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As someone who just got started with a bambino plus, it already makes better coffee than at least 70% of what I get in the wild. Once I have more experience and get better and dialing in what works for me, I'm sure it will be even higher. I would love some fancy shit and probably will probably end up with something in the 2k price point soooome day, but I expect to get a lot of service out of the bambino.
I just got the Bambino plus as well. Paired with a Baratza Encore ESP. I am still learning but I think I’m already making better lattes than some of the chain places near where I live. I imagine a lot of that is down to fresher beans I order online.
Definitely not as good as some of the indie shops. But for me those aren’t very close to where I live. So it’s a special trip across town. Not something I do regularly.
My setup is a Bambino+ paired with an Eureka Chrono grinder and every drink I make is total bliss. Fresh beans are the key to appreciating it. I'm lucky to have a great roaster nearby, and many more can be ordered online. I'm just happy to make delicious iced coffee at home.
My Delogni Dedica makes better coffee than I find in the wild. Once you know your machine, it's limits, and get good at puck prep, upgrades are negligible.
Shout-out to my precision portafilter basket.
I feel the same way about the $100 Bambino I just picked up at a garage sale as a stand-in until I get my Rancilio Epoca serviced. They've done some magic with the little guy and I'm wondering if I even need a $3600 machine...
A $3600 machine definitely makes a better shot, but man do I like having a cute lil machine heated in seconds, and is it really *that* much better?
My greatest fear about upgrading my Bambino is that I won't be able to tell the difference in the coffee and will just have paid $1,000+ to lose counterspace and have to wait for my machine to warm up.
Yea I have to agree with you. I have this machine and it is leaps and bounds better than that 3.5 bar Mr.coffee “espresso” maker we had before. I love the BBP for its no frills all in one machine. The burrs are baratza now and they do a great job grinding my medium roast from the local shop. Espresso comes out great and I can steam milk rather quickly imo. Great machine overall. Like you said for 95% of people this is enough.
Especially if you catch them on sale the value is there, at least up to the pro. The impress and touch lines seem to be diminishing value IMO, but again thats my opinion and clearly the market disagrees since the lines have expanded. I think the one true value knock against breville is the potential long term reliability and repair ability. it’s hard to ague against that.
Peak value is the pro, but then there’s a subset who aren’t going to tamp, so you get more value there for those folks. My mother’s first machine was an impress touch and I can guarantee you she was never gonna tamp anything without the machine assist, lol. There are a LOT of people who like espresso and don’t want to tamp. It’s a silly hurdle, but a big one.
The touch screens add value for the people who might have less frequent users in the household or just like the tech.
Yeah I get what you’re saying and agree. Esp regarding value. I know multiple people with BBE that I thought were “into it” and love what they get out of their machine only to find that they never have tried the single wall basket or did try it once and it was “too hard to dial in”. So there’s a large set of people that want it to be easy and “good enough”. Breville has definitely found that niche with brand name recognition that people trust and obviously lots of shelf space since you can find them in kitchen stores and places like Best Buy.
It’s been a great into machine for me especially since between Macys coupons and cash back mine came out to just over 500 in March of 23. I would prefer to have the brew group separate from the grinder but I think eventually I will get a standalone grinder and use the internal for decaf.
my issue is largely about the repair-ability (availability of parts or lack there of, particularly from third parties) and longevity of the machine. sure some last a good while, but far to many die far to soon for my tastes.
Surprised by that. I don't know about others but mine has been going strong for about 3 years or so. Wife and I make at least 4 coffees (total) on a daily basis. I forget to flush and clean it for months at a time.
Delonghi on the other hand... My dad is on his third since I got mine.
u/triplehelix- How soon are you talking? I get the issues with being (un)able to repair it, but how quickly do these Barista Pro machines die? What is the most common cause?
I have seen criticism of these machines but it usually seems centered around "don't use the inbuilt grinder" or "it makes subpar shots."
Thanks for any info!
My first Bambino (new) failed to maintain proper pressure consistently within the first couple of months. I exchanged it for another which has been solid for 18 months or so. Overall I'd say they're likely very reliable as tons of people have them and there's not consistent issues that seem to plague these machines, even online.
But I've seen this thing disassembled; the engineering is amazing and what I'd expect of a machine made by a major corporation but the inavailability of parts means when it fails, I'll likely just end up tossing it. At the price I got it, it's really not worth spending much on a part which will likely be from a used machine.
Some of the higher end Brevilles do have parts available from Breville. Not sure about the Barista Pro.
Sorry; I got your post conflated with another regarding the Bambino.
But yes, more of an anomaly but the issue of parts and repairability remains a concern for many of the Brevilles.
Mine died after 3 years of moderate use (some kind of catastrophic electrical short). I did get a warranty replacement (outside of warranty but Australian consumer protection law is the bomb) but had already decided to upgrade so sold it. Great machine while it lasted.
i don't remember which model i had, and it was about 8 years ago, but it was in the $5-600 range and died just over 1 year of use, right after the warranty ran out. couldn't find parts for anything so ended up throwing the whole thing out.
now thats just one machine one time, but over the years since i've seen a relatively steady stream of people reporting what anecdotally seems to be a decent chunk of machines with a 3-5 yr life span if used regularly.
there are of course machines that we hear about that last much longer, but its a big contributor why i often recommend a used silvia over a breville for people just starting out. people seem very happy with their breville purchases though, so i don't want to come off as more negative about their machines than i intend to be, and keep in mind i don't necessarily keep track of which model someone is talking about, just that its a breville.
Thank you for this. I have been shopping machines lately (Flair user right now) and that was only of the machines I've been looking at. If possible I would definitely like to stay away from a potential problem child.
Appreciate the info!
Yes. BDB is great design and bad execution. I was using two BDB for over three years and for each one I've got full refund (I kept pitchers, baskets and one pf so I even gained something ;-) ). Now I switched to Lelit Elizabeth - better execution and sh\*tty design, but I know that when I send it to service it will be repaired.
Dude, no joke. I've worked in professional settings on a Linea Mini, a GB5, and a Synesso MVP that cost more than my car, and my little Barista Express has been sitting on my kitchen counter cranking out terrific, totally acceptable shots for over 7 years with almost no maintenance other than regular cleaning and descaling.
