Breville BES870XL Coffee_Maker Review

The centerpiece of most fancy coffee shops is the espresso machine, a hulking, steam-belching monster with a complicated series of steps for brewing, plus switches, dials, and buttons to control everything. These precision-engineered marvels can cost tens of thousands of dollars, but they’re also equipped to pull perfect shots that will impress even the most discerning coffee snob.

It used to be that no home coffee maker could even come close to professional-level results. Still, modern technology has shrunk the espresso machine in both size and price, bringing the ability to make crema-topped espresso and properly foamy cappuccino to your kitchen. Perhaps my favorite example is Breville’s The Barista Express, which incorporates a conical burr grinder, high-pressure extraction, a professional-style portafilter, and a powerful milk frother for an all-in-one coffee-shop experience on your countertop.

This model is The Spruce Eats’ top espresso machine and espresso/cappuccino machine; it’s even one of the best coffee makers, period. In the last four years, it has proved its mettle in both home and Lab evaluations, scoring high on a variety of tests. Overall, The Barista Express is an expensive machine, but it’s fairly inexpensive when you put it up against other tabletop espresso makers with comparable abilities. I recommend it for both experienced coffee obsessives and anybody who’s interested in making great espresso at home.

When you’re ready to brew, The Barista Express turns mostly automatic. It grinds and dispenses the perfect amount of coffee into the portafilter. After you tamp down and level off the grounds (using included tools), you twist the portafilter into place, push a button, and hot espresso is yours. It uses a unique method that starts with a low-pressure pre-infusion to extract color, followed by the traditional high-pressure extraction (at about nine times the air pressure at sea level) to produce crema and the signature espresso flavor.

The machine has coffee and water presets for either a single or double shot, but for the connoisseur, it also offers pinpoint adjustments. There are 16 options for grind fineness, you can adjust the amount of coffee dispensed from anywhere between 18 and 22 grams per double-shot, and you can choose fully manual control over the amount of water used.

Next to the coffee dispenser and brewing head is a frother, The Barista Express’s secret weapon. It does a fantastic job of steaming and frothing milk into a light and bubbly texture for a cappuccino or a more dense one for a latte. And the nozzle is flexible and rotatable so you can froth while your espresso brews and still keep messes at bay. The Lab-test espresso came out a bit on the acidic side compared to other machines with the same beans, but after adding frothed milk, the resulting cappuccino was absolutely delicious.

As for overall design, The Barista Express has a polished, upscale look. (I tested a model with a brushed stainless-steel finish, but it also comes in an equally stunning Black Sesame.) When I turned it on for the first time, I especially appreciated the illuminated control panel, a nice touch for early risers making coffee before the sun’s come up. Everything feels well-made, with the parts fitting together smoothly and securely. None of the test shots wound up with any gritty solids in them, which indicates a quality filter and a firm fit. The large capacity is nice, as well: The 67-ounce water tank and half-pound bean hopper can theoretically make more than two dozen shots between refills.

The Barista Express brags that it can go “from bean to espresso in under a minute,” and that’s truly no lie. In the Lab (after a lot of practice making espresso on many different machines), the entire process was complete in 45 seconds. At home, it took more like three minutes, but it’s still very simple and impressively quick for the high-quality results.

As befits a machine this multifunctional (and this expensive), The Barista Express includes lots of tools, accessories, and convenient touches. There’s a stainless-steel jug for steaming milk, a funnel for the grinder that prevents spills, and a tamper that snaps magnetically into place on the machine itself so you’ll never lose it. And for those who seek hardcore coffee perfection, the custom-sized Razor Dose Trimming Tool flattens the layer of grounds in the portafilter, leaving the perfect amount of space between coffee and water source for ideal espresso.

You’ll also get single- and dual-walled filter baskets, each of which can be flipped over for a one- or two-shot capacity. The dual-walled filter increases water pressure through the grounds and thus the amount of flavor extracted, at the expense of finer control, while the single-walled one is for more advanced baristas looking to fine-tune the pressure and timing.

Because there are so many pieces included with this machine, it takes a little time (and a thorough reading of the manual) to get familiar with all of its parts. You have to clean and flush the machine, then soak its filter for five minutes before you get started—overall, this process was pretty painless, but it made me impatient to get to the caffeine. 

Caring for The Barista Express is somewhat of a hassle in general, since it needs to be disassembled and cleaned right after every use to prevent a more difficult scrubbing later. You have to rinse the portafilter and basket with hot water to remove the oils from the coffee grounds and wipe any residue off the steam wand before the milk dries. (Be careful, because both items might be hot.) 

The group head interior and the shower screen—the area where you insert the portafilter—should also be wiped with a damp cloth to remove excess grounds. Occasionally, you’ll also have to purge the machine by running water through an empty portafilter and basket to rinse out residual grounds. 

All the cleaning can get annoying but it is nice that the machine tells you when it needs some of those longer-term maintenance tasks. When the drip tray gets full, a small yellow sign pops up that says, “EMPTY ME!” There’s also a “CLEAN/DESCALE” light that will flash when it’s time for a cleaning cycle or stay lit to request a more thorough descaling, as described in the manual. You’ll also get a brush, some cleaning tablets and an Allen key in the box to access and deep-clean interior parts when needed.

At the end of the day, The Barista Express retails for more than $700, which is a lot of money—you could buy several top-quality drip coffee makers for that price. However, none of them can make espresso, let alone espresso that will compare to what the pros make. In comparison to other high-level espresso machines, it’s actually a pretty good value. The Spruce Eats has tested models that cost a lot more and a lot less, and it’s outperformed all of them. If you have a keen interest in espresso but aren’t quite ready to invest thousands of dollars, The Barista Express is an excellent option.

Breville vs. Breville vs. Breville

The Barista Express is one of three high-end home machines from Breville, each more automated—and more expensive—than the last. The Barista Express Impress looks and works almost the same, though it has 25 grind settings and semi-automated “assisted tamping” that adjusts the amount of coffee dispensed based on your technique. It’s a bit better suited to an absolute beginner and about $150 more than the standard Barista Express.

For ultimate luxury, the Barista Touch Impress fully automates the dispensing, tamping and scraping process so all you have to do is move the portafilter from the grinder to the brew head. Its touchscreen also literally walks you through the drink-making process, with step-by-step directions and brewing and milk-frothing cycles tailored to different types of coffee and milk. But it costs twice as much as The Barista Express. They’re all great machines; the question is really how indulgent you want to be.

Final Verdict

Buy it!

If want a machine for true espresso, cappuccino, or latte lovers, look no further than Breville’s The Barista Express. Its high-quality coffee, customizable settings, and convenient, all-in-one design make it well worth the price.