re: Noticed a lot of coffee questions lately, specialty coffee industry pro AMA

This has come up several times in this thread, but for good reason.

I'm drinking an El Salvadoran (Loma La Gloria) espresso brewed over ice right now. It tastes like green apple, cotton candy, and milk chocolate. Each sip gives me 60 seconds of a myriad of flavors—it's an experience. But the shot I'm drinking was ground on a $3,000 grinder and brewed on a $40,000 Synesso MVP Hydra. A professional barista dialed in the specs that allowed for this coffee to taste as good as it does. And he'll have to dial it in every hour or so to keep it pulling right. He set the pre and post infusion settings this morning, and he'll adjust those throughout the day as well. At the end of the day, he'll have to spend 30 minutes back-flushing and cleaning the machine and grinder. It's a ton of work!

Accomplishing this at home is nearly impossible. You can barely get a decent spro grinder for less than $400, and a usable espresso machine is hard to find for less than $4,000. This is something that would be good for the house: LINK

It's just too much money and too much work to get decent results at home. The closest thing I've found is an Aeropress. Here's my spro style recipe:

Inverted, plunger set halfway between 2 and 3.
20 grams ground on Baratza setting #6. Level coffee bed in bottom of the Aeropress.
185 degree water to rim, stir for 10 seconds. Top with a splash as it settles, cover with washed filter and cap, invert and press for 30 seconds. Stop when you hear the hiss.
I brew this over ice and top off with more ice.

I've held off buying this: LINK
But with practice you might be able to get a decent shot. The reason I haven't pulled the trigger boils down to this: it's a hassle, and at the end of the day you're better off just stopping by a 3rd wave shop for spro or choosing a home brewing method that yields a great cup of coffee.