Breville Bes870xl Barista Express Espresso Machine Brushed Stainless Steel

Breville Bes001xl Knock Box

Strike the portafilter against the knock bar for quick, easy and mess-free disposal of the coffee puck. The durable knock bar is designed for aggressive use and is removable for easy cleaning of the inner vessel. Anti-slip rubber grip for increased stability on the countertop

Simple Interface With Volumetric Shot Control

Choose between 1 & 2 shot, or manual control over how much espresso ends up in your cup for the perfect shot every time.

Accessories

• 1 cup & 2cup Single & Dual Wall Filter Baskets
• Cleaning brush, tool and Allen Key
• Water Filter Holder and Water Filter

Dimensions

• 12.5″ x 13.8″ x 15.9″

Construction Materials

• Bean Hopper Capacity – 1/2 lb
• Water Tank Capacity – 67 oz

Settings

• Adjustable Grind Amount & Manual over-ride

Power

• 1 Year Limited Product Warranty

Milk Texturing

• 1600W ThermocoilIntegrated stainless steel water path accurately controls water temperature

Integrated Burr Grinder

De’longhi La Specialista Arte Espresso Machine

• The innovative My LatteArt steam wand allows for ideally textured milk for café quality lattes and cappuccinos
• Eight grind settings optimally prepare beans for extraction
• Equipped with 3 infusion settings for idea extraction and flavor while brewing
• Designed to simplify the morning, with compact design and easy cleaning
• Each machine features 3 convenient pre-set coffee recipesEspresso, Americano, and Hot Water
• Barista kit includes premium barista-quality tools for consistently delicious results

• Dimensions: 14.37″ L x 11.22″ W x 15.87″ H
• Weight: 21.5 lb
• Capacity: 56 fl oz water tank
• Warranty: 2 Year warranty + 1 extra year with Product Registration

• De’Longhi La Specialista Arte Pump Espresso Machine
• Total hardness test
• Stainless steel milk frothing jug
• Cleaning needle for steam nozzle

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The Stainless Steel Espresso Machine Buying Guide

• Do some research about what kind of espresso machine you want. There are many different kinds, like super-automatic, manual and capsule espresso machines. Think about your skill level and what makes you feel most comfortable. The last thing you want is to buy a machine that you are unsure of how to use.
• Think about the types of places you like to frequent for coffee outside of your home. You may want to ask that place what kind of espresso machine they use so you can replicate the process yourself.
• Understand your budget and what you can get within your means. You will want to weigh the price of the machine against how often you go out to get coffee each week.
• Think about how many cups you drink back-to-back. This will help you understand how big of a brew or steam boiler you will need. For a few morning cups, a single boiler or small dual boiler will work. If you are a frequent and often drinker, a larger dual-boiler machine might work better for you.
• Do not just pick any coffee. Use quality beans for the best experience. This might mean going to your local coffee shop and purchasing the beans they sell there to really create a cup of espresso you know you will love.
• Look for the number of grind settings. These settings will let you adjust the coffee strength and temperature. Some machines may have additional controls like flow control and pulse brewing.

The Setup Process For The Espresso Machine Can Be A Challenge

Even though it is nice that the Barista Express comes with numerous accessories that you can customize to meet your needs, it also makes the setup process a challenge. For example, you need to learn about the bean hopper, the drip tray, the water tank, and the filter baskets.

Before you start setting up the machine, you do have to read the manual thoroughly. That way, you can familiarize yourself with all of its moving parts.

When you first set up the machine, you definitely want to clean and flush it. That way, you get a delicious espresso on your first attempt. Even though the process is relatively straightforward, it can take up to an hour to complete the setup process.

You have to wait for the water filter to soak, and the cleaning process alone takes 15 minutes.

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Coffee Extraction And Getting Your Brew On

Ultimately, what makes or breaks any espresso machine is how good or bad its black magic is. And while the Barista Express checks a number of boxes, there are some definite negatives:

• Once youve mastered single-wall filters and the ins and outs of brewing a good espresso shot, you can no longer overlook how the Barista Express falls short in the espresso grinder department. No matter how perfect your dose control and water temperature are, a mediocre grinder negates those efforts.
• If youre the type that can turn a blind eye, the factory presets will serve you well enough. As is par for the course, youll need to decrease the water volume and increase the coffee dosage in order to achieve the best results.

Think of the Breville BES870XL Barista Express espresso machine as a DSLR camera. Use it in auto mode and youll get rather meh pictures. Put the camera in manual, make some adjustments and youll get an improvement.

Just like with cameras though, owning the best of the best doesnt guarantee amazing results. Nor does owning a lesser machine mean you cant achieve great espresso. You have to learn how to use the machine you have.

Remember in the Fate of the Furious when Vin Diesel won that street race in Cuba while driving a clunker?

