I Need An Espresso Education

[AlohaStyle]

Originally Posted by floydpink

sadly, no.

A good grinder is an absolute requirement and unfortunately your budget puts you 1/3 of the way there at bare minimum.

The Bialetti would work great and fit well within your budget, but you'd be buying preground coffee.

Fresh ground coffee is the basis of a great espresso shot and the starting point for a machine up to the task of grinding for espresso, in many people's opinion is the Rancillio Rocky. I agree.

I agree you need to use fresh ground espresso. Why do you say he'd be buying pre-ground espresso using the Bialetti? He can buy the Bialetti and a basic, but decent grinder under his budget price.