>But spend like $800-$1600 on a nice grinder and espresso machine The issue with this pricing model is that it is entirely driven by lack of scale. Both grinde

>But spend like $800-$1600 on a nice grinder and espresso machine The issue with this pricing model is that it is entirely driven by lack of scale. Both grinders and espresso machines are well understood and pretty old tech. Sure, there are improvements, but I doubt most people can tell them apart in double blind tests from equipment that is 50 years old. Due to this lack of scale, coffee stuff gets into 1-2k territory even at the beginner level, unlike most other household appliances that are in the hundreds territory. The only positive development I've seen here is that grinders from China (like df64) have become good and cheap-ish.