A semi-professional portafilter espresso machine paired with a great grinder.
I can make coffee at home that’s better than what’s being served in most cafés and I can just have that for breakfast every morning. Felt like quite the quality of life improvement.
I don't do the espresso machine, but the Baratzza Encore for my pour over or Aeropress has been one of my best food/beverage investments. Between that and a bag of different single origins beans a month almost makes getting up for work bearable! 😄
My style, exactly! But even my $20 grinder works wonders compared to pre-ground coffee. I've thought about updating that component but I make pretty good coffee as is.
After getting it, I didn't notice the hugest difference at first as I was learning to dial it in, but the first time I went back to my fav preground it just tasted so flat and stale.
It's given me access to do much great coffee now that I can get whatever I want, and being able to adjust grind to tweak the flavor even more has been great.