I’ve been where you are now albeit 13 years ago, you need to decide what you want to achieve and what type of person you are. I’m a fad person so spending big straight off can lead to wasted money and space being occupied with little used equipment.
Rewind 14-15 years and I’d been drinking filter coffee at home for a while as Instant was rubbish compared to what was served on French holidays. Coffee Nation was available in every service station and Starbucks was a real treat. Trying to replicate Starbucks I was given a cheap ass Krups espresso machine and I used what turned out to be a spice crusher hand crank grinder. I was happy with the results, wasn’t bad for home coffee but not a real patch on Starbucks.
Used that for a couple of years which proved it wasn’t a fad, so I asked for money for my 30th birthday towards a coffee Machine. Cash in hand I went down to John Lewis and bought the most commercial looking machine and grinder which happened to be a Gaggia Classic I think one of the last ones made before they sold out to Phillips and cheap grinder (the brand slips my mind). I learnt a lot on the Gaggia and owned it for 5 years before selling it for a small profit as people say the quality plummeted when Phillips moved factory.
The Gaggia was a great learning curve and during the time of owning it small independent coffee shops had flourished all over and I’d been exposed to some truly amazing coffees, Starbucks was no longer the pinnacle of coffee, more a necessary stop while out on the road.
In my quest to produce exceptional coffee at home and save cost on buying daily coffees I 2016 I invested in a Lelit Mara and Eureka Mignon. The Gaggia just didn’t cut it in many ways steam pressure, temperature control and the need to temperature surf to name the main ones.
In the last 5 years my coffee has improved vastly, I won’t touch Starbucks unless I’m on my arse and then will only go for a milk based packed full of sugar drink. I consistently make good coffee (way above Starbucks) and occasionally surprise myself and make one on a par with the best I’ve ever tasted.
I’m now at the point I want to tune my coffee to be consistently exceptional not just occasionally. I’m looking at a complete new dual boiler setup to achieve this and while I’ve enjoyed the journey to this point, I set out in my 20’s when cash was short and time was on my side.
The point is you really need to think what your end goals are and what type of person you are, coffee will suck you in if you are that way inclined, and you you will most likely want to upgrade at some point. If your taste buds enjoy a Starbucks then you will match this quite easily with a Gaggia or sage but if you are more into your independent coffee scene a Lelit Mara will be a good start. But you will need to match the machine with a grinder as it is more important than you’d think. Just a little adjustment on the same grinder with the same beans 10 min apart can make a significant difference.
Trust your gut, I hope it all works out for you.