[quote=“samsonisfurry”]Baratza Vario is on the way. Woohoo! Soon I will have a killer grinder to go with my newly acquired Tiamo french press.
Does anyone rent espresso machines? Perhaps I can try it out for a few months before dropping $30000nt.[/quote]
Congratulations! Don’t forget to use some decent-quality, freshly roasted beans. Unfortunately, that rules out Starbucks, Costco, and the supermarkets. I recommend finding a coffee shop that roasts their own coffee. That way you can make friends with them, learn about coffee, and taste their coffee and espresso to see how you like it. They’ll be happy to assist you if you’re a customer.
Be careful what machine you rent if you go that route. Most commercial machines are designed for ease of use, whereas most home machines are designed to keep the price down. If you practice on a nice 2-group commercial machine, you’re going to be disappointed with a Gaggia Classic/Baby or Rancilio Silvia.
Apparently, the Capresso Infinity is a decent grinder for French press and other brew methods (but not espresso). I had originally thought it wasn’t supposed to be all that great, but it may be better than the 600N.
Depends on the brand, age. Like I have an old machine that needs parts that are not available in Taiwan anymore, so the US or Europe are my only choice and ship them in. But I have a guy that can fix it.