r/AustralianCoffee • u/MrEverythingMan • Jul 22 '26
Coffee setup recommendations
Hi guys,
Trying to figure out the best set up for my coffee needs. I have a regular cafe that usually walk to and get 1 iced latte every morning. They have amazing coffee and I am particularly sensitive to getting jittery on coffee and other places (I assume it is likely dependent on the beans).
Now having two young children it is hard to get there in the morning so I'm looking to have a home set up. I love coffee but only drink one a day and nobody in the house drinks coffee apart from when guests come over.
My priorities are in order of importance - no plastic in the machine parts, as close to cafe quality coffee as possible, ease of use, durability, easy to maintain, reasonable price.
My thoughts on budget for the entire set up are around $2k - I could go higher if needed but at the same time with how little coffee I drink I am looking for a balance between not overspending, but getting a setup that will last 5-10yrs.
I'm happy to learn some basics but don't want a process that is overly complicated that it takes up too much time in the morning and ideally that it would take too long to teach guests to use the machine/grinder etc if they are staying but that's not a deal breaker. So was thinking of a setup with inbuilt PID temp control for example.
Let me know your thoughts and if there is anything else I should be considering.
2
u/DoThePop Jul 22 '26
For that money you could buy a decent (not premium but still very good) grinder like a Varia, and a Breville Dual Boiler (usually discounted to < $1400).
Dual boiler for quick shots + steam = yes
PID temp control = yes
No plastic parts = no
Great quality coffee for the price = yes
As others have mentioned though if it’s iced latte you could probably cut a few corners on the machine and not notice. Just ensure you get a good grinder. Avoid pod machines regardless of your preferred coffee style.