5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent machine when you are ready to move up to using an non-pressurized filter

D. · October 4, 2022

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } If you just want to make espresso drinks at home and want something quick and easy, there machines a lot less than half the price to use with pressurized filters and that have an easy to use steam wands. But if you are ready, or plan to soon, move up to professional style non-pressurized filters, then this is a great machine for the beginner up through intermediate user at a very good price.One thing I want to say upfront, ALWAYS run an empty shot before making your espresso. The first shot runs about 20 degrees below the optimal 200 degrees and will result in an under-extracted espresso. It is also good to heat up your grouphead, portafilter and cup. It makes a very very good espresso that probably can only be beat by a $2.000+ machine. I used a non-pressurized filter on my previous machine, but noticed that the shots with the infuser brought some of the subtle tasted characteristics from my coffee beans. It is important to use a good quality conical burr grinder in order to grinds that are fine enough to use with a non-pressurized filter. I use the Breville smart grinder pro. I think this is a better way to go rather then getting the Breville Barista Express with the built-in grinder, for numerous reasons. One is that it is more flexible than the built-in one, which only has 30 settings. The smart pro has 60 settings so you can use it to get coarse grinds for a French press and other coffee makers. It is also much easier to clean and allows you to upgrade to a more advance espresso machine without having to buy a new grinder.The steaming wand works very well after a small bit of practice. There are some videos on youtube that are helpful. After some research it seemed the best milk to use is grassfed whole milk. So I bought organic grassfeed whole milk, and wow it is the way to go. It tastes great and easy to get an excellent microfoam. I highly recommend that you give it a try.The pressure gauge looks cool, but is totally unnecessary. I wish the tamper were a heavier all metal construction, though this lighter one is needed to use the magnetic holder, which is convenient. The tamper words oaky, so I will just have to get used to it. Overall this is a great machine at this price.update: 13December:thought I would address of common complaints I've noticed in some reviews. One being that it uses too much water and that the drip trays fills up to fast. Both are due to the fact that the steam wand purges (through the back of the tray) hot water after use, which is good so that if you pull another shot the water won't be too hot. To me, it's not a big deal to refill it. As far as the tray filling up, just do what I do ... empty the tray each time you use it. It is very simple and only takes a few seconds. A plus is that the tray design is very easy to remove and install .. it is really no big deal at all.

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the Rancilio Silvia - 5 years later

G. · September 7, 2013

So how's my Breville doing after 5 years. Not bad. Most often it gets used once a day and the only problem that has developed is with the automatic shot cut off. Everything else works perfectly. When I select either the single or double shot it just keeps running, so I have to shut it down manually with the off button. I'm going to live with that until the machine fails completely and then decide on a replacement.====================================================I broke my Rancilio Silvia after 5 years of good service. The Silvia is a well established leader in the home market so my comments on the Breville BES840 XL are all based on pros and cons compared to the Silvia.I'll start with the Breville cons because there are not many============================================================* Portafilter on the Silvia is the professional standard 58 mm while the Breville is 54. If the shot quality is comparable that should not matter too much. The Breville porta-filter seems less substantial. My expensive 58 mm tamper is now useless.* Dry used puck discharges cleanly from the portafilter on the Silvia. On the Breville it most often does not break cleanly, so some of the used coffee ends up being washed down the sink.* Silvia vents partially back to the water tank so you rarely have to empty the drip tray. You have to empty the Breville but it does have a clever float up reminder when the reservoir is full.Breville Pros==============* Breville has lower price and is better looking. They have about the same footprint.* Breville is semiautomatic which enables uniform performance with less attention to detail than the Silvia requires. Push a button and you get one or two shots delivered automatically without having to stand over the machine. Toggle switches on the Silvia held up well but seem 19th century compared to the Breville. I broke my Silvia by having it come on with a timer. Having left the brew toggle in the open position the water reservoir emptied and the motor burned out. This can't happen with the Breville since it comes on in the off position, and you have to push a button to operate it.* Breville has a PID controlled thermocoil boiler which means the water temperature is always perfect. With the Silvia you never know where it is in the heat cycle and for best performance you should wait for the light to come on and then go off. You can find online instructions on how to install a PID control on the Silvia but its a technical challenge I never seriously considered.* Both have the non-pressurized professional portafilter inserts but the Breville also has a set of pressurized, so that if someone gives you a ground bag of coffee for a gift you have a way to brew it.* The bottom of the Breville portafilter is plastic you can clean. The Silvia is non stainless steel that discolors and impossible to consider clean.* The Breville has a separate hot water delivery outlet. Great for pre-heating a cup or adding water for an Americano. Much more convenient then the typical Silvia method of delivering hot water through the steam wand.* Breville steam wand has a plastic ring making it harder to burn your fingers and the wand has a greater range of movement.* Breville supplied with a real tamper. Silvia comes with a toy that has to be replaced.* Breville has a built in carbon water filer and the water tank level is visible from the outside.* Maintenance of the Breville is supported by gauges and supplies. Silvia expects you to figure it out.* Infusion or slow ramp up of the water pressure on the Breville is a feature of much more expensive machines. This combined with the built in pressure gauge reduces the learning curve for producing the perfect shot when you change coffee beans.Most important, how does the espresso compare. When I made the changeover I used the same beans with my Rancilio burr grinder. The crema produced was the same and the flavor comparable, but I give the edge to the Breville. In fairness the Breville had the advantage of being clean while the Silvia could have had some flavor reducing residues lurking inside.The Breville is a step up in every way for the average Joe that wants to reduce his Starbuck's bill. Perhaps a seasoned aficionado would find merit in the Silvio. I'll leave that for them to explain.

