Barista Max+ Espresso Machine (VCF152)

Been making manual drinks on a workhorse Rancilio Nancy and Rocky Grinder for over 30 years until it died. Bought a Barista Plus and it’s great. Don’t listen to the noob elitists trying to ju$tify their expen$ive purchases. Is it going to last 30 years? No, but I enjoy the engineering and thought that went into it. And it really suits my needs. Makes my morning espresso easy and enjoyable. I’m not chasing the rabbit down the hole at this point.

wouldn't go with the hand grinder you have to be really into the 'process' side of coffee making and I think it's risky if they just want nespresso the breville plus ground is a nice entry though, or one of the cheaper plastic gaggia deluxe's, those are excellent value, work great with ground and can then move to getting freshly ground from a roaster, then an electric grinder if they do want to go further best is in one like the express or one of those smeg ones if you can find one in your budget

I went from a Breville barista plus to a profitec go and it’s a world of difference. It’s so much more repeatable and a joy to use. It just feels nice using a quality machine.

Not the Barista Max. Have had so many issues with the steam wand and the other parts.

Something like a Breville Barrista, with both grinder and espresso in one machine sounds like it will work. But I don't think it has auto steaming of the milk. There are several models of it. Someone else will have to help you with the specific model to get. YOU will have to dial it in for them, then they just use it. I don't think that you will find a reasonably priced grinder that will grind by weight. I think they will all grind by time. Based on my grinder, grinding by time is NOT consistent. Mine is +/- up to 1 gram. So I always weigh the output. And changing beans WILL affect the output weight. Having said that, I used an all-in-one for 10 years, and never had issues with its probably inconsistent grinding. The milk will hide a lot of errors.

Before u get an answer to your question, u need to figure out do u want - bean to cup or an espresso machine that is only suitable if u want a hobby learning about coffee and dialling in etc. Once u answer that question u can rule out 2 of the machines in the pics. If u want bean to cup then u just need to look at the best machine for ur money. Jura are good but expensive, family members have delongui which are reliable and I have friends with melita which equally reliable. If u want a hobby then think about what sort of hobby u want and how much money u want to spend. The sage comes with a grinder so u don't need to think about grinders at this stage, it feels cheap and having used one a few time for the hobbyist it's retention if u change beans regularly is awful but it does a good job, u get grinder and machine for less than 1k, it's got loads of feature and the ui is better than most in fact all espresso machines. The rancilio doesn't have a grinder or any features of note, even the pro is basic in that regard. So there is extra cost for a grinder but this give u great flexibility and also if one goes wrong u don't have to replace grinder and coffee machine in one go. For full disclosure I have the RS Pro X which I really like albeit there are design flaws around the ux and the drip tray, however it's reliable and consistent. I have paired it with a Niche Duo which I would not recommend mainly because u can get equivalent grinder for less money although I enjoy using it and have no complaints. As others have said I would focus on grinder first if u r a hobbyist and then pick an espresso machine. The profitech(s) are solid, I know people who love the Rocket Appartamento and if u r minted I am still yet to find someone who hates their La Marzocco Mini. Good luck.

The sage barista series are all pretty solid.