Are you ready to become your own barista? Featuring a high quality integrated conical burr grinder, the Breville Barista Express will help you grind and brew the best possible coffee you’ve ever had, allowing you to fully enjoy its great aroma and rich flavor. The Barista Express not only features a fifteen bar pump, but also a swivel mounted steam wand and a PID regulated temperature control. Thanks to its streamlined design and high quality die-cast casing, the Breville Barista espresso machine is going to help make you excellent tasting coffee drinks easier and faster than most other alternatives currently available.
Features:
Sophisticated and Strong
One of the best things you’ll appreciate about het Barista Express besides the tasty coffee it can make is the zinc die cast and high grade aluminum construction. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find a machine that is even remotely as durable as this one without costing you as much as an arm and a leg.
Hands-free Grinding
Do you need to grind some coffee beans in order to make coffee for some of your friends who just dropped by? Well, thanks to its incredible operation, you just need to place the portafilter in the cradle, use the dial to choose your preferred grind amount and then with a single touch it’s going to fill with fresh grounds.
Integrated Grinder
We all know that the taste of your coffee is highly dependent on the type of grinder your coffee machine uses. In this regard, the Barista Express uses a SS conical burr grinder that ensures the coffee beans are properly ground so that you can enjoy maximum aroma and flavor. On top of that, when it comes to the new eight ounce hopper, the company has taken cues from the fetching Smart Grinder produced by Breville.
Powerful Pump
If you’re the type who really thinks that the taste of a high quality cup of coffee begins with its flavor, then you’re going to be happy to know that the Barista Express features a fifteen bar triple prime pump which effectively helps infuse grounds in order to improve it. Even more, the espresso gauge helps you keep an eye on the entire coffee making process by displaying the extraction pressure at all times.
SS Steam Wand
Who doesn’t like a frothy espresso? Luckily, the Barista Express features a swivel ball mounted steam wand which makes it easy for you to choose the way you want the pitcher to be positioned in order to ensure excellent froth control.
Temperature Control
During extraction, the PID (built in) helps ensure that the water temperature is maintained at two hundred degrees Fahrenheit. However, if you want, then you can also decrease or increase the brew temperature in increments of two degrees Fahrenheit. You can also use the auto purge function which helps ensure the machine returns to the best temperature for extracting espresso.
Razor Dosing Tool
In order to ensure you pull consistent shots every single time, the patented SS dosing tool will help trim up the portafilter after each tamp. This is a very useful feature that’s greatly going to improve the taste of your espressos.
Energy Efficient
Breville has invested a lot in developing energy efficient espresso machines and the Barista Express is a testament to their hard work. The machine will go into standby mode if it’s not used for 60 minutes and it’s going to turn off if it’s not used for 180 minutes.
Pros:
- Thanks to the dedicated hot water dispensers, you can now easily prepare hot tea or Americanos.
- The Barista Express has a large sixty seven ounce capacity side access tank. You can also use an optional filter if you want.
- The machine comes with a tamper, dosing tools and a frothing pitcher.
- You can easily fine tune your espresso shot by adjusting the brew temperature down or up by four degrees Fahrenheit.
Cons:
- Even though the drop tray has been redesigned, the integrated grinder will cause superfluous espresso ground to basically mix in the drip tray and cause a mess.
You might also like to read our comparison of Breville Barista Express vs Express Pro vs Express Impress.
Final Verdict: Should You Buy This Model
Featuring a very clean and modern, yet very appealing design, the Breville BES870XL is by far one of the best espresso machines you can currently get if adequate pricing and high-quality espresso shots are your cup of tea. After all, this is a mid-range espresso machine that features a very high quality conical grinder. Thanks to it, the beans are effectively ground in such a fine way that you’re going to be able to pull flavor rich espresso shots with a very special aroma.
The BES870XL also allows you to fiddle with the temperature, making it clear that this is a machine intended for those who really want to fine tune the taste of their coffee drinks. With a whole slew of other excellent features, such as the razor dosing tool, powerful pump and stainless steel steam wand, the BES870XL is by far one of the top espresso machines you can currently get and we highly recommend it to coffee lovers around the world.
Comparable Models to consider
Breville 800ESXL: This model is similar in performance to the BES870XL, yet comes at a lower price. It also features a very useful purge function which guarantees the best espresso extraction temperature. Even better, thanks to the Triple Prime Pump, the machine manages to release three bursts of very hot water in order to ensure that the ground coffee is properly moistened and can therefore produce a flavor rich cup of coffee.
Gaggia 14101 Classic Espresso Machine: The Gaggia 14101 features a grouphead for temperature stability, but also high quality portafilters (made of brass), a SS housing and a beautiful design. It’s also about $200 cheaper than the BES870XL.
DeLonghi ECAM22110SB: With its compact size, aroma button and ability to produce coffee in a snap, the ECAM22110SB is a great choice for coffee lovers who demand quality, but cannot afford paying top dollar for it.
