What was your first piece of espresso kit

Many years ago I was looking at Gaggia coffee machines in the Trafford Centre. The young salesman (I’m almost convinced it was James Hoffmann) made me an excellent cup of coffee and we chatted until my wife returned. I wanted a Classic but it was far too expensive for us with four kids to feed. The following Christmas my wife bought me a Gran Gaggia from a local kitchen shop, it came with a bag of ESE pods and a free set of illy espresso cups and saucers on a rack. When the pods ran out I bought a bag of Lavazza pre ground. Couldn’t make coffee to save my life. The machine only came out of storage occasionally. Finally, when the internet arrived I learnt about grind size, pressures and timing etc, I got the machine out once more only to discover it was totally seized up and full of corrosion. It went in the scrap and I continued with stovetop moka pots. I still have the cups and saucers!

I started off as a teenager in the 90s with what might have been a Russell and Hobs machine. Pre ground coffee went in but it didn’t really matter by the time I steamed my milk and put 2 tons of sugar in it. When I left home I got a Gran Gaggia in a sale and received a blade grinder as a Christmas present one year. Unsurprisingly I never made anything that good and being in London, surrounded by coffee shops, I stopped making coffee at home. Like a lot of people I got a Nespresso machine when they came out and used that for a few years before reading forums online and deciding I needed a new hobby and a decent set up. 6 years ago I took the plunge and bought a Pavoni Euro and a La Cimbali Magnum. The Cimbali was swapped for the Niche when they launched and I have since acquired and restored a few more Pavonis.

My start was with a small Krups coffee maker, the most simple one that allowed me to froth milk and prepare cappuccinos. This happened in the early 1994. It was only ground coffee for quite some time. A few years later I came across a Saeco Via Veneto de Lux combo machine. It is needless to say that I have never managed to get good grind with the grinder but back then a separate grinder was not an option. In 2007 I joined the toomuchcoffee forum and managed to buy a Fracino Heavenly combined with a Cunill grinder. For the first time I could see the importance of the grinder however imperfect some might find the Cunill (it did the job for me). Appetite comes with eating and things have quickly developed since.
One thing I have realised over the years is that the people participating in the coffee forums are quite special breed, helpful, inspiring and good willing.
There are not that many places on the net where one can go and share and get help.

When I saw the title of the thread I thought that as a subtitle it could read: “we have all sinned” 😊, i.e. Krups, DeLonghi (no offence intended to owners), the list can be continued.

my first bit of coffee kit was a plastic Melitta pour over cone some 43 years ago, and I still have it today!

My first coffee set up, which wasn’t an espresso set up, is the Indian filter, which I had purchased 30 years ago. We still have it and is in use.

40 something years ago it was a French Press. Espresso started in 2003 with a Sunbeam EM7000 which, wonder of wonders, could pour coffee and steam milk at the same time. Honest to God, I thought it must surely be the best espresso machine on planet earth.

I was basically into cafetiere coffee first, but met a fellow contractor who introduced me to Aeropress and the other forum. About the same time, my landlady was given a combination drip/espresso thing which had a steam wand. She only ever used the drip side and I used the espresso side. When I moved out she gave me a little Krups thing that looked like the aliens off the Smash fake mashed potato granules advert! That was technically my first “espresso” machine. Having found the forum I quickly got a Gaggia Classic with PID and an Iberital MC2. A visit to Dave’s resulted in a grinder upgrade closely followed by me ‘helping to declutter the garage’ by purchasing the R58 he’d reviewed. Happy to report that it has done me proud and is still doing so.

Hotmetal A visit to Dave’s resulted in a grinder upgrade closely followed by me ‘helping to declutter the garage’ by purchasing the R58 he’d reviewed. Happy to report that it has done me proud and is still doing so.

Wow, that was a long time ago, in fact you are the only person from the old forum that I ever sold anything to, in fact pretty much the only person I ever sold a machine too…apart from my mate who wanted my brand new unused Verona, but he got that for the same factory price I originally paid for it….then about 12 - 18 months later, sold it for more than he paid me and purchased a Vesuvius from ACS.

