Hey everyone, new here 👋
Just wanted to share my super budget espresso setup. I know it’s not fancy by any means, but for me this feels like a huge step up. I went from mostly drinking drip coffee at home or gas stations, with the occasional Starbucks espresso drink, to actually pulling shots at home. That alone feels like a win.
I picked up a De’Longhi Stilosa brand new from Amazon for about $67, and all in I’m right around $100 total. Not bad at all for experimenting and making drinks at home for my wife and me.
I know this setup has its limits, and I already have upgrades in mind like a bottomless portafilter and grinding my own beans. For now, I’m just focusing on learning the basics and getting comfortable dialing things in before going further down the rabbit hole.
Definitely open to tips, feedback, or beginner advice. Glad to finally be here and start the journey ☕️
by mciti718
15 Comments
Good start! Next step is the grinder.
One of my favorite coffee beans!
Stilosa is an awesome machine! Honestly you can push it really far, you can make amazing coffee on it, just gotta learn to use it right. A good grinder and good beans are going to be the next steps for you, and what will really unlock your espresso capabilities.
Fire your butler for putting too much crema in the cup
I’m going to bite my tongue, but if you like it that’s all that matters. Good for you!
Are the beans newly roasted and needing to rest some days, before use? Seems like a lot of foam/crema there, which can result from unrested beans that haven’t yet degassed enough. That also can result, at least to a degree, from a pressurized basket.
I have this same machine in my getaway house on the coast. It’s … adequate. Having a grinder next to it and a knock box next to that increases the counter space needed to 28” in my kitchen. https://imgur.com/a/2l7EJ1s
There’s not a whole lot to “dial in” with this machine. Get a grinder and then work on tuning your process with that. I got a bottomless portafilter (51mm) and a puck screen ( l can’t tell a difference)
Not the greatest machine but will make bakery-quality espresso.
The challenge comes in when you do like a 1:1 or 1:2 shot to milk ratio w/o any sugar or syrup.
If you like Starbucks style where it’s 1:1:8 shot to syrup to milk, whatever you pull will taste fine.
Don’t listen to the haters. Budget/entry level is the way to go until you are sure you want to invest a lot of money. Buy a few pounds of coffee and experiment until you find what you like. Best of luck and enjoy!
You can get 3 hole tips for that steam wand on Amazon for like 10 bucks. It’ll help steam milk if you’re making lattes.
Can you pull a 1:2 espresso? When I got my first espresso setup, no matter how fine I was grinding my beans, the shot was always getting out too fast. The reason was the coffee beans. I was using supermarket beans like you use. Find a local roastery and buy fresh roasted beans and open the bag around 10 days after they were roasted. The coffee will be from another world.
Enjoy the journey!
You will become more demanding and you will know what you will need as the time goes by ad you understand what you want from the coffee.
☕
Great job on wanting to up your coffee game! My very first espresso machine was a DeLonghi in college! Enjoy the quality =)
welcome to the club!
https://preview.redd.it/hlp6h8xupx6g1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7de251bd0e8e92b78f0436b5d8b8d20bec325f2
I even bought the stilosa from thrift store for only CAD15. This is a great machine for beginner to learn and capable to pull a perfect shot once you have mastered it. Steam wand upgrade is good if you do a lot milk drink. But for now you will need a good grinder and bottomless portafilter first.