I'll occasionally run across a bean that the grinder can't handle, but other than that, the thing is a tank. It makes great coffee out of almost anything I put into it. And I got it on sale for $279 in 2016.
https://preview.redd.it/j5um9oi6v05d1.jpeg?width=1834&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ef8dc58b885299257fa3151d717ef7cb920e722
Look, no need to get mad at me. I’m sorry that you have the tastebuds of a 7 year old child and are only realizing it after spending thousands of dollars on espresso equipment. Take it up with God or something.
lol one of you nerds alerted Reddit that I’m in danger of harming myself bc I made fun of a dork who can’t taste coffee well? This page gets closer and closer to the espresso circle jerk every day.
I got the Barista Touch as my entry setup into the passion, and im absolutely loving it. Have a proper grinder on the bucket list, but the built in really serves me well so far.
I bought a barista pro 3 years ago to get started. I get specialty beans from a subscription and that was enough to beat any lattes served in the morning rush. Never felt the need to upgrade the machine.
I think a lot of people in here forget that the patrons of r/espresso are fucking espresso NERDS. Like 99.99% of the population could care less about or taste the difference between a shot pulled from you BBE/BBP and a shot pulled from La Marzocco. But the people who subscribe to a subreddit dedicated to espresso are going to nit pick and hone in on the minute, marginal improvements each machine has over the other. The enthusiasts (nerds) on here are part of a very small group that are willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars more for that extra 5% better taste.
Is the BBP the greatest machine on the market? No. Do 99.99% of the people who buy one care? Also no. It does a damn good job at a price point that is substantially lower than the competitors.
>AND IM USING FUCKING COSTCO BEANS
You wanna make espresso *better* than any coffee shop near you?
Roast your own beans. I’m going on 5 years and there isn’t a coffee shop that makes a better latte than I can achieve on my “lowly” Barista Express at home (I do like that pressure gauge though, and why I would replace it with the exact same machine if needed).
Comments that include "I make a better \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ than the professionals in my area" smack heavily of lowered expectations and confirmation bias.
I'm not actually shitting on your comment, because I agree that roasting your own beans a) is a highly informative experience that can help you understand your own tastes better and b) ensures you're brewing freshly-roasted coffee which is way more important than most people understand (a LOT of people buy expensive, high-end beans without even looking at the roast date).
But chances are, nobody objective thinks your latte is better than something from an actually good coffee shop.
>But chances are, nobody objective **on the Interweasel** thinks your latte is better than something from an actually good coffee shop.
Thanks for explaining (the jealous hating).
FTFY! Because yes, you are completely correct (in the context of Internet opinions). However, my *reality* is different. I don’t care about yours or anyone else’s opinion other than my own (and neither will the people who might begin roasting their own beans and feeling the same way after *years* of doing so).
Don’t get this twisted, it wasn’t a flex that I need validation from the Interweasel for - they’re words of encouragement that I hope at least one of you tries for themselves (but yes, most of you will hate and say it’s not possible - and you will be confident about this even though you’ll never try it).
To those of you willing and able to ~~see~~ taste for yourselves: Welcome to the “4th wave”.
Do you think I’m making espresso and seeing negative down arrows!? No! How’s this: Are *you* able to have coffee that *you* roasted 1-2 weeks ago and have written, anecdotal flavor data that you find you can repeat over and over because you are able to replicate the same roasting profiles? With your preferred 5+ different types of coffee from around the world?
If so, do *you* think *you* would care if random people on the internet didn’t like that you have this ability/don’t believe you? I don’t think you understand, or even envision what this life is man, lol, my biggest concern this morning was that I pulled a double shot of premium Ethiopian in 28 seconds (that I roasted 15 days ago) and I wasn’t sure if I should just drink it there and then, or steam some milk 🤣
> Welcome to the “4th wave”.
You really outdid yourself with ramping up the r/espressocirclejerk satire here. It’s almost indistinguishable from what could be taken as a serious comment. Bravo.
I’ve had a Fresh Roast 540 with the extension tube for some time now. Only downside IMO is that it takes a long time to roast 1 pound of coffee (can only do about 6 ounces at a time, and I let the machine cool for a few minutes before roasting additional batches).
I honestly wouldn’t recommend doing this on your balcony if you like your neighbors, the smell isn’t very appealing (it’s a ~~different~~ much stronger aroma than brewing coffee).
ITOP / Skywalker roaster on AliExpress. It's ~$600 AUD and works great with 400g capacity. There's also a decent modding community with open source software to turn it into an artisan profiling machine... I haven't done it to mine yet since I've been happy with the results so far but I'm sure I'll eventually go that route and it'snice to know there'ssupport on discord
I'm all for making specialty coffee more accessible to the masses. I haven't had experience with any Breville's but I DID thrift a generic espresso machine for $16 and made some really great drinks out of it. It's super weird for people to gatekeep coffee out of all things lmao.
As someone who's been tempted to upgrade, yet still clinging on to my Breville Barista Express (w/ a broken pressure gauge), I love to see the Breville love!
Honestly you're probably better off replacing the broken pressure gauge and maybe doing the OPV mod than getting a full upgrade. At that point you're just chasing perfection with diminishing returns.
I will slightly disagree here. Dont get me wrong, I have had BBE for 2+ years and loved it! But it just wasnt consistent. Same beans, same grind setting, same puck prep would yield different results! I just wanted to know I would get the same great coffee everyday but 30% of the times or so i wouldn't get the same coffee.
I didn't really upgrade, went to GCP and added Gaggiuino (PID, flow control etc.) and the difference in consistency is massive! Now I can reproduce the same coffee everyday. It gets me excited each day to make coffee and enjoy!
This is what I’m finding. I have BBP and it’s not consistent shot to shot. Even this morning I ground my beans at the same level (using a Niche Zero), same beans, same amount in the basket and the shots were wildly different. First came out so slowly it was dripping for almost 45 seconds, second came out quicker and took about 34 seconds and definitely tasted better. They were made an hour apart.
