the sage bambino plus and their smart grinder pro is outside your budget by a fair margin but it's done exactly what you sound like you're after for me.
I dialled it in when I got it to dose approx 17g per automated grind and we use the basic double shot and steam features for every coffee we make and we're probably closing in on our 3rd service routine (~600 shots) and it's good enough I don't pine for my gaggia or wish there were any decent coffee shops down here.
gf who was allergic to learning the gaggia now makes us/guests coffee without hesitation or hassle.
I'm sure you could drop a step down from those models and get roughly the same kind of result for a bit cheaper.
the sage bambino plus and their smart grinder pro is outside your budget by a fair margin but it's done exactly what you sound like you're after for me.
I dialled it in when I got it to dose approx 17g per automated grind and we use the basic double shot and steam features for every coffee we make and we're probably closing in on our 3rd service routine (~600 shots) and it's good enough I don't pine for my gaggia or wish there were any decent coffee shops down here.
gf who was allergic to learning the gaggia now makes us/guests coffee without hesitation or hassle.
I'm sure you could drop a step down from those models and get roughly the same kind of result for a bit cheaper.