Best Choice of Coffee Machine and Grinder for Your Budget.
Shopping for a new coffee machine can often feel like a daunting and complicated process. So many coffee machines to choose from, so many technical terms to understand and prices to consider.
In this video Luke aims to break it down a little for you as he talks through three coffee machine and grinder packages that he would recommend for three different budgets.
Video Transcript
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so someone walks in here to our Espresso Bar and asks us for a coffee machine and grinder
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package and they've got a specific budget I'm going to cover the kind of machines that I'd
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recommend if you've got a two thousand dollar budget or up to a five thousand dollar budget
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or Beyond there and give you a few options of what we would look to recommend [Music]
Package Number 1
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so Tom's just walked in and said he wants to get himself a machine and grinder and only wants
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to spend two thousand dollars I would show Tom the GS2 Precision grinder it's a single dosing
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grinder and the quick Mill Pippa which is a single boiler with a 58 mil head and the reason I'd start
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to look at this is because there's significant upgrades from what you might get from an appliance
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store and it's going to give them the flexibility to learn more about coffee but also create a great
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coffee because there is the ability to change different types of beans being a single dose
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grinder and also the ability to really dial in and get a nice fine grind because we know that
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the Pippa can handle that kind of great pressure a closer look at the GS2 well it is an entry level
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single dose grinder and single dose means that you can pop any amount of pre-weighed beans into
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the top Hopper here and as you turn it on you can change the variability of the grind so you
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could have maybe a filter grind or an espresso grind very easy eat with a doll at the front
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so it allows a lot of flexibility for someone who hasn't yet got a coffee machine that might
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be using an aero press or a pour over to still enjoy those at home but then dial this grinder
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in for the espresso that the Pippa is going to be able to handle and need to get that finer grind to
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build up the pressure and get great extractions so it's really covering you know your current
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coffee habits and helping you to introduce into better espresso the GS2 allows you to use this
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dosing pot to catch the grind individually and they do fit perfectly into the handle so you
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can transfer the grind straight into your handle or if this is a coarser grind you can put that
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straight into your pour over or an Aeropress so a lot more flexibility there's a button on here
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which allows you to press it and Grind On Demand or you can just run it flat out with a switch at
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the back and and keep it purging constantly so the GS2 is a step up from one of those normal
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Appliance style Grinders that you don't have any flexibility at all you can get blades for them you
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can change the blades and put a really expensive set of blades in there to increase that quality of
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the grind if you choose as well so the Pippa is a good quality Italian machine and it has
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fantastic Heritage from the Quick Mill brand you can get it in this white and Timber a black and
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Timber or a full stainless steel finish so a few different options to suit you personally a lot
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of machines at this price point don't have that kind of customization that you want to enjoy out
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of a higher end machine you've got the smaller 450mm single boiler you've got a 58 mil group
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handle which is the same as what a cafe would use and you can change the baskets to be single
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or double you've got a cool touch steam wand the only negative really about these kind of machines
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is you are the the tool that makes the machine work you have to flick a switch and choose whether
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you're going to be boiling water to brew espresso or then flick another switch to per all of that
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water out and then generate steam to be able to froth so that process takes a little bit longer
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because you've got to purge it out which means your espresso sits a little bit longer but it is
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at a significant cost reduction to the next level of machines if you can get that process down pat
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pretty quick you can make beautiful espresso and get great milk and still have amazing coffees so
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this package sits at around the 1800 Mark so well under the two thousand dollars allowing about 200
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for all the accessories that you would use to make a better cup of coffee a better tamper a Tamp mat
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some extra milk jugs or any of those accessories that you haven't quite got yet in your kit
Package Number 2
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now we have Mary coming into our Espresso Bar to get her and her family a wonderful machine
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perhaps for a big present or something the budget's a little bit higher and we're going
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under that five thousand dollar Mark now it might sound like a lot of money but we're between two
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and five thousand dollars there's a whole range of different options to look at so I want to explain
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those to you over here we do have a rocket Giotto Chronometro R which is actually a rotary version
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HX style machine and over here we do have a Quick Mill Rubino machine which has a vibration pump in
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it and in the middle we do have a Precision GS7 coffee grinder so this grinder can work really
