I am often asked for advice on coffee equipment...
Our first coffee machine was a Lelit Combi (pictured above). Combi meaning that it contained the necessary parts for both grinding and extracting coffee. It was a fine first machine.
However, I'll never forget how much of an improvement we got in our espresso when we purchased our first dedicated coffee grinder, a Mazzer Mini Electronic. The quality of the espresso that emerged from the Lelit Combi using coffee ground by the Mazzer represented a massive upgrade.
Recently I've had lots of people asking me what they should be purchasing as their first espresso set up. I'm guided by our own experience with equipment. I'm a firm believer that the grinder is the most important component of the set up for making quality espresso and that the coffee machine itself is much less influential. I've been suggesting to those who ask that they should purchase equipment where the extraction and the grinding are done in separate machines. Extraction by a relatively cheap machine, a Breville Bambino as a good example (Breville is the one large appliance manufacturer I feel happy recommending) paired with a relatively budget friendly dedicated grinder such as a Coffee Tech DF54.
People have been reporting good results with this combination. Please let me know if you've had similar experiences.