20 Best Espresso Machines Under 400 (2023 Updated)

Absolutely worth the money! I have the perfect coffee bar set up in my kitchen now. I have a Technivorm for coffee and this Carina Latte Go for cappuccinos. I?ve had pod espresso makers (Nespresso Citiz and Starbucks Verismo) in the past that were fine, but tired off the pods.

Pods are expensive and not great for the environment. I?ve always used an automatic milk frothed. Now, I can have a great cappuccino with freshly ground beans and froth with the touch of a button. I couldn?t be more pleased.

I could never justify the cost of the 3200 Latte Go, but this less expensive Carina Latte Go does everything I need and nothing more. The espresso and milk are hot and delicious. If you?ve been looking for a more affordable super automatic, take the plunge and give this machine a try.

It should pay for itself over time, as high quality coffee beans are less expensive than pods, and you won?t feel compelled to go to pay big bucks at Starbucks or your local espresso bar.

We’ve had this Philips 3200 LatteGo Espresso Machine for about 3 weeks now, of use between two adults and 2 teenagers. It’s made about 200 cups of coffee/espresso so far and I am impressed with this little machine.

Like every appliance has got some pros and cons, here they are: The positives: The Philips milk foaming system is a fantastic invention. No tubes for the milk to travel through means less cleaning. The milk is pushed through the channel grove in one of two parts of milk dispenser.

After use it is very simple to un-click it and wash thoroughly under warm water and let it to dry, no more laborious cleaning rubber tubes as the other manufactures have – well done Philips! The container is a small size which fits easily in the fridge, it’s also dishwasher safe so if you the person in a hurry you can always leave the dishwasher the job instead of cleaning yourself.

Making the coffee is a very simple, intuitive – choose the type of the coffee drink, strength, volume and then frothed milk volume and with the press of OK button your favourite drink flows through. You can also customise the volume of milk and coffee independently if you wish by pressing and holding for couple of seconds button of the type coffee you want and then controlling it by pressing the OK button when you satisfied with the volume poured out.

Even our teenagers using the machine to make us a coffee without any problems. It is also good hot water dispenser if you are tea drinker – saves you the trouble of boiling water in kettle. You just using the amount of water exactly as you need it, brilliant! We have tried making every type of coffee with this machine.

The espresso is good, the standard black coffee is good, latte and cappuccino are awesome. Plus, with a bit of personalisation available you can decide what drink to create at any moment of your day.

The porcelain burr grinder – it’s pre-set as default, but you can change it if you wish. It grinds the coffee beans perfectly. We have been using the Nero coffee beans for this machine and we are very satisfied with the quality of the coffee produced by this unit.

Water filter – great idea for someone who lives in the area with hard main water. It protects your machine and it indicates when you are due to replace it. The Cons: The machine is quite noisy at the start when it produces the pressure within but with a time I think we have just get used it.

The power button needs to be hold for a bit to switch the machine on. We have had a few moments when we thought it’s broken but all fine, it is just you need practise and remember. The plastic lid for the milk container just rests on the top of it without any hinge or fixture to hold it tight.

We have dropped it few times already simply by taking it out of fridge and moving around. I am sure this could be easily solved, perhaps other more expensive models have it? The machine steams up the ground coffee inlet every single time you using it, we just keeping it lifted to help to moisture out.

I would imagine for someone who uses its own ground coffee, the machine will get a bit messy after the while. You better stick to the beans, much easier and coffee tastier! That’s all our findings so far, we like the machine very much.

The “cons” are pretty minor and perhaps not existent in higher models and we are pretty happy with this little gadget in the kitchen.

I received this coffee machine for review in partnership with Philips. I have owned coffee machines now for 10 years with a bean to cup for the last 3 years. For me, it is important to have good coffee easily and quickly.

Clearly a more manual coffee machine has the potential to create better coffee, however if like me you don’t have the time and want consistently great coffee then a semi-automatic machine is for you.

The machine I had previously used a different system to froth milk essentially using a plastic tube. The issue with this was keeping it clean and it frequently became blocked. The other main issue I had with my previous machine was temperature and this was most noticeable when making an americano, whereby not only was it not very hot but it also made a mess as it dripped and splashed.

Im pleased to say that this machine has neither of these problems. The Philips series 3200 is a good looking bit of kit considering its price point. It is a nice size, not taking up too much space on the worktop.

Whilst it is plastic, it isn’t particularly cheap looking or feeling, with some nice texturing in places such as on top. With the buttons being touch sensitive it is super easy to wipe clean. The drip tray reminds you when to empty, is easy to remove and can even go in the dishwasher.

The milk frother unit just needs a quick rinse after use although again can go in the dishwasher. The coffee machine starts up quickly in around 15 seconds and is easy to use with pre-sets for espresso, americano, cappuccino and latte.

It allows some customisability with adjustment for strength, volume and froth. It delivers good hot coffee with a decent cream. Another plus of this machine is the ability to also use pre-ground coffee which is handy when somebody would rather decaf.

One thing I have noticed is that when the machine is grinding the beans it is louder than machines Ive used previously. This doesn’t bother me too much as it only lasts a few seconds. Overall this is a really easy machine to live with, making good coffee easily and being simple to clean.

We’ve had this machine for about 4 or 5 months now and we love it. This machine has paid for itself with the amount of money we have saved from not going to a coffee shop. Literally, the only complaint that I have is that it is loud af.

We live in an apartment building so I can guarantee that our neighbors hear this thing chugging along in the morning while we make our lattes (which are fantastic by the way). We have not encountered any issues with the operation of the machine itself.

We got the OXO burr grinder from BB&B to grind our coffee for the machine and it work’s really well too.

This espresso maker is a huge improvement over my former (cheaper) model. The coffee tastes great–rich and smooth. My only complaint about this machine is that it makes a little, tiny latte. Who drinks an 8 ounce latte? The upside is that the machine is versatile enough to reprogram to get a bit more coffee from each shot, and the frother works very well.

It only took me about 4 tries to come up with a procedure that will produce my 20 oz. latte.

Years ago I won a Capresso espresso machine with frother, that was donated by a Kitchen shop as a prize. I was skeptical that it would be any good but it lasted me over 15 years! That thing was a workhorse! When I lost a part, they replaced it for free, even years later.

I was so impressed I vowed I would stay with them, so when the poor thing finally died – after a slight accident on my child’s part- I initially compared many available brands. I ended up at BB&B in Bend, OR and the manager saw me looking at the cappucino machines.

We had a lengthy discussion and when I told him my preference for Capresso he took me into his office and we looked online for just the right one. So happy he took the time with me as I love this new machine.

I have made many lattes and cappucino’s in the short time I have had it and it seems to be the same quality product my old faithful machine was. Very happy with the purchase – only wish there was room under the portafilter for a taller coffee cup but that’s my only complaint!.

I lived for over a decade in Italy which is where I fell in love with espresso and cappuccino. When I came back to the States, I spent a lot of time and hundreds of dollars on espresso machines only to be disappointed until I ran across this little machine.