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well with both of these options if you're looking to try and step it up and get a finer grind it's
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going to be definitely an upgrade from the GS2 now if we look at this package together we're
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going to be sitting around the three and a half thousand dollar Mark and the reason being is the
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vibration pump in this is where we're going to get a lot of saving the pumps allow you to have great
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pressure and they kind of ramp up to that nine bar pressure that we all talk about you've got a
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three liter water tank in them they're beautifully Italian styled and Italian made and have a full
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stainless steel chassis with your 58 mil group head so this is going to be a great replication
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of something that you might get in a cafe still as well but with some finesse and some beautiful
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finishing that's going to help it look appealing in the house you get your cool touch wands your
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hot water tap and with the HX you can steam Brew shots or do hot water at the same time over here
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we have the rocket Giotto Chronometro R with the grinder and you're going to be hitting around that
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four and a half thousand dollar mark and you think well where's the value in that well simply the R
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stands for rotary pump and that brings a whole lot of value into a coffee machine because we've gone
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away from the vibration pump we've got consistent nine bar pressure you can now have this machine
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plumbed and have a a great filtration system and never have to worry about filling up your top tank
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and all of that heating and Brewing is exactly the same in the front end however it's now controlled
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digitally via a PID in under the drip tray you can also have your drip tray run as a pipe down into
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a drain so you can use the machine all day with that water supply coming in from the rotary pump
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and the mains connection and you can safely have all of that water drain away very easily as well
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what is a PID? The PID is a digital way to control the temperature of a boiler it allows you to set
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it and it'll fluctuate up and down by one or two degrees but it's a much more accurate way for a
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machine to measure temperature and maintain that inside the boiler where in a lower end
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machine you might have a pressure stat which is a mechanical way to turn the element on and off
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you've definitely got a bigger frame size and a Next Level Italian styling in the detail so you've
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got some nicer hot water taps your group handles are the full depth so they can take the big 21
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gram baskets as well so there's more value added there and you do start to get a naked portafilter
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handle all of those things are definitely uh the value there in the difference between these
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two packages if you wanted to literally upgrade something like this to this machine you're going
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to have to spend that kind of money if you're going to buy the accessories or extras separately
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and add them into your pack and then we've got the grinder the gs7 from Precision it's still a
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chinese-made grinder and it sits around the 700 price point so you could definitely bring this
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value up and start to spend around twelve hundred dollars or more and get a matching Grinder from
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rocket or a matching one for quick Mill if you wanted to but the grind you know you've got to
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have something that is Auto dosing easy to change the actual grind and a bigger blade burr set so
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up to a 64 mil burr set here and it's a Grind On Demand grinder you simply can press single dose
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or double dose and it's going to grind into your portafilter and make life so much easier now I
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know not everyone's going to be getting a dosing pot and a set of scales and using recipes like we
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talk about so it definitely makes it easy for anyone in the household just to get the handle
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out of the coffee machine pop it in and get the grind tampered and get an espresso shot because
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we know that one person in the household is making sure it's dialed in perfectly so that the rest of
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them can have a really easy coffee in the morning so that's our under five thousand dollar budget
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we're going to be again that three and a half to four and a half thousand dollar Mark someone who's
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looking at this kind of gear it's going to look a little extras like OCDs for Distributing and
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a few other extras that you might look at Scales dosing pots so you could get up to that five grand
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pretty easy but the quality of this machine is going to be beautiful you're going to get amazing
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flexibility and variable of grind and extractions and really silky and beautiful milk because the
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boiler size is in these are the 1.8 liters which is a ton of steam you can handle having 10 people
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over for a beautiful breakfast in the morning or your espresso martinis at night it's going to
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handle that volume very easily and now we've got Rod Rod's turned up and said hey I've had a couple
Package Number 3
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of coffee machines over the years and I'm ready to go the next level he's got over five thousand
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dollars to spend so I'm going to show you here the ECM Synchronica the product comes out of Germany
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and the finish on this and the detail is just that true German engineering that you'd expect
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it's definitely got a high level of sophistication in every part that's made the steam Taps are over
