Long time listener first time caller. I followed this sub for a while curious about at home espresso but hesitant about cost vs benefit. My main concern was how espresso at shops is hit or miss with me on high priced machines. How good could at home be?? I didn’t want to spend $1000 to find out. Turns out with some modding and $335 I have been making good espresso imo at home for 1.5 years now on my humble setup.
Spending twice as much on my grinder was key advice even though many would disagree with my choice. Was going the Baratza ESP route until last minute change.
I don’t see any logical moderate increases from here. I would think the only next step is a budget of $1000 and a whole new machine and grinder. I am curious about PIDs and pressure control and its effect on taste. I wouldn’t be surprised if an even better grinder is still more important if I only changed one thing but really have no idea.
$90 De’Longhi ECP3420
$170 Turin DM47
$26 IMS unpressurized basket
$24 Dosing funnel and screen
$13 Tamper
$12 WDT
Modded portafilter to be bottomless
Modded steam wand
$30 IMS shower screen ordered but low expectations.
by Drboost1727
8 Comments
I see 0 bad choices here.
What was your process when modding the portafilter to be bottomless?
Glad I saw this. Just purchased a similar machine. Glad it is working out for you
Couldn’t agree more. The small boiler delonghis are amazing. Both ECP3420 and the Stilosa are amazing. Unless you need to spend big on grinder for super light roasts, they are all that you really “need” to get amazing espresso experience at home. Sweet setup OP.
I ran with that espresso machine & just had local shops grind for me for a while. Was pulling great shots & even able to steam well after some training! Keep it up
Glad to see a fellow DeLonghi user – they’re usually under appreciated in this sub
That was my first ever machine, I’ve changed to my 6th machine now and believe me when I say, that little machine is a beast. If I had known better then, I would have just stuck with that machine and upgraded grinders instead until I upgraded to what I have now.
I have the same De’Longhi, I thought that I’m pulling sour espresso shots then I went to a local coffeeshop and asked for espresso and it was basically the same…now I’m lost
I just got one of these last week (the Delonghi 3630), I paid $50 because it was a shelf display unit. I did the typical upgrades: new portafilter, basket, tamper, etc. I’ve paired it with a Mazzer Mini. After buying some terrible Starbucks beans because that’s all that was available on Thursday evening (coffeehouses around here close really early), I have finally just pulled a shot with some actual, decent coffee (Ruby Coffee Roasters, Creamery Blend). And holy shit… My last attempt to do home espresso was about 20 years ago with a gorgeous Elektra Nivola machine that was beautiful but also kind of terrible. I had no idea that the lowish end of home espresso had come so far. For years I had a coffeehouse with a La Marzocco Linea, so I didn’t bother to try to do espresso at home.
I can see that there are some reasons to get a better machine down the road, but they mostly have to do with consistency and workflow. You can definitely make incredible coffee on this inexpensive little machine (plus a very nice grinder).