Everyones Least Favourite Part Cleaning 45/5

If you have to spend 3x the amount cleaning your machine than it takes you to make the darn coffee, a trip to the coffee shop begins to look better and better. Espresso machines are notorious for being heavily involved when it comes to cleaning. But not the Barista Express.

Customers tend to love the small yet handy features built into the Express which make cleaning that little bit easier. To clean the burrs: just remove the bean hopper with one twist and you can access the steel burrs. Same deal for the removable water tank and water filter just flick your wrist to unlock it, remove it, clean it and refill it.

It also has a built-in clean me light, and a floaty thing in the drip tray that tells you when its time to empty it. Again, simply pop and remove it for easy cleaning.

The Express loses half a point because youll inevitably get some coffee grinds in your drip tray that will mix with water to create sludge. But this only happens because the built in coffee grinder exists. Its inevitable, but not big deal.

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Potential Shortcomings Of The Breville Barista Express Bes870xl

No water level indicator light

File this under small annoyance, but it would be nice if the BES870XL had a water indicator light because the rear-positioned water tank makes it difficult to easily see how much water is left.

Not NSF certified so not suitable for commercial purposes

Finding an affordable espresso machine for commercial purposes can be difficult. Unfortunately, this machine wonât work for you. Instead, take a look some of La Pavoniâs models.

The Bes870xl Is The Improved Version Of The Bes860xl

Breville discontinued the BES860XL and released this model in its place with several modifications:

• Redesigned coffee bean hopper for larger capacity
• Added Auto Off Mode after 3 hours of inactivity
• Included Razor dosing tool, which aids in consistent dose volume/leveling
• Replaces bolted bolted Thermoblock with single stainless steel Thermocoil boiler, so no risk of future leaks
• PID temperature control for more consistent extraction temps

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Steam Wand And Hot Water

When it comes to milk froth, the Breville Barista Express goes all out with a pro-style steam wand. It can swivel 360 degrees and generates enough water pressure at the tip to create evenly textured microfoam.

Theres a thats useful for tea, Americanos and the pre-warming of cups. Like with the steam wand, you can select it via a dial on the side of the machine.

Be careful though, the spout sits fairly high up on the machine, so there is potential for spattering. Keep your hands clear, in other words!

Getting Started With The Breville Barista Express

The components rundown already shows that operating the Breville Barista Express is fairly user-friendly.

I would still recommend that you start off with cheap espresso beans and keep the Breville Barista Express manual by your side at least until youve gotten a few espressos on your belt.

Brevilles instructions are actually an excellent textbook for home baristas. In fact, a lot of what you learn translates seamlessly to operating professional espresso machines.

Anyone who already kinda knows the drill will feel right at home. Which is another point in the machines favor.

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What Do People Like About Breville Bes870xl

To prepare a great espresso, the grinding should be both fine and quick. The Breville BES870XL comes with burr grinders that can grind coffee beans in a few seconds and sends it over to prepare espresso within minutes.

If you are an absolute beginner, you would love its two dual-wall, pressurized filters that regulate the pressure and optimizes the extraction, leaving you with a perfect espresso without worrying about complex functions. If you are an experienced espresso lover, you would love two single-wall, non-pressurized filters which power you with the ability to experiment with different grind sizes, grind amount and tampering pressure.

For an a nice espresso experience, the machine comes with a themocoil heating system. It marks an important improvement over its predecessor, the 860 XL. This heating system ensures accurate regulation of water temperature. It is complimented with a pre-brew function that ensures optimal distribution of coffee through the coffee pluck.

Who Should Use The Breville Barista Express

There are several people who may enjoy using the Breville Barista Express. These include:

• Anyone wholikes to try a variety of drinks will like this machine, as they can use it to make cappuccinos, lattes, macchiatos, and more.
• Anyone who is trying to save money by cutting out that trip to the morning coffee shop will enjoy saving money using this machine.
• Anyone who is trying to save time on their morning routine will also enjoy the Breville Barista Express, as it can make a beautiful drink in just a few minutes.
• Anyone who enjoys customizing grind size, grind amount, steam amount, and other features will also like the versatile accessories that come with this machine.

Because this machine appeals to so many people, it is easy to see why so many have already fallen in love with a Breville Barista Express.

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Youre After An Effortless Experience

As I mentioned earlier, to get really good shots of espresso, you need to learn how.

Its not super complicated, but there is a learning curve. If youre not interested in learning how to dial in your espresso, best go with an automatic espresso machine. If youve got a slick burr grinder like the Wilfa Uniform or Niche Zero sitting on your bench, this is probably not the machine for you. The grinder on the Breville would probably just go to waste. In this case, you could go with the Breville Infuser, which is the exact same espresso coffee maker minus the grinder.

Breville Bes870xl Barista Express: Detailed Specifications

With this semi-automatic espresso machine, get the tasty espresso in less than a minute.

