Hi everyone. This is a bit long, but my relationship with coffee is a bit of a weird story, and I thought it might be entertaining for some of you at least.

Growing up, my parents drank coffee all the time, and they liked it black. That was good because I could always rely on getting a coffee-related gift for them for birthdays and holidays, and it would make them happy.

I never drank coffee at all. Neither did my wife. There was one time in my twenties when I tried coffee out because there was so much free coffee available at my workplace that I thought I was missing out. I found that the way I liked coffee best was black, just like my parents, but I didn’t like it enough to keep drinking it. And since neither one of us drank coffee, we didn’t even have a coffee maker in our house.

We were fortunate enough to visit Paris a few years ago just before the pandemic. We were doing the touristy thing of sitting at a cafe. My wife decided that we should try an espresso. Much to my surprise, it was amazing. I’d had espressos back in the US where I’m from, but it was nothing like what we experienced.

When we got back from that trip, my wife set out on a mission to find the best espresso in our area. She hit every coffee shop within a 20 mile radius. No luck. We were a bit surprised, as we live in New Jersey, so it’s not like there aren’t any Italians around here. 😉 🇮🇹 A foodie friend of ours told us that the reason was probably that espresso machines in the US aren’t cleaned/maintained the way they should be. I’m not sure if that is completely true, but the fact is nothing near us came close to what we experienced at that cafe.

I suggested that we get a real espresso machine, but our kitchen area is small, and my wife didn’t want to have even a small espresso machine taking up counter space. Because of the space issues, we tried a Moka pot and a Baratza Virtuoso+, and that made good coffee, but nothing that we were super excited about, and it certainly wasn’t the same as espresso, as I’m sure you all know.

I then found out about the 9Barista. I got our 9Barista at the beginning of the year, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that we’ve been having espresso every day since then. The espresso we’ve had is definitely better than anything we can get around here, and every so often I get lucky and have one that is as good as what I remember from that day at the cafe.

So that’s our story. I’ve gone from not drinking coffee for over 50 years to enjoying an espresso every day. What I’m hoping to learn from you all is information on grinders. I have a question which I’ll post in another thread.

Thanks!

    wilburpan Do you guys drink espresso? Do you make filter? What’s your budget please? We assume you are buying pre-ground from a super-store as you are looking to buy a grinder. Finally, how many coffees do you make a day please? 😊

    Btw, a great write up! Welcome to the forum!!!

        LMSC Thanks for the welcome!

        I pretty much drink only espresso. My wife switches between espresso and hot and iced Americanos, which we make by making an espresso first and then adding water. So in terms of coffee-making, we’re pretty much a one-trick pony. But we’re happy with that. 😉

        We do have a Baratza Virtuoso+. I’m thinking about upgrading, but I’ll post my questions in another thread. I’m doing a lot of reading.

        We have the luxury of having a number of specialty coffee shops in our area that sell their own beans, both mixes and single-source. They provide the date that the beans were roasted as opposed to an expire date, so that’s good. Weirdly, we can still make better espresso at home than what we can get in those shops.

        We generally make just one espresso a day for each of us. That’s all the caffeine I can handle. 😉

          wilburpan There is always the ECM Puristica if you don’t want to steam milk 😄 Prototype shown with nom standard tank and my own bottomless portafilter. Cappuccino Cup is for size reference

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              DavecUK That is cute. I forgot to mention that in addition to our counter space challenges, we also could use more electrical outlets. That was a factor when I decided to pick up a 9Barista.

                4 days later

                Well, I’m here after finding the other place going a little stale.

                My coffee story is a mix of pour overs and French press when I was growing up, through some terrible grinders and moka pots at university before enduring supermarket bought pre-ground stuff and bodums through adulthood.

                That was until another poor grinder, an Aeropress, a new Moka pot, good beans from a decent source and some disposable income made me take much more care and therefor enjoy my coffee a whole lot more.

                I’ve not got a Niche and a 1zpresso Jmax (for holidays) and a £30 second hand Gaggia New Baby that I bought during the pandemic. Yes - I bought a decent grinder before a proper machine!

                The Baby has been carefully taken apart, cleaned, steam wand and basket upgraded and skills practised. Now it’s time to upgrade.

                I make a flat white or cappuccino 6 or 7 times a week, probably another 12 espresso, some of which become americanos. My wife doesn’t drink hot drinks and we rarely have guests because I hate people. Well, mildly dislike 🙂

                So is the Lelit MaraX (cheaper, smaller, potentially better?) or ECM V Slim (just so good looking…..)?

                  -Mac Aha….. finally I get it. He was hunting high and low before he found this forum, from what I remember.

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                    16 days later

                    I’m a long term espresso drinker and nano coffee roaster.

                    I’ve lurked in a number of other coffee forums, but finally decided to become a member and settled here.

                      7 days later

                      Hi all,

                      Been a bit of a lurker on various forums but thought I’d finally sign up. Current gear: Cafelat Robot, Niche, Wilfa Uniform, V60 and Aeropress. Hover between Espresso, Pour Overs and Aeropress in my probably over-caffeinated days…

                        hi
                        some of you might remember me from the “other forum” which in my eyes went to shit a while back. Personally I threw out my espresso machine rather than go through the agro of trying to sell it as the “cleaning nut” under the assembly was sold to me seized without my knowing so it could not be disassambled and cleaned. Ironically the brand new eureka mignon mk2 I bought from BB is also seized which I only found out when trying to clean it when the warranty had run out. As you can tell I have bad luck when buying and selling stuff.

                        As a result I’ve been using the grinder uncleaned for about 5 years now, but it still tastes ok, I got the grounds out from the top the best way I could. At the moment I grind and then do a pour over but trying to figure out how to steam milk without an espresso machine.

                        I really want a synkronika but every time I have £2k spare to buy one I end up buying other stuff instead. It seems like a ton of money for 300 drinks a year.

                        So anyway…hi. I don’t really have anything to contribute coffee wise.

                          thesmileyone - hello there, in the words of Skid Row… “I remember, I remember…. Yooouuuu!” 🤣🤣🤣🤣

                          Welcome to the forum. I’d love to know more about what exactly was seized in your grinder and coffee machines. I can’t believe it had to be thrown away, or that it can’t be cleaned.

                          There you go, an excuse for starting a new thread!