I’ve been pretty happy with my home setup for a while. I have progressed from the Sage Barista Express to the Sage Oracle and never had any issues at all. I recently bought a hand grinder for when I have a speciality blend or am on the road and so purchased a KinGrinder K6. I have found that it is actually a lot better than the grinder built into the Sage.
I am now looking at upgrading to a separate grinder and maybe swapping to a more manual Espresso machine also.
I have looked at Niche and Eureka as well as the Df83 grinders but honestly am a little lost. I only drink Espresso based drinks and am UK based.
I have also looked at the La Pavoni and Eureka machines for Espresso.
Just really looking for some guidance. I have an independent coffee roaster that I get my beans from and like a darker roast and am happy with what I get. I very rarely change blends or if I do I switch between one or two blends.
I have a strong preference for conical. Taste is great and you can control how fine or coarse the result is way better than with flat burr only.
Surprisingly, i have no preference on ceramic or metal. It doesn’t impact the result to a level i could identify. I’ve been told to use ceramic because it is better, but honestly, i now have a metal one (partly due to budget) and i am happy.