Breville - the Bambino BES450BSS

For beginner I suggest you go with timemore 064s with bambino (non-plus). You will also need extra budget for some accessories. Dosing funnel, WDT, self leveled tamp and a weighing scale with timer. Not forgetting a bottomless portafilter for dialing in. Put most of your budget on a good grinder. Df54 might not be suitable for beginner, I see the many issues many have reported here but there are people who swear by it. If you are only doing 1/2 drinks a day, consider a hand grinder to fit in your budget.

Avoid 4 if you care about easy repairability. I personally don't like anything too high-tech. I own a Mini with the BBW scale, and even that annoys me since I have to use their app to modify the target weights. I agree with a lot of the comments about getting a lever machine - that's going to be my next upgrade after the Mini - but since you're not looking for lever machines, the Micra, Mini or ECM Sync II are all great options.

You shouldn't be. I drink a mix of milk drinks (cortados and cappuccinos) and straight espressos and get tasty shots on my bambino even with lighter roasts. For medium and darker roasts I just run a blank with no portafilter while I WDT and it's consistent every time. With anything on the lighter side, I need a little more care but I've had good results running a blank shot and also making sure the portafilter is warmed up.

For 300 bambino for sure More than happy with my bambino, the price/value is crazy I saw you asked about grinder, what is your price range for that ?

I don’t see the appeal for bambino plus if you know how to steam your milk. That and also you got more choices for color. The lack of selonoid valve in bambino for me is a plus, as I don’t see any point of having it if you’re not doing crazy back to bqck shots (which you can’t with a small home machine) and it means I don’t have to do backflushes and i can do some blooming adjacent shots from bambino

This set up is perfect. I got the same thing for my gf. Initially she also wanted the Convenience of a nespresso. But now she can't live without proper lattes every morning. Go for it

I kid you not, this is my EXACT set up. It has done the job for my partner and I amazingly. No complaints at all regarding the drinks whatsoever. I like to think that I burn away some of the calories when I use the grinder. 😅 That being said... I wouldn't do a manual grinder, and I have dropped not so subtle hints to my partner about wanting a df64 in lieu of the upcoming holidays. Would just make the process a bit easier 🤧 If ease is definitely what they're aiming for, I would genuinely recommend the ninja luxe cafe machine, its all in one. My roommate has one, and they are very, very happy with it. I dont think he spends more than a minute or two making his drinks.

Bambino and a DF54 has worked very well for me, total cost around $500. People seem to prefer the Bambino plus if you want to shell out a little more, it has some nice features but I have the non-plus model and I like it just fine. You're going to need the grinder though, you can't use a regular off the shelf grinder because only a specialty grinder can grind fine enough to make espresso.

This is my EXACT set up and I absolutely love it. Nespresso cartridges are extremely wasteful in my eyes as well, similar to the Keireg (sp?) monster..

I bought the same machine last month and I payed 300€ 😁 Trust me, if you are considering a nespresso or a semiautomatic I think its not worth to go manual unless you really love it.

The bambino is a great machine. If you setup grind and extraction time, you can basically make a push button shot. Sure you have to grind, and tamper but thats not a lot much more than a pod