I could not believe my taste buds!!!! At last, after 30 years of searching, I found this Espresso maker and the price was almost half the cost of what I had been spending on the other brands. This machine is easy to use, you don’t have to be an expert to use it, and it fits nicely on the counter.

My family and friends only want espresso and cappuccino when they come to visit. I also bought the Espressione Burr Grinder which works great!.

I am writing this review because there is limited information on this model online so I wanted to share my experience. I decided to purchase this machine for home use because of the specs and features it offered.

There were no other options even close to the specs in this price range. The 19 bar pump is on par with commercial systems and strong enough to brew great espresso. The movable stainless steel wand froths great and creates the desired mircofoam for lattes and cappuccinos.

The Themo Block heater heats quickly and holds temperature nicely. Having the automatic brew takes the guesswork and timing out of making an espresso shot. Lastly, the aesthetics of this are great. It looks nice on the counter and does not take up too much space.

The biggest downside to this unit is that it is a single thermo block so you cannot brew espresso and steam at the same time. The instructions did not do a good job with sequencing between brew mode and steam mode.

Once I figured this out it was easy to stream milk, then turn to brew mode and run water through the wand which cools it down and gets the temperature ready to brew. If you are looking for a solid espresso machine for home use at a great price then this is the unit for you! I would definitely recommend for anyone making the jump from Nespresso or drip brew to home espresso drinks.

Use the product 2x per day 7 days a week. Instructions are clear and if followed precisely unit performs perfectly. Fineness of grind is critical and I use a Shardor CG845B coffee burr grinder set at level 4.

Cost about $50 is very reasonable. Have found Maromas-Orphea from “Whole Latte Love” to provide best creme output. The Espressione EM-1020 does a great job of steaming and very short time for warm-up for Espresso and then Steam.

I use only 2-cup espresso slightly more than 2 scoops of grounds pressed to 30 # and 6 oz of whole milk steamed to top of pitcher 12 oz. Primary instruction pages are pg 12 priming, pg 14 thru pg 17.

We purchased the breville bambino plus machine with high hopes due to the many good reviews as well as the good reputation of the brand. This little machine has definitely fulfilled those hopes. In purchasing the machine we did compare other domestic machines by sunbeam and smeg.

The difference in pricing between the sunbeam and breville was quite different however after looking at countless reviews on both machines we decided the extra money spend could be worth it. The breville is only a compact machine that feels and looks of the the upmost quality with the stainless steel finish.

The breville is not only a lovely looking machine but it also produces great coffee, we are only beginners at coffee making so this machine has been enjoyable to work with and learn from. The water use to coffee making ratio is great for a small appliance with the daily coffee making of about 2-3 cups at a time using only half of the water reservoir.

The milk produced from the machine had a lovely smooth, silky texture. We cannot fault this machine for delivering pretty good coffee however there are only two minor negative features which can be excused due to the size/capacity of the machine as well as it not featuring the same as a bigger professional machine.

The drip tray has a limited capacity which if unsupervised can lead to it overflowing resulting in the milky/dirty water to leak underneath the machine which can be wiped away easily just for some may be an annoyance but it is purely a slight inconvenience of a small home machine.

The other is the temperature settings of the milk is very restricted, we use the hottest setting and it is only just hot enough for us with the ‘standard’ setting temperature for milk is quite cold for us.

All in all if you are looking for a really nice and sturdy machine that produces great coffee for an at home kitchen appliance the breville bambino is definitely the one.

First I just wanna mention that ECS Burlington and Ancaster have been fantastic to deal with. Tamara at the Burlington location was so friendly and so accommodating and she really helped us out when we were trying to get our situation sorted.

We ended up having to go to the Ancaster location and I forget the name of the lovely lady who works there name but she was so kind and friendly as well. I highly recommend ECS coffee. Now onto the machine.

Recently my brothers and I purchased the Bambino espresso machine. We were super excited and we had done a lot of research beforehand. We settled on the Bambino because at its price point (especially since it’s on sale currently) it seemed to provide quite a bit for the money.

We purchased the unit and brought it home and we were happy but couldn’t help but feel that there could be more. And it could be better. We had toyed with the idea of purchasing the Bambino plus before we settled on the regular Bambino but because the differences appeared to be restricted to the automatic milk frothing and a couple smaller features we ended up settling with the Bambino.

However after having the Bambino for less than a day we found out that there are some hidden features with the Bambino plus that make it a much better value. This first feature I am going to mention is one that makes a big difference and is listed nowhere when it comes to purchasing the Bambino plus.

It’s not on Breville’s website, it’s not on any seller’s websites and it seems to be a very unknown thing. It’s called a triple solenoid. Without going too deep into its description you should know that it purges all moisture from the Porter filter after a shot is pulled through so you don’t have to sit there waiting for the rest of the coffee to drip out and you end up with a super dry puck.

It also allows you to back flush the system which helps maintain the integrity and cleanliness of the internal systems. Just these two features alone would’ve made the difference and had us exchange our machine.

Which is exactly what we did. Upon getting the Bambino plus and bringing it home we found a few more features that we were originally unaware of. Such as the fact that the Bambino Plus comes with not only the obligatory dual wall one and two shot baskets, but also the single wall unpressurized one and two shot baskets.

Which is fantastic, as we were going to buy a single wall basket anyway because we had been led to believe that they only included the single wall baskets with this machine in the European market. This review is already long enough so I just wanna mention two more things.

The portafilter that comes with the Bambino is very light and feels a tiny bit cheap especially on the handle. The Portafilter that comes with the Bambino plus is much heavier and appears to be more sturdy.

This goes for the tamper as well, it is very light and flimsy with the bambino and heavier and sturdier with the bambino plus. Along with the larger water tank and the 3 second warm up that the Plus boasts versus the 1.

5 minute warm up of the Bambino, it made our decision to exchange our unit and pay a bit more for the much superior machine extremely easy. I just really wanted to leave this review because had we known some of these things beforehand we would’ve gone with the plus originally.

This may be the best Christmas gift I ever gave myself. I wavered for a long time on whether or not to spend so much money and buy this until I passed by a store and went in to look at it for probably the 5th time, and a customer walked up to me and told me how much she loves hers.

So glad she did, and so glad I invested instead of trying to be frugal and getting another under $100 machine. This thing is so easy to use that I have absolutely no excuse to go out to any of the several cafes around our apartment to get a latte.

I can work this thing half asleep with all the auto features and it does a really great job. Makes delicious lattes and cappuccinos that have perfect strength. With my old bargain machine, I had to make TWO double shots just to get enough caffeine out of it.

We prefer iced drinks generally, but I definitely like to make warm lattes sometimes in the winter and the milk frother does a really great job. I have no clue how to do foam art, so can’t weigh in on that, but the auto frother gets it to the perfect temperature and consistency.

It took some trial and error to figure out which combo of settings I liked with the frother, but quickly figured out the perfect combo for me. I really balked at spending $500 on a relatively small appliance, but like I said above, WORTH.

EVERY. PENNY! We’ve had it for almost 2 years now. So in that time frame, this machine has easily saved us a minimum of $5,000 with how often we’d go out to a cafe for an espresso beforehand, so I’d say it’s paid for itself literally tenfold.

