New espresso machine / grinder purchase, budget $4000

[live4kapi]

Hello all coffee aficionados
returning to coffee scene after a 10+yr lull. My budget is upto $3000 for espresso machine (I had rancilio silvia and long back) and upto $1000 for grinder(had gaggia). Looking at dual boiler. I want to invest into quality coffee for home use (dont want to keep changing).

Reading so many articles and opinions from people and now i am confused. I see some good deals on clive open box items. Btw, I am slowly trying to understand different group heads and looks like e61 requires atleast 20min of wait. sometimes this might be a problem when I am spending so much money. Would love to get opinions on which machines have lower latency in starting up and can go on and on for straight 6-8 back 2 back pulls.

Same goes with burr grinder. Would be nice to have programmable one which can produce 1 or 2 shots worth of coffee.

On a side note, laspaziale seems to be an option but I dont see many home baristas mentioning that. Then Lucca x58, QM M58 and lelit bianca caught my eye too. Flow control, PID, prefusion seems to be good options too. Anyway, appreciate your responses and am not sticking to only x/M58 or laspaziale or lelit.

Thanks

 

[rukmat12]

Hey, Got 2 Saeco Auliko Evo’s for sale. 1 is plumbed. You can reach me at 518-902-3406 if interested!

 

[belairsteve]

I was in the same budget range almost 3 years ago. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the options for dual boilers in that price range are somewhat limited. I settled on the Profitec Pro500 PID (which ironically I just posted a question about today - my first issue with it since I bought it in January 2022). I have done up to 4 back to back pulls, not 6-8 as you suggest, and it kept up just fine. While the PID display indicates that it is heated, the documentation does indicate that 20 minutes is the ideal time for getting to appropriate espresso pulling temperature. I'm not sure you've have many options regarding the group head.

For a grinder I settled on the Baratza Sette 270Wi, which is one of the few at the time that would allow for programmed measured dosing. The trade-off on the Sette 270 is that it is VERY loud. That was not a factor for me, but its something to consider.

I went WAY down the rabbit hole on espresso machines and grinders for several weeks before I made my decision. And I agree, it can be confusing and overwhelming, but this is truly a first world problem right?

One last thing - as far as resources go, I found wholelattelove.com had tremendous resources, both video and documentation, on comparing and contrasting different options. I ended up ordering from them.

Good luck,

Steve
Bel Air, MD