Re: Where do I start??
I think that is a good idea. My mother advised me she will chip in $500, but it seems $800 is the starting point for any espresso machine worth getting (which I think is my preferred brewing method - I like the crema and concentrated taste and the idea that taste is the goal rather than caffeine). A good grinder seems to be around $300 - $400 from my crash Internet course in grinder searching around the Net.
Good point that at least someone can see the benefit of a coffee machine whereas a grinder would appear to be a personal choice.
Well it is the financial new year (tax time) and I have craved good coffee for well over 8 years now since I discovered espresso and the cafe culture, and always felt something was lacking in many cafes I go to, and for $3 - $4 a pop I have always expected more.
So the plan I am considering now is to put the $500 toward a good entry level machine, as manual as possible so I can learn the art, use our tax return to get a half decent grinder (around $300 - $400?) and go to a one day barista course in Canberra.
While seeming like a considerable outlay, people would spend this much on some special car tyres or a blu-ray player without blinking an eye, and this is more important to me. And if I spend around $1000 for the machine and grinder (?), at $3 / day - $15 / week / 48 weeks a year - thats $700 - $800 I am saving on cafe coffee if I stop buying out. So after a year or two it will start paying itself off and I *finally* get good coffee.
Am I being overly optimistic or is the required outlay substantially more?
I think that is a good idea. My mother advised me she will chip in $500, but it seems $800 is the starting point for any espresso machine worth getting (which I think is my preferred brewing method - I like the crema and concentrated taste and the idea that taste is the goal rather than caffeine). A good grinder seems to be around $300 - $400 from my crash Internet course in grinder searching around the Net.
Good point that at least someone can see the benefit of a coffee machine whereas a grinder would appear to be a personal choice.
Well it is the financial new year (tax time) and I have craved good coffee for well over 8 years now since I discovered espresso and the cafe culture, and always felt something was lacking in many cafes I go to, and for $3 - $4 a pop I have always expected more.
So the plan I am considering now is to put the $500 toward a good entry level machine, as manual as possible so I can learn the art, use our tax return to get a half decent grinder (around $300 - $400?) and go to a one day barista course in Canberra.
While seeming like a considerable outlay, people would spend this much on some special car tyres or a blu-ray player without blinking an eye, and this is more important to me. And if I spend around $1000 for the machine and grinder (?), at $3 / day - $15 / week / 48 weeks a year - thats $700 - $800 I am saving on cafe coffee if I stop buying out. So after a year or two it will start paying itself off and I *finally* get good coffee.
Am I being overly optimistic or is the required outlay substantially more?



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