With no budget there are a lot of better options imo. Gs3, Sanremo you, that pro eagle thing James Hoffman consulted on. For a no compromises machine you want flow profiling of some sort. All this flat nine bar nonsense should go out the window at 2k. LM makes some great machines but the micra isn’t one of them. I mean why isn’t a slayer on your list? If you must have a LM go for the Strada X single group. That’s about the only thing I can imagine if I were up for a new machine and had no budget constraint.
I was considering a mini or GS3 but went Slayer. Note OP needs a better grinder (I prefer Kafatek flat max), and needs to confirm appropriate water before worrying more about the machine IMO Otherwise, there's another ~2k in making sure that the water is correct.
Just buy cold brew concentrate- that will be better than what you can get from a crappy machine and has no learning curve
Stumptown is solid and has nation distribution (I believe) - you can buy a wand frother if you prefer hot over cold latte, however whole milk and stump town concentrate will get the job done and be better
Or buy a kafatek grinder and Slayer espresso machine and stop being a scrub :)
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Champlusplus
