Fits 47.2 in (120 cm) with room to work
All-in-one on the counter
One footprint, two jobs. The hopper needs room above and the tray needs room in front, and both lines are judged.
$849.89 · prices as of Oct 28
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Pick the morning, then read what it needs.
Each setup is judged against its own counter by the same checks. None is ranked; each opens with what decides it.
A setup is a whole coffee corner: the machine, the grinder and what comes later, built around one constraint and judged against its own counter by the same checks. The cards are not ranked. Each is named for the constraint it was built around: a first espresso setup, a small-space setup, an espresso setup with a hand grinder, an all-in-one on the counter, a step-up (single boiler, 58 mm), and a pour-over bar on a cart.
Pick the constraint that sounds like your kitchen, because the constraint decides what gets judged first. On a tight counter, depth and the water tank come before width, since a counter fails from front to wall before it fails side to side. For an all-in-one, the room above for the hopper and the room in front for the tray are both judged. In a first espresso setup the grinder comes second on the list, not last, because there it changes the cup more than a second boiler would. For pour-over, the kettle and the grinder are the two figures that decide the cup.
Each card opens a setup against its own counter. Its check page answers against your three counter numbers, and its buy page orders the parts by when each one changes your coffee. To read every setup side by side, use Compare them all.
Depth decides it
Cold brew and milk-drinks corner for a small kitchen
For one or two people in a small kitchen who drink iced coffee and milk drinks at home, dairy or plant milk, and have no room for an espresso machine.
$263.44 · prices as of Oct 28
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Fits 47.2 in (120 cm) with room to work
Espresso bar: machine + grinder
Spend where you taste it. Skip the decorative extras and keep a clean way up later.
$529.85 · prices as of Oct 29
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Fits 23.6 in (60 cm) with room to work
Espresso cart: machine and grinder on a rolling cart
For someone with no free counter who wants espresso and milk drinks from a machine and grinder that roll out of the way.
$802.85 · prices as of Oct 28
See this setupFits 47.2 in (120 cm) with room to work
First espresso setup
Machine, grinder, scale, bought in that order, because that is the order they change the cup.
$499.90 · prices as of Oct 29Total excludes the Bambino Plus Espresso Machine (BES500): bought later
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Fits 23.6 in (60 cm)
Pour-over brew bar on a cart
The kettle is the machine. The grinder and the kettle decide the cup; the dripper is a footprint, not a decision.
$683.40 · prices as of Oct 28
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One check first
Pour-over station
For one or two people who brew filter coffee by hand each morning and want a scale and a kettle with temperature control.
$239.99 · prices as of Oct 28
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Height decides it too
Small-space espresso
The machine stands fine. The water tank is the part that catches people out.
$389.94 · prices as of Oct 29
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Fits 35.4 in (90 cm) with room to work
Step-up espresso (single boiler, 58 mm)
Keep what already works. What changes is the one thing you have outgrown, and nothing is bought to match what we have not seen.
$1,300.94 · prices as of Oct 28
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Fits 47.2 in (120 cm) with room to work
Touchscreen all-in-one on an open counter
A screen instead of a dial, on a counter with nothing behind it. The tray needs its room in front, and that is the line judged here.
$1,065.74 · prices as of Oct 28
See this setupSide by side, every one of them against the same counter.Compare them all
The two pages under every setup, all 10
Each setup has a page that answers it against your counter and a page that says what to buy in what order. Both are one click from here.
