well no phantasmagoric dreams about Flying Espresso Machines last night.
not that i remember anyway ...
" I've become lazier about espresso (from grinding to cleanup), and want something that is less of a hassle, yet still gives me a shot or two of espresso almost the equivalent of what I can get in a cafe. ""
Espresso requires some work , for a decent cup,
once one has a comparable line of equipment that , in series , is matched component to component
ie a cheaper grinder may not bring out the ' best ' in a more expensive Extractor , and visa-versa
Home-Barista has lot of good information on many many machines and grinders ; Breville:
I dont see what you are going to get out of the Bambino , that you are not already getting out of the Silvia.
if the two ( Silvia Bambino ) are of equal quality , construction and ease of use , and Im not sure of that ,
the work for an espresso in the cup seems similar. you are not going to get decent espresso
w/o the effort and skill in doing the tamping, etc. That's the crucial step in the series chain for a good to excellent espresso
is it possible you really want a new machine? After all , nothing wrong w that. Breville seems to have striking designs
over most of their lines. if you do go for Breville , Id consider
https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/espresso/bes840.html
a pressure gauge is very useful , but Id make sure you can set the pressure somewhere inside the machine , once. and the brew-head temp.
and id comes in RED ! that will wake you up in the AM !
then there are Super-Automatics :
https://www.home-barista.com/advice/super-automatic-espresso-machines-t14118.html
https://www.home-barista.com/espresso-machines/super-automatic-vs-automatic-vs-semi-t1528.html
I think they are expensive .
so Id say , getting a new machine is a great deal of fun
but its going to be the same amount of work for you compared for what you have a now.
and any machine that you hope to get Barista Espresso out of should have a pressure and temp adjustment
you do this only once.
no Wine ( or Whine ) just yet . a home roasted Guatemala ,as a drip so far today.
to go back to your original question :
I dont think you are going to get equivalent ' cafe espresso '
for less ' hassle ' or as Id call it : personal involvement in the process.
then there are these ( always check Amazon ) :
https://www.amazon.com/super-automatic-espresso-machines/b?ie=UTF8&node=14162671
I had a ' shot ' from a Jura being demo'd a long time ago :
2000 or so ? it was an elegant looking machine , more expensive than
the current crop , the shot had good crema ( robusta in the bean mix ? )
not very complex flavor ( bean mix and roasting ? )
and it did not, back then, have very much body , ie emulsion
it was just ' strong ' coffee w crema , one button , done
coming out of an impressive design. things may have changed .
one last thing : I gifted a SupperEsspresso to neighbors
who extensively helped me sell the home I grew up in , in the S.BayArea
about 2003. SM no longer carries this sort of machine, and I bought it from them.
They told me that machine was much better than the stuff at W-S etc. It was the only S-A they carried. It was about 1,000 back then. ( W-S was doing the demo on the Jura's )
the neighbors loved this machine . ease of use ( built in grinder , tamping etc )
push button , espresso in the cup. they were very kind to my father in his later days
and very helpful to me w ideas on how to sell that house. for the joy they got
out of that machine , it was a very very small price to pay.
and they ordered roasted coffee from SM every few weeks for it.
Im wondering if the Amazon SuperAutomatics have a fair return policy
if you are not satisfied ? they might work far better these days than days gone by
and you, of course , will be using far better beans these days than demo'd back then