AND I actually prefer the espresso drinks that I make at home with the Bambino Plus over any of the actually excellent cafes in the area. Buy it, watch the video tutorials online, and follow the instructions, and if you can’t get something to work right call customer service to walk you through it, you will not regret it.

It’s a worthy investment.

I genuinely regret buying this machine. I came from owning a couple of La Pavoni machines prior to this one so maybe I am a bit “spoiled” but frankly this machine has been a total disappointment in a lot of ways.

I should have boxed it up after coffee 2 and taken it back. With that said – if this is your first espresso/cappuccino machine you might be pretty happy. My wife is fine with the machine but she hides the flavor with vanilla and a lot of milk so.

I will lay out some pros and cons (more cons that pros). first – the good stuff Pros: love the ‘closed’ grinding and tamping mechanism. super clean and easy to use. integrated hot water for tea and americanos good looking design “easy” push button design with straightforward settings highly functional and easy to clean steam wand The bad – Cons: water never gets hot enough – gives the coffee an “off” flavor – my single biggest beef and pretty much “ruins” the machine for me.

The rest are irritations. can’t use the finer grind settings as it will error out/overpressure the machine, this seems like a serious design flaw to have a setting that is essentially unusable – also affects flavor and crema educate yourself with the differences between double wall and single wall porta-filters as this made a much bigger difference than I realized.

if you actually turn the grind amount past halfway – it overfills the handle and can cause pressure issues/timeouts Small water tank so if you are making a lot of americanos or teas, you will drain it quickly – not awful but it sits under my cabinets so refilling is a bit of a pain.

It is kind of tall, check your fit!!! I have to take the lid off to fit it under my cabinets.

If you are looking for something that is just between full on coffee shop and home brewing, this is a good option for one to two people, maybe three. The grind is customizable and variable enough for most.

The instructions for setup and maintenance are easy to follow. One limitation is the steaming wand. It is a timed run, which makes sense for a system that runs on a tank and is decently compact. But, it is not long enough to steam a full 20 oz drink’s worth of milk.

And to make that much with the included pitcher, you have to steam two batches of milk; and at least one of them 1. 5 times to get a decent temp that won’t chill too much in an insulated cup to be unenjoyable by the time you get to finishing the drink, if you are a slower drinker like me.

That said, the steam wand is also one of my favorite things about it. If you are not great at steaming milk, no problem. If you want foam, this thing can make very good foam with no effort At ALL. The only things you have to do is not overfill the pitcher, and watch to make sure it doesn’t overflow with foam.

And even if you are good at steaming milk, it is nice to not have to fuss with it. One other thing to note, this is not a quiet machine. The actions that are the most silent are dispensing hot water for tea, and pulling shots.

However, if you are going to use the included grinder, you have to make noise with that before the quiet action of pulling the shot, so dispensing hot water is the quietest function. I did not expect it to be quiet, and that does not make me enjoy this any less, it is just something that needs to be mentioned for those that might not expect it.

Last thing I’ll mention is to check the steam wand components, I did have to exchange the outerost part of the wand due to the outer metal part separating from the hard black plastic part it surrounds (not the silicone part that the steam comes out of).

All in all, this is for those that want to be a little more fussy with the end result, but also want some features that make things easier to do with less effort. I would recommend this to others.

Very happy with our purchase. The Red is a beautiful Red accent color with our dark cupboards. I find the espresso/coffee machine is very easy to use and you can use ground coffee beans or freshly grind whole beans.

It makes excellent coffee. Love experimenting making different types of coffees and different strengths. The frother brings your coffee the a different level, I use the frother for my London Fog teas too.

Do recommend microwaving your mugs. Would I recommend buying one? absolutely. This is a good quality unit. I also like that everyone can make their own personalized coffee. I am so happy I chose DeLonghi!.

I’ve had this espresso machine now for about four months and in that time I’ve basically used it every morning. It’s easy enough to make a morning latte with this machine that the drip coffeemaker has been relegated to the closet.

I’m an espresso beginner so it took me a little while to dial in the grind for the beans I use, but after four months of practice I’m now at the point that I can pretty much make a perfect double shot in less than 3 minutes while still half asleep–the fast heat-up on this machine is a godsend.

My absolute favorite feature, though, is definitely the automatic milk steaming with the auto purge of the steam wand. Does it make perfect latte art microfoam? No. Does it at least enable me to make passable steamed milk for a morning latte while, as mentioned, still half asleep, with very little fuss or room for error? Absolutely, which is what I was looking for in choosing a machine with that feature.

Maybe someday I’ll learn to steam manually and get that perfect latte art foam but for now I’m happy to be able to produce a very drinkable latte without having to go through that extra learning curve.

Also the damson blue color is really beautiful. neither black nor stainless would have looked good in my kitchen and the machine definitely takes up some space and presence on the countertop so I was determined to buy the machine from a place that carried the blue version!.

I have had this machine for nearly 3 years now, and I still absolutely love it! I initially purchased this machine after many of the reviews mentioned that it’s a great introductory product, but I’ve managed to learn a lot about coffee in the past three years and I still feel like I can make a great cup from this machine.

There are some machines out there that can pull a better shot, but I don’t think any of them in the same price range as Barista Pro are nearly as aesthetically pleasing or user friendly. At some point, you will have to sacrifice something- whether that will be paying more, having a machine that doesn’t look as nice, dealing with a learning curve (which this machine does have), or a decrease in the quality of the shots you’re pulling.

It all depends on your priorities and experience level. ——THINGS I LOVE——One feature I love, yet I think is so under appreciated is the hot water feature, which stops pouring automatically at 8 oz. This is great for when I don’t want to sit and watch the machine to make sure my americano doesn’t overflow.

Another great feature is the dual boiler system, which allows you to go from pulling a shot to steaming milk with only a 7 second reheat time. The cleaning kit that the machine comes with is extremely user friendly and has everything you need.

I had no trouble understanding how to operate my machine. It looks beautiful on my countertop, and it has held up fairly well to daily wear and tear. ——DRAWBACKS——The portafilter is not a standard size, so if you want to buy aftermarket accessories, they sometimes are not as readily available.

I was still able to find what I needed on Amazon, but still something to consider. Second, there is no pressure gauge on the machine, so you have to rely on other metrics to determine if you have pulled a good shot or not.

I purchased bottomless portafilter so I could learn more about the shots I pull based on the color, etc. I also don’t use the bean hopper, because the way the amount of coffee is measured in this machine is based on time.

For example, instead of setting how many grams of coffee you want the hopper to release, you select an amount of time that you would like the grinder to run. Well, while the time is constant, the actual weight in grams that is ground varies with how fine you grind the beans and the type of coffee you are using.

For example, the same type of coffee ground for 10 seconds at different grind settings will produce different weights of coffee. This is important because now one of the major variables in pulling a shot (weight, pressure, grind size, etc.

) can’t be standardized. Because of this, I weigh out the amount of coffee that I will be using for each shot I pull and then grind it in the grinder, that way I know the weight stays consistent every time, regardless of grind size or type of beans.

