Nick
Congratulations on graduating! I’d be happy to make some suggestions, and I’ll try to provide a little bit of the reasoning behind them so you can see if they match your/your girlfriend’s use case. I’m also going to make mostly entry level recommendations, but feel free to let me know if you’re looking for something more involved.
Filter Coffee As far as just the black filter coffee for you, I don’t think you’re going to get a better result from a machine than you would from a very basic pour over setup. You do not need a gooseneck kettle for these brewers, but they will really improve the experience. My personal favorite is the Hario V60, but it does have a bit of a learning curve as opposed to flat-bottom brewers like the Kalita Wave, Fellow Stagg [X] Dripper, or Blue Bottle Dripper. I would pick a conical (V60 or otherwise) if you wanted more clarity and complexity from your brews (greater separation of flavors in the coffee) and a flat-bottom brewer if you want a more rounded flavor and more consistency. These distinctions will only really matter if you start to get deeper into the rabbit hole, but it’s worth mentioning now. If you’re looking to splurge for a more aesthetic brewer, the Chemex is gorgeous, but also takes up a lot more space than the other brewers, which I like for their more compact size and ability to store them in a drawer. A slightly cheaper option that has a similar profile to the Chemex but a bit cheaper would be the Hario V60 Drip Coffee Decanter.
You could also consider getting something like the Hario Switch or Clever Dripper if you’re looking for something a bit easier. The big benefit of this route is that they’re extremely compatible with the standard kettles found in most homes. They’re like an in between of a pour over and a french press, and you could actually just use them as pour over brewers if you leave their draining mechanism open. It being an immersion brew makes it much more forgiving for good results, and also won’t be as dependent on a grinder. The Hario Switch uses V60 filters, which are relatively easy to find at coffee shops. The Clever Dripper uses the even more common Melitta #4 style filters, which you should be able to find in practically any grocery store. You really can’t go wrong with either one in my opinion, but I’m biased towards the V60 since I enjoy conical brewers so much.
Of course, you could always go for a for a french press, if you enjoy the thicker mouthfeel that this style of brew provides by virtue of not filtering quite so much out. However, I think the lack of a filter makes it a bit more troublesome to clean up, especially since coffee isn’t really ideal for the drain. I like being able to scoop out a filter and dump it into the compost for the garden.
Espresso Machines Sage/Breville Bambino Plus - $500/£400/530€ at time of commenting This is probably the most easy recommendation that I could make for someone who is looking to just dip their toes into espresso. Sage/Breville did a lot right with this machine, and it’s actually the machine I got for my mother. It comes with both single and double walled baskets, so you can use them with pre-ground coffee if you do not have a grinder suitable for espresso. It’s got a decent amount of space between the drip tray and the group head, so you can fit even taller mugs down there. The steam wand is remarkable at the price point that it’s at, and the automatic milk steaming does a pretty decent job if you decide that you don’t want to learn to steam milk. You can control the temperature level and the amount of air introduced to the milk, so your gf can pick between cappuccinos, lattes, and flat whites depending on her mood. The boiler does some magic when it comes to warming up, which is great for mornings where you’re in a rush.
If I had to identify some shortcomings of the Bambino Plus, it’s gotta be the drip tray. It’s a really small drip tray, so you’ll be cleaning it out often. Further, the 53mm portafilter can feel a bit restrictive, even if it’s a great space saving measure for the countertop, it means you will not be able to fit as much into the basket. The manual shot mode does feel a bit tacked on, but it’s understandable for a beginner machine, and I don’t think you’d use it too much. I also would not recommend this machine if you plan on making a lot of drinks back to back. A shortcoming of the extremely quick boiler is that you’re probably putting a decent amount of strain on the part if you’re consistently making 5-6 drinks before giving it a bit of a break. I haven’t had the chance to open up my mother’s and take a look inside, so I also can’t speak to its repairability. It shouldn’t be too much of an issue though, as Sage/Breville is pretty good about out of warranty repairs in my own experience, so long as you’re willing to pay. Further, my mom has had it going on two years without any issues whatsoever.
This is unequivocally the choice that I would make for a total beginner to espresso who wants to feel a bit like a barista as well as have some room for growth as they improve. You can opt for the cheaper Bambino without sacrificing much at all, mostly just the automatic steaming capabilities, but I think that learning to texture milk does take a bit of work. However, if your gf is fine with dedicating some time to learning to steam milk, opting for the regular Bambino as opposed to the Bambino Plus is a good way to save some money as well.
