grinders but was considering something like that as a last on the list option. If a grinder is more important than the machine for beans I'm going to roast myself, then maybe that's where I should focus?

Is the Hario Skerton commercial link removed per site posting policy hand grinder any good? Or is this something that requires a machine to get a good result? Sorry, I realise now that I should've asked a more broad question than just espresso machines but I'm still learning

As for the AeroPress, whilst I've heard and read a lot of good things about it, I'm not really keen on it simply because it's a press. My understanding is that it doesn't make the richer, more concentrated coffee like you get from a percolator or espresso machine and my desire is to move up from a percolator to something more concentrated than down to a watery coffee. By all means correct me if I'm mistaken there as I'd love a $50 solution

[Thundergod]

Short answer is "you get what you pay for".

I started with a heat exchanger machine and an expensive grinder.
I didn't work my way up from one cheap machine to the next and subsequently have saved money in the long run

However I was fortunate to be able to do that at the time.

Having said that, I used a Sunbeam 6910 at work for a while with a good grinder and fresh beans and it made decent coffee.

If you're on such a limited budget I second the Aeropress ($50) but if you must have crema your quest may be impossible until you save more money.

[TampIt]

I'm sure there are reasons why a $4000 espresso machine is a good buy but seeing as I'll struggle to get together $150 for a cheap one, they're not an option

In fact, the reason I'm posting this question is because I'm wary of even spending $150. It's not that I'm cheap, I'm just poor. As someone once told me, "You have BMW tastes on a Torana budget." Regardless, are there any reasons why getting a cheap machine is a bad idea?

Currently I use a stovetop percolator which is fine and all but I'm not keen on the metallic smell of it and I miss having crema. I know very little about espresso machines so I don't really understand why there is such a huge price difference between domestic machines. Any advice or help on this would be appreciated.

Hi ThankDog

Where are you? I know a few CS's who upgrade & their old machines would be going around that price. It also means you get a well loved Toyota not a trashed repair job, which is becoming a big issue these days.

New: All the $150 ones I have seen have dual floor baskets / p/f filters and are not 58mm baskets so they are a one way ticket to the tip. Generally it is not possible to tinker with standard baskets etc. and learn your craft with them. Note: Someone makes a single floor (54mm???) basket for a $150 Breville Cafe Roma, I have used it. However it does not take a standard shot of espresso, so it is more a curiosity than a fix.

I agree w BOS, a decent grinder will do a lot more for your coffee than an espresso machine, especially if you do not have one and are using "plunger / drip grounds" via a supermarket (shudder). The whole grind is wrong for an espresso machine.

Hope this helps.


TampIt

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Thankdog, there are a thousand answers to your question(s). There are many good (and less good) reasons why domestic machines differ in price (you don't suggest which ones you are referring to), but there are fundamental differences in brewing technology (thermoblock, single boiler, dual boiler and heat exchanger) , differences in materials used, differences in quality control, and of course differences in $ spent on marketing which have to be recouped somehow.

If you are after bang for your buck at the bottom end, throw it at a grinder and continue to enjoy your stove top, or maybe try an Aeropress (not espresso but a very enjoyable strong clean filter style drink). You can very good coffee with fresh beans, basic brewing tech and a willingness to experiment.

[Journeyman]

I had the same issue, re cash. I looked around and read quite a lot on here. The normal recommendations seem like a lot of work - to get some of the basic ones to work you have to stand on one leg, point your arse at Jupiter (but only when it is in opposition) and then pray twice to Mecca before temp surfing and fiddling with knobs.

Everyone swears by them but if I had to do that every time I want a coffee I'd get treatment for it.

I went for a twin thermoblock. It lets me steam milk AND pour coffee at the same time and it's at least $1500 cheaper than a twin boiler machine. I got a Sunbeam EM6910 for $350 and it came with an EM0480 grinder. Within a few days I was making better coffee than I got in many cafés and once I sorted the grinder it was no longer random.

I've learned a lot and my coffee keeps getting better.

There are cheap Brevilles (still cost more than equivalent generation SB's) but they are single boiler - back to the 'right heat for coffee, wait for steam' or 'right heat for steam, wait for coffee' issues - so my recommendation is for a SB - stay away from the 6900 - my reading suggests they can be problematic & I wouldn't get anything less than twin thermoblock. There's enough to learn as it is without adding in the mystic mumbo-jumbo of trying to temp surf or somehow find a way to let you make a coffee in less than 25 separate moves.

You can get SB's for your $150 (sometimes) or even brand new for circa $450 or so. I'd go conical burr grinder to go with what you get. Which unless you've got a lot of cash, leaves you with something like the SB EM0480 or EM0450.

Make sure they make you a coffee with the machine before you part with your cash.

[ThankDog]

I'm sure there are reasons why a $4000 espresso machine is a good buy but seeing as I'll struggle to get together $150 for a cheap one, they're not an option

In fact, the reason I'm posting this question is because I'm wary of even spending $150. It's not that I'm cheap, I'm just poor. As someone once told me, "You have BMW tastes on a Torana budget." Regardless, are there any reasons why getting a cheap machine is a bad idea?

Currently I use a stovetop percolator which is fine and all but I'm not keen on the metallic smell of it and I miss having crema. I know very little about espresso machines so I don't really understand why there is such a huge price difference between domestic machines. Any advice or help on this would be appreciated.