Earlier this week, I was doomscrolling on Reddit — as one does — when a post on r/espresso caught my eye. I'm often seen lurking on r/espressocirclejerk, but I don't need to frequent the source, r/espresso, for a few reasons. So if I do dip my toe into the main Subreddit, it must be for a special occasion.

And then I saw this post: "My controversial take is that some of you dont[sic] enjoy espresso, you just enjoy buying expensive equipment". Thank you, Reddit user mindlesspointer. Thank you.

I don't think this should be a controversial take. I think this is entirely the truth. Don't let the Internet tell you to spend thousands on gear to prove you like espresso. I'm an ex-professional barista — one independent specialty coffee shop and two chains — and now a professional coffee machine tester and director of The Coffee Lab, so I feel uniquely positioned to comment on this.

The Reddit room was split. Half of the commenters agreed, while half disagreed. Some users defended their commitment to progression and the journey: "People like the feeling of progression in a hobby. Same way in a video game people like building out their character, finding fancier guns, etc.," wrote user Noah_Joseph.

Others pointed out that their "basic" espresso machines did the trick. PlsNoOlives (love that name, even though olives are one of my favorite foods) added: "The day I realized making a yummy latte for myself and a friend was my peak satisfaction and now I just want to pour a swan on top.

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