Coffee

So what grinder you choose should be shaped by what brewing method and then what roast level you mostly brew with. For you thats espresso and what, medium to dark roast?

I have a DF83, one of the early ones, but with the SSP High Uniformity burrs that are an expensive but worth while upgrade for light to medium light roast beans. I would not recommend these burrs if you prefer a darker roast, as those flat burrs I have are the exact opposite.

The DF83 produces great results but the early DF83s do need constant care over retention as they can get blocked if you don't. The DF83V solves a lot of the problem with my one, while still enabling a large number of suitable replacement burrs.

I would consider a similar price point conical burr grinder if you prefer mouth feel/more soupier coffee and plan on sticking with darker roasts.

There are a lot of good grinders out there. I like Graef a lot, but actually use a Rommelsbacher one, as in budget and feature it came handy as well as being decent enough for my needs.

Aside from the quality of the grinders and being ceramic cones and whatnot, i really needed one feature: antistatic.

I mean, i like my coffee, but i didn’t like the powder to stick on me, the cat and the surroundings. Yes, you can avoid it by spraying the beans with water before grinding, but this adds an extra nasty step to cleaning imho.

So, this might not be an advice on a brand or model, but on a feature you should consider. Anti-static is a gamechanger for me when it comes to cleaning the kitchen.

For a slightly more manual espresso maker, I've had my Elektra Micro Casa a Leva for nearly 20 years now, and will probably never replace it. It's simple enough that, of anything goes wrong, you can fix it yourself. It's a beautiful machine, and the steamer is peerless. The boiler is capable of continuous operation of pulling shots and steaming, limited only by the amount of water in the boiler, which is fairly large. It heats in a few (5?) minutes.

It's solidly made. The entire machine is brass and steel, with only the gaskets and the drip tray being non-metal. Oh, the lever handle grip is plastic(?), as is the grip of the portafilter it comes with; but the first thing I did was replace the portafilter with a naked portafilter with a wood handle, and I'll eventually replace the lever handle with wood - it just screws off. It will certainly outlive me. My niece has her eye on it, when I die, and I don't doubt it'll last for her as well. I've replaced the heating element once, at its 20th anniversary, and the gaskets every year or two. There's really nothing else to wear out.

Looks like they're running a bit more expensive now; I paid closer to $1000 new when I got mine. The current price is a bit shocking; maybe they're less in Europe, since they are made in Italy.

The downsides to the machine are first that the portafilter is smaller (49mm), while the standard in the US is 52(?); it makes for fewer accessory options. Second, if you do run low on water, you have to completely depressurize the boiler to add more water. There's no reservoir. It's literally a tank with a heating element that you fill and seal, and then pull either hot water or steam out of. So if you need to fill it, you turn it off, open the steamer, and wait until the pressure drops. It's an inconvenience I only ever encountered when we have a house full of guests, but it is then an inconvenience.

So, aside from the eye-watering current price, it's a fantastic machine.

Consider Flair , I've been happy with mine for daily espresso brews. It would work especially well with darker roast and lower temperatures (it is a struggle to get enough heat with them)

I think a Niche Zero and a Profitec GO would be an outstanding bang-for-buck combo!

One more quick option I have been considering is if there are any grinders in the price range with with grind to time or grind to weight options. Again this will simplify the process for others making espresso in the house.

Maybe experiment with the sweeteners and cream? Like honey instead of sugar. Soy instead of half and half.