Breville - Café Roma Espresso Maker (ESP8XL)

I once had a roommate with a very expensive new Breville machine move out and I went to the thrift store and found this same one you have for $12.99. It makes better espresso than the much more expensive models in my opinion.

Can’t speak for nespresso, but 300 would be a tight margin to enter the espresso at home market. For years I did it with a breville roma espresso machine. It was like $200. But the key was I swapped out the pressurized basket for a non pressurized. Then I also used a breville smart pro grinder. You can probably find that one used on marketplace as people in this game get upgraditis. I used that setup for years, multiple shots daily. It worked so well that when the first one broke, I bought another. Then when that one broke I finally upgraded my setup.

I've owned this, and it's predecessor, the 860xl. They're decent machines. The grinder isn't the best, but it hits the "better than most" level of coffee than you'll get commercially (outside specialty coffee shops)

You can get way more bang for your buck with a hand grinder and those savings can go towards a better built machine. Hand grinding really isn’t that bad once or twice a morning. It can be a bit more tiring when doing multiple shots in a row to dial in but my way around that is to just dial in over a couple days by taking notes or just toughing it out. If a shot is bad, you can prevent waste by shooting it back or diluting with milk. You will also get more proficient dialing in over time. But if you really are too strongly opposed to putting in a small amount of extra work for each shot. You could get a cheap but sturdy machine such as a café Roma(mine is 7 years old and still chooching), and spend the savings on a nicer motorized grinder. You will still need to spend some additional money on a single wall basket, needle tool, tamp, dosing funnel and scale. And if you really insist that you must get a machine with a built-in grinder, then so be it, get less value for your money.

As someone who moved up slowly. There are 3 options, 1) Aeropress, not exactly espresso but pretty easy to use and gives a good cup of coffee. Save yourself the hassle and get the flow control cap and ignore the stupid inverted method. Is more forgiving with the grinder you use, as long as you have a half decent burr grinder you're set. Do not get a copper grinder 2) Moka Pot, much more closer to espresso, more work then the aeropress. You'll need a finer grind and will need a better grinder to get proper coffee from it. 3) Thift. Found a basic Breville Cafe Roma for $13 and a Capresso Infinity Grinder for $15 and it was good enough for a long time. I recently got a Baratza Encore for $20 and the finer grind is making a difference. What machine did you have? and what is your budget?

I got the same thing, $15 CAD last year. Took it home cleaned it up and been using it every since. I also picked up a Capresso Infinity Grinder, it's the best grinder i found so far. I however took it apart and made it go as close as possible to get the best grind i could. Sure it's not Great, but for $30 and a bit of work to clean, it does the job as a price point i've very happy with https://preview.redd.it/mhuc2sx2jkag1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d7444a3797ed9488a36c8b085ee716135c35d02

This is great advice. I'm on a Bambino and Manuale, but feel like I have a lot to learn before attempting an upgrade.

Completely different set up. The Jura is a super automatic: press one button and it’s makes you a tasty coffee (that the vast majority of people will be very happy with, myself included). The breville is a semi automatic that happens to have a built in grinder. You grind into a portafilter, level, tamp, insert the portafilter and then brew your coffee. Also probably very tasty for most people but with added variables. Both types require maintenance. VERY important maintenance. I had a super automatic (Saeco) for about 15 years until the control unit died and it was discontinued. Very tasty coffee. But I wanted less maintenance (almost none) and don’t ever drink milk based drinks so I was paying for features that I’d never use. So I got a level machine (flair 58), a nice grinder for less than (niche zero) and a nice kettle (fellow ekg pro) for less than what it would’ve cost to replace my super automatic. I control the grind size, the water temperature and the pressure to make my espresso. Morning coffees are now “more work” but I personally enjoy the ritual while recognizing it isn’t for everyone.

Oh I would agree a Breville semi-automatic would fit their bill I think.

Breville just unlocked a lot more deals on their website and I am seeing them on Amazon too. The Breville site only had the Stainless option, but Amazon had the Truffle Bambino Plus I was looking for finally! My first machine :)