Gaggia Classic Pro - $500/£430-500/€479 New (Prices will vary if you can find a used one) This is the machine that I would recommend if you either don’t mind or think that you would like tinkering around with an espresso machine. One big perk of these machines is that they really are completely user serviceable, so you can find a fixer upper on secondhand sites or thrift stores and completely restore it. You can pretty consistently find these machines in working condition for 100-200 $/£/€ online. There’s a dedicated Gaggia community with plenty of guides for every repair that you could possibly make. The interior of the Gaggia even has room for upgrades if you feel up to it, and the community is constantly developing mods to improve the capability of this entry level device. The Gaggia was my first espresso machine, and I was the third owner of a decade old machine when I got my hands on it. I had it for two years before upgrading, and handed it down to my cousin who is still using it to this day. I think that if it weren’t for the Gaggia, I would not have the bravery to tinker with machines like I do now. I’m by no means trained in any sort of mechanical or electrical field, and I was able to use the guides to figure out how to rewire, repair, and modify my Gaggia. It gave me a great understanding and appreciation for the inner workings of an espresso machine, and I’m extremely grateful for the experience. Like the Bambino, it comes with single and double-walled baskets.
However, this machine is definitely not without its shortcomings, and since I’m intimately familiar with them, it might sound like I’m being a bit harsh on the Gaggia. I wouldn’t say that this machine isn’t beginner friendly, but you will not get as good a result as you would from the Bambino right out of the box (unless you’re much more of a natural than I am). It only has a manual shot mode, so you’ll have to stop the shot on your own after determining that the size is right. This isn’t an issue if you have a scale to weigh your shots or if you’re good at judging volume if that’s how you choose to do it, but the use of a scale makes another issue apparent. The drip tray is very spacious, which is lovely, but that comes at the cost of being able to fit taller diner style mugs under the group head. I know that you can buy aftermarket drip trays that give more room for mugs, and some people have designed their own, so this issue can be dealt with. If you get an older secondhand Gaggia, I would go so far as to say that the older panarello-style steam wand is unusable. It’s a mere $10 to replace it with a Rancilio Silvia v2 style steam wand, but it’s worth noting that it’s something you may end up needing to do. The steam wand is also not as powerful as the Sage/Breville Bambino’s steam wand. It is capable of steaming milk to a nice glossy texture, but it’s definitely more challenging than premium machines. The included tamp is also nearly unusable. The shape is awkward and the weight makes it even worse to use. I would recommend getting almost any other 58mm tamp for it.
If you do choose to get a Gaggia, there is a clear separation between older models and newer models (I believe “new” means anything past 2018). Gaggia released a revamped version of the Gaggia Classic Pro, with more options for color and an improved steam wand. However, this came at the cost of a change in how the OPV springs work. If you wanted to change the pressure of the newer Gaggia classics, you would have to purchase springs online to replace them. When I modified my pressure, I simply used a hex tool after opening it up. I would happily get a Gaggia again, but that’s because I really value the repairability, and I know parts are available for me to do my own repairs
Final Thoughts I’m brushing up on the character limit, so I’ll try to round off my comment cleanly, but feel free to ask any further questions or request clarification/elaboration. I personally would not buy a superautomatic machine unless I had a very large budget. Cheaper espresso machines with built in grinders that promise to do it all are generally not very capable. They do not actually reach 15 bars of pressure (which is way too much anyways) and they will not texture milk nicely or grind coffee well. If you want milk drinks on a budget (relatively speaking), look into the semiautos I recommended or others. If those are too expensive, please let me know and I can try to think of suitable alternatives :)
I think the Bambino fits a lot into a pretty compact machine, making it great if you have limited space. As far as preground vs. fresh beans, I really think that you’ll be alright with just preground as long as you drink it fast enough. Especially if space is a concern, since an electric grinder takes up a pretty large amount of space. I’d say that if you’re comfortable going through the bag of beans in about a week, getting them preground at the shop is a totally fine option until you decide you want/need a grinder. This will vary based on your preferred roast level (darker roasts will offgas more quickly, which means their flavor will peak sooner, but also stale more quickly), but as long as you store it in an airtight container I’m sure this won’t have too much of an impact.
There is one excellent case for preground that might actually make the experience better: the quality of the grinder at the coffee shop. Even a basic shop should have a Mazzer Super Jolly, and a nice third-wave shop in the area will have a grinder that costs thousands. If you go through the coffee fast enough, these grinders will outperform any entry level grinder when it comes to espresso. You would only be missing out on the experience of dialing in a coffee, but I don’t think that’s necessarily worth the money it’d cost to buy a grinder. I’d explore the free option first, but once again I’d be more than happy to make some grinder recommendations if you’d like.