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engineered the group handles are fully balanced and weighted you've got your rotary pumps dual
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boilers you can Plumb this thing in you've got full temperature control to your front Brew
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head they've gone to the next stage in protecting the chassis with a full powder coated anthracite
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finish so that'll last for a long time a really big drip tray which can be run from a hose down
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to a drain if you need to it does come with a big water tank if you don't want to run it from
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the rotary pump and and you can get a variable valve in here which allows you to vary the flow
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that's an add-on extra that ECM do do we've got a special video on that one which is called a flow
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controller if you want to check it out if you're looking at this level of machine in your home
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and we're going to pair that with a Fiorenzato All Ground grinder now in the first package I
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kind of said well maybe you're Brewing some other device at home and you want to step up
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to a great espresso machine well the Fiorenzato has you covered there it can easily change from
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espresso to filter grinds so easy with the front dial there you've got a set of titanium Burrs in
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there and you can pull it all out and get in and clean it out super easy it's got a removable Chute
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so if it does get jammed up it can pass that grind easy and it can be used as a single dose grinder
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it will hold a little bit of retention but it's definitely a great grinder to flash lights at you
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so you may notice the little light at the back has just died it's been one of those challenging days
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here today's shooting uh so back on the Fiorenzato you've got a full digital display here which does
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change uh color when you're going from espresso to mocha or filter and then the settings change
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so it's very easy to control your dose that is coming out automated with your single or double
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cup portafilter button options and also when you change to your filters and your mocha those
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buttons will change color but also the ability to change how they're actually working so with
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a preset or a press and hold so super amount of flexibility there and as I said it allows
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you to have a full range of grind options for your full Espresso Bar because if you're going to spend
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this kind of money on a coffee machine for home I'm sure you've got to pour over an AeroPress or
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some other devices that you love to play with as well so a grinder that's going to fit all
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of those options now as you start to spend a bit more money on a coffee machine you've got to make
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sure that your grinder is going to keep up there is no point having great amount of pressure from
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a rotary pump and maybe variable pressure control and temperature control if you're going to skimp
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out on not getting a good grinder as I said before the the titanium coated Burrs in the Fiorenzato
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are going to give you that clean crisp beautiful acidity and great flavors that you're going to get
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far better than a conical Burr grinder which can be a little bit muddy so if you're chasing that
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beautiful fresh style flavors a flat burr grinder is going to help if you want to get just body and
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not really worry about those kinds of things maybe look at a Mazzer Kony or Robur which has
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the conical Burrs which will just give you a heap of body so I did say it's over five grand this
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packs about six and a half thousand dollars and if you're at this price point you're definitely
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going to be looking at a set of good scales your dosing pots your OCD or NCD Distributors and a
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whole range of other cool little accessories to make the kit look awesome in your home so you may
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hit seven or seven and a half thousand dollars with all of those extras but it's going to be
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well worth it because you'll be able to make a good style analytically approached Brew in your
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house so before I wrap up the one thing we did talk about here was a coffee machine and grinder
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package I want to stress that you can't buy one of these machines without buying a grinder you've got
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to have a fresh ground Bean so you can adjust that grind and dial it into your machine don't think
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you can buy one of these grind these machines and have a pre-ground packaged coffee from anywhere
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it's just going to not do any justice so the rule of thumb we like to say is spend between 25 to 30
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percent of your machine spend on a grinder and then you're going to be matching the quality
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of that grind to what the machine can use in performance so there you have it three different
Conclusion
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options in different price points that you could use as a home Barista and enjoy making great
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coffee what would you put in here differently do you think you'd use one of these machines
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have they been your dream machines or perhaps a different grinder I'd love to hear in the
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comments below what you would look to put on your bench I'm sure there's a whole different range of
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options these are ones that we love and recommend if you're in Australia and you want to buy one of
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these packs reach out to us we'll happily help you out and get one of these into your home
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anyway thanks very much for watching everyone we'll catch you next time cheers [Music]
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