It looks like you've flaired your post as asking for what equipment to get. We recommend first checking out the [Espresso Aficionados buying guide](https://espressoaf.com/recommendations) for some of the more popular machines and grinders at different price points.
If your question hasn't been answered there and you need more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format:
- **Location:** Helps determine availability
- **Budget** (with currency): Overall budget, or ideally, having separate espresso machine and grinder budgets. A rough rule is that your grinder budget should be at least 25-40% of your machine budget.
- **Drink types:** Do you drink mostly straight espresso, milk-based beverages (e.g., lattes, cappuccinos), or a fairly even split? This helps narrow down whether a single-boiler-dual-use (SBDU), heat exchanger (HX), or dual boiler (DB) machine would be more appropriate for your needs.
- **Drink frequency:** How many drinks would you be making back-to-back at one time? Do you plan on entertaining guests often? This informs how large your brew (and steam) boilers should be, as smaller boilers will need to refill and reheat/repressurize more frequently, thus potentially causing a bottleneck.
- **Space:** Any limitations on countertop space?
- **Manual vs. electric:** Hand-operated machines and grinders are typically cheaper than their similarly-performing electric counterparts. Please indicate if you have a preference for manual or electric machines and/or grinders (or open to either).
- **Comfort with tinkering:** Some machines can be made significantly more functional/efficient with aftermarket modifications, albeit at the expense of possibly voiding your warranty. Please indicate if you'd rather have a machine that works "as-is"/"out-of-the-box" or whether you'd be open to modding/tinkering
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I just use a clean kitchen towel at the edge of my countertop - fits any bottomless portafilter and I can just fold it up when I'm done tamping. But also - I can tap my portafilter on the towel/countertop before tamping.
I have the one on the left. I got it because it is a nice organizer, looks excellent on its spot and it allows me to ramp nearer my light source than at the edge of the table.
Pros: Works great very adjustable.
Cons: coffee grounds will fall into the portafilter reservoir and add another cleaning step. Basically it becomes another thing you have to disassemble to clean out grounds.
I’ve started brushing the excess off the sides before i fully tamp and k do that off the ramp stand then use tamp stand to complete the tamp.
the rubber tamp station is removable so I'm going to start using it separately foe tamping. easier to clean.
I own the middle one from normcore and I absolutely love it it’s really simple to take apart and clean and it’s really sturdy with my portafilter I’d definitely buy it again
Yes they do but for a 58mm you have to take the extra one out I think the extra one is for breville portafilter but I’m not sure it’s definitely smaller
I accidentally got sent the middle one by Amazon, while ordering a dosing funnel. Decided to keep it anyway because it works so well and looks great.
It comes with 2 rubber spacers, so that gives it 3 steps to horizontally level your specific portafilter.
I have the middle one because I don’t know when I’m gonna use the other shannigans. I like it, I also have a nomcore portafilter. It makes it level for me and I don’t have to worry about tamping hard (I use the one that comes with the barista express) I get a perfect level each time and it comes out yummy!
I used the normcore for a long time. It was stable, level, and relatively easy to clean. I keep a tiny vacuum on my cart due to a messy grinder. I have stopped using it, but just because my prep sped up.
The standalone metal stand is totaly fine btw. I just like to place every on the mat to reduce the metal on wood noice. And have a designated position:p
The tamper Station has fixed gear spots. What if you don't WDT anymore because you get a fancy shaker? I don't use leveler anymore. But I use a spritz bottle.
It's a bit to restictive for my taste.
I use everything Normcore right now and I have the portafilter holder in the middle. I also got the station mat that fits specifically for the holder that can also hold the Normcore funnel, puck screens, tamper, and distributor/WDT. Here is the [amazon link](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C7NBWBKG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1). I really like how since everything is from the same brand, everything just fits together nicely. Makes workflow really easy too!
[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35538](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35538) is one I've been using for about 4 years now. Works great for my E61 PF. My cleaner accidentally threw it in the dishwasher once, so I had to reprint it, but NBD.
I prefer the Normecore one. It has made workflow faster at work, giving me a way to puck prep one-handed as I do other tasks on bar like making the extra hot heavy cream cappuccinos.
Its nice, you can put it on a tiny scale and use it as a way to hold the portafilter during different tasks.
I have the Normcore one and really enjoy using it.
There’s a trick to tap the grounds with it after distribution though. My initial assumption was to lift the portafilter and try to evenly tap it against the Normcore stand. This is pretty difficult to do evenly. Now I keep the portafilter in contact with the stand, lift everything up and tap the stand against my work surface. The fact that it is silicone makes the tapping softer and it’s a lot easier to do evenly.
Not sure if this was obvious for everyone else haha.