In 1999 a friend made me an espresso with a La Pavoni Europiccola. I hadn’t known that it was possible to make espresso at home until then, so I bought one too (at John Lewis Oxford Street). The saleslady made me promise that I would always clear the steam wand with a blast of steam after foaming milk, and of course I’ve always done so. I used that machine daily until 2014 when I bought an L1, which has served me well ever since.

Yes you’re right Dave, it was a very long time ago, probably 2014/2015? IIRC you kept all your machines, but had less of a soft spot for that one based on manufacturer response. That notwithstanding it has been a great machine for me, I’ve always run it on Volvic or latterly Osmio RO water and I intend to keep it (unless I have a radical change in circumstances and decide to treat myself). The old Zenith 65E was a nice grinder too. I was seduced away by 83mm Ceado but there are things I miss about the Eureka, like the adjusting knob, chute light and accurate OD dosing.

mathof2 In 1999 a friend made me an espresso with a La Pavoni Europiccola.

It’s amazing how long they last….

Like many out there, the Gaggia Classic was my initial foray into espresso or as I like to call it ‘proper coffee’. A second hand jobbie, I coupled it with a refurbed Brasilia RR55OD 64mm burr grinder and that has been my set-up for about 8 years. Had lots of fun with the Gaggia, stripping down, cleaning, treating and changing bits and pieces too (fun and games blowing up two PIDS) over the years, as well as setting the pump pressure to 9 bar. Of course added a decent tamper, knock box, frothing jug, upgrading to an IMS basket and brass shower screen and naked portafilter and some Brewista scales. Of course, none of that would have been any good without beans and to my surprise and delight, there are a lot of roasters out there and so many different beans to choose from.

Since then my interest has been peaked by different ways of making a decent cup of Java and not just for home, and so I’ve added an Aeropress, a Clever Dripper, a Mocca Pot, ROK hand Grinder and ROK Espresso Lever machine to my coffee paraphernalia.

My journey continues as I’ve just literally today, sold the Gaggia and purchased a dual boiler machine. There have been some great, friendly, knowledgeable people on forums who have helped along the way, kindly dispensing their coffee expertise and wisdom and because of that, I’m still loving every minute of it.

Having been into coffee from a considerable time ago my first coffee maker was an aluminium percolator with a faceted glass top (stove type). This was followed by a Cona with the glass rod (very breakable), a small Phillips filter M/ch with a nylon filter, cafetiere, an orange enamel jug (think westerns) which I used the strainer from the original perc for, agin gas top. Moka pot plus a few others.
When espresso M/chs began to appear I bought one (can’t remember make ) but it vibrated so much the cups came off the top, this was returned and I bought the Gaggia Classic (still have as standby)

Early 80s I had a coffee machine ( can’t remember what is was ) that I used for years until it started leaking from the internals, being relatively handy with tools I can only think that it wasn’t worth repairing as it got binned.
Next up was the Bialeta Moka pot, an Italian friend put me onto it, this was used for many years, still have one but not the original I had.
Then a cafetière came along and was soon joined by a Cona Vacuum percolator, both of which I’m still using. In fact I used the Cona yesterday.
I then moved to the dark side and bought a Nespresso machine which I used for years, still have the odd coffee from it but I mostly use it for Affogatos.
I then moved house and the recently fitted kitchen had a Whirlwind inbuilt coffee machine, so this coupled with my blade grinder I thought I was a barista. But the more I dabbled and read I realised it wasn’t end game.
A Dualit burr grinder came along, moved the game on a bit from the blade chopper.
I then discovered the old forum and with thanks to a lot of the people now I on here I moved to a Lelit Bianca and Eureka Specialita.
The Lelit is end game for me but there is a wee man that sometimes appears on my shoulder and tells me I could change my grinder for something better for espresso and keep the Eureka for other brew types 🤔