Advice for a good home espresso machine

[Dragos]

Hello,

I am looking to buy a new espresso machine (I already bought a Eureka grinder).

I drink only espresso, about 3 or 4 shots a day, no milky drinks so no frothing required. So I am thinking a single boiler semi automatic espresso machine is what I need.

I have considered these models:

• Rancilio Silvia
• Lelit Grace PL81T (has more features but no track history)
• QuickMill Alexia EVO
• Bezzera Unica
• Any other worth mentioning?

My initial budget was $700 which makes the last two options pretty far out of my price range.

Are QuickMill Alexia EVO or Bezzera Unica really worth the money?

Is Lelit Grace a good espresso machine?

Looking forward to your opinions!

 

[KristenRad]

I guess it will be faster and more delicious to buy coffee outdoor.

 

[Dragos]

I guess it will be faster and more delicious to buy coffee outdoor.

Haha, still ... I thin I would prefer to have that delicious coffee at home

 

[Musicphan]

I'm not familiar with the LeLit so I have no idea how that would compare. I ran a Silvia for about 10 years, all espresso and worked great. Temp stability is not its best feature, I invested in a PID controller and was much happier. Of course when you do that you start edging towards the price of an HX machine.

 

[shadow745]

I'm not familiar with the LeLit so I have no idea how that would compare. I ran a Silvia for about 10 years, all espresso and worked great. Temp stability is not its best feature, I invested in a PID controller and was much happier. Of course when you do that you start edging towards the price of an HX machine.

For straight espresso and the occasional milk drink it's hard to beat the performance/longevity/durability of the Silvia. I know some can't figure out the thermal 'issues', but it's not difficult with a bit of time/effort/patience. Regarding consistency, I've cranked out 5 doubles in a 12-15 min time frame on many occasions just by time/temp surfing and the consistency was spot on. I did recently install a PID mainly to simply replace the stock thermostats as I was going to just replace them based on my heavy use. Didn't want one of them to lock up one day and cause a serious overheating problem. The PID is nice in that there's no flushing/waiting involved, but I can honestly say that a PID machine is no better in espresso quality than a dialed in Silvia, just makes getting to that point with less effort. Also saves a bit of electricity, water, pump wear, etc.

 

[Octane]

Hello,

I am looking to buy a new espresso machine (I already bought a Eureka grinder).

I drink only espresso, about 3 or 4 shots a day, no milky drinks so no frothing required. So I am thinking a single boiler semi automatic espresso machine is what I need.

I have considered these models:

• Rancilio Silvia
• Lelit Grace PL81T (has more features but no track history)
• QuickMill Alexia EVO
• Bezzera Unica
• Any other worth mentioning?

My initial budget was $700 which makes the last two options pretty far out of my price range.

Are QuickMill Alexia EVO or Bezzera Unica really worth the money?

Is Lelit Grace a good espresso machine?

Looking forward to your opinions!

Invest in a good grinder first. Yes, it's a popular comment you might hear anywhere, though I'm talking from my experience.
Unfortunately I've never heard of most of them. But as for Rancilio Silvia I can say - that's a decent machine for a budget. This paired with the Virtuoso grinder produces a top-notch espresso. My BIL love his.

 

[gediso]

I like coffee at home in the morning. I have a coffee machine with the option of grinding grains. So coffee tastes better and more aromatic.

 

[talian]

My advice is [h=2]Mr. Coffee ECMP1000 Espresso Machine[/h]Very good and cheap..

 

[MntnMan62]

I posted a similar question on other coffee forums and some of the ones on your list were mentioned, the one that I heard most often was the Cafelat Robot. It will be my first espresso machine and I think a manual lever will go a long way towards teaching me a great deal about espresso and what it takes to get a good shot in the cup. Unfortunately I'm headed for divorce so the espresso habit is going to have to wait. Once things are final and I'm settled, the first thing I'm going to do is buy the Robot and a Niche Zero along with some accoutrements like a knock box and a separate canister for storing espresso beans apart from my french press beans.

 

[709espresso]

Did you buy anything yet OP? I looked at it pretty hard before I bought. I was going to go with the Silvia, but ended up getting a machine with a similar reputation at almost half the price - the Gaggia Classic Pro. It isn't perfect, but it does make great espresso, and will be easily serviceable down the road.