Breville BES860XL Barista Express Stainless Espresso, Coffee Machine Reviews
Breville BES860XL Barista Express Stainless Espresso, Coffee Machine
- Programmable espresso machine wіth integrated conical burr grinder
- 15 bar οf pressure. Triple-Prime Feature. Dual-wall créma system Auto-Purge. Beans-tο-espresso іn under a minute
- Large 230 gram hopper holds beans fοr up tο 28 shots οf espresso
- Programmable οr manual coffee settings
- Pressure pump mаdе іn Italy. Stainless Steel Housing
Programmable espresso machine wіth integrated conical burr grinder. 15 bar οf pressure . Adjustable dose. Large 230 gram hopper holds beans fοr up tο 28 shots οf espresso. Hands free coffee grinder. Programmable οr manual coffee settings. Pressure pump mаdе іn Italy. High quality pressure gauge. Multi-access swivel steam wand. Large capacity 2 litre water tank wіth a water filtration system. Accessories: Cleaning kit wіth brush, tool cleaning cycle disc аnd tablets, measuring tamping spoon аnd stainless steel frothing jug. 1-year manufacturer’s warranty.
Rating: 
(out οf 16 reviews)
List Price: $ 799.99
Price: $ 599.00
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Review by Darcy Taylor for Breville BES860XL Barista Express Stainless Espresso, Coffee Machine
Rating:
I used to be a barista, so I was looking for something semi-professional. The Breville Barista Express is just that – a high quality, well built, user friendly, attractively designed machine. It features equipment options that accommodate the novice user and equipment options for the more experienced user.
Be prepared to have to experiment with the settings a few times before you achieve the perfect espresso (especially if you are working with the equipment/settings for the experienced). Have patience – it does take some finessing.
I love that it has the coffee bean storage bin – very convenient. The grinder is amazing (putting out a superfine grind).
The water storage tank is a generous size so you don’t have to refill it constantly.
All in all, I am extremely happy with this purchase – the Breville Barista Express made a wonderful addition to my kitchen, and I highly recommend it.
Review by H. Scogin for Breville BES860XL Barista Express Stainless Espresso, Coffee Machine
Rating:
My wife just hates learning new home technologies, in spite of the fact that she is highly skilled working with high technology tools in her career. I came back from a recent trip and she had fired up our new Breville espresso machine while I was gone. She loved it, and couldn’t wait to show me how to use it. In two minutes she got me up to speed in turning out great espresso using the double wall insert thiggamajiggies (and I am pretty fussy about the taste of my espresso). Her parents had arrived for a visit so she started turning out espresso drinks in rapid succession. Haven’t yet noticed any problems with the grinder, but will take heed of others’ comments about taking care not to get any water in the mechanism. It is a little bit of a hassle to switch from regular to decaf beans, but not a deal breaker at all. This is one nifty machine. Well made and attractive too.
Review by Craig Deforest for Breville BES860XL Barista Express Stainless Espresso, Coffee Machine
Rating:
We have had our Breville unit for several months now. It has given good, reliable service and makes a terrific shot. I take capuccino (and the steam wand frother is very easy — the best manual frother I have used), and my lovely wife takes americanos. We use the “barista” filters rather than the Senseo-style “beginner” filters. The included pressure gauge makes it very easy to “sight in” your favorite shot by varying the grind and tamp till you find what you like.
The pump assembly, heating block, and user interface are terrific. The buttons have a nice feel, everything about the machine’s style radiates solidity. It is a pleasure to use. The waste reservoir in the base is large enough for several days’ coffee drinking, and is easy and simple to empty. The convenient hidden compartment behind it is a great place to stash the extras and cleaning tablets.
The grinder is indeed adjustable and delivers consistent sized grind when it is working. But there are several problems with it — it’s obviously Breville’s first attempt. First, the bean reservoir has very shallow sides — they are not sloped enough for most beans to autofeed, so we often end up pulling the top open and stirring the beans with our fingers, to get them to feed down into the grinder. Second, the grinder *will* jam if you use oily beans — which is too bad as we like a very dark roast. Mixing oily and dry roasts 1:1 seems to be OK, except… Third, the grinder *will* jam if you get even a little bit of water in it, which is inevitable if you fill the tank in-place on the back of the device. The molding at the top of the machine seems custom designed to direct otherwise-harmless drops of water straight down into the grinder where they will do the most damage.
The worst thing about the grinder is that it is a bitch and a half to clean. You can disassemble it — at least as far as getting the stator blades out from around the burr — but the part that jams is the feed paddles that push grounds out of the area under the grinder, into the top of the chute that feeds the espresso head in its holder (as pictured). That part is nearly impossible to get to. When the grinder jams, I vacuum out the coffee beans and grounds with the blade head on our vacuum cleaner (incidentally, Dyson vacuums rock), then go after it with a combination of toothpicks, pipe cleaners, and dust-free canned “air”. This generally happens in the morning, so I wake up the kids with the vacuum, and then everyone’s in a bad mood — the kids want sleep and/or breakfast, I want my coffee, and I’m rooting around with a toothpick cursing the designers.
We do run the clean cycle when the “clean me” light comes on, but I suspect it is on a fixed timer — we user reverse-osmosis water, shouldn’t have any boiler-scale issues at all.