PRO VS EXPRESS VS NESPRESSO- I think in retrospect I might have bought one model down, the Barista Express, which does have a pressure gauge instead of the touchscreen that the Barista Pro has just to reduce the variables I discussed above.

However, the Express doesn’t have the dual boiler system, which means you have to wait 60 seconds in between pulling a shot and steaming milk for the pressure to rebuild in the machine. This ended up being why I bought the Pro over the Express when I thought about how I’d be using the machine on busy morning as I run out the door.

Regarding the Pro vs the Nespresso, I feel like the Pro absolutely makes a better cup of coffee than the Nespresso. No contest. It also is more versatile, saves you money over time (pods are expensive), and produces less plastic waste.

However, there is absolutely no learning curve with the Nespresso and it is far more convenient. Overall, I enjoy this machine, but with any product like this you need to decide what pros matter most to you and what cons you can live with.

If you’re looking for a user friendly, versatile, beautiful machine that can pull a pretty good shot, this machine is your best bet!.

After close to 2yrs of daily use, on avg 2-3 coffees a day, my Barista Pro still works/looks like new. I did try to do it’s regular flush & clean on time but sometime I’d go over. At some point, a few month ago, I noticed weird pressure issues and after awhile saw significant loss in pressure when frothing milk.

I was getting ready to call Breville support and one day I thought let me do an extra Descale/Flush even though I had done it fairly regular. I thought. After that extra cleaning the pressure was 100% back to normal.

My area does have a lot of hard water and over time it clogged the pipes. During that cleaning I heard sort of a louder pressure release and I knew that was the issue causing all the pressure loss. Just wanted to let everyone know that it’s very important to do your regular cleaning on time and if you do have hard water at the faucet do an extra descale at least once a year.

Hope this helps :).

This product and the company, I discovered throough a crowdfunding push where a short video gave me the insight onto the product – the NanoPresso. Then life continnued, didn’t think of it until yesterday afternoon.

I live in rural Quebec and things are not easily obtained. As I said, yesterday I was hunting the various stores and coffee houses around the village, looking for the replacement “O” ring for my stove top espresso maker.

Fat chance, even the Italian restorant that sales similar machines didn’t even know that the part needed change from time to time and therefore did not have a ghost of an “O” ring. Having faith in humanity and its search for a better coffee, I kept on going until I came upon the very last shop where maybe I could find the Grail.

Luck might be a Lady but that particular one was not to be found; in its place however the shop owner was all exited about his new product, one that he thought would interest me. There it was – that very juicer I had seen a month or so ago and had found so interesting.

I of course bought it. It did set me back somewhat more than my anticipated washer but its all worth since we are talking espresso. I gave the product a 4 star only because unlike an espresso machine, this works water vs.

steam and therefore the result is never as hot as one would get with the standard machinery. but it is nonetheless one **** of a cup. Great work! Robert.

I like it but, here’s the thing. this isn’t the first model I’ve had. I had the minipresso and used it EVERYDAY for 2 years before I started having issues with it. So, once I decided to buy a replacement I said why not try the nanopresso.

the design looks nice on the screen and everyone seems very happy with theirs. Well, I have been using it EVERYDAY for the past 3 months and honestly, I like the minipresso better. The nanopresso has water leak issues and a few extra parts to take care of, so more time washing it and a higher chance of losing a vital piece.

The espresso that it produces is great for an on-the-go espresso machine, just like the minipresso. I do like the grippier cup, tank and portafilter, but the I think the minipresso is a more robust product with less components to worry about.

Just my opinion.

After reading dozens of glowing reviews–especially about the quality espresso these devices deliver–I bought one. It was used occasionally–once every week or two. Instructions were always followed for use and clean up.

The espresso was never that impressive–it was marginally stronger than coffee and had a partial covering of very light foam. But, within about 10 months it stopped working. The press does not hold any pressure, and the water just runs through dripping randomly.

I regret the purchase. I thought it could be a satisfactory espresso, when purchased specialty coffee drinks are out of budget. Didn’t work out that way. It just added the cost of an expensive, now defunct, device.

The Minipresso GR makes a great espresso with very little effort. The shots have great depth and are exceptionally smooth. A short note about milk drinks. Traditionally, 7g of coffee is used to produce a 21g espresso (30% brew ratio).

However, I find many of the better cafes use double and triple baskets with 14-21g of coffee to pull their shots, producing 30g of espresso (56-70% brew ratio). These double and triple shots are great to cut through milk drinks.

A flat white is normally 10oz (volume), to produce a flat white of comparable intensity with the Minipresso and 7g of coffee, I use 1/2 cup (4oz volume) of milk to produce a finished drink of 5-6oz (volume).

Also, there is a significant increase in richness when the Minipresso is preheated by running a cycle hot water through, as defined in the instruction manual. Operation: Minipresso (with or without coffee) the plunger will require more force after about 7 to 10 pumps.

I occasionally find that pressure will not increase if the filter end of the Minipresso is not screwed on tightly. Improper tightening resulted in delayed flow and then liquid would continue to flow in between pumps.

This is not correct, with body and flavor of the shots suffering. With the Minipresso tightened to compress the o-rings, liquidflows out of the Minpresso only as the pump is pressed and the flow stops in between pumps.

Much better flavor! Coffee: Starbucks Willow An excellent lighty roasted coffee (lightest that Starbucks offers in my area) and very consistent bag to bag. Slightly fruity with a deep bias on roasty caramels.

*Produces respectable crema. Grinder: Cuisinart CMB-18N Conical Burr Grinder set on (1) for the finest grind. This is the same grind setting that I use for the AeroPress with Able Brewing Disk Fine Stainless filter.

This grinder has some retention. Loading 1 Tbsp (heaping) of whole beans usually results in 7. 2-8g of ground coffee due to retention. 7g of coffee is ground in 7 seconds at this setting Water: Carbon filtered water for preheating the Minipresso and the serving cup Water to draw the shot: 1/3 cup FIJI Artesian bottled water (TDS: 130ppm) Milk: Organic Valley Lactose Free Whole Milk 150-155F Heating beyond 160F will lose flavor.

*Lactose free milk is considerably sweeter than regular milk, without any added sugars. Milk Frothinig Pitcher: Rattleware 12oz Macchiato Frothing Pitcher Water quality: The Minipresso reveals noticable changes in the flavor of the espresso depending on the water used for drawing the shot.

The Minipresso holds about 1/3 cup of water andI heat this amount of water separately in the microwave until it reaches a boil. With the Minipresso I have a clear preference for two brands of water. Tasting: Shots were drawn with a stopwatch to help manage pumping speed and the extraction was stopped at a specific weight.

Evian (TDS: 285ppm, average of three bottles) Flavors are significantly muted. Triple carbon filtered cold water from the tap (TDS: 280ppm) Indestinquishable from the Evian, with flavors muted. Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water (TDS: 93ppm; average of three bottles) Flavors are slightly muted, but more depth compared to Evian.

Fiji Natural Artesian Water (TDS: 130ppm, average of three bottles) Greatest clarity in flavors of all other waters that were compared. Pausing before the first drops of espresso come out increases flavor.

