Whats a hobby/craft that you wouldn't expect that has an incredibly high ceiling either monetarily or in sheer skill?
For example, I'm sure the average joe doesn't know just how expensive calligraphy pens can be, or how deep the rabbit hole goes on video game speedruns.
I've purposely avoided getting into espresso because my wife already thinks i'm crazy for wanting to spend $6-700 on a new grinder and drip machine when our current ones "work fine".
Yea, I have extreme fomo when it comes to hobbies, so i inevitable "have" to upgrade. I think it's better I stick to my coffee. But, it's nice to know I can start lower if I ever change my mind.
I've got a £1000 espresso machine and that the cheap one.
We also have all the pour over shite - scales, grinder, gooseneck kettle, Hario... It adds up quickly.
And when you invite a bunch people over and tell them yeah we're into coffee and they ask you for coffee and you're like... Ok I am incapable of making coffee for more than 2 people in under 15 minutes, I need to pull out the senseo pad machine.
You know what the most painful part is? When your guests try the coffee and are like "aaah wow yeah that's... nice! It's really, uhm, intense" because they are so used to their crap coffee and don't get the flowery berry fresh aroma of specialty coffee and you're just smiling and dying inside. I mean I would have hated this kind of coffee 10 years ago myself so I get it but man...
This is why I still have a senseo pad machine. I'm not wasting my time, energy and coffee to make fancy hand filter coffee or manual espressos for people who really don't care (unless they ask for it, in that case, waste away).
I agree of course. It is just nice to have a variety and it is also worth the money to a degree.
Although, I must say, I use rather cheap coffee (not more than 10€-12€/250g with the price resulting rather from fairtrade and organic labels than from it being high quality) if I want to make a milk based drink. I personally don't think most of third wave/specialty coffee tastes good with milk. So using it on a latte macchiato seems like a waste to me.
In general, I personally don't think milk and coffee go well together at all, to be honest. I don't drink milk drinks often, but when I do, I add tons of sugar and sirup and consider it a dessert and not "coffee".
Love coffee as a hobby for this reason. You can start with $20 to get simple pour over equipment or even nicer venas but you can go far and high with it eventually or stop at the $20