MattH ie the kettle and nanofoamer).
My wife uses a foamer with a Tasimo. The foam is nothing like steamed milk. Far too stiff but there is a bit of an art to steaming milk. It needs a bit of practice. You appear to be mostly interested in milk based drinks not drinking espresso shots. I don’t as I find them too strong so drink americano. So strong I can’t detect the various sensations when drinking them. Some say they can eventually, The bean flavours are still available via an americano, Same problem tuning those in.
One of the important aspects with brewing coffee is the water temperature. Logical as too high and volatiles will be driven off and that is an aspect that influences taste. A daft example. Rather than use a kettle we switched to hot water dispenser. I can dial the amount that comes out also set temperature. Say I use instant. At 100C not much difference to a kettle. At 95C some foam forms. At 85C even more. Taste changes too. This would make me wonder about any stove top set up. I have used some in the past and wasn’t impressed compared with an espresso machine.
So for some methods of brewing coffee from ground beans some form of hot water dispenser might help. Maybe a bit more control of temperature than ours has. These things can scale up and can often have a filter fitted which helps. We get rather soft water so not much of a problem. Scale can also cause the death or problems with espresso machines.
Pour over is popular and easier to use a hand grinder than for an espresso machine. Kettles for this are available at all sorts of prices. It’s a well regarded method. That and a hot water dispenser might fit well but electric pour over kettles are also available. Some see this method a lot quicker than using an espresso machine. Maybe down to heat up time with the majority of them.
I did know a bit about real espresso machines when I started but early experiences were with a tiny HX machine. Ok for small cups but had a safety valve that may have caused a small piece of metal to shoot out and make a hole in the ceiling. Blade grinder too - not a good idea really. Burr is better more or less what ever one is chosen. Some wont grind fine enough for an espresso machine.
When it came to buying a real espresso machine I went down the Sage route after much consideration. Not my current DB. Reasonable cost and to gain more experience. They are popular machines but do need some practice getting the best out of them as do others. ;) I chose a 54mm portafilter machine knowing that I would probably want a filter basket with a capacity between the 2 they supply. Most want milk based drinks and their double is ideal for that. A problem that may have been fixed now as other items for these machines now appear on Amazon. The other problem is the need for an engineer to fix problems. Some parts are now available if people can diy. Scale and lack of maintenance is the usual problems that crop up eventually. Last for ever. Maybe not but all are likely to need attention at some point.
