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I've had the barista express for about 7 years now. Love it, but now that we have 3 children, the time/effort required to have freshly roasted beans, dial in my grind, tamp, and do the cleanup has made it more difficult to use. At the same time we found the Nespresso milk frother to be terrible. Where we ended up landing is most days steaming milk with the barista express and pouring it into a Nespresso shot. It's like having a double boiler because you can steam and pull the shot simultaneously and no grinding/tamping/cleanup. On occasion we will grab a bag of beans from a quality local roaster and pull our own shots as a special treat, but day-to-day the Breville steam/nespresso shot combo reigns supreme.
trolling right? I have a Keurig, I want one of these. They're not even the same type of machine.
This makes an espresso aka high pressure brewing, concentrated shot of coffee. Keurig makes kind of watered down low extraction but easy coffee, basically opposite end. Nespresso is somewhere in the middle and you get "okay" espresso but it's really not an espresso at all.
Was originally considering the Breville Bambino and a separate grinder. Does anyone know if this is worth paying $300 more for? Is the quality of espresso or additional simplicity in the workflow worth it?
Quality fresh beans gives you better taste and more crema (which is why I roast my own beans in the garage). Bottomless portafilter mainly just helps you detect issues like channeling which is a great tool to have but on its own it won't magically improve the shot without taking steps to address the issues.
Bottomless does give you more crema as it goes right from filter holes to cup. When it extracts through the filter holes and hits the metal spouts of a stock potafilter it breaks a lot of those micro-bubbles and thins out the crema.
Ultimately though, using freshly roasted beans is ideal, yes. Usually a week after roasting is optimal. All other things equal though - bean freshness, grind size and consistency, pressure, temperature, etc. the bottomless will do a better job
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Mar 4, 2024 12:45 PM
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Is there a machine like this that also does kcups? When I wake up, I'm just trying to get as much in me as possible and at 0.25 per kcup, it's super economical. I just don't want two machines.
I could see this being the case. You could use the grinder for other types of coffee-making also. I have a Barista Express, and it does get a little annoying if you want to use it with a few different coffees, decaf or flavored vs regular for instance. If the price is the same or less and you have the space for everything, then it's probably a good option to get separate machines.
The all-in-one nature of the BE is pretty great though, pop the portafilter in and get ground coffee, tamp, brew.
I have a grind control maker as well, highly recommend if you also want fresh ground drip coffee.
Very useful tips. I sometimes got light roast beans, it's really hard to get the extraction pressure to the ideal range even with finest setting. This may just solve the problem.
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trolling right? I have a Keurig, I want one of these. They're not even the same type of machine.
This makes an espresso aka high pressure brewing, concentrated shot of coffee. Keurig makes kind of watered down low extraction but easy coffee, basically opposite end. Nespresso is somewhere in the middle and you get "okay" espresso but it's really not an espresso at all.
For 35 years i have never liked the taste of coffee. The gas station or work break room brew that was always on and gave a smell of cigarettes and coffee was all i came to associate with it and never developed a taste.
Kuerig was a leg up and became tolerable with enough creamer and sweeteners.
This while Breville by any means is expensive, but the coffee it produces is on par and even better than your local coffee shop/kiosk/stand.
I'm no snob i still dump my steamed milk into the cup without putting in the effort to make designs of smiles or dolphins. But i can tell you, you can taste and smell the difference between different coffee blends, roasts and brands. Syrups and an extra depth and flavor to your coffee.
My BES920 just died (was leaking steam then it stopped working all together. Triple beep on steam). So I am thinking to get it serviced. I think they have a flat rate service fee now.
I've had the Pro a little over 3 months and no issues. If this is your first espresso machine just understand there is a lot to learn, or at least expect to struggle for a little while until you get the hang of it. This type of machine is not a "press 1 button and get coffee." Get a digital scale to measure your dose for each shot and also pull manual shots. The volumetric shot technology it uses is not 100% accurate and makes learning how to pull shots way harder because you can't really know if you're messing up or the machine is. Just hold the button to do a manual shot and weigh your output. Ie if your dose is 18 grams then stop around 36 grams. Having PID for accurate temperatures and also being able to adjust is fantastic (lower for dark roast, higher for lighter roasts)
Got my Dual Boiler 8 years ago. Can confirm - spent half a bag on just dialing in Since then the coffee at home (lattes) are better than in the shops. Me and my boo prefer our home coffee to the stuff we usually order on the go
I have Bambino plus which has great auto milk froth, however , it is inconsistent, I use 18g coffee, in 30 seconds, sometimes I got 50g output (undrinkable, too bitter) , sometimes 27 output (tastes great but ideal is 36g) . I have to return it and later get impress touch which I love. maybe I have a lemon. you can buy $229 DF54 grinder to pair with it.
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from LtChonky
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Was originally considering the Breville Bambino and a separate grinder. Does anyone know if this is worth paying $300 more for? Is the quality of espresso or additional simplicity in the workflow worth it?
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This makes an espresso aka high pressure brewing, concentrated shot of coffee. Keurig makes kind of watered down low extraction but easy coffee, basically opposite end. Nespresso is somewhere in the middle and you get "okay" espresso but it's really not an espresso at all.
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Ultimately though, using freshly roasted beans is ideal, yes. Usually a week after roasting is optimal. All other things equal though - bean freshness, grind size and consistency, pressure, temperature, etc. the bottomless will do a better job
https://youtube.com/shorts/Xbtivf...xQ-zxAX_n2
The all-in-one nature of the BE is pretty great though, pop the portafilter in and get ground coffee, tamp, brew.
I have a grind control maker as well, highly recommend if you also want fresh ground drip coffee.
https://www.breville.co
The internal burr grinder settings can even be adjusted to reach an even finer grind compared to the default out of the box settings.
https://youtu.be/c7Xqxrnrjwk?si=
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This makes an espresso aka high pressure brewing, concentrated shot of coffee. Keurig makes kind of watered down low extraction but easy coffee, basically opposite end. Nespresso is somewhere in the middle and you get "okay" espresso but it's really not an espresso at all.
Kuerig was a leg up and became tolerable with enough creamer and sweeteners.
This while Breville by any means is expensive, but the coffee it produces is on par and even better than your local coffee shop/kiosk/stand.
I'm no snob i still dump my steamed milk into the cup without putting in the effort to make designs of smiles or dolphins. But i can tell you, you can taste and smell the difference between different coffee blends, roasts and brands. Syrups and an extra depth and flavor to your coffee.
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