Infuser Espresso Machine BES840XL, 10.25 x 12.5 x 13.25 Inches, Black Sesame

---UPDATES 5/25/15--- 1. Used this every day for over a year. Solid buy, would do it again. No breakages. I do follow the cleaning instructions religiously. 2. I was wrong about the machine only delivering 1 or 2 ounce cups. This morning I finally read the instructions on how to "program" the machine and made myself a 4-ounce cup of strong coffee, similar to what you find in europe. Divine! I got everything ready as usual. Hit the program button. Hit the "one cup" button. Let it fill up about four ounces. Then hit the "one cup" button again. The "one-cup" is now programmed to deliver about 4-oz of coffee. Brilliant! ---Original Review--- I found it difficult to research espresso machines: - Price range is huge, from $50 to $5000. - Reviews come from a bewildering range of backgrounds: coffee-snobs & anti-snobs, professional baristas & novices. After reading reviews for a couple of days, I selected the Breville 840XL. I've had the machine one month. I am no barista, so this review is geared towards the novice explorer. General Observations: - The pressure of the water/steam is controlled by the machine. It is amazingly repeatable & scientifically-precise. --> i.e. the pressure gage on the machine responds to even tiny changes in grain size or tamp-pressure. - The temperature of the espresso is also very controlled, and it's not as hot as your regular cup of Joe. - It's taken me one month to find & consistently reproduce a cup that I enjoy. It was worth the wait. - My guests & visitors have all been amazed by the shots. They unanimously say they're the best they've had. - This machine serves exactly one-ounce or two-ounce shots. It will not make a pressed cup of coffee like you get in Europe. - It's strong. I mean really strong. Like I-feel-it-in-my-brain strong. --> i.e. after two older guests got hot flashes and a third got heart palpitations, I stocked up on decaf beans. Specific Tips: - Buy a burr grinder first, learn how to use it, clean it, etc. (I bought the Breville & am happy with it.) - Buy the Breville milk frother second, learn how to use it, clean it, etc. --> It'll change your life. --> Way easier than wand-frothing: faster to make, easier to clean-up. --> The Breville milk frother makes Angelina's-style hot chocolate easily, which makes it worth the 120-bucks right there. ----> Guys, if you don't know what that is, then look it up & make it for your girl. & beware the consequences! ----> Only change from the instructions: don't drop room-temp chocolate into the frother, nuke it first & use a spoon to drop it into the hot cream. ----> ...but, I digress. Bean Selection --> Consensus from Amazon-reviewers is that Lavazza Super Crema whole bean is the ideal. My guests seem to like this bean the best. --> Personally, I prefer Starbucks Sumatra. These beans are very oily. --> NOTE: if you decide that the bean you like best is an oily bean, then you'll need to clean the grinder weekly. Takes five minutes and gets less messy as you get the hang of it. Grinder - Follow the darned grinder instructions! --> Start at the coarse end of the espresso-spectrum, work your way towards fine. --> Only go as fine as you need to get the results you want. Middle worked best for me. Espresso Machine Pressure Gage - Watch the pressure gage carefully for every shot. But defer to your palate. The machine can't tell you what tastes best. - I find that the best tasting shots come at lower pressures. I go with the lowest possible pressure that still produces a nice crema. Water Source: - I use a five-gallon water-dispenser to fill the espresso-machine's tank. TDS reading is about 4, which is almost distilled. - Rationale: for five hundred bucks, I don't want to fill it with rusty-calcium well water & then have to decalcify every month or have it break. You can get a TDS meter for about twenty bucks on Amazon. Buy one. Test your water. Only use water with a low TDS reading. Don't assume bottled water has a low TDS. I've seen it as high as 200. My Patronizing Opinions: - Many people point out that this machine is Barista-Child's-Play, since you control only four variables: bean, amount, fineness, and tamp-pressure. (Not temp or pull-pressure.) - I took a rigorous scientific approach and it still took one month to find the right combination. - Other reviewers bought this machine & made an espresso they liked on the first pull. - Pay attention to the process and you will begin teaching yourself how to be a barista. - Be willing to work with the four variables for several weeks to get it right. Transition from Coffee-Drinking to Espresso-Drinking: - Until now, I've made a brutally strong batch of French-pressed coffee each AM. - When I go to Starbucks, I get either a triple-tall Americano or a four-shot Grande Americano. --> Either way, each would last about 2-hours each AM. - This machine makes only one thing: a single-ounce or a two-ounce shot of espresso, like in Italy. - The Italians drink it straight, right there, standing up, within five minutes. I'm guessing that even an Italian would rate this espresso as authentic. - This machine forced me to depart from my old ways: It's a smaller cup & I have to drink it within 15-minutes or so before the flavor goes sour. --> I'm aware that the ideal Americano has the hot water in the cup prior to the shot, to preserve the crema. Will do that eventually. Right now, I still taste each shot first. Conclusion: - This machine is a safe bet for your first real espresso machine. - Be willing to work at it - Be aware that drinking shots of espresso is a very different experience from regular coffee-drinking. - Cappuccinos or lattes are also a safe bet. But, they get cold quicker than those made at Starbucks. Maybe Starbucks makes shots at a higher temperature? Biggest surprise so far the joy it brings to guests. Let them watch you make one, then ask them to play the barista. They have so much fun! Go all the way & buy a burr-grinder, knock box, & tamping mat. There's a documentary on Netflix on the history of the cappuccino called "Perfect Cappuccino." Content aside, this 1.5-hr documentary will give you plenty of opportunity to see professional baristas making espressos & hear their theories on how to pull a good shot. Watch it after you buy it and you'll really appreciate how much they put in, how they tamp it, and how it looks as it comes out. Personally, I enjoyed the documentary -- I found the narrator's views compassionate & well-balanced. Other reviewers found her anti-Starbucks. Lastly, if you buy all three pieces of equipment at once, then you'll be on instructions-overload. I staggered the purchases by two weeks for each machine: Burr Grinder, then Milk Frother, then Espresso Maker. This may sound silly, but many of the reviewers say things like: "I Couldn't get a pressure reading on the espresso machine, so I cranked up the grinder to super-fine and then grinder wouldn't work." All of that is covered in the grinder instructions. But if you get all three things at once, you're going to try it blind (come on, admit it) and only go to the instructions for each machine as a last resort. It's only been one month. Perhaps in another month, all of my advice will be different. I'm still on the left side of a steep learning curve. Good luck!

