That's an interesting design, where it brews coffee from the counter, up  

Nice setup.  I want to add a manual pull to my line up.

Been looking at the Phillips 3200. Anyone have one of those? Or can tell me a better one?

I've gotten better espresso from the Flair Classic (a much lower level brewer than the 58) than I have from my Gaggia Classic.  

The Flair is a PITA, due to being 100% manual but the 58, with the built in heater, might be a very good compromise.

+1. We’ve had one for sometime like 13+ years.

Rancilio Silvia. Probably the best bang for the buck in terms of being a real espresso machine (as opposed to a consumer appliance with non-serviceable plastic internal parts that fail after a few years). Built like a tank with metal internals that you can buy replacement parts for, if you ever need any. I think mine is about 13 years old now and still going strong.

Ordered my coffee addicted wife a Delonghi Magnifica Evo for Christmas, any accessories I should get with it? Also could use good recommendations for beans.

Jura

That's good to know. I have the Flair signature pro and have been perfectly happy with it, but that standard porta filter on the 58 has tempted me. I chose the manual because I didn't want to do the cleaning or fixing/maintenance the automatics require.
Kyle Roswell has a video comparing the 58 to the Gaggia.

Have you seen James Hoffman's review of the Flair 58?  He had some minor issues with it but overall, gave it a pretty good review.

Yes, I subscribe to his channel. They all critique the manuals by saying they can't do the milk beverage's. I wish they knew about the bellman steamer.
https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/bellman/50ss

Yeah, you can do a lot worse than a classic lever machine like a Europiccola or an Olympia Express Cremina.

Even James Bond had a Pavoni, although his technique left a lot to be desired. Attached File

Get her some good double walled mugs. I’m got mine at Willams Sonama.

As far as beans go. She’s gonna have to try a bunch until she finds her favorite. That’s kinda part of the fun.

Where do you guys order your machines/equipment? Looking at the Rancilio Sylvia Pro X or the Rancilio Sylvia witht the PID installed. What about a good grinder that isn't $1,000? Hoping for some killer Black Friday deal somewhere.

I bought my Silvia from https://www.1stincoffee.com/  They were very nice and sent me a little user manual that they had written themselves in addition to some minor free stuff.

I would recommend NOT getting the Rancilio Rocky grinder, though, if espresso is your goal. It really doesn't go fine enough for some roasts/beans. I have one and use it but I think there are better options out there. Am researching this myself.

Other good places I have dealt with over the years:
https://www.chriscoffee.com/
https://www.wholelattelove.com/
https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/
https://www.1st-line.com/
https://www.espressoparts.com/

Thank you sir.

We don’t do home espresso. If you want volume hot coffee drip style I recommend a Moccamastet CDT Grande, 60oz nice flavorful hot ass coffee.

Ton of good replies here, thank you. Didn't think we'd have many here with dedicated machines.

I have been scoping out the La Pavoni Stradivari.

Going to see what kind of pricing my brother can find on them where he lives.

I learned to make espresso and cappuccino on a (less fancy) La Pavoni sometime around 1980. Awesome machine. Very much a rip-snorting industrial beast that is fun to use but demands respect. Makes outstanding espresso.

The only thing I would point out, and this is not necessarily a negative, is that the water reservoir is also the boiler. What this means is that you have a fixed capacity. Before you can open the top and pour in more water, you must power off the machine and bleed all the pressure off, and then let it heat up again after you've filled it up. So, for large groups of people when making big milk drinks with lots of volume and steaming, this can be less than ideal. I don't know what the capacity was on the one I learned on, but apparently some have more capacity than others; there is an "8 cup" and a "16 cup" Stradiveri: https://www.1stincoffee.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=+pavoni

On the semi-auto machines, the water is held in a reservoir that is not pressurized and is accessible at all times, and an electric pump is used to pull water from the reservoir into a boiler, and from there push it through the coffee.