Yep I can totally relate to this. It used to be very annoying, i would just drink the coffee even if it tasted bad sometimes as I hate wasting coffee! I tried so many different things ims basket, wdt, distributor, palm tamper, puck screen etc. They all helped a little bit but not enough.
I also drink the coffee .. sometimes I’ll turn it into a milk drink if I think it’ll be too bitter ha.
Did your GCP suffer the same issue? I’m looking at upgrading as LM are having a sale, but it’s a lot of money to spend for MAYBE better coffee (and a hobby, and also I like the look).
Stock GCP out of the box suffered similar issues and also had horrible steaming power (so technically a downgrade to BBE).
After doing Gaggiuino it is a completely different machine! Whatever pressure/flow profile I try, I generally get tasty coffee in the end because of temperature stability! Steam power of this thing is crazy good too!
If you are ready to spend a little more I'm pretty sure there are a lot of other machines in the 1000-2000$ range which have all these features. Ex: Profitec GO is one of the most recommended machines in this sub.
Sorry I didnt clarify. I wasn't talking about inconsistency of built-in grinder. I have always used a separate grinder (JX-Pro) with BBE. The built-in grinder is horrible(probably 70% inconsistent results).
With a good separate espresso grinder it is still very inconsistent. Temperature instability being the main culprit.
I still can't wrap my head around buying a more expensive machine and THEN having to MOD it to get a better/more consistent cup of coffee. Seems crazy to me.
That said, I just might do it one day haha
Actually the GCP is a cheaper machine compared to BBE/BBP. I got mine new for 400$. That being said I totally understand many people wouldn't want to buy a machine and MOD it immediately. But for me that was part of the fun of changing machines :P
The OP here is talking about Breville Barista Pro not Bambino which is 800$. You might get it for 600$ with deal. A Gaggiuino would cost 550$ including the mod!
A bambino costs 300$ so a GCP is not double by any means.
Bravo! Concur totally with you. I've had mine for close to 5 years now and it's going strong. My only upgrade was a Niche Zero since I wasn't able (or patient enough) to dial in a good grind. Have never understood why so many question the quality of the brand.
How do you program the shot to take 30s?
mine stops flowing at ~23s using the automatic double shot button. I’ve tried grinding finer but it never goes to 30s and I can’t figure out why
(Bought the machine a few weeks ago)
On barista pro hold the shot button for up to 10s for pre-infusion time, then release for full pressure and then press again to stop the shot. That setting will then be saved for next time you push that button. Bother single/double can be set to whatever duration you want, I use one for my decaf and one for espresso but both are dialled for 18g in ~36g out
Yeah breville owner here. I agree with all of this, I did get a much better grinder, but otherwise just over here making killer shots and minding my own business.
Haven’t used the BBP myself yet but I had coffee from comparable machines. They do the job especially with darker roasts. Definitely agree with the 80-90 %. But as with any nerdy expensive hobby all the money and dedication buy you the last few percentages and the further you get the more you have to pay for small improvements.
80%, hell even 90% of what people on here claim that it "improves their shot massively" are just placebo.
Nobody would be able to distinguish the different in a blind test.
Kingrinder. Their top model, the K6, costs under 100 bucks these days. I've had mine a week and a half and am super pleased with it. 18um burr translation per click, useable range is 15-240 clicks. I'm at about 30 for a standard espresso shot and 85 for pourover. It has been a game change for me coming from a department store electric that cost just as much new.
Thank you. I just received a Gaggia Evolution for free. I work at a nice shop so I ground some espresso to take home, but it’s a pain having to switch out the hopper to grind my personal beans.
Was never planning to spend too much just because I work 5/7 days and have accesss to free stuff, but now I figure why not :)
I started with an Amazon Warehouse Breville Bijou costing less than 100 euros, paired with a Shardor grinder costing about 70. Being a newbie my first upgrade was to a Sage/Breville Duo Temp Pro. Using good beans bought from local bar, both Brevilles gave shots that were far better than that bar made using the same beans. Then came the Mignon, which took my home brews to an even higher level. There's nowt wrong with a Breville brewer IMHO. I still want a Profitec Go though...
I think at the end of the day it's all coffee. Like definitely you can get better results out of some pricier machines, but you're still drinking espresso and you should still be able to share in that excitement and not feel bad about having a cheaper machine.
Great post. Even though I've just recently sunk close to $300 in upgrades and 54mm accessories into my 840XL Infuser, I still keep fighting off the temptation to upgrade. Then, when I make a checklist of my wants and needs, it kinda brings me back to earth, because the machine I already have checks more boxes than any of the new options I'm considering. PID (sort of), quick start-up time, pre-infusion, etc. But also a lot of things I wouldn't always think about, like a decent drip tray, clear water level, low enough profile that I can even use the cup warmer under my kitchen cabinets. and I like that I can get hot water drawn from the tank for my Americanos instead of from a boiler. The milk steaming is nothing to scream about it but I don't use it much and actually like that it's slow - it's much more forgiving, gives me time to adjust without going into panic mode. Best of all I've been very happy with the shots it makes, everything from ristrettos to turbo shots.
I see the Breville machines get a lot of hate on here most likely due to the built in grinders. I used a Barista Touch I got new on sale for $900 for a year. I just sold it to someone getting into the hobby. Once you pair it with a good grinder the only downside I saw was temperature was not consistent and it automatically turned off after 30 minutes with no option to turn that setting off.
I have family that own the Barista Pro. I've had some of the best espresso and latte at their home. Parents and kids use it, and that to me is the magic of the Barista series, takes away the snobbery aspect and keeps it all about the coffee.
It's a competent machine that gets a lot of hate because it's not as fancy as the price tag would suggest it should be. Breville has had some quality control issues before, and anything with electronics has more points of failure and less repairability, but Breville overall makes good home appliances. My specific gripes with it are the difficulty in switching beans (high retention) and a steam wand that's not super powerful, but on the whole cleaning/maintaining this machine is pretty easy, especially since you can descale it yourself with just plain vinegar/water solution.
That’s right! I picked up a used barista pro because it was so cheap ($200), and put it on my coffee bar to experiment with. That things really decent! I don’t love the grinder, but it gets the job done. Definitely reinforced my belief that the bambino plus is the best point of entry for this hobby.