1. Design

The designing quality build of Italian-made parts that ensure a real finest look. Sizing about as a standard drip coffee maker but twice as wide. If we compare it with other espresso machines, this one is larger and physically stronger.

The stainless steel chassis, portafilter, and handle attachment helps in enhancing the look. Moreover, a large seed hopper, integrated conical burr grinder, and pressure gauge dialer seal its grave look.

Its amazing constructed body fits well on a countertop or under any cabinets, though your kitchen definitely gets a stylish look. Besides brushed silver finish, it also comes in cranberry red and black sesame varieties, which look stunning.

2. Setup Process

Lets start with the top. The most apparent highlight is built-in, conical burr grinder, and bean hopper. The hopper on the top is easy to remove. You can also feed into a high-quality grinder. Its great cone-shaped burrs and 16 grind size setting encourages the fine-tune range.

Further down, look at the display, the buttons, and the dashboard. It gives a remarkable option of deciding if you want a single or double shot. By its filter basket and filter size knob, you can select the number of cups. You can choose the dial-in that use a non-pressurized basket or for lazy mode go with pressurized basket.

3. Performance

• The Pressure Gauge

• Calculating the 1 Cup and 2 Cup Shot

5. Precautions

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Other Key Details That You Should Know

• It is not a commercial grade machine, so it works well if you make about 20 cups of espresso daily.
• It is 110V/60 Hz, meaning you can use it anywhere in the US.
• Comes with all add-ons that you need to make an espresso.
• It is primarily meant to grind espresso beans, however, if you have other types of beans, you can grind the same in this espresso machine, and change the grinder settings as per your requirements.
• It is best to clean the portafilter handle assembly & filter basket after every use. Additionally, purging a small amount of water through the group head to dislodge any grinds should give you a complete cleaning.

Overall, theBreville BES870XL Barista Express Espresso Machine is a good buy for home use roughly about 20 cups of espresso per day. It comes at an attractive under $600 price tag and a wide range of features.

Why Breville BES870XL is perfect espresso machine?

• Thermo Coil Heating System

Dont Buy The Barista Express If

You have no interest in learning to brew espresso The Express is a powerful, flexible machine, but it requires a little practice and understanding to master all the nuances. If you just want to push a button, buy a fully automatic machine like the Saeco Picobaristo. Another great machine we recommend is one of the industry favorites in this space: the Delonghi ESAM3300 automatic machine. Check our review here.

You own a good burr grinder already If youve already invested in a good burr coffee grinder that grinds for espresso theres no need to invest in a machine with a built-in grinder. Go for something like the Dual Boiler BES920XL, Infuser or Bambino instead which are like the Express, minus the burr grinder. Another machine you can check out is the Gaggia Classic Pro, which we reviewed in detail right here.

You are an advanced espresso brewing geek If youve already mastered the art of dialing in espresso shots, a few of the features of the Barista Express, like the pressure gauge, will make youyawn. If this sounds like you, consider something like the Breville Duo Temp Pro, although youll still need a good grinder.

Youre purchasing for a coffee shop This machine is intended for home use and wont fare well under pressure in a commercial environment. I have no idea how you even got this far in this article. Are you high? Heres our guide on commercial espresso machines.

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What The Users Say

Most of the buzz around the internet on the Barista Express is positive. People regularly praise the built-in grinder specifically and say it is one of the best built-in grinders theyve used. Some users are wary of included grinders because of their reputation as low-quality, but the Barista Express grinder receives nothing but praise. Grinding directly into the portafilter is a great feature and cuts down on the amount of manual effort required.

Many reviews specifically mention that the quality of life features are well-designed and make monitoring their brew easy. The temperature control system and pressure gauge give users the control needed to make consistently great espresso and troubleshoot when a shot doesnt come out as anticipated.

There are mixed reviews of Brevilles customer service, with some users reporting helpful interactions and others complaining about slow response times and unhelpful information. We cant speak from experience, but it seems like Brevilles customer service is inconsistent, so you might wind up spending some time contacting them if something goes wrong.

Getting With The Program: The Control Panel And Settings

In terms of settings, theres a lot that you can program on the Breville Barista Express. In that sense, the machine is very professional.

Its not a stretch to get great results simply by adjusting the grind size and grind amount, whether for a single or double shot.

Even more, the front control panel clearly displays the important factors at a glance. You only really need to grab the manual when fine-tuning individual components.

For such adjustments, you use specific button combinations. Starting out by programming the perfect coffee dosage for a single or double shot really isnt difficult.

Of course, it would be nice if it wasnt necessary to use combinations of buttons, but to achieve that wed need the Breville Barista Express successor, the Breville Barista Touch. More on that machine in a few minutes.

One feature to keep an eye on is the pressure gauge on the front of the BES870XL. It immediately tells you if your settings will work together to produce enough pressure.

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