*The Minipresso makes a hissing sound durring the first 8 or so pumps, that will stop abruptly. Once the hissing stops, I pause for about 4-7 seconds) Pumping firmly (1 second per pump) will produce a rapid flow from the Minipresso.

Pumping more slowly (2 seconds per pump) so that a stream just forms produces more flavorful shots. The Minipresso offers amazing control over the extraction of shots. Any brew ratio may be achieved by placing your demitasse cup on a gram scale and weighing the shot during extraction.

Simply pump until the desired ratio is achieved. Drawing the shot until the water chamber is empty will produce a 38-42g shot, which is far beyond normal brew ratios, even for a lungo. The Minipresso holds enough water to push the shots well into the blonding phase, which really helps to balance flavors with light roasted coffees, such as the Starbucks Willow.

With more heavily roasted coffees that are dark and oily, I reduce the number of pumps to prevent over extraction. With a freshly opened bag of light roasted beans, I find a great balance between 21.

5 – 24g. As beans age (about a week after opening) 17-19g. To quickly find your pefect brew ratio, stop the shot at 17g and pump the rest into another cup. Add the excess back into the initial 17g with a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon (which holds about 1g of espresso).

With each additional 1/4 tsp, the balance changes greatly. The Minipresso produces wonderful shots with layers of flavor!.

This thing is incredible! Easy to use, eco friendly (no batteries and no wasteful pods), small lightweight, simple yet brilliant little device! Highly recommended for the avid espresso lover especially if they enjoy camping, are on the go or just want to avoid getting Starbucks at work.

The device brews incredibly tasty espresso.

I bought in order to use when I visit my sons or when I go on vacation. I was using for one week and I do not have to many complains. Cons: It is not easy to find out the right temperature for the water.

It does not fill a normal espresso cup. Good: the taste is great, a strong espresso. Easy to clean. Easy to prepare (except for the water temperature).

I’m really happy with it. In fact I now like using it more than my big machine. I researched many reviews beforehand and understood there were some considerations that could be improved with a couple of minor adjustments – such as turning the water heat to high and buying a bottomless filter basket if you want to grind your own espresso coffee.

The pressurized baskets that come with the machine are fine for courser grounds, pre-ground coffee and pods. Many people seem to have had trouble with getting good cappuccino froth – the bubbles are too big and unstable but I have since found that is more about technique, getting the milk to swirl rapidly in the jug and using whole milk or oat milk for non-dairy drinkers.

I recommend you use filtered water and remember to flush out the steam wand after every use too. I made a small modification inside the steaming wand to reduce the size of the bubbles and I now get perfectly smooth silky froth.

Some people take the metal sleeve off instead but it is not necessary to solve the problem. The machine is light so you do have to hold it when adding the filter basket, but honestly, for this price, these are minor things to tweak.

There are various other adjustments that can be made re programing the machine but I have been happy with factory settings on those apart from heat which is easy to reprogram. The main thing is – this machine takes up no space, is easy to use and it makes great coffee from ristrettos to cafe lattes with some practice, good quality coffee and some youTube research on how to use the machine.

I brought this in the January sales as I wanted barista style coffee in my home. I am a barista. The machine is neat, small and looks great on the countertop. Makes good hot milk although the nozzle isn’t that flexible – but it serves a purpose.

I like the cup warmer on the top, although to get maximum use from it, you need to have it on for a fair while before the cups get hot at all. I had an initial problem, I couldn’t get the nozzle to screw fit into the head on the first few attempts/hours, after searching youtube to see whether anyone else had any issues with this, I solved my own problem and took some cooking oil and wiped it round the outside edge of the head and found that this lubricated it so it was easy to insert and swivel the handle into position.

Saying that, the machine is so light, so the resistance of getting the head and handle into the closed position is against you and is a bit of a struggle – I have to hold/hug the machine in one hand and hold the handle in the other to be able to close the product to work.

Its such a design flaw. There are no sticky pads on the feet and it needs a heavier base. Holding it at the top sometimes means accidentally pressing the buttons. If I could be bothered to send it back, I would.

I think that I must have a dodgy machine as I couldn’t see any other reviews with the same issues as I have.

Pros: With right grind and good coffee, it does produce really good tasting coffee for home machine. Steamer heats milk quicker, then expected and to good quality foam, if you do not like to self control milk frothing.

Cons: Not sure about quality. First machine leaked and never even manage to get water through. Returned and ordered new one. This one works, but steamer sometimes needs time between reusing. If I follow manual how to cool water to use coffee again, it doesn’t react and needs two or three tries to switch control off and on again, before dispensing steam/water.

I don’t know, how does it work with some coffee knock out conteiner, but if used over edge of any unspecified conteiner, filter basket keeps falling out of handle. IIT won’t be the case as the machine isn’t the cheapest range.

We were looking for a machine that allowed us to do the steps manually, rather than a “one press bean to cup” machine, and this fits our requirements perfectly. The integrated grinder allows us to set the grind fineness and amount to put into the basket, then you can see the pressure achieved during extraction (making the espresso) on the pressure gauge so you can tell if you’ve got the right fineness of coffee and the right amount for the type of bean/powder you’re using.

Extraction is at 93C and may be tweaked a bit. Finally, steaming is at a higher temperature (130C) and makes an excellent job with the supplied jug, which has a temperature gauge built into the side to see when the milk’s at the right temperature.

Some advice: – fresh caffeinated beans – grind fineness of 8, amount at 4 o’clock on the front dial, using the standard baskets – fresh DEcaffeinated beans – grind fineness of 5, amount at 12 o’clock, using the dual-walled baskets – pre-ground – use the dual-walled baskets (as per the instructions).

Really important to note how decaffeinated beans need different settings and the different basket! Note that the extraction pressure is 9 bar, not 15 bar as might be shown in the description. 9 bar generally provides better results.

Overall this is a very well built machine, very enjoyable to use and very rewarding to hone your barista skills.

I love my Barista Express, the design and quality is amazing, just as all the other Sage products. I’m a barista and I actually prefer my morning coffee from the Express over the machine at work. Considering the performance and comparing to others on the market it’s very good value.

An amazing gift for a coffee lover for sure. And of course the customer support is fantastic too, if you need it. It’s compact with a beautiful finish, creates great coffee seamlessly once you get into the groove of knowing how to dial in your beans.

There are always the upgraded models if you would rather all the settings be automated but I personally enjoy the process and once it’s set, it’s super simple. Lots of YouTube videos on advice of how to get the best out of this machine out there 🙂 A note on coffee; at the beginning I was purchasing all kinds of craft beans, they produced good crema but tasted pretty offensive.

I was starting to worry it was coming out too acidic because I wasn’t able to dial it in properly and I got really frustrated with the results, it was my first proper machine since having had Nespresso for years.

I finally found a great roaster and the coffee just came out delicious first try and was so easy to dial in, giving consistent brews. So it was nothing to do with the machine settings, it can simply be a lot of trial and error on finding the best beans for your taste.

I also highly recommend getting a coffee distributor tamp for consistent shots.

With so many other positive reviews, I won’t go into great detail – in summary, it’s a great machine. It’s fast and easy to use. The instructions are clearly written (frustration free). Once you’ve cleaned it once or twice, you realise it’s actually very quick and simple.

