EM-200NP1 Espresso Maker

This is my first espresso machine and I pulled my first shot this weekend. Looking for any tips or guidance for a newbie. I didn’t want to spend a ton getting an initial setup, so the extra stuff I have (not out of the Breville box) are the demitasse cups on the top shelf and a small scale without a timer. I also have a Cuisinart Supreme Grind, which I’ve read does not grind fine enough for espresso. To supplement, I bought a small bag of Cafe la Llave espresso ground coffee (could be garbage 🤷🏻‍♂️) so I could play around with the machine. Feel free to share what you’ve learned and if there are things that are absolute “must haves” or if there are gadgets I should avoid entirely. Thanks in advance for: 1) any equipment advice, suggestions, etc. 2) any brewing advice or tips 3) not eating me alive in the comments Cheers!

hello everyone! after getting an espresso machine for graduation, stalking this subreddit for a couple weeks, and finally deciding i really did need a better grinder than my Cuisinart DBM-8, i tried pulling my first few ‘real’ shots today. the first two were definitely too sour, (which i learned by trying a salami shot earlier), but my third (and last of the day) was a bit more unclear. i figured i’d post my notes/measurements and the latest video to see if anyone had advice as to what direction/variable to tweak tomorrow morning when i try next. i’ve looked at the espresso compass and it’s a bit hard for me to describe what feels off about the shot, it’s obviously better than the first two very sour ones, but seems not quite as flavorful as i remember from the cafe i bought it from. i would also love to hear about what your standards are for timing a shot (when do you press start, when do you consider pre-infusion over, etc) any help/advice is greatly appreciated! my equipment/process: \- weigh, rdt \- grind w/ kingrinder k6 \- use wdt tool, tamp \- extract w/ breville bambino notes: **first try with new grinder** beans: river road from cornwall bridge (medium roast) in: 18g out: 37g grind size: 32 (30, since my true 0 seems to be at -2) pre-infusion: \~8s total time: 25s taste: a bit sour **second try with new grinder** beans: river road from cornwall bridge (medium roast) in: 18g out: 41g grind size: 35 (33) pre-infusion: \~6s total time: 22s taste: also too sour, definitely flowing too quickly **third try with new grinder** beans: river road from cornwall bridge (medium roast) in: 18g out: 39g grind size: 30 (28) pre-infusion: 10-12s(?) total time: 40s(?) taste: definitely not sour, but feels like something still not quite right but not sure exactly how to describe it

Hello experts, My girlfriend & I just moved in together & got a cuisinart coffeemaker with a grinder for Christmas, except when we opened it it was broken. So we returned it. I’m kind of glad it was broken because I would rather have an espresso machine than a coffee machine. We’ve never had our own machine & ultimately want something that’s good quality, reliable, & will last a long time. Doesn’t need to be super fancy so simple is fine. I guess I should add we have somewhat limited counter space so not looking for anything huge/clunky. Now I’m trying to decide what to do with the refund we’re getting. I’ll also note that I’m only searching on Amazon as we got credit for the refund + other gift cards from the holidays. I’ll put my options/thoughts below: 1. Originally I saw a refurbished Breville Barista Express on Amazon for ~$450. I was set on this until I saw some reviews saying that it didn’t work as well refurbished, only worked for a short amount of time, etc. I originally also liked that the grinder was built in, but after doing research here I realized that’s not always ideal. Does anyone have experience with this machine or a refurbished version? 2. I’ve also saw a lot on here about the Breville Bambino plus (~$4-500). That machine seems good, but the original Breville bambino ($300) seems like a way better deal because the only difference seems to be the milk frother & water tank? If anyone has experience on the difference between these two I’d really appreciate it because the milk frother isn’t a big deal to me. 3. If I decide to go with the Breville bambino, does anyone have any grinder recommendations that are around $100-200? I don’t know much about grinders but figure they don’t have to be super fancy? My sister said she will get me a tamping kit so I’m kind of just thinking about getting a grinder. If anyone has any recommendations I would really appreciate it! Also I know I’ve only talked about Breville so if there are other reputable brands/machines I’m 100% open to looking into that. I started with Breville because my sister told me it’s reliable & she knows a lot more about this than I do. Thanks in advance for all your help! Looking forward to seeing what you all have to say.