I've avoided the espresso gear habit because I don't think I drink/want to waste enough coffee to have a good shot every time. But several years ago I went to a

I've avoided the espresso gear habit because I don't think I drink/want to waste enough coffee to have a good shot every time. But several years ago I went to a class where the instructor poured a bunch of slightly different shots of the same coffee ground finer/coarser, extracted longer/shorter, and dosed with more/less grounds/water. The variation in the flavors was surprising. But when she described pouring several shots a day to get the beans dialed in as they use different batches of beans. I decided it didn't make sense at a home scale for me. In a cafe setting is one thing, but in a house of 1.5 coffee drinkers not so much. A friend doesn't mind, but he roasts his own beans as well. I've had great espresso from him, and I like it but I'm content with little filter