The coffee tastes great and the range of adjustment (temperature and grind) definitely helps you to get the right flavour. The only things to be aware of are that in buying this machine, you will need to spend some time experimenting to get the right flavour and compared to a fully auto machine, it does take longer.

However for me, it’s far more rewarding and flexible and entirely worth it. So as long as you’re looking for this type of machine, you can’t go wrong here. I’ve also found the grinder to be an added bonus for when I want a change from espresso- it’s great for preparing beans for a cafetière or cold press, which I didn’t really consider as a selling point before purchase.

It also looks great and compared to my previous machine (from a different manufacturer) feels much more robust.

I didn’t have an espresso machine and wasn’t sure I wanted another countertop decoration so I got one of these thinking I’d use it occasionally. Boy was I wrong. I use it multiple times per day. I suppose if I were spoiled to an automatic machine I might be a bit less enthusiastic about the effort to prep & clean for a shot of espresso, but the effort really isn’t all that bad for what you get.

and you can get it pretty much anywhere you have access to boiling water.

Strong, thick, and decent crema to boot, with a pump operated with one finger. Sturdy little thing travels, comes to work keeps me in normal-size (read small) shots on demand. Brilliant.

Bought this to replace an older version of the same. The previous one lasted 10+ years and was still working but with some minor water leak issues. I’m hoping the new one will be as reliable. No problems in the first few weeks! There have been a few improvements I’ve noticed over the earlier model fixing minor annoyances I had with it.

Water tank and grounds container are more sturdy. Better water tank seal. Brew unit easier to remove and clean. Steam valve easier to operate and vents pressure/drains water when turned off. Less coffe ground mess inside due to different design.

I’m less happy with the steam nozzle moving to the left side but guess I will get used to that. Also the tray is smaller so you need to hold the milk jug while frothing. I used to sit it on a small upside-down bowl on the tray (I’ll probably make a stand to fix that).

Read the manual, take the time to program the settings. I found setting the grind 1 notch off finest, coffee dial to max, temp setting 3 gave the best results for latte/cappuccino. Don’t bother trying to make 2 cups at once unless you’re happy with a very small shot.

Throw away the first few coffees before drinking one.

After reading the manual 3x, I eventually figured out how it all works. Takes a few coffees to realise how it all works. Two of the outstanding features for me are: 1. Self cleaning – before AND after dispensing an espresso! 2.

The fact that it will accommodate for both already ground coffee, as well as beans (obviously the better option). Handy when you have ground coffee in your kitchen store and it needs using up! For the price that it is, and considering there are other machines out there that are bigger, have more knobs and instruments on the front, that cost a great deal more, this machine is very good IMHO.

Having a lot of the manual work taken out by being automatic whilst still producing a very good quality crema espresso, is a huge plus +++. I would recommend this machine to anyone doesnt want to spend an arm and a leg on an oversized, overrated coffee unit, but still commands a decent coffee – bean to cup – the way to go!.

I had this same coffee model for 8 years and it started to make reaaaaaaaaaaally slow coffees (one drip at a time) and the cost of repairing it was similar to the cost of a new machine so I decided to get a new one.

The newer version is wonderful, like it’s predecessor. I love the option of having beans stored in the machine plus the ability to use coffee grinds in a separate chute for people who want a different kind of coffee (stronger/milder/decaf, etc).

The machine is great. It’s easy to use, easy to clean and makes incredibly fast coffees – much faster than the first model I had at the beginning of its lifespan. The only disadvantage is that it’s loud.

Really loud. Louder than the previous model ever was. This is unfortunate in households where one partner wakes up and makes coffee before the other is up.

I bought the machine in November of last year, last week the grinder stopped grinding properly. We try to grind 10gm we get out 5 gm. I called customer support they asked me to clean it, followed the agent’s instructions and still had the same issue.

She asked me to deep clean the machine, did so and still had the same problem. I called customer support and explained what I did, they opened a video session, showed them that the machine is. It working, the agent blamed it on the beans, I changed the beans, he is looking at he grinder,and his answer was if the ground beans are coming down foe him the grinder is working.

I tried to explain that not the whole quantity is coming down and it is taking too much time to grind the same amount that took before 12 seconds. He refused to listen. I YouTube it says the burr could be defective, but the Breville expert was not able to identify it.

Waste of money for a machine that breaks down after 3 months and customer support that does not stand behind the product. Have it one star because this is the minimum. Not satisfied at all.

4. 5. I upgraded to this machine from my previous Delonghi. It was more expensive, but I actually wouldn’t say it makes better espresso, it just has more stainless steel than plastic and more features.

Although I wish that the tamper was not plastic as it’s somewhat flimsy. It works well and is easy to use. Single and double dose are adjustable, and it has indicator lights for when it needs descaling, cool down, etc.

The steam one works but I do find that it doesn’t work as well as my separate frother, so i use that. I think you could get good microfoam with this, but it often starts flashing for cool down right near the end of steaming.

My one main disappointment is that I had to have it serviced the second year I had it. Could’ve just been a fluke, or because I travelled with it and upset it somehow. The repair was not too expensive and it just needed a valve replaced, but still.

 Overall I recommended, though I would wait for a sale. If you get it on sale it’s a good buy! There’s also a pretty active Facebook community for tips, tricks and advice for this specific machine.

It has quite a following it seems. I use it at least once a day! Hoping it lasts a really long time now like my other DeLongis.

The first Dedica I purchased functioned just fine that is until the descaling light came on. So, I used the descaler that came in the packaging The Dedica wouldn’t descale, or if it did, the indicator light would not go off.

Home Depot took it back. But I liked the machine so I purchased a second Dedica, this time directly from DeLonghi, to see if the same failure occurred again which it did: the Dedica would not descale.

This time though, DeLonghi would not accept the return, would not facilitate a return, unless I took a video of a second descaling attempt and submitted the video for their review. This seemed to me to be both an admission of guilt (or at least strong evidence) there were problems, and possibly an attempt to stall or possibly strand the return.

DeLonghi, a better solution than turning customers into Tik Tok Descaling Circus Monkeys would be a big, red sticker warning: DISTILLED WATER ONLY.

I’ve owned my little Dedica for just over 5 years and I made already hundreds of coffees in that period. This espresso maker is small but do not let the size fool you. It makes delicious coffee. It has paid for itself about 6 times over already.

Prior to this one I owned a Breville that was double the price of the Dedica. The Breville began leaking water and broke down after about 4 year but the Dedica has already surpassed the Breville one in longevity and it is still going strong.

Once my current one breaks down, I’m buying another one for sure. If you do the proper maintenance (descaling) on this machine, which I have done, it should last you for quite a few years.

I’ve been using this machine for 2 weeks and it has met or exceeded the expectations I had based on reading many, many reviews of various machines. The machine arrived double-boxed and well-packed, though left upside-down by the carrier because BB put the shipping label on the bottom for some reason.

The machine didn’t seem to care about being upside-down at least. Setup was simple and straight-forward. I’m not sure why a couple reviewers found it onerous; it really wasn’t. I spend about 5 minutes cleaning the machine and a few minutes pre-soaking the filter, but otherwise it’s about 5 minutes to set up.