If you’ve got drip coffee filters, I would just pour the final brew through a drip coffee brewer and into another vessel (provided that you have a large enough brewer). It might take a bit longer than the steel filters, but the resulting cold brew is extremely clean tasting and you won’t have to buy an additional thing to store.
Many grinders can go from extremely coarse to extremely fine, but the important mark of an espresso capable grinder is the ability to make miniscule adjustments to the grind size. The difference in grind size between a perfectly extracted shot and a passable one is pretty marginal. This is not the case for filter and french press coffee, where there’s not as much need for fine adjustments. You might also find that what you prefer in a grind profile for an espresso is different from what you’d like in a filter coffee. People who prefer traditional espresso with a silky texture and stronger mouthfeel to it will probably like burrs that produce more fines, which give the shot more body. In filter coffee though, this will just lead to a muddy, overextracted brew. This difference is so stark that some people buy aftermarket burrs to swap out for their preferred brew method. A company called Niche recently released a grinder called the Niche Duo that has an almost hotswapping system for the grinder to make this process easier. You probably won’t find an electric grinder capable of doing both espresso and filter for under a thousand without some work on your part.
The alternative though is to use hand grinders. There are multiple premium hand grinders that produce amazing coffee for much cheaper than their electric counterparts. Relatively upstart brands like 1zpresso have multiple different hand grinders targeted at specific brew methods, but the 1zpresso JX Pro is really capable of doing both brew methods to a surprisingly good degree. There’s also established titans like the Comandante, which is featured in many barista competitions. Hand grinding for espresso isn’t too hard, but it will definitely work out your forearms, and I wouldn’t really recommend it for people who have arm/wrist issues. I can grind enough for my morning shot in about 30 seconds.
If you really wanted to get a grinder, I would focus on just getting one for now, and potentially picking up another to supplement the original grinder later. I went with a hand grinder to start with, but now I use both a hand grinder and an electric grinder. I hand grind for espresso, since I pull fewer espresso shots and have an espresso-focused hand grinder, and I use my electric grinder for filter brews. It was just a bit of a pain to swap back between grind settings for espresso and filter, especially when espresso requires such careful adjustments to it. This was really just a quick rundown on grinders, and was by no means exhaustive. If you’re interested in going down the rabbit hole, Lance Hedrick on YouTube has numerous videos on the topic of hand grinders, and is far more knowledgeable about the topic than I could ever be. His full reviews are lengthy and nerdy deep dives, but it’s useful to have this repository before spending money.
Internet Shaquille is something that hasn’t been mentioned yet that I think really resonates with what you’re looking for. All of his videos are short, focused, and aimed at helping regular people in the kitchen (with the exception of his April Fools videos, which satirize clickbait videos). There is some humor, but the information density of his videos reflects his ethos of not wanting to waste your time. To this end, sponsor reads appear at the end of the video (if they’re sponsored at all), so you can completely skip them.
If you’re looking to get a similar texture to whole milk, your best bet is probably an alternative milk with a similar fat profile to whole milk. That’s what makes whole milk the ideal milk steam so nicely. Many alternative milk brands will have a “barista” version of their milk that is intended to steam as nicely as whole milk. In my own experience, these have had much better texture than lactose-free whole milks, but you might have to hunt for a brand with a flavor that your gf likes.
I always dial my espresso by taste, not time. Doing this will give you a lot more flexibility. That being said, I think the range where most of my coffees feel dialed is about 25-40 seconds.
I want to preface this by saying that I rarely change my shot from my standard 20g, so everything I’m going to say is conjecture, but I would guess that a single shot that takes 30 seconds to pull would be wildly overextracted. The reason why a double shot will take so much more time is because the puck of coffee that the water has to force its way through is much taller. Creating channels through a larger puck (or a puck made from much finer grinds) takes more energy from the water, so it should take longer. Once channels are made, the puck will quickly deteriorate, which is why the flow rate is so much faster at the end of a shot. That being said, you will definitely want to adjust your grind size for a single shot. Grinding finer than you would in a double shot will allow for a more even extraction in a single shot without overextracting the coffee, but it still shouldn’t take as long as your double shot.
Yeah I wouldn’t worry about your brew time too much as long as it’s tasty to you. I think most online resources (at least in English) tend to completely ignore single shot doses, since third wave espresso and milk drinks are centered around a 16-22g shot. I’d be really curious to hear what you thought the sweet spot was for single shot timing.
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