My husband and I took WAY too many hours and days reading and watching everything you could on espresso machines, to decide which one was best for us. But that doesn’t mean it’s best for you, so here is the quick rundown of them all!
I had NO idea how many espresso machines there were. Even after selecting the brand we were going to go with (breville), then there was about 1000 to sift through from them! Here is a run down of OUR PICK and why, plus all the other top runners to help you decide what’s best for you!!
ps: If you find this helpful and end up buying one, I’d appreciate you using my link as it supports all I do here and on instagram in a small way, for no added fee to you 🙂
The instagram poll results:
After taking a big poll on instagram where thousands weighed in, the top brand rec was definitely BREVILLE, and then after that, there was a handful of recurring Delonghi and Jura. Now I really liked the look of these other machines, but after soooo much research, I came to the conclusion that these 1-button machines weren’t going to produce a coffee shop quality drink — like most automatic machines won’t. Now if you aren’t picky about your coffee and just want like a step up from a k-cup machine, then it could be good for you! But if you want barista level coffee, Breville won hands down in every review and video we watched / read.
The Top Breville picks from y’all were:
- Breville Barista Express, Breville Barista Pro, Breville Impress Express, and the Breville Impress Touch
Other brands/ models you recommended were:
- De’Longhi Eletta, De’Longhi Magnifica start automatic, Jura E4 automatic, and just a couple swore by their phillips machine. After asking a lot of my barista and coffee snob friends, they ALL said go with a breville, it’s a trusted brand that’s KNOWN for their coffee machines for a reason.
We decided the combination of having some ease with the automation options, paired with ACTUALLY still getting high quality espressos and coffee drinks with Breville, was the best way to go! So the next step was to deep dive into every single one of their many models, for days…
OUR PICK: The Breville Touch Impress
After MANY hours of research, we decided to go with this pricey one! In short, it’s because I wanted a coffee shop/expert barista cup of coffee without spending the time every morning dialing what it takes to get there, and have an easy touch screen to walk me through the whole process. But here’s all you need to know:
Pros:
- Easy touch screen that allows you to program your drink once you get one down you like so then you can just press a button every day after for the same drink — I need an easy 1 press as a busy mama, but also want quality coffee / espresso shots — and after allllll the reviews and research, this one seemed to have both of those! (most automatic ones would pull a not so great espresso shot)
- The “impress part”: One less step I have to do with having the tamping feature provided, however unlike automatics, this built in grinder and tamping is high quality so it’ll still pull a really good shot!
- Automatic milk steamer: you can just set it there and it’ll make silky smooth milk that tastes great and can make great latte art!
- Gives the best of both worlds: quick and automatic if you’re not a barista or want to spend a ton of time dialing in a good cup every morning, but high quality coffee and lattes.
Cons:
- My one con is that of course anything touch screen probably has a higher likelihood of breaking down somehow someday
- Higher price point – but for me I didn’t want to start lower and then wish I had done something higher later.
Most amazon reviews that were lower, were all about the customer service – which doesn’t have to do with the actual model of the breville vs others.
Summary: has a Baratza burr grinder (aka probably the best burr grinder brand in the game) surfs 30 settings to grind beans directly into your portafilter; an integrated tamper puts 22 pounds of pressure and a 7-degree twist on the coffee, pressing it into a perfect puck; a CPU manages extraction pressure and lets you know how to change the grind settings to get closer to a perfect pull (around 30 seconds); the CPU regulates perfect extraction temps; and, if you’re doing anything with milk, the steam wand makes perfect lattes, cappuccinos, flat whites, and more using precise microfoam settings. Best of all, once you find your ideal drink, whether it’s a double shot or a 150-degree flat white with medium foam, you can save the settings and reproduce it perfectly every time.
SEE CURRENT PRICING HERE
RUNNER UP: Breville Impress Express
Basically what we decided above except no touch screen and a few different features!
If you’re comfortable dialing in the grind size to achieve the proper flow rate for your specific coffee… then this one for less $$$ may be best for you! If you have no idea what that means, then the touch impress version literally walks you through the entire process on the touch screen each time and guides you on making better drinks/espressos until you’ve got it perfect for your liking — another reason I got the other one above.But if you prefer the analog look vs touch screen, this one is for you!
We also liked this one because of the impress part still — because the other tampering tools the lower priced models come with usually won’t work well (based on reviews), so you’d want to buy your own higher quality grinder and tampering tools.
Cons of this one:
- longer heating up time (but we’re talking like 30 seconds more so it’s ot that big of a deal unless you’re making multiple drinks every morning, then maybe it is!)
- unlike the one above, you can’t just let it steam the milk by itself, you have to manually steam the milk and add in enough air and swirl to get it right so you can get silky smooth milk (or good latte art!)
Summary of the Breville Impress Express vs Touch Impress:
If you are wanting to be walked through the espresso / latte process until making your best cup and then save it for every day to come after… or are going to be making lots of milk drinks, or even just lots of different drinks, then the Barista Touch Impress has a lot of advantages with its programmability and improved steaming performance.
However, if you just want espresso, or you’re willing to take a little more time to steam and time learn the intricacies of texturing milk for yourself, then you can go with the Express Impress and save some money!
Also of course it’ll come down to if you want a nice little touch screen, or if you prefer the analog style and look!
SEE CURRENT PRICING HERE
OTHER OPTIONS
Breville Barista Pro vs Express
I would say the PRO is a step up from the Express and the Bambino. If you’re really wanting to work on your barista talents and perfect the art of dialing in a good cup of coffee, the Express and the Pro are both great, but here are the differences:
Breville PRO:
- heats up very quickly like the touch impress does (3 seconds)
- 30 grind settings for higher quality espresso
- LCD display offering real-time feedback (not a touch screen, still have to use buttons, but can see feedback on screen!)
- Conical Burr Coffee grinder:
- Consistent grind size: It’s crucial for producing uniform and even coffee grounds, which is paramount for perfect espresso extraction.
- Less heat: The conical burr grinder generates less heat compared to other styles, which means the coffee’s essential oils are preserved, maintaining the flavor integrity.
Breville EXPRESS:
- 30 second heat up time
- 18 grind settings
- analog pressure gauge and more manual controls, providing a traditional espresso machine experience
With either of these, you would probably want to purchase your own tampering tools, and possibly even your own grinder with the Express as some say the grinder doesn’t pull a good espresso (even though if you aren’t a coffee snob you’ll probably be fine with what it comes with!)
SEE CURRENT PRICING HERE
Breville Bambino:
This is the only other one, and the one my nanny had / has kept at my house for us both to use for a few months. Now, it takes up a lot less space on your counter so that’s the pro. But other than that, every day my coffee tasted different, it was hard to “get right” every time, you had to grind your own beans (so invest in a quality coffee grinder and everything else), weigh out the coffee to exactly 18g every morning, tamper it/pack it down… it was just a LOT of steps every day for not always high quality coffee. So I’d skip this one if you’re going to make an investment!
What about the Breville Touch (not Touch Impress)?
Personally, if I was going to invest in the touch model at all, I was going to just go all in with the Touch Impress. But if you really want the touch screen but want to invest in your own tampering tools and everything, you could do the touch I guess!
All in all, I hope this helped summarize everything in a verrrrry short comprehensive post, so you don’t have to spend hours and days like I did researching. If you found this helpful and end up buying one, I’d appreciate you using my link as it supports all I do here and on instagram for no added fee to you 🙂