• 5 Posts
  • 187 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • I haven’t read every single reply but the vast majority say probably not.

    My experience is basically the opposite of everyone here. I bought a refurbished gaggia classic for $275 in like 2012 or so. I use it daily. It’s not hard to use, and in fact my 5 year old can pull a shot all by himself.

    There is a comment that for the same prep home espresso won’t be as good as commercial because the machine quality is lower.

    I’m sorry but IMO this is 100% wrong.

    As long as there’s nothing wrong with your machine, water, or beans, there’s no difference. The goal of an espresso machine is to supply 9 bars of pressure. The coffee doesn’t care if the machine cost $400, $4000, or even $12,000.

    The reason commercial machines are so expensive is really twofold. Mainly they are built to be able to pull shot after shot all day every day for decades. The second thing is that commercial machines are pretty much universally multi group dual boiler setups where you can steam and pull 3 shots at the same time. So not only do commercial machines require the highest quality stuff, but they need 3, 4 or more copies of everything.

    But again the goal of the machine is to supply heated water at 9 bars of pressure. The results will be the same in any machine that can accomplish this goal, the cost difference basically boils down to how nice the machine is to use, and what extra features it has.

    The grinder on the other hand makes a huge difference. But, you don’t have to spend a ton to match cafe quality. A baratza encore will do the job but not well. Step up to the sette and you will be able to get close.

    Lastly is the beans. Now this is an area that you will have to research, but I found a local roaster that mainly sells to local cafes and hotels, but is also is open to the public. His coffee is fresh and I really enjoy it.

    The last thing is that tricky statement “for the same amount of prep.”

    Cafes pretty much do the very minimum. Press a button on the grinder, get a volumetric dose that should be within 1.5g or so, quickly tamp, pull a shot, and move on to the next customer. I’ve even started seeing mechanical automatic tampers being used.

    You on the other hand will (likely) be weighing beans with sub gram accuracy, checking the machine temperature, carefully distributing the grounds, carefully tamping or maybe using a calibrated tamper… Etc.

    You will be putting in more prep just simply because you have to. You don’t have the equipment that cafes do that will make the process as easy as pushing 2-3 buttons. But that’s okay. If you enjoy espresso you will enjoy the process and it’ll become a hobby more than anything.

    But that last part is the key. Are you willing or ready for espresso to become a new hobby? Yes? Buy a machine. No? Keep using aero press. Or do some else. Only you know what you want.




  • Seconding the above, I want to say I paid $60 in a pretty average city.

    The store I went to is called Jos-a-bank, feel free to look them up but any higher end men’s fine clothing store should have a tailor on site at all times.

    There are also dedicated tailor shops you can try looking for one of those.

    I don’t think places like dillards or Macy’s will do alterations but I could be wrong.

    Worst case the place you go may tell you something like “he only works Tuesdays and Saturdays” or something like that, so you may want to keep trying to get them on the phone, but I’ve not been told that before.




  • I got a delta 36-725T2, it was around $650 when I got it, looks like it’s gone up around $50 since then, but I still think that’s a good deal.

    The fence is super solid, the saw is on wheels but they retract for a super stable feel, I really like it.

    That being said, if you can’t buy a quality new saw (plan to spend at least $500 and harbor freight is NOT quality) I would start scouring the classifieds.

    Any older craftsman 10" saw will be worth a look. Delta, DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, and Rigid are also solid brands.

    You should mainly narrow down if you are looking for a portable saw or not.

    If you have an area you can dedicate to woodworking, I would highly recommend a cabinet or contractor saw. The stability and capacity you gain over a bench top or job site saw cannot be overstated. That said, if you do need a portable saw I would recommend a job site saw over a bench top model if you can afford it.

    I cannot make any recommendation on portable saws, but for me, I was between the Rigid R4560 and the Delta. I ended up getting the Delta simply due to the fact that I felt the fence was a bit more stable. There are upgrades for both models, so really it’s just a personal preference.