Review by W. Straus for Breville BES860XL Barista Express Stainless Espresso, Coffee Machine
Rating:
I agree with most of the reviews below – but wanted to add a few words about my experience with this machine:
I made a cursory read-through of the manual and having never owned a machine like this, but certainly having purchased a lot of coffee shop espressos across the globe, I thought I could jump right in and make some great drinks. Well, in part true, but I hit a point where I almost returned it. I started off with the double-wall filter and it made a very decent shot. Then I figured I try out the single wall filter. 2 weeks later and after joining the ranks of Corn-holio, I hit the jackpot.
During the first 2 weeks, I went from a moderate grind and a middle grind amount to the finest setting and about 2/3 away around the grind amount dial. I even far exceeded the recommended tamping pressure. The result was always an under extracted and bitter shot. Most of the time the puck was wet on top and a bit messy to clean up. Each time I pressed the double-shot button, the pressure wouldn’t even rise into the darker colored scale. No matter how fine the grind, or how hard I tamped the coffee the result was the same. I thought maybe it was the bean I chose or just a lousy grinder. Nope.
The day before yesterday I decided to read through the manual very carefully and try doing what they say step by step, not just what the cartoon correction diagram showed. I pre-heated the cup by running hot water through the filter and portafilter, thereby warming it. Then I immediately dried the portafilter/single-wall filter and filled it with freshly ground coffee. I added some coffee, pressed it down lightly into the filter with my fingers and added more. Then I tamped it with about 20 pounds of pressure. When finished, the tamper’s stainless rim near the bottom was not completely recessed in the portafilter, leaving it filled to within 1/8″. After cleaning the rim thoroughly I simply attached the group head and pressed the pre-programmed double shot. Killer espresso – like ones I’ve had in the finest Italian shops. Cleanup was a dream because the puck was nearly dry – it just popped out. Wow. Cleaning between shots is important – reheating is as well. If you follow these (Breville’s) directions you will be more than pleased with this machine. I now feel like I got my $600 worth.
I changed a few things all at once, so I can’t necessarily put my finger on exactly what changed the output. Pre-heating and filling the single-wall filter to an after-tamped level near the top seems to be the key. I love this machine now. As with the other reviews, I think the “clean me” light comes on with just a pre-set number of cycles since I too use filtered water and clean incessantly. The machine is heavy, solid and well laid out. Watch out while filling the reservoir so as not to get even a few drops close to the hopper – jamming problems and a difficult clean. I don’t like leaving the tamper in the magnetic mount to tamp my coffee, but it’s a great place to store it. The wand for frothing is fantastic, but I normally prefer straight espresso. My lovely wife prefers cappuccino and we’re now working on some good cup art, no longer worrying about trying to nail the perfect shot. I do recommend this machine, but I highly recommend reading the directions word for word, front to back in the manual and adhering to their advice. Breville designed it and they know how to get the best results. With practice, you too will snub your nose at Starbucks from now on.
Best of luck.
Review by Wolfenhawke for Breville BES860XL Barista Express Stainless Espresso, Coffee Machine
Rating:
I spent my Christmas 2009 reviewing expresso machines. I had just returned from a trip to Europe and finally was going to fold and get an expresso machine. I missed the expresso from Italy and France. 1oz of crema delight.
So, I liked the Breville from all the reviews but was worried about some of the negativity on the “wet puck” I had read. All the reviews mentioned excellent coffee though, so it was on my short list.
Then I saw the Breville BES860XL, also known as the Barista Express Programmable Expresso. From the looks you can tell this unit has exchanged the hot water dispenser for a bean grinder. This unit is a fully automatic expresso machine with the super automatic feature of grinding a pre-measure of beans for your brew. Note, it is not a super automatic machine as you still need to manually mount the portafilter into the group head, and clean the filter afterwards. This is as automatic as you will want to go if you want to really control your coffee.
But, let me walk you through the pleasure:
1. the box. this has excellent graphics — even as you open, the getting started guide and pictures guide you along. The unit removes easily.
2. The tamper is magnetically held in place on the front of the machine — you can use it in place or remove for manual tamping.
3. New: -there is a dry puck feature now for all the fussy reviews — this removes excess water so you get, a dry puck
– an excellent burr grinder — you can dismantle this for cleaning, and it has a wide range of control
– for those that previously complained about the “cheat” dual wall filters — the unit comes with single and double dual wall AND single wall filters
– there is a hideaway storage tray to hold all the small goodies
4. Steaming — excellent steam temperature and pressure — works very well with the provided frothing jug, very minimal excess water to start
5. The real test. I am using the dual wall filters, and the Illy whole expresso beans I got from Italy were made into pure heavenly expresso. Nice crema. This is the real thing.
This is one finely engineered machine. From a mechanically inclined electrical engineer to the folks at Breville: you have created an exceptionally functional piece that does the job. Did I mention it is beautiful on the counter as well? I have it on an island, no bad sides.
Drawbacks: none. BUT, when making a real expresso shot, make sure you pre-warm your demitasse. Otherwise the expresso will heat up your cup and your coffee will not be hot. I run a water cycle first into my cup to heat up the group head and the cup.
In my opinion this is the best buy in the market under $1500. At the office, daily I use a super automatic machine that is at that top end.