LONDINIUM - II

Probably an unpopular opinion but if you're doing mostly Amricanos or Long Blacks to me that means more emphasis on a good pull and trying to get the most flavor out of your beans. Maybe you should loom at a lever machine? Londinium comes to mind as does the one from Profitec. Pair that with a good grinder and you might just get to perfection my friend.

I have basically the exact same use case as you and ended up with a Londinium lever machine. I would’ve gone with a profitec 800 had I not found a Londinium locally, as Londiniums have a bit more complexity compared to your standard lever machine. Still, I was able to DIY all repairs I had to do and the owner will happily FaceTime/walk you through any repairs that you need to do. Go on home-barista and do some light reading on lever machines. Very easy to maintain vs your standard pump machine! I have a Cremina now, but definitely miss the bigger machine on the days I need to pump out 4 or 5 cappuccinos in a short amount of time. All that said, I’d probably opt for a Profitec 800 if I were to go back to a bigger machine.

When I talk to people about what kind of machine they want, it's always about what they're going to want in the future, not just now - particularly when it comes to machines you spend a lot of money on. Because for a machine at this price point, you expect it to last decades - and your life can change a lot in that time. I've been through many stages in my coffee-loving life. From my early days with one of the cheapest Breville machines you could buy, through to a single-boiler Barazza, building my own roaster and experimenting with my own blends, to much more complicated machines, and a massive Compak E10 on the kitchen bench, and now finally a much simpler setup. Life got complicated, but my love of coffee didn't - I stopped wanting to screw around with endless variables, and just wanted to be able to make great coffee every day. For my wife to be able to pull a great shot without feeling intimidated by the setup. To get consistent, flavourful coffee without much mucking around. I also found that I hated being without my coffee machine for weeks on end whenever it needed a service. That's how I wound up with a lever (great coffee without having to try too hard, but still enough room to experiment), and specifically the Londinium - supported DIY maintenance & repairs. Apart from the footprint, the R24 would be pretty damn good for your needs, has a hot water tap, by default the steam wand is on the right, and being a lever, will give you great joy with every shot you pull. And pre-infusion pressure is managed digitally, which you can change via the app. These days I'd prefer to go even simpler with the Vectis, but I'd lose one thing that I quite like - the water tap. That said - everyone's at a different stage of their journey and you should get the right machine for this stage in your journey.

Go the opposite direction: Get a Londinium and never look again. One never outgrows a lever.