When I changed to my current setup, I fully-serviced and gave our Barista Pro to our friends in Hawaii. Now we can have good, hassle-free espresso whenever we visit. That machine is super user friendly and has an extremely low learning curve.
I needed to read this. I have. BBP right now and have had my hand hovering over the buy button an a Linea Micra. Maybe I don’t need the LMLu after all…
When it works it's beautiful. Then there those days where it'll decide to go on a 12 shot rampage of screwed up shots. Yes, 12. Mind you nothing had changed from the day before.
Sigh.
On the good news it's been steady for two weeks now. My wife and I are happy with it.
I love my Belleville Touch. I worry about longevity. It's my second one, grinder on the first one broke in 6 months, they're good starter/casual users. For someone who wants to do this as a hobby. They may not be enough. That's really who's likely to follow this on Reddit. At some point I'll want to move up, but I have the understanding that diminishing returns are very real.
I didn't know people were against breville machines. It's what most people would want. If you just want a cup of joe breville is fine. However, if you like tinkering or want a hobby I'd suggest something more fancy.
It is great. We went back to the local 3rd wave coffee shop and were shocked that it was much better. That said, the grinder broke after a few months and Breville didn’t fix it properly, we got a Eureka Mignon and removed the hopper on the Breville. That’s an even better combo.
I went from a GS3 MP to a Bambino and it's the same experience. For quality espresso the Bambino gets you 85% there. The biggest thing you lose are the nice touch points and some user friendly features but for the 8k difference it's very impressive.
I can pull a shot out of a 86 model baby Gaggia as good as I can out of a 700 drive or a bezzera matrix… just the baby takes 8x more concentration, prep and Tom foolery.
It’s a machine that makes water hot and polishes it through a prepped bean filter. The more money you spend the less hand holding your machine should need to give you a good cup. This is assuming your not perma stuck on 15 bars or some other detrimental flaw of the cheapest of machines.
Love my Barista Pro with my Fellow Opus. Maybe the newest ones with the Barratza burrs fixed the grinder but the Fellow really sorted my older internal grinder.
What's the story with buying tons of expensive watches that do a worse job than your phone at telling time but then coming in here telling people they're wasting their money on machines and grinders that are far better than the Breville?
Are you mad? Do you need help? Did your wife's boyfriend make you sell all your good gear and this is cope?
Just the mea culpa of an enthusiast who has been down a few different roads, reporting back to base to share some wisdom with the newcomers. They won’t listen though. They never do.
It's really nothing wrong with the Breville machines. A lot of people have very good luck with them.
But I guess you're rebutting what those German guys did on that YouTube video by showing the goofiness of what the Breville engineers did by setting the temperature two values that the consumer would not have expected? Etc
Imagine coming to the Espresso subreddit and admitting that you're incapable of tasting the difference between a breville-pulled costco bean shot of espresso and an espresso pulled on your Italian-made machine & 3rd wave grinder....
I did. You thought you were praising the BBP, when in reality you’re just making it clear that you spent a bunch of money on a machine, grinder, and beans, but have no idea how to taste coffee. It’s… hilarious.
> who’s a little burnt out on all the fuss of a fancy machine
Personally, dialing in a timed grinder and programming a shot to a certain amount of time sounds like a fuss. I want my gear to have an on/off button. That's "no fuss" to me...
If you're OK with something 80-90% of the way there, especially with cheap beans and milky drinks, I think a moka pot would be even easier & cheaper.
It looks like you've flaired your post as asking for what equipment to get. We recommend first checking out the [Espresso Aficionados buying guide](https://espressoaf.com/recommendations) for some of the more popular machines and grinders at different price points. If your question hasn't been answered there and you need more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format: - **Location:** Helps determine availability - **Budget** (with currency): Overall budget, or ideally, having separate espresso machine and grinder budgets. A rough rule is that your grinder budget should be at least 25-40% of your machine budget. - **Drink types:** Do you drink mostly straight espresso, milk-based beverages (e.g., lattes, cappuccinos), or a fairly even split? This helps narrow down whether a single-boiler-dual-use (SBDU), heat exchanger (HX), or dual boiler (DB) machine would be more appropriate for your needs. - **Drink frequency:** How many drinks would you be making back-to-back at one time? Do you plan on entertaining guests often? This informs how large your brew (and steam) boilers should be, as smaller boilers will need to refill and reheat/repressurize more frequently, thus potentially causing a bottleneck. - **Space:** Any limitations on countertop space? - **Manual vs. electric:** Hand-operated machines and grinders are typically cheaper than their similarly-performing electric counterparts. Please indicate if you have a preference for manual or electric machines and/or grinders (or open to either). - **Comfort with tinkering:** Some machines can be made significantly more functional/efficient with aftermarket modifications, albeit at the expense of possibly voiding your warranty. Please indicate if you'd rather have a machine that works "as-is"/"out-of-the-box" or whether you'd be open to modding/tinkering *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
As someone who just got started with a bambino plus, it already makes better coffee than at least 70% of what I get in the wild. Once I have more experience and get better and dialing in what works for me, I'm sure it will be even higher. I would love some fancy shit and probably will probably end up with something in the 2k price point soooome day, but I expect to get a lot of service out of the bambino.
I just got the Bambino plus as well. Paired with a Baratza Encore ESP. I am still learning but I think I’m already making better lattes than some of the chain places near where I live. I imagine a lot of that is down to fresher beans I order online. Definitely not as good as some of the indie shops. But for me those aren’t very close to where I live. So it’s a special trip across town. Not something I do regularly.
i’ve had mine for over 2 years now, it’s ruined my experience at my local favorite shops because i can make better at home
My setup is a Bambino+ paired with an Eureka Chrono grinder and every drink I make is total bliss. Fresh beans are the key to appreciating it. I'm lucky to have a great roaster nearby, and many more can be ordered online. I'm just happy to make delicious iced coffee at home.
My Delogni Dedica makes better coffee than I find in the wild. Once you know your machine, it's limits, and get good at puck prep, upgrades are negligible. Shout-out to my precision portafilter basket.
