I use a Breville milk steaming pitcher I received with an earlier machine, and am using a HOMEE Knock Box.

The Lelit machine has been great and reliable with over 4 years of use. It includes a PID controller, which stands for 'proportional-integral-derivative,' and is a cool device that helps slow down the heating power as you approach your target temperature. PIDs are little algorithm's in a box, that have a wide variety of uses, such as calculating how to get your car's cruise control to work. Anyhoo! I have had to make some repairs on the machine, but it can be taken apart with a screwdriver, and was rather straightforward to fix each time, once I found the parts. It provides perfect pressure when pulling shots, and heats up with sufficent steaming power within a minute of flipping the switch.

The Sette 270 is a popular mid-level grinder for those trying to elevate their coffee game. This has worked well for me, and Baratza provided a warrenty replacement when the motor gearbox went out once. I do have it on nearly the finest setting for espresso, but I have found it very difficult to get a course enough adjustment for a french press or even pour over coffee. As long as I am using it for espresso, it has been working great. I have to make slight adjustments to the timing and grind with different beans.

You can place the portafilter in a cradle to fill directly from the grinder. However this does often create a mess of grinds overflowing, for the portions I have found pulls a good shot. To work around this, I typically pause the grinder at about 3 seconds, tap the portafilter on my towel on the counter to compress the grinds slightly, and then complete the grind time with less spilling.