First and foremost, this is an absolutely fantastic home espresso machine for the price. It definitely takes some practice to learn how to get the most out of and find the sweet spot (which i've learned always differs depending on the type of beans & grinder you are using). But now after 3 months and a LOT of researching/learning/practice/more practice, I am now consistently making absolutely fantastic espresso drinks. If you are new to the world of espresso, or have some knowledge, I wanted to write about my experience buying this machine 3 months ago knowing little to nothing about espresso, to now consistently pulling absolutely delicious espresso drinks on a daily basis with this machine. Here we go: I waited 3 months after purchasing this unit to write a proper review, and I wanted to give a lot of information I have learned and discovered to help others looking into buying a home espresso setup. I honestly knew little to nothing about espresso before purchasing this machine, and have done A LOT of research, reading, testing, and barista questioning in order to learn how the art of making quality espresso is done. I now make 2-3 espresso drinks a day with the Infuser and am EXTREMELY satisfied with its performance. It's not easy to make a high quality espresso by any means, but once you figure out how to manage all the important espresso variables (type of beans, grind coarseness, dose, tamp pressure), this machine produces truly remarkable results that any professional barista will be highly impressed with (yes I did receive this feedback). The most important aspects of making this machine work well (and any espresso machine for that matter) are having a quality grinder and fresh, quality beans. When I first got this machine, I was under the impression you wanted to grind as fine as possible for making espresso. I set my Infinity Burr Grinder to its finest setting, using some peet's espresso beans, and immediately the machine clogged up, not producing any espresso. I tried again, dialing the grind a little coarser, and again the machine clogged up. Same thing with the third time, although this time I was able to produce a few drops of espresso. After about 5 tries I was able to pull an actual shot of espresso which tasted incredibly strong to me but good (at this point in time I didnt really know what to look for in a quality shot of espresso). Long story short I realized the beans I was using were INCREDIBLY oily and played a huge factor in easily clogging up my machine. Next I purchased some Blue Bottle espresso beans, which got along with my machine MUCH better. Now I was making some great progress, tasting more like espresso, but still not close to what the baristas at Blue Bottle were serving. I went through a lot of beans & brands playing with the grind coarseness, and soon became familiar of the "sweet spot" settings on my grinder where the espresso came out tasting best. I was now becoming more familiar with what a good shot of espresso was supposed to taste like after spending a bunch of time at Four Barrel & Blue Bottle cafes in San Francisco. I also learned to start timing my shot times and that also helped me immensely improve the quality of my espresso (typically between 24-30 seconds depending on the type of beans you are using). So now I soon learned my Capressa Infinity burr grinder did not have nearly the adjustability I would need to lock in the perfect grind setting for espresso, so I decided to upgrade to the Breville Smart Grinder. The Smart grinder ended up being a much better grinder, but again long story short, it also seemed to lack the real "fine tuning" ability that I was learning is truly needed with espresso. After using the Smart Grinder for 3 weeks, I decided to pull the trigger on a much higher quality grinder, the very highly recommended Baratza Vario. After getting familiar with the Vario by some trial & error, I must say this was the ultimate step (and proved to be most important) towards producing amazing quality espresso. I've also ground for drip coffee with it a few times and the taste was truly amazing compared to both of the other grinders I had tried. So, back to the Infuser. After much more research into the art of espresso, I purchased a gram scale in order to weigh my doses of coffee & amount of liquid being extracted from my shots, which also have helped a LOT in improving the quality of my shots. Now after a couple solid months with all of the above in my home espresso setup, I believe I have dialed in this machine to its maximum potential, and it is really producing fantastic results which I get excited about drinking every morning as soon as I wake up. Some notes I would like to share which I have discovered that may or may not relate directly to this machine, or to every espresso machine: -The type of beans used almost always require a different coarseness setting in order to pull the perfect shot. For example, beans like Four Barrel & Blue Bottle always require much more fine grind settings, where beans like Stumptown & Barefoot require much coarser grinds. This seems to be hard to get used to, but now that I have tried many different quality espresso roasts and have narrowed down my favorites (Sightglass is #1, Stumptown #2, Barefoot #3) I know what setting to use ahead of time and I can almost always nail a perfect shot on command. -The milk steamer does a great job, but now after trying so many quality cappuccinos & lattes through the area, I feel like this steamer does the milk more on the creamy side. I believe I understand the technique for creating quality microfoam to use for cappuccinos & latte's, and im using the same Clover Organic whole milk that almost all cafe's use, and mine always seems to turn out a bit sweeter & creamier. It seems hard to get the microfoam as velvety thin as Sightglass/Four Barrel/Blue Bottle does, and because of this, my cappuccinos dont have quite the "intense coffee bite" but its getting pretty close. I believe this is as good as I can ask for again using a $500 home espresso machine. -The hot water dispenser is great. One trick I figured out a while back was when I pulled OK shots and didnt want to waste them, I would just instantly make them into Americano's, since its a bit harder to taste a bad shot in an Americano than it is in a Cappuccino or Latte. And thus has been my experience with the Breville Infuser since purchasing about 3 months ago. I'm sure I will be updating this review further as time goes on, but so far it has been an incredibly positive experience and I would HIGHLY recommend this machine to anyone looking for a semi-automatic machine in this price range. Hopefully this was helpful and not just me rambling.

