Cheap Espresso Setup

23 March 2013

I love coffee, especially Latte Macchiato. I cannot stand bad coffee and thus I have my own Espresso machine at home. I stopped drinking normal coffee since I bought it. There are big differences in quality and price between Espresso machines, the same goes for coffee beans. This is why I want to post my setup. It is cheap and quite nice. Some of my friends consider my coffee even better than the one at Starbucks.

Here is my setup:

• Espresso machine: Saeco RI9376/01 Siebträger AROMA Edelstahl ~ € 250
• Sieve holder: Traditional (sometimes classical) sieve Saeco Traditioneller Siebträger, schwarz ~ € 25 (This is not the standard sieve Saeco Spezialsiebträger GRAN CREMA, schwarz that is included with the machine and it is not easy to find these days.)
• Coffee mill: Graef CM 80 Kaffeemühle ~ € 120 (Graef CM 81 is basically equivalent)
• Barista Set: BARISTA-SET BASIC black ~ € 20
• Cappuccino creamer: ScanPart Milchaufschäumer ~ € 6 (any will do)
• Coffee beans: Lavazza Espresso Perfetto ~ € 16

You have to invest around € 400 in total, which is usually less than a fully automatic coffee machine.

I usually use a .5 liter cup with 200 - 250 ml milk. I put the milk for 1 minute in the microwave and foam it afterwards. With 2 Espresso you get a really good Latte Macchiato.

It takes a while to learn how to handle the coffee mill and the Espresso machine but it is totally worth it. If you do not know how to make perfect Espresso visit Kaffeewiki, they have a really good description.