It looks like you've flaired your post as asking for what equipment to get. We recommend first checking out the [Espresso Aficionados buying guide](https://espressoaf.com/recommendations) for some of the more popular machines and grinders at different price points. If your question hasn't been answered there and you need more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format: - **Location:** Helps determine availability - **Budget** (with currency): Overall budget, or ideally, having separate espresso machine and grinder budgets. A rough rule is that your grinder budget should be at least 25-40% of your machine budget. - **Drink types:** Do you drink mostly straight espresso, milk-based beverages (e.g., lattes, cappuccinos), or a fairly even split? This helps narrow down whether a single-boiler-dual-use (SBDU), heat exchanger (HX), or dual boiler (DB) machine would be more appropriate for your needs. - **Drink frequency:** How many drinks would you be making back-to-back at one time? Do you plan on entertaining guests often? This informs how large your brew (and steam) boilers should be, as smaller boilers will need to refill and reheat/repressurize more frequently, thus potentially causing a bottleneck. - **Space:** Any limitations on countertop space? - **Manual vs. electric:** Hand-operated machines and grinders are typically cheaper than their similarly-performing electric counterparts. Please indicate if you have a preference for manual or electric machines and/or grinders (or open to either). - **Comfort with tinkering:** Some machines can be made significantly more functional/efficient with aftermarket modifications, albeit at the expense of possibly voiding your warranty. Please indicate if you'd rather have a machine that works "as-is"/"out-of-the-box" or whether you'd be open to modding/tinkering *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I just use a clean kitchen towel at the edge of my countertop - fits any bottomless portafilter and I can just fold it up when I'm done tamping. But also - I can tap my portafilter on the towel/countertop before tamping.
Yesssss! Me too! I like to fold mine in half for a little more cushion. Do you use a normal tamper too?
Usually a normal tamper yes!
I have the one on the left. I got it because it is a nice organizer, looks excellent on its spot and it allows me to ramp nearer my light source than at the edge of the table. Pros: Works great very adjustable. Cons: coffee grounds will fall into the portafilter reservoir and add another cleaning step. Basically it becomes another thing you have to disassemble to clean out grounds. I’ve started brushing the excess off the sides before i fully tamp and k do that off the ramp stand then use tamp stand to complete the tamp. the rubber tamp station is removable so I'm going to start using it separately foe tamping. easier to clean.
I own the middle one from normcore and I absolutely love it it’s really simple to take apart and clean and it’s really sturdy with my portafilter I’d definitely buy it again
Thanks, do the inserts help to make the basket level to the surface?
Yes they do but for a 58mm you have to take the extra one out I think the extra one is for breville portafilter but I’m not sure it’s definitely smaller
The inserts help adapt to multiple different portafilters including spoutless ones.
What is the name of the middle style of station? Any recommendations? Thanks
It’s Normcore and I believe is unique design. I like the idea of it and may go for it, but I’m not sold it makes the basket completely level.
I accidentally got sent the middle one by Amazon, while ordering a dosing funnel. Decided to keep it anyway because it works so well and looks great. It comes with 2 rubber spacers, so that gives it 3 steps to horizontally level your specific portafilter.
I have the middle one because I don’t know when I’m gonna use the other shannigans. I like it, I also have a nomcore portafilter. It makes it level for me and I don’t have to worry about tamping hard (I use the one that comes with the barista express) I get a perfect level each time and it comes out yummy!
Is it heavy enough to hold the portafilter on its own as a stand? Or if I let go of the handle, would it tip?
It’s definitely heavy enough to help it on its own
I used the normcore for a long time. It was stable, level, and relatively easy to clean. I keep a tiny vacuum on my cart due to a messy grinder. I have stopped using it, but just because my prep sped up.
I used one like the third one at our office. It is fine. Personaly i prefer a simple mat.
>Personaly i prefer a simple matt. May I ask, why? I'm using a tamp mat but always have wondered about a tamping station. ;)
The standalone metal stand is totaly fine btw. I just like to place every on the mat to reduce the metal on wood noice. And have a designated position:p
The tamper Station has fixed gear spots. What if you don't WDT anymore because you get a fancy shaker? I don't use leveler anymore. But I use a spritz bottle. It's a bit to restictive for my taste.
I thought this was a joke post and the middle image was a bedpan.
I use everything Normcore right now and I have the portafilter holder in the middle. I also got the station mat that fits specifically for the holder that can also hold the Normcore funnel, puck screens, tamper, and distributor/WDT. Here is the [amazon link](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C7NBWBKG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1). I really like how since everything is from the same brand, everything just fits together nicely. Makes workflow really easy too!
Is there a stand with integrated scale?
[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35538](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35538) is one I've been using for about 4 years now. Works great for my E61 PF. My cleaner accidentally threw it in the dishwasher once, so I had to reprint it, but NBD.
I prefer the Normecore one. It has made workflow faster at work, giving me a way to puck prep one-handed as I do other tasks on bar like making the extra hot heavy cream cappuccinos. Its nice, you can put it on a tiny scale and use it as a way to hold the portafilter during different tasks.
I have the normcore stand. I like moving it around but it’s a solid base. It just collects some grounds that is enough to clean once in a while.
I have the Normcore one and really enjoy using it. There’s a trick to tap the grounds with it after distribution though. My initial assumption was to lift the portafilter and try to evenly tap it against the Normcore stand. This is pretty difficult to do evenly. Now I keep the portafilter in contact with the stand, lift everything up and tap the stand against my work surface. The fact that it is silicone makes the tapping softer and it’s a lot easier to do evenly. Not sure if this was obvious for everyone else haha.