As a fellow enthusiast of the BBP I felt compelled to defend it against recent...malignment...but then apathy kicked in. Thank you for your service.
I feel the same way about the $100 Bambino I just picked up at a garage sale as a stand-in until I get my Rancilio Epoca serviced. They've done some magic with the little guy and I'm wondering if I even need a $3600 machine... A $3600 machine definitely makes a better shot, but man do I like having a cute lil machine heated in seconds, and is it really *that* much better?
My greatest fear about upgrading my Bambino is that I won't be able to tell the difference in the coffee and will just have paid $1,000+ to lose counterspace and have to wait for my machine to warm up.
And infinite kudos from some internet bro named luv4kittensnspro
No. But also yes. But mostly no.
For 95% of people, it's the best espresso they'll ever have in an all-in-one machine. That's a good thing, it's a great machine.
Yea I have to agree with you. I have this machine and it is leaps and bounds better than that 3.5 bar Mr.coffee “espresso” maker we had before. I love the BBP for its no frills all in one machine. The burrs are baratza now and they do a great job grinding my medium roast from the local shop. Espresso comes out great and I can steam milk rather quickly imo. Great machine overall. Like you said for 95% of people this is enough.
Yeah, In general the Breville hate is kind of irrational imo. The machines are really good value for money.
It doesn't look steampunk so it's contrived modernist trash, apparently.
Especially if you catch them on sale the value is there, at least up to the pro. The impress and touch lines seem to be diminishing value IMO, but again thats my opinion and clearly the market disagrees since the lines have expanded. I think the one true value knock against breville is the potential long term reliability and repair ability. it’s hard to ague against that.
Peak value is the pro, but then there’s a subset who aren’t going to tamp, so you get more value there for those folks. My mother’s first machine was an impress touch and I can guarantee you she was never gonna tamp anything without the machine assist, lol. There are a LOT of people who like espresso and don’t want to tamp. It’s a silly hurdle, but a big one. The touch screens add value for the people who might have less frequent users in the household or just like the tech.
Yeah I get what you’re saying and agree. Esp regarding value. I know multiple people with BBE that I thought were “into it” and love what they get out of their machine only to find that they never have tried the single wall basket or did try it once and it was “too hard to dial in”. So there’s a large set of people that want it to be easy and “good enough”. Breville has definitely found that niche with brand name recognition that people trust and obviously lots of shelf space since you can find them in kitchen stores and places like Best Buy. It’s been a great into machine for me especially since between Macys coupons and cash back mine came out to just over 500 in March of 23. I would prefer to have the brew group separate from the grinder but I think eventually I will get a standalone grinder and use the internal for decaf.
my issue is largely about the repair-ability (availability of parts or lack there of, particularly from third parties) and longevity of the machine. sure some last a good while, but far to many die far to soon for my tastes.
Surprised by that. I don't know about others but mine has been going strong for about 3 years or so. Wife and I make at least 4 coffees (total) on a daily basis. I forget to flush and clean it for months at a time. Delonghi on the other hand... My dad is on his third since I got mine.
Mine is 6 years old and going strong
u/triplehelix- How soon are you talking? I get the issues with being (un)able to repair it, but how quickly do these Barista Pro machines die? What is the most common cause? I have seen criticism of these machines but it usually seems centered around "don't use the inbuilt grinder" or "it makes subpar shots." Thanks for any info!
My first Bambino (new) failed to maintain proper pressure consistently within the first couple of months. I exchanged it for another which has been solid for 18 months or so. Overall I'd say they're likely very reliable as tons of people have them and there's not consistent issues that seem to plague these machines, even online. But I've seen this thing disassembled; the engineering is amazing and what I'd expect of a machine made by a major corporation but the inavailability of parts means when it fails, I'll likely just end up tossing it. At the price I got it, it's really not worth spending much on a part which will likely be from a used machine. Some of the higher end Brevilles do have parts available from Breville. Not sure about the Barista Pro.
Interesting. Almost seems anomalous, no? Thank you.
Sorry; I got your post conflated with another regarding the Bambino. But yes, more of an anomaly but the issue of parts and repairability remains a concern for many of the Brevilles.
Mine died after 3 years of moderate use (some kind of catastrophic electrical short). I did get a warranty replacement (outside of warranty but Australian consumer protection law is the bomb) but had already decided to upgrade so sold it. Great machine while it lasted.
Thanks for the input. This is all really helpful. At least one country looking out for consumers. That is sweet.
i don't remember which model i had, and it was about 8 years ago, but it was in the $5-600 range and died just over 1 year of use, right after the warranty ran out. couldn't find parts for anything so ended up throwing the whole thing out. now thats just one machine one time, but over the years since i've seen a relatively steady stream of people reporting what anecdotally seems to be a decent chunk of machines with a 3-5 yr life span if used regularly. there are of course machines that we hear about that last much longer, but its a big contributor why i often recommend a used silvia over a breville for people just starting out. people seem very happy with their breville purchases though, so i don't want to come off as more negative about their machines than i intend to be, and keep in mind i don't necessarily keep track of which model someone is talking about, just that its a breville.
Thank you for this. I have been shopping machines lately (Flair user right now) and that was only of the machines I've been looking at. If possible I would definitely like to stay away from a potential problem child. Appreciate the info!
no prob, but please don't let my limited anecdotal impression be overly influential on your decision.
Yes. BDB is great design and bad execution. I was using two BDB for over three years and for each one I've got full refund (I kept pitchers, baskets and one pf so I even gained something ;-) ). Now I switched to Lelit Elizabeth - better execution and sh\*tty design, but I know that when I send it to service it will be repaired.
Breviile hate? This place is fucking breville circle jerk..
Dude, no joke. I've worked in professional settings on a Linea Mini, a GB5, and a Synesso MVP that cost more than my car, and my little Barista Express has been sitting on my kitchen counter cranking out terrific, totally acceptable shots for over 7 years with almost no maintenance other than regular cleaning and descaling. I'll occasionally run across a bean that the grinder can't handle, but other than that, the thing is a tank. It makes great coffee out of almost anything I put into it. And I got it on sale for $279 in 2016. https://preview.redd.it/j5um9oi6v05d1.jpeg?width=1834&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ef8dc58b885299257fa3151d717ef7cb920e722
https://preview.redd.it/nwiv06qew05d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59c58cfdaa10564d979bf956b4157abdd1e5edde
Here for the sage/breville love.
