Breville Infuser Espresso Machine BES840XL, Brushed Stainless Steel

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.

Despite being really happy with this espresso machine, I have held off on writing a review for it too early because my main concern when parting with the money for such an expensive item was its durability. Having owned it for a little over 2 years now (purchased May 16 2009), I think that I can now feel comfortable sharing my opinion. I worked at a coffee bar 20 years ago, and, since that time, I've have always wanted an espresso machine for my home. The problem always was that they are very expensive. When I was 19, I was too broke to afford one. Now, at 39, I'm just cheap, and I was held back by the nagging idea that, no matter how good the coffee that comes out of it is, it'd be really financially unwise to spend a lot of money on an espresso machine unless it would last many years. My wife and I first met at that coffee bar where I worked in the early 2000's, and we bought this machine on our 10th wedding anniversary. I did as much research as I could beforehand, and I don't regret the decision. It makes espresso and foams milk every bit as good as the professional machine that I used 20 years ago. The portafilter is no different from a professional machine. The steam has slightly lower pressure, so it takes somewhat longer to steam milk, but it is able to make foamed milk with the exact same quality as a professional machine, too. No complaints there. I can make espressos, americanos, cappuccinos, lattes, etc that are better than the local coffee shop's. I use a manual burr grinder to grind my coffee (a Lido 2) and use freshly roasted coffee. The espresso is amazing, and my mom and sister come to my house just to get me to make them some. I've had zero problems with durability. I use the machine almost every day, and it just works with no problems. The company includes instructions for maintenance that makes me think they are paranoid that people are going to be trying to make espresso using pond water and then lodge complaints when they end up with problems. I followed those instructions for the first month or two and then stopped worrying about it. I haven't ever changed the water filter in the tank, and I haven't run a cleaning cycle on it in over 2 years. I do use reverse osmosis filtered water which won't gunk up the machine with mineral deposits. It makes the coffee taste better, anyway. Why would you spend so much money for something that makes amazing coffee and then use sink water? I don't necessarily recommend you not follow the company's instructions, but I feel confident at this point that the machine is well-made and doesn't need to be meticulously maintained to avoid problems. I would use filtered water, though. You also really will need a burr grinder (and they're not that cheap... i think my manual grinder was $180) and somewhat fresh coffee. I have tried making a shot using cheap coffee that's probably been sitting on the grocery store shelf for months. It will make a shot, but it's hard to get the water pressure right, and it is noticeably less tasty. So that's my review. Overall, the cost of these machines is intimidating, but this one is capable of making 100% professional quality espresso and steamed milk. You just have to use fresh coffee and a burr grinder for even particle size. The machine is well-made. It isn't going to break down on you after just a year or 2 of use even if you aren't faithful with cleaning and maintenance. It seems like the cleaning/maintenance instructions are concerned a lot about hard water, so just use good water. I think it's an excellent value--much, much cheaper than daily trips to Starbucks! I'm really glad I bought it and recommend it without hesitation.

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.