Breville Barista Express

I was so pleased when I was asked to review the Breville Barista Express BES860XL programmable espresso maker.  This little gem has become a vital part of our house’s morning routine; so much so that few members of our household would function properly without it.  If you are looking for a machine that makes coffee-house quality coffee, every time, with little to no barista experience, then this is the one for you!

The Breville Barista Express comes out of the box looking great, and just keeps on impressing.  Setting up took a total of about four minutes, and its stainless steel body looks fantastic on my kitchen bench.  Of course, its patented dual-wall filters are going to be a big draw-card if, like me, you are more interested in drinking your latte than you are in learning exactly how to create the perfect espresso.

With no more knowledge about how to make a great cup of coffee than the fact that latte comes in a glass, the dual wall filters magically provide me with a perfect cup, every morning, with little to no fuss.  Breville generously includes both a single and double shot dual-wall filter, so even impressing friends with my new-found coffee making skills is a snap.

For those of you whose experience making coffee has ventured further than offering to go to Starbucks for the office team, Breville has also provided the standard, single-walled filters, as well as a manual settings option.  If you just love to ply your barista skills, lovingly crafting your coffee from fresh beans, these are your options.  Personally, I think I will stick with my dual-walled filters and programmable settings, and not risk the outcome.

Barista Bean Grinder

While we are talking beans, I should take a moment here to mention the bean grinder.  The Barista Express comes with its own, professional quality, conical burr bean grinder, rather than the more standard blade grinder. A burr grinder apparently produces less heat than a blade grinder, which helps keep each coffee bean at its aromatic best, before you obliterate it in sacrifice to your morning heart-starter.  The bean hopper holds 8 ounces of coffee beans, enough for plenty of espresso, and is tightly sealed to ensure that beans stay fresh for longer, but it does come with its own quirks.

The grinder can become quite temperamental if it even suspects that there might be a little moisture nearby, and particularly oily beans can make the it just throw in the towel and jam up altogether.  This is easily rectified by clearing the beans from the mechanism, but can become quite frustrating if you are looking for a fast morning shot of caffeine, and end up wresting with the bean grinder before you are properly caffeinated.

Cleaning the grinder is no picnic, either, and the bean hopper is the least favorite thing in our house to clean.  No-one wants to do it. It is so bad that sometimes we draw straws to see whose turn it is. Trust me, this thing is a pain in the neck to get clean.  When it is clean and working smoothly, though, the grinder is quiet enough not to disturb the whole household early in the morning, and will effortlessly and instantly give you whatever texture you ask it from it, from extremely fine to very coarse.

One thing that does help with post-coffee clean up is the fantastic dry puck feature.  When used correctly, the filters produce a neat, dry puck that can be easily ejected and disposed of.  It is important to remember, though, that a thorough reading of the manual will help ensure that everything works the way it is designed to.  A few attempts, resulting in lack-lustre coffee and a wet, brown mess, prompted me to do what I should have done in the first place, and study the users guide. The result was incredibly improved coffee and a tight, dry puck.

The steam wand on the Breville Express produces excellent pressure and temperature, perfect for making hot, foamy milk for cappuccinos or lattes, not to mention the most amazing hot chocolates ever, and comes with an extra-foam attachment, for anyone that wants… well, more foam, I guess. The wand should be wiped down immediately after every use, to avoid the well-known and quite disgusting build-up of dried milk on the tube.

Another feature of the Breville Express that I find particularly useful is the magnetic tamp, which can be stored on the front of the machine, and used in place, or removed for use on the bench.  Although I like to tamp my coffee into the filter on my kitchen bench, (in order to increase the illusion that I am just like a ‘real’ barista), having somewhere handy to store the tamp is great for someone who is usually not up to searching for a small but vital object, pre-morning-coffee.

The drip tray has a cute little ‘Empty Me’ sign that appears when it needs emptying, great for the less observant among us, and there is a hidden storage drawer for keeping all the little bits and pieces.

There are a couple of things that you will need to remember about your Breville Barista Express, in order to keep it producing quality coffee for a long time.  Particularly if you are using the dual-wall filter,  the included pin should be used to poke through the filter hole regularly.  If you forget to do this, the filter will become clogged and you will end up with dull, lifeless coffee, with no rich foamy cream floating appetizingly on top.

Also remember to clean the machine regularly using the appropriate cleaning tabs, according to the built-in reminder system.  Even if you think the machine doesn’t need it, regular cleaning will result in more consistently excellent coffee.  Most good cafes clean their coffee machines thoroughly every day, to ensure a quality cup every time.  If you look after your Breville Barista Express with regular cleaning and maintenance, it will reward you with many years of the best at-home coffee you will find anywhere.