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I’ve come to realise that making a good espresso at home is really involved - which isn’t a bad thing, but it starts to become a hobby and making decent filter at home is the right balance of time and money input for the coffee you can make at home. I’m not gonna wake up and start trying to dial in an espresso for my morning coffee (although it is a fun thing to do on the weekend).
Also this ^ is definitely something that I feel doesn't get said enough.
I recently shimmed by burrs for the Sette (both the filter and espresso burrs were a bit too close to the edges of the settings for my liking) and even with a grinder I've used every day for more than a year, it still took me a good few shots to get things dialled in again (granted, small boiler lever machines aren't exactly ideal for dialling in a grind setting).
It takes a fair amount of effort to get as consistent a result as you'd get in a decent coffee shop. Definitely a fair step up from making filter at home which is much more forgiving.
mmccarthy-
Yeah, I think you are all right. It's probably wisest to get a grinder that does filter coffee well, and then if I decide I want to get into the espresso game later on, sell up and get something better suited to that. +1 on filter at home being the right balance of time and money input for the quality of coffee.
There was an offer up yesterday for a Sage Smart grinder which gets good reviews for £130, but that's gone out of stock. I've found a Wilfa Svart new for just under £100 from a European shop, so I'd just need a plug adapter, which I think I have a few of lying around anyway. I'll keep thinking about it for the next few days, but I think I'll end up going for a new Wilfa Svart.
hazzelfrazzel
I think the Wilfa or the MC2 are the best options for that budget. The Wilfa won’t really do espresso, and the MC2 won’t adjust between the ground sizes easily, but will manage espresso.
However, if you’re like me and 90% of your coffee intake will be brewed coffee of some sort, I think either of those will do. You’ll be spending another £200 minimum if you want an espresso machine, and the cost of a good grinder for espresso starts at about £200 as well it seems. So you could buy the Wilfa and sell it on if you decide to dabble into espresso, or buy the MC2 and it’ll do both but might be a bit of a fiddle to dial in for espresso.
I’ve come to realise that making a good espresso at home is really involved - which isn’t a bad thing, but it starts to become a hobby and making decent filter at home is the right balance of time and money input for the coffee you can make at home. I’m not gonna wake up and start trying to dial in an espresso for my morning coffee (although it is a fun thing to do on the weekend).
Essentially, either of those should be ideal for you and within budget. I wouldn’t worry about espresso for now as it’s a whole different beast but the MC2 will do espresso if that’s a deal breaker.