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

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

After hours of research and video watching this is most likely the best starter machine. It can be paired with a good coffee grinder unlike it sister model barista express that offers a built in grinder that isn't the best. The infuser has everything that's makes the barista express good but better. As it can be paired with way better grinders. The only downside of this machine isn't actually the machine but the included tamper. Although nice to have a magnetic holder for it, this tamper is terrible for consistently pulling great shots of espresso. The included temper isn't really debutant friendly either. Get yourself a decent self leveling, calibrated tamper that has 30lbs of pressure. removing all variables of the manual tamper. Resulting in consistent espresso exteactions. The machine itself works very good and is ready to pull a shot in around 30 seconds. You can program every shots to be a long or short as you want and will remain at the set time indefinitely (or changed again for later) Can also program de temperature between 90 to 94°c as per the instructions included in the machine. The steaming wand is perfect. Unlike other machines that include big and bulky wand covers that dont steam the milk as good. The added wand handle is nice and well place. This probably a bit slower than most machines to steam the milk at around 60 seconds to steam it completely but doesn't affect the taste or anything. Just purge the steaming wand first and let it go for a good 10-15 seconds or until you get strong pressure from the steamer and shut it, insert in your milk and steam away. The top of the machine also serves as a cup warmer/storage which is nice.

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

This is the perfect Espresso machine. Simple machine with not too many bells and whistles but makes delicious and easy Espresso. This Breville is just the right size and will not take all your counter space. With a medium water reservoir in the back and a small filter to removed some minerals. There is only a few buttons like on/off, a program button to adjust the amount of water coffee to your liking and 1 and 2 cups buttons. You also have a switch on the side to operate the steam wand for the milk on the weekend mornings. It warms up really quickly (about 15-20 seconds) and is ready for the family morning rush. It does have a pressure gauge that will indicate if your coffee grind is too coarse or too fine but since I get it from a reputable local coffee shop I rarely watch it. The maintenance is easy with only 1 filter in the water tank and you must use a tablet with a rinsing cycle occasionally. This one allows for filtered water who result in less maintenance (I highly recommend it). There is an overflow bin who must be cleaned regularly but it is rather easy and very quick.