The Breville BES840XL is an awesome machine.

J.B. · April 19, 2019

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } I’m replacing a La Marzocco GS3 which is a smaller one group dual tank commercial espresso maker. I used to entertain a fair bit for which the larger machine is wonderful but for me to make coffee for myself on the weekend it leaves much to be desired. It broke and the repair cost more than covers the cost of purchasing the Breville so I did some research and decided to get the Breville.The manual says the Breville is ready to make shots after a minute or two. I find that’s not the case. Although the water gets to temperature quickly, the head and portafilter do not. There are two ways I use to bring the head and portafilter to temperature. One is to run a bunch of empty shots through to warm things up. The other is to wait a half an hour for the machine to heat the head and portafilter. Waiting does a better job so if I have the time that’s what I do.I usually make Caffe Americano so I need hot water. The water spout on the machine is rather pathetic and it empties the tank quickly so I don’t use it. I use a kettle on the stove for the water to steep the mug and complete the Americano. For me this is a much better solution than buying the dual tank Breville which is more than twice the price and takes up more counter space. Dairy is my mortal enemy so I have yet to use the steam wand.The machine has one gauge that appears to measure the pressure between the pump and the head. It displays a range which indicates under extraction on the low side and over extraction on the high side. I adjust the dose and grind to target the middle of the range. My pallet cannot detect a difference in the quality of the coffee between my old, very expensive commercial espresso maker and the Breville.The Breville includes a couple of baskets to be used with normal ground coffee. My take on this is that if you can’t be bothered to get a decent grinder and learn how to use it, you are probably better off getting a French press or a filter setup. They make excellent coffee and are considerably easier on the pocketbook.There is a float in the drip tray that pops up when the tray needs to be emptied. I find that if I wait until the float pops up that it’s harder to get the tray to the sink without spilling. I tend to empty the tray more often to avoid spills.I found that the manual is very readable and does a good job of emphasizing the factors important to getting good results. I’m not going to comment on the process of cleaning the machine because I haven’t owned it long enough to make any sort of judgment on the matter.Provided with the machine is a tamper which can be stored in a receptacle on the machine. The tamp should be consistent and between 30 and 40 pounds. I find that the handle on the provided tamper is too small for this purpose. There are plenty of better tampers available on Bolo and elsewhere starting under ten dollars. I have one on the way. The tamper for my old machine has a diameter too large for use with the Breville. If you purchase a tamper be sure to check that it’s the correct diameter for your machine.I can’t believe how good this machine is for it’s very modest cost. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for an espresso maker for low volume use.

Preciosa.

J.C. · August 19, 2019

Es un producto bellísimo. Funciona bien y cumple básicamente las exigencias de las bebidas. Buenos materiales. Muy elegante.

9 years of ownership and still going strong!