The only issue I had is the pictorial instructions for the water filter are not clear on what orientation the filter should be submerged in. I just did it both ways and made sure it was full of water (no air).

Later in the manual, it does say in text to invert it. As the manual indicates, the first few cups of coffee are very weak and should be discarded. As some others have noted, the “pucks” from the first set of brews are mushy and loose sludge.

After the first empty, I have had very slightly moist pucks that hold their form. I have not had a superautomatic before, but the quality of the coffee is certainly better than the pod system I have been using for years and is in line with what I get in shops.

I selected this model to have a few extra features in “software” and I’m glad I did. I quickly found I prefer “Americano” to “Coffee” and appreciate being able to easily control the volume, amount of coffee, and temperature from the panel.

I can hit the “Americano” button and walk away to make eggs, or I can make 1-2 espresso shots and then add water manually, etc. Operation is straight-forward and obvious. The bean hopper holds about 2/3 of a 12oz bag; it would have been nice if it held the entire bag so I wouldn’t have to re-store the partial bag.

Of course this would make the machine bigger, and maybe others who buy 8oz bags would dislike that their beans are sitting in more air space. The hopper lid does have a rubber gasket seal to help keep the beans fresh.

The slope is very shallow, but all but a couple beans did find their way into the grinder without assistance. But, I can understand why people recommend not using oily beans. I’m not sure why the engineers didn’t increase the slope to address those issues; maybe they are trying very hard to keep the machine compact.

In the same way, the water reservoir is a bit on the small side. I fill it at least once and often twice in a morning. The cannister easily slides out, has a nice handle that makes it easy to carry and fill, and slides into place easily.

I have not had any problem with water leakage as a few people mentioned. That said, I would have preferred a way to add water in place. We’ll see how many years the sealing mechanism continues to hold up with daily disconnects.

The grinder is about as loud as one would expect, but the pump on this unit seems on the loud side. It is definitely not a sound you want while trying to talk or watch tv, but on the other hand it’s not so loud that I worry about waking anyone when I’m brewing the first cup at 6am.

I have cleaned the machine once so far. The brew group came out okay – you have to depress a button, and wiggle the unit a little to get it out. It went back in so easily that I was not sure it was actually back in place, removed it, and put it back in.

The unit itself was easy to clean, just loose coffee dust here and there. It was clean enough after a week that I am going a little longer this time. The water tray and puck bin slide out to the front easily and are also easy to clean.

My only complaint here is that the water level can be quite near the top of the tray. I can imagine older folks or people with tremors having a hard time carrying a fullish tray of water to the sink to empty and clean.

The engineers were thoughtful in many areas of the design: parts are clearly labeled with whether they can go in the dishwasher or not, and the parts are designed to fit together in only one, obvious way.

I don’t have any real interest in the milk system, but I tried out the frother just because it was there. It was easy to use, frothed a cup of milk in several seconds, and was quick and easy to take apart, rinse, and reinstall.

Poorly designed, in three important areas. I do not recommend this machine. 1. One would think the Philips’ engineers would have a basic understanding of how a funnel works. They placed the hole for feeding the coffee beans (what I call the funnel) near the front of the machine so it often runs out of beans, and you don’t know it until you hear the odd sounding noise indicating it needs beans – very annoying.

So then you have to manually push the beans toward the funnel. The old machine was problem free in this area. 2. the frother/boiler does not heat the milk (two-cup pitcher) in one run of the steam, so you have to wait until it builds up again and then continue heating the milk (or run it without waiting).

In any case, the old machine had plenty of capacity and this was never a problem. 3. Cleaning the cartridge (recommended weekly) is a relative nightmare. Once you remove the cartridge you find numerous nooks and crannies where grounds have made there way into hard-to-reach areas, making cleaning, especially on a weekly basis, a real pain.

I think the problem is poor design with the seals between the machine and the cartridge, as this was never a problem with the old machine. It takes almost 1/2 hour to clean the mess this machine makes.

So, why make a machine if you are going to make it poorer in quality. Very disappointing.

After a few weeks of use I made the right decision for my needs. I use a super-auto for “one touch” coffee during the week. So far the coffee and Americano with 2 different pre-roasted beans have been quite good.

I look forward to using soon with home roasted beans. On the weekends when I have more time, I have been making various “adult” espresso drinks with great results. Typically, I don’t make milk drinks, but I gave it a try and the steamer worked okay.

Initially the spent pucks were quite watery as others have mentioned, now they are a more typical solid puck. Not sure why. The water reservoir does not make as many drinks as expected. When making coffee / Americano at largest cup setting I only get 4 to 4.

5 cups. This appears to be a combination of the rinse cycles, the amount of water the Aqua Clean filter displaces, and the amount of water left in the tank when the machine indicates empty. The good news is it is easy to see the tank level and if you do run out, the machine will continue with the drink after refilling the tank.

On my previous machine, you could not see the water level and when it ran out of water, it aborted the drink. I don’t know what happens when out of beans, but I hope it also continues after refill. I am happy with this machine.

The smaller than expected usable amount of water is not an issue once I re-calibrated my expectations.

Bought this machine, because I wanted to use nespresso capsules as they are recyclable. The price was reasonable for our how much we were willing to spend on a coffee machine. We have a store right down the street from our home so it is convenient to drop off the used pods for recycling and stock up on new ones.

I choose this machine, because it has the built in milk frother, however by design the frother is literally a jigsaw puzzle. You have to take it apart and clean well after each use. This can be annoying, but I like having this option when I am in the mood to have a latte.

I didn’t want to get a machine that had a separate attachment, makes the system more complicated. I do appreciate this compact design as it doesn’t take up much counter space. The descaling is quite easy to do when prompted to do so.

Youtube has good video tutorials. After descaling, you will notice the coffee that comes out tastes smoother.

I got this as a gift to my husband its our 4th machine but first with integrated milk system which saves counter space. After 5 months started issue with milk system sent my machine for repair and when they returned it told me its not the machine but the milk jug and its not covered by warranty but they sent me a replacement for free as my husband has a good history with them.

2 months after same issue started again. Called CS and told them I can no longer have this machine as its more of a headache. They will replace it but had to choose between latissima touch & citiz. Chose the touch for the only reason that if I choose the lower value machine they will not compensate for the difference in Value.

Im waiting for the latissima touch to be ship. With latissima one i had enough, i was expecting to get the performance of a $500 machine but it just disappointed me.

This compact and stunning coffee maker looks amazing on my counter. The design is sleek, modern, and is beautifully simple. The machine flaunts luxury and adds extra pampering to my morning routine. The versatility of this machine is great.

It makes cappuccinos, macchiatos, espressos, and lattes within 30 seconds and the press of a button. When you are still waking up in the morning, this machine takes all the hassle out of great tasting drinks.

It makes everyone’s favorite coffee, and even our guests adore it. The drinks are bold, rich, and silky smooth. It tastes better than drinks you can even get at a local coffee shop, and you don’t even have to get in your car.