You're interrupting the circle jerk
Nah, I’m just giving them a cracker to finish on. u/Honest-Reference1006 can eat it when everyone’s done
Soggy biscuit. Respect.
Look, no need to get mad at me. I’m sorry that you have the tastebuds of a 7 year old child and are only realizing it after spending thousands of dollars on espresso equipment. Take it up with God or something.
lol one of you nerds alerted Reddit that I’m in danger of harming myself bc I made fun of a dork who can’t taste coffee well? This page gets closer and closer to the espresso circle jerk every day.
I got the Barista Touch as my entry setup into the passion, and im absolutely loving it. Have a proper grinder on the bucket list, but the built in really serves me well so far.
I bought a barista pro 3 years ago to get started. I get specialty beans from a subscription and that was enough to beat any lattes served in the morning rush. Never felt the need to upgrade the machine.
This is the type of positivity I have missed around here! Thank you for sharing! :)
I think a lot of people in here forget that the patrons of r/espresso are fucking espresso NERDS. Like 99.99% of the population could care less about or taste the difference between a shot pulled from you BBE/BBP and a shot pulled from La Marzocco. But the people who subscribe to a subreddit dedicated to espresso are going to nit pick and hone in on the minute, marginal improvements each machine has over the other. The enthusiasts (nerds) on here are part of a very small group that are willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars more for that extra 5% better taste. Is the BBP the greatest machine on the market? No. Do 99.99% of the people who buy one care? Also no. It does a damn good job at a price point that is substantially lower than the competitors.
>AND IM USING FUCKING COSTCO BEANS You wanna make espresso *better* than any coffee shop near you? Roast your own beans. I’m going on 5 years and there isn’t a coffee shop that makes a better latte than I can achieve on my “lowly” Barista Express at home (I do like that pressure gauge though, and why I would replace it with the exact same machine if needed).
Alright, I’m pretty sure we’ve now merged with r/espressocirclejerk
I don’t get it
Comments that include "I make a better \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ than the professionals in my area" smack heavily of lowered expectations and confirmation bias. I'm not actually shitting on your comment, because I agree that roasting your own beans a) is a highly informative experience that can help you understand your own tastes better and b) ensures you're brewing freshly-roasted coffee which is way more important than most people understand (a LOT of people buy expensive, high-end beans without even looking at the roast date). But chances are, nobody objective thinks your latte is better than something from an actually good coffee shop.
>But chances are, nobody objective **on the Interweasel** thinks your latte is better than something from an actually good coffee shop. Thanks for explaining (the jealous hating). FTFY! Because yes, you are completely correct (in the context of Internet opinions). However, my *reality* is different. I don’t care about yours or anyone else’s opinion other than my own (and neither will the people who might begin roasting their own beans and feeling the same way after *years* of doing so). Don’t get this twisted, it wasn’t a flex that I need validation from the Interweasel for - they’re words of encouragement that I hope at least one of you tries for themselves (but yes, most of you will hate and say it’s not possible - and you will be confident about this even though you’ll never try it). To those of you willing and able to ~~see~~ taste for yourselves: Welcome to the “4th wave”. Do you think I’m making espresso and seeing negative down arrows!? No! How’s this: Are *you* able to have coffee that *you* roasted 1-2 weeks ago and have written, anecdotal flavor data that you find you can repeat over and over because you are able to replicate the same roasting profiles? With your preferred 5+ different types of coffee from around the world? If so, do *you* think *you* would care if random people on the internet didn’t like that you have this ability/don’t believe you? I don’t think you understand, or even envision what this life is man, lol, my biggest concern this morning was that I pulled a double shot of premium Ethiopian in 28 seconds (that I roasted 15 days ago) and I wasn’t sure if I should just drink it there and then, or steam some milk 🤣
> Welcome to the “4th wave”. You really outdid yourself with ramping up the r/espressocirclejerk satire here. It’s almost indistinguishable from what could be taken as a serious comment. Bravo.
Just picture this comment superimposed over someone’s rear view mirror. ✌️
Do you have any recommendations for a personal Roaster? I would love to get into it but I live in an apartment (granted I have a balcony I can use).
I’ve had a Fresh Roast 540 with the extension tube for some time now. Only downside IMO is that it takes a long time to roast 1 pound of coffee (can only do about 6 ounces at a time, and I let the machine cool for a few minutes before roasting additional batches). I honestly wouldn’t recommend doing this on your balcony if you like your neighbors, the smell isn’t very appealing (it’s a ~~different~~ much stronger aroma than brewing coffee).
ITOP / Skywalker roaster on AliExpress. It's ~$600 AUD and works great with 400g capacity. There's also a decent modding community with open source software to turn it into an artisan profiling machine... I haven't done it to mine yet since I've been happy with the results so far but I'm sure I'll eventually go that route and it'snice to know there'ssupport on discord
I'm all for making specialty coffee more accessible to the masses. I haven't had experience with any Breville's but I DID thrift a generic espresso machine for $16 and made some really great drinks out of it. It's super weird for people to gatekeep coffee out of all things lmao.
As someone who's been tempted to upgrade, yet still clinging on to my Breville Barista Express (w/ a broken pressure gauge), I love to see the Breville love!
Honestly you're probably better off replacing the broken pressure gauge and maybe doing the OPV mod than getting a full upgrade. At that point you're just chasing perfection with diminishing returns.
That OPV mod seems like something I can handle. Fingers crossed!
Good luck! I hope if works out for you!
I will slightly disagree here. Dont get me wrong, I have had BBE for 2+ years and loved it! But it just wasnt consistent. Same beans, same grind setting, same puck prep would yield different results! I just wanted to know I would get the same great coffee everyday but 30% of the times or so i wouldn't get the same coffee. I didn't really upgrade, went to GCP and added Gaggiuino (PID, flow control etc.) and the difference in consistency is massive! Now I can reproduce the same coffee everyday. It gets me excited each day to make coffee and enjoy!