E.G. · February 12, 2022

We had this machine back in 2015 to replace another Breville product; Cafe Roma. The first one, Cafe Roma lasted 2 weeks short of 10 years. This newer Breville is a big improvement over the previous one. It takes half the time to warm up for the first coffee cup of the morning. Also, the pump feels stronger and can push water through more finer grinded coffee=more tasteful coffee cup. The bigger water tank is a big benefit on this unit. So far i can say that we have brew in the vicinity of 11000 cups of coffee with this machine. We did use the hot water spout many times for a quick tea cup. If you think about it carefully, the price of the machine divided over that many cups is not much! I can confidently say that we didn’t experience any issues of any kind with this machine, this is sign of a higher quality product. Breville seems like it is making a name for itself. When this machine will stop working one day, we will buy another Breville. If you care about the longevity and reliability, this machine is for you!*Update, as of September 2022, i will need to open up the machine and find why the pressure is low. Also, there is just too much water in the tray to ignore it after brewing a single cup. Stay tuned for the update on the repair!**Update 2; after opening the back of the machine, i did a complete inspection and cleaned up the solenoid valves. The 3/2 solenoid valve was probably stuck open and sending warmed water to the hot water/steam wand when it shouldn’t, loosing pressure doing so. The shower head was in need of a big cleaning. Gasket ordered from Breville for less then 10$. Also, i noticed that the safety valve(located below the pump outlet) has a weak spring. This makes some pressure getting lost towards the tray. I will have to find a stronger spring to solve this issue. I included some pictures of the internals of the machine. As you can see, everything is super accessible and made to be repaired if it eventually fails. The pump is an Ulka, Italian brand. All low pressure hoses are 3/8 ''od food grade. Really pleased with the repairability of this machine. All is now in perfect working order, almost like a new unit.**Update3, April 2024: i replaced the inline water filter and also the overpressure valve. These 2 parts were causing low pressure issues. The machine is now back to normal operation. These 2 parts could be purchased locally as they were not listed here. Part number are : SP0001461 and SP0001539.Please let me know if this review is helpful. Thank you!

Wonder espresso machine

A.D. · April 2, 2024

I started with a Cafe Roma, had it for years and sadly it eventually stopped working. Maybe not so sad though. I purchased a Duo Temp Pro and that just upped my coffee experience.....but it wasn't the unit I wanted. I really liked using the Pro, but I wanted an Infuser, but found it to be on the pricey side, so the Pro was purchased on a great sale price. Along comes a sale on the Infuser..hooray!.This is so much nicer to have. Automatic 1 or 2 cup settings that you can adjust to your choice. You can adjust the water temp to, but I havent gone there yet. It stays on forever, so you can warm things up ahead of time. The duo pro had a nasty habit of a timer that kicked in at 5 minutes and turned the unit off. I like the pressure guage as it helps you make adjustments in grind and tamping. This is a great feature for a beginner. Eventually, I doubt I'll pay too much attention to it as I get used to the machine. It has a small foot print on the counter and looks great.The Infuser is fairly quick to heat up. I don't need instant heat like the Bambinos. By the time I grind my beans and prep them, the water is hot. What I really like is that once the coffee is made, the unit stops sending water and removes it off the puck, so you actually get the amount you chose. The advantage is, you can select your size and walk away. The Duo Temp did not do that and it drove me crazy when I had to manually stop the water flow, but the residual cont to come out. Get good beans and a good grinder and you'll have a great coffee. I buy the whole beans from Costco online, they are so much better than what they have on the shelf. Watch a few videos on how to froth your milk silky and you will be waking up to a wonderful coffee everyday

Impressive Espresso Machine!

L. · January 5, 2025

We are extremely pleased with this purchase. We decided it was time to retire our old Starbucks Barista and did some research. As we already have a good grinder, the Breville The Infuser had excellent reviews and so we decided to give it a try. We were not disappointed. Once you get the grind correct, this machine produces amazing espresso. The pressure gauge was essential in determining the correct grind. It took several test shots while adjusting the grind to get it just right. The machine comes with a good instruction book, quick start guide, a variety of filter baskets, measuring scoop, tamper, leveling tool, cleaning tool and stainless steel milk frothing jug. Initially, we did have some difficulty opening the water tank and we would prefer it if the machine was a bit heavier. The filter baskets are also difficult to remove from the portafilter. However, despite these little quirks, the Infuser is a great espresso machine for the price.