Plus at 70 cents a pod it’s much more affordable. I don’t think you can go wrong with the Ispirazione Roma pods. It is the best small appliance we own, hands down. It’s low on maintenance/cleaning needs – the only necessary cleaning is to clean the milk reservoir in the dishwasher daily.

The Nespresso Lattissima One will replace every other coffee machine you have as it does it all. The pods are only recyclable through their mail in system, which I found to be an extra hassle. I wish they could be recycled with our other things, or even a drop off at a local grocery store.

It makes great individualized coffee, but doesn’t have any option to make a large batch of coffee if you want a carafe of coffee to set at the breakfast table. However, because the drinks are made in less than a minute it still works great for our family breakfasts.

This machine will become a necessity for anyone who values quality machines and delicious coffee.

After debating on whether to take the plunge on a full featured espresso machine like this one or go for something cheaper/simpler, I could not have had my expectations blown away any more than they are after using this machine.

I am a novice when it comes to making coffee (went from a nespresso to a couple of french press/pour over methods but never felt like I got the taste to match or surpass getting something made at a coffee shop).

This Breville machine made it feel like after a single pour, I was an expert. Setup was straightforward enough – they include a handy quick setup/reference sheet that helps you get through the initial steps and perform your first extraction.

The box includes all of the pieces you should ever need to clean/maintain your machine (except for disposable products like filters and descaling tablets). Operating the machine is super straightforward, and what helped me the most is that on the back of the quick setup guide is a nice tuning guide that helps understand what to do to get the best extraction you can get.

In total the machine has so many customizations that you can get super crazy dialing the machine to a specific bean that you are trying to brew. After reading through the manual, cleaning/maintenance of the machine also seems doable.

After dialing the machine in to get a good extraction, both my girlfriend and I were able to enjoy our favorite starbucks orders from the comfort of our own home, and they actually tasted better than when we order sometimes! tl;dr – A fantastic fully featured espresso machine currently $200 less than anything comparable.

While I don’t have the most refined palate, this machine has reviewed really well in terms of its taste. I’m incredibly happy with the price of this product, the quality it produces, the money I’m going to save by not going to starbucks every morning, and the fun I’m going to have learning how to make world class espresso.

I really do like this machine, and though this is a new machine, it replaces another just like it that we’d been using since October 2011. Consequently, we have 10+ years of experience with this model.

The design is well thought out, from the magnetic tamper holder to the “Empty Me” float on the water collection tray. The one complaint that I had with the previous machine was that the grinder did not grind fine enough to get a good shot with the single-wall filter–but I fixed that by shimming the lower burr with a washer.

This newer version of the machine has an adjustable upper burr and does not have that problem. Thank you, Breville! Between my wife and I, we typically use the machine to brew 2 to 4 beverages per day, so it gets plenty of use.

The water reservoir is adequately sized (in my opinion) and with where we have the machine placed on our countertop, it is easy to refill without removing the reservoir or moving the machine, though removing the reservoir to refill it is very easy.

The controls and buttons are well placed and operation is easy and straightforward. My wife uses the double-wall filter basket but I like to play Barista with grind and tamp control to see how well I can do with the single-wall basket.

This machine will let you do both. And I am happy with the steam wand and frothing with this machine. I think this is a versatile, good looking appliance to have on your countertop if you are looking for an Espresso Machine.

I bought this machine several months ago. I was having an issue with the steam knob and reached out to the Breville support team. They were unbelievable. They replaced my machine so now here is my review after a few months of using the new one.

First and most importantly, it makes amazing coffee! The crema that you get from this machine is just lovely! It is easy to use and the dial in the middle makes it easy to know if you are doing things right.

I know they have more automatic models, but I am a bit old fashioned and want to be somewhat involved in the coffee making process. The machine is easy to clean and as a reminder, you should read about descaling the unit and cleaning the portafilter regularly.

As a bonus, if you register your machine with Breville, they give you zoom class where they discuss how to use your machine to get the best results. If I had to critique anything it would still be the steam knob.

This one is easier to turn but if I had to design the machine, I would replace the steam knob with a button. (I also own the smaller Bambino machine and I find that much easier on the hands. The Bambino is missing the grinder so I would still stick with the Barista Express as that grinder is awesome!).

This is my second espresso machine. My first was a secondhand Krups pump model given to me free. When it worked, it worked well, but it only worked sporadically. So, I went for this much cheaper, much simpler Bella.

First, it works all the time (points for that). You measure the water going in using the carafe – there’s a line for steam/frother use, and another for 2/4 servings. Into the reservoir, then tightly screw the lid down.

Assuming you add extra water for steam, you have to turn it off manually when you have your 4 servings, then switch over to the frother. The frother works well, and your milk will be finished before you run out of steam.

I normally need to run the steamer a while at the end to bleed off the last of the water. I’m no coffee afficionado, but my family likes the coffee I make for them, as do I. For $30, you can’t really go wrong.

(That’s like, what, 6-8 fancy coffees at Starbucks?) It’s a bare-bones machine; there are no adjustments you can make here, outside of your coffee grind, how hard you tamp it down, etc. But for the (low) price, this is a real good place to learn what you like, and what you may want in a fancier machine down the road.

The machine is solid, except for the plastic carafe top, which melted noticeably on my very first batch (as others have noted). I don’t even use it anymore, it served no real purpose. That’s the one drawback, and the reason for the four-star review.

This is decent at best. It does not come with a pitcher or thermometer for steaming milk. The frothing arm doesn’t move, so using and cleaning it is difficult; because it is so high on the machine itself, unless you get a large (tall) pitcher, you will have to hold it during the steaming process or find something to set it on.

The cup holder/warmer is too small to hold more than one regular size cup, maybe two tiny cups (teacups) if you have them. While the cup warmer is a novel idea, it is a terrible design choice as the area gets warm and when you are attempting to put the coffee grounds into place to brew the shots, you have nothing to really grip onto to hold the machine in place and can potentially burn yourself on it.

The carafe itself seemed decent enough with tempered glass, though the handle seemed a bit on the cheap side and I felt I needed to be extra careful when using it so as to not break it. Overall, the idea is nice but the execution just isn’t there.

I got this in hopes to save myself some money by making my own espresso and it just didn’t work out.

My last espresso maker was also a Bella brand. Lasted 7 or so years with daily use when the control knob finally snapped off. Since I had to replace immediately (no time for shipping) and I prefer this brand for price-point, longevity, and ease of use, I finally found in stock @ Best Buy.

This model is closest to my old one but there are a few things about it I don’t like as well, nothing big just inconvenient. My old unit had an amber indicator light that faced you so you would know it’s still on.

The new unit has a dark blue light on the side which is harder to see. After first use, I discovered I had left it on all day when I started to disassemble the parts to clean and almost burned my hand.

The screw top to the water well is a little more difficult to tighten & loosen because of the shape. And the coffee basket assembly is a bit more difficult to put into place for brewing (fits like a puzzle to get it in and locked correctly).

Sometimes takes 2-3 times before I get it set but I suppose it locks in super tight which is a good thing. Overall, I’m happy with my purchase. Brews quickly to get those mornings started☕.