NEO Flex

First, I would not compare enthusiast (home, doing it for fun) machine with a professional (work, doing it to make money) machines. They have different goals. I can make you a very solid espresso shot with my $100 Neo Flex, better than in most of the coffee places in town. But I will struggle to make 10 of those shots in an hour. Great coffee machine for home, terrible pro machine. Second, figure out what you like. If you really like to tinker and experiment, I would look for machines that give you lots of control - either manual ones, or very fancy ones (but they go for over $2K) or you could look into mods like Gaggimate for cheaper machines (bonus point - you will learn how to take apart and put together a coffee machine while installing it). Third, when you start looking for making money with coffee, view it as a business. I love my gaggimate and manual levers, I would never use them for business. You have different requirements, different goals, different everything. Simple example - if you are a business and want to be able to make 1 espresso shot per minute, 30-second bloom time is unlikely to be ever considered, even if it makes your shot better in a home setting - you simply won't have time for it.

If you have just $200 for the whole setup and you want espresso, then your only option is to go full manual. Kingrinder K4/6 as a grinder and Flair Neo Flex for the maker. You will be able to get very solid espresso from this setup, but I certainly would not call it beginner friendly.

First, as already said, get a solid grinder. If you are willing to put some work into your espresso, for $200 you can get a very solid manual grinder (you can choose from 1zpresso or there are other brands as well). Second, the espresso machine. For the $300 you have left breville bambino is probably your best bet. The combination of 2 will make you a solid espresso shot you will have happy with. This is what I would call a default solid option. But what if you like to experiment with things and you know that just pressing a button for espresso will get boring soon? Well, there are options. Option 1 - manual lever espresso machines. You can take a look at the flair brand. They will make better espresso, but will take more work. I enjoy the process, but this is not something I use daily. Option 2 - take a look at the gaggimate project. I am not saying you should buy it from the beginning. But if you know you will find yourself tinkering with your coffee machine - well, maybe buy one that's compatible (there are a lot more community-supported machines than just the official link) so that you could tinker with it later.

Don't know what your currency is, and starting with just a machine, and not pricing grinders etc into the amount If Australian dollar, just get a piccopresso and a couple of baskets. Also consider Hugh leverpresso or flair neoflex They will make a very good coffee, and you will learn a shit ton more than buying something where you are pretty well limited to pressing a button. If USD, get the barista model robot.

The piston issue has now been sorted. The first design broke all the time. I know this because I'm now on my 4th. But since they redesigned the piston with a much thicker base, it hasn't been an issue. I use mine twice a day, every day, and since getting the new designed piston everything has been fine.

The creaking sound isn't coming from the frame. It's coming from the friction inside the piston. I changed from black bands on the piston to red ones, and not one creak since.

Coffee is an expensive hobby. People here buy hand grinders for beans that are more than your machine budget. If i had 15k i would just get a 5k manual grinder like timemore c3 or izpresso q air and 10k on flair neo flex. If i was tilted more towards black filter style coffee i would just get a hario v60, gooseneck kettle and a manual grinder

Flair Neo Flex and a Kingrinder K6 lol. Took me like 30 mins to prepare one cup of coffee