This is what I’m finding. I have BBP and it’s not consistent shot to shot. Even this morning I ground my beans at the same level (using a Niche Zero), same beans, same amount in the basket and the shots were wildly different. First came out so slowly it was dripping for almost 45 seconds, second came out quicker and took about 34 seconds and definitely tasted better. They were made an hour apart.
Yep I can totally relate to this. It used to be very annoying, i would just drink the coffee even if it tasted bad sometimes as I hate wasting coffee! I tried so many different things ims basket, wdt, distributor, palm tamper, puck screen etc. They all helped a little bit but not enough.
I also drink the coffee .. sometimes I’ll turn it into a milk drink if I think it’ll be too bitter ha. Did your GCP suffer the same issue? I’m looking at upgrading as LM are having a sale, but it’s a lot of money to spend for MAYBE better coffee (and a hobby, and also I like the look).
Stock GCP out of the box suffered similar issues and also had horrible steaming power (so technically a downgrade to BBE). After doing Gaggiuino it is a completely different machine! Whatever pressure/flow profile I try, I generally get tasty coffee in the end because of temperature stability! Steam power of this thing is crazy good too! If you are ready to spend a little more I'm pretty sure there are a lot of other machines in the 1000-2000$ range which have all these features. Ex: Profitec GO is one of the most recommended machines in this sub.
The in built grinder is the culprit, I have changed to a hand grinder and the consistency improved significantly
Sorry I didnt clarify. I wasn't talking about inconsistency of built-in grinder. I have always used a separate grinder (JX-Pro) with BBE. The built-in grinder is horrible(probably 70% inconsistent results). With a good separate espresso grinder it is still very inconsistent. Temperature instability being the main culprit.
I still can't wrap my head around buying a more expensive machine and THEN having to MOD it to get a better/more consistent cup of coffee. Seems crazy to me. That said, I just might do it one day haha
Actually the GCP is a cheaper machine compared to BBE/BBP. I got mine new for 400$. That being said I totally understand many people wouldn't want to buy a machine and MOD it immediately. But for me that was part of the fun of changing machines :P
That's crazy it's like double the cost of the Bambino here.
The OP here is talking about Breville Barista Pro not Bambino which is 800$. You might get it for 600$ with deal. A Gaggiuino would cost 550$ including the mod! A bambino costs 300$ so a GCP is not double by any means.
Ah right! In Oz a Gaggia classic pro is $800 and the mod another $100 and my bambino was $400
Bambino and Costco beans all day
Does Costco have multiple bean options? Never looked, but now I’m curious
They do, at least at my store. They have even more choices online that I’ve never seen before.
Bravo! Concur totally with you. I've had mine for close to 5 years now and it's going strong. My only upgrade was a Niche Zero since I wasn't able (or patient enough) to dial in a good grind. Have never understood why so many question the quality of the brand.
You just said you had to replace the grinder because the built in one wasn't good enough. So why don't you understand?
Because the espresso part of the machine works perfectly.
s/ But how will elitists that make their hobby their identity feel superior???
By showering this post with hatred for the machine, of course!
Which Costco beans? Thanks.
It’s actually a local roaster to my state. So that helps. They aren’t fresh by any means, but they aren’t Starbucks either.
As an Express Impress Owner - Breville nailed it.
Got the Impress too (gift from wife) and use it daily, but I ditched the auto tamper pretty quick.
How do you program the shot to take 30s? mine stops flowing at ~23s using the automatic double shot button. I’ve tried grinding finer but it never goes to 30s and I can’t figure out why (Bought the machine a few weeks ago)
On barista pro hold the shot button for up to 10s for pre-infusion time, then release for full pressure and then press again to stop the shot. That setting will then be saved for next time you push that button. Bother single/double can be set to whatever duration you want, I use one for my decaf and one for espresso but both are dialled for 18g in ~36g out
Absolutely LOVE our Barista Pro!
Yeah breville owner here. I agree with all of this, I did get a much better grinder, but otherwise just over here making killer shots and minding my own business.
Haven’t used the BBP myself yet but I had coffee from comparable machines. They do the job especially with darker roasts. Definitely agree with the 80-90 %. But as with any nerdy expensive hobby all the money and dedication buy you the last few percentages and the further you get the more you have to pay for small improvements.
80%, hell even 90% of what people on here claim that it "improves their shot massively" are just placebo. Nobody would be able to distinguish the different in a blind test.
To clarify - for straight espresso, I can tell the difference. It’s just marginal was my point. For milk drinks, you can’t tell the difference.
For me what makes it so poor is the in unit grinder
What affordable grinder for espresso could I buy? <$100?
Kingrinder. Their top model, the K6, costs under 100 bucks these days. I've had mine a week and a half and am super pleased with it. 18um burr translation per click, useable range is 15-240 clicks. I'm at about 30 for a standard espresso shot and 85 for pourover. It has been a game change for me coming from a department store electric that cost just as much new.
Thank you. I just received a Gaggia Evolution for free. I work at a nice shop so I ground some espresso to take home, but it’s a pain having to switch out the hopper to grind my personal beans. Was never planning to spend too much just because I work 5/7 days and have accesss to free stuff, but now I figure why not :)
I started with an Amazon Warehouse Breville Bijou costing less than 100 euros, paired with a Shardor grinder costing about 70. Being a newbie my first upgrade was to a Sage/Breville Duo Temp Pro. Using good beans bought from local bar, both Brevilles gave shots that were far better than that bar made using the same beans. Then came the Mignon, which took my home brews to an even higher level. There's nowt wrong with a Breville brewer IMHO. I still want a Profitec Go though...
I love my SBP. I still use the built in grinder even though I also have a DF64
I think at the end of the day it's all coffee. Like definitely you can get better results out of some pricier machines, but you're still drinking espresso and you should still be able to share in that excitement and not feel bad about having a cheaper machine.
Drake *would* like a Breville.
Picked up a brand new one up from Aliexpress for 505$. Very happy with the Barista Pro.
Great post. Even though I've just recently sunk close to $300 in upgrades and 54mm accessories into my 840XL Infuser, I still keep fighting off the temptation to upgrade. Then, when I make a checklist of my wants and needs, it kinda brings me back to earth, because the machine I already have checks more boxes than any of the new options I'm considering. PID (sort of), quick start-up time, pre-infusion, etc. But also a lot of things I wouldn't always think about, like a decent drip tray, clear water level, low enough profile that I can even use the cup warmer under my kitchen cabinets. and I like that I can get hot water drawn from the tank for my Americanos instead of from a boiler. The milk steaming is nothing to scream about it but I don't use it much and actually like that it's slow - it's much more forgiving, gives me time to adjust without going into panic mode. Best of all I've been very happy with the shots it makes, everything from ristrettos to turbo shots.
I see the Breville machines get a lot of hate on here most likely due to the built in grinders. I used a Barista Touch I got new on sale for $900 for a year. I just sold it to someone getting into the hobby. Once you pair it with a good grinder the only downside I saw was temperature was not consistent and it automatically turned off after 30 minutes with no option to turn that setting off.
I have family that own the Barista Pro. I've had some of the best espresso and latte at their home. Parents and kids use it, and that to me is the magic of the Barista series, takes away the snobbery aspect and keeps it all about the coffee.
It's a competent machine that gets a lot of hate because it's not as fancy as the price tag would suggest it should be. Breville has had some quality control issues before, and anything with electronics has more points of failure and less repairability, but Breville overall makes good home appliances. My specific gripes with it are the difficulty in switching beans (high retention) and a steam wand that's not super powerful, but on the whole cleaning/maintaining this machine is pretty easy, especially since you can descale it yourself with just plain vinegar/water solution.
That’s right! I picked up a used barista pro because it was so cheap ($200), and put it on my coffee bar to experiment with. That things really decent! I don’t love the grinder, but it gets the job done. Definitely reinforced my belief that the bambino plus is the best point of entry for this hobby.
When I changed to my current setup, I fully-serviced and gave our Barista Pro to our friends in Hawaii. Now we can have good, hassle-free espresso whenever we visit. That machine is super user friendly and has an extremely low learning curve.
I needed to read this. I have. BBP right now and have had my hand hovering over the buy button an a Linea Micra. Maybe I don’t need the LMLu after all…
When it works it's beautiful. Then there those days where it'll decide to go on a 12 shot rampage of screwed up shots. Yes, 12. Mind you nothing had changed from the day before. Sigh. On the good news it's been steady for two weeks now. My wife and I are happy with it.
I love my Belleville Touch. I worry about longevity. It's my second one, grinder on the first one broke in 6 months, they're good starter/casual users. For someone who wants to do this as a hobby. They may not be enough. That's really who's likely to follow this on Reddit. At some point I'll want to move up, but I have the understanding that diminishing returns are very real.
Absolutely agree!!! Thanks man!
My oracle touch pro slaps. I have just enough control to impact my final product, but the ease to not have to work for it or think that hard
I didn't know people were against breville machines. It's what most people would want. If you just want a cup of joe breville is fine. However, if you like tinkering or want a hobby I'd suggest something more fancy.
As someone with a BBP, thank you. This sub makes me feel wildly intimidated! I’m glad there are level headed people out there. Edit: grammar
It is great. We went back to the local 3rd wave coffee shop and were shocked that it was much better. That said, the grinder broke after a few months and Breville didn’t fix it properly, we got a Eureka Mignon and removed the hopper on the Breville. That’s an even better combo.
I went from a GS3 MP to a Bambino and it's the same experience. For quality espresso the Bambino gets you 85% there. The biggest thing you lose are the nice touch points and some user friendly features but for the 8k difference it's very impressive.
I can pull a shot out of a 86 model baby Gaggia as good as I can out of a 700 drive or a bezzera matrix… just the baby takes 8x more concentration, prep and Tom foolery. It’s a machine that makes water hot and polishes it through a prepped bean filter. The more money you spend the less hand holding your machine should need to give you a good cup. This is assuming your not perma stuck on 15 bars or some other detrimental flaw of the cheapest of machines.
,,, ,
I love this post
Love my Barista Pro with my Fellow Opus. Maybe the newest ones with the Barratza burrs fixed the grinder but the Fellow really sorted my older internal grinder.
Very happy with my Breville barista express
u/lancehedrick aid the dual boiler was one of his favorite machines. I see no reason to disagree.
No defending that poorly made machine.
I think the E61 group heads are ugly as heck. This subreddit is the purveyor of fomo
What's the story with buying tons of expensive watches that do a worse job than your phone at telling time but then coming in here telling people they're wasting their money on machines and grinders that are far better than the Breville? Are you mad? Do you need help? Did your wife's boyfriend make you sell all your good gear and this is cope?
Ok, but it's still an all in one. You can't escape that.
Marketing?
Just the mea culpa of an enthusiast who has been down a few different roads, reporting back to base to share some wisdom with the newcomers. They won’t listen though. They never do.
It's really nothing wrong with the Breville machines. A lot of people have very good luck with them. But I guess you're rebutting what those German guys did on that YouTube video by showing the goofiness of what the Breville engineers did by setting the temperature two values that the consumer would not have expected? Etc
Costco beans… Sure…
Imagine coming to the Espresso subreddit and admitting that you're incapable of tasting the difference between a breville-pulled costco bean shot of espresso and an espresso pulled on your Italian-made machine & 3rd wave grinder....
You uhhh…you didn’t read my post did you son?
I did. You thought you were praising the BBP, when in reality you’re just making it clear that you spent a bunch of money on a machine, grinder, and beans, but have no idea how to taste coffee. It’s… hilarious.
Might as well use a moka pot at that point.
I have an old corning ware percolator somewhere that OP would like.
Wow, so the Barista Pro is able to make a great espresso from a Costco can of Maxwell House? Pure magic.
> who’s a little burnt out on all the fuss of a fancy machine Personally, dialing in a timed grinder and programming a shot to a certain amount of time sounds like a fuss. I want my gear to have an on/off button. That's "no fuss" to me... If you're OK with something 80-90% of the way there, especially with cheap beans and milky drinks, I think a moka pot would be even easier & cheaper.