expiredphoinix | Staff posted May 22, 2025 09:46 AM
Item 1 of 4
Item 1 of 4
expiredphoinix | Staff posted May 22, 2025 09:46 AM
Breville the Barista Pro Espresso Machine with Grinder & Milk Frother (Stainless Steel)
+ Free Shipping$600
$850
29% offAmazon
Visit AmazonGood Deal
Bad Deal
Save
Share
Leave a Comment
Top Comments
1. The larger single-wall basket is made by IMS and is good! It holds 16-19 g of coffee, which is a great dose range for this machine. Don't be in a hurry to spend $$$ for a different basket.
2. The portafilter is also good! It's not naked, so you don't get to experience that trend, but it has a distinct advantage that aftermarket portafilters lack: Because of the spouts on the bottom, it sits level on a counter top. That means that when you go to tamp, it's very easy to tamp firmly and evenly without any extra equipment like a tamping station. A BIG tip for the stock portafilter: before you insert a basket, remove the black plastic piece in the bottom by prying it out. Keep it for later, if you want, but it doesn't aid the extraction process, it's plastic that is directly contacting very hot liquid (a no no if you are concerned about microplastics), and if you end up buying a larger basket (you don't really need to do this - see #1), you'll need to remove this anyway to fit a deeper basket.
3. The included, no-frills tamper is ALSO GOOD! It has a handy silver ring on the bottom edge that shows you whether you've tamped enough (i.e., if you still see the silver ring, you need to tamp more, or use less coffee). Also, for those new to espresso: it is basically impossible to tamp too hard. You can only tamp too softly. So don't bother buying a fancy spring-loaded tamper unless you physically need one. The included tamper works great.
4. I do recommending spending $13 on a bellows for the coffee grinder. I bought the Aieve one from Amazon and it works great. The bellows helps you solve a legitimate problem with this machine, which is coffee grounds getting stuck in the grinder.
5. THIS TIP GOES WITH #4: Once you have a bellows, switch to doing single-dose cupping. This means that you only put in enough coffee in the grinder that you need for your shot. So, for each cup, you'll measure out 18g (or however much) of beans and dump it into the hopper. This is important for a few reasons: First, you can now set your grinder to run for however much time it takes to grind the coffee + 2-3 seconds. In that last 2-3 seconds, while the grinder is empty but running, you can pump the bellows to blow out the stuck coffee grounds. This will ensure that your dose is consistent from cup to cup. The second thing single-dose cupping does is lets you keep your coffee fresher. If you fill the hopper up with beans, your coffee is now exposed to air (the grinder is open from the bottom), which does affect the taste of coffee. Third, single-dose cupping lets you switch easily from one bean to another. Why spend $600 to drink coffee if you're not going to change things up whenever you want? Last, single-dose cupping lets you eliminate grind time as a variable when dialing in a new coffee. Since you're keeping grind time constant, you're now free to dial in your espresso by just manipulating grams of beans and fineness of grind.
6. One last thing I do which helps consistency between multiple consecutive shots brewed is to run a shot, without the portafilter, between each cup. This helps keep the shower screen clean.
41 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
You can test this yourself by just taking notes over time. Run 20 grinds of the same bean, same weight, same grind, and grind time. Do 10 in a row without the bellows and record your results. Then do 10 in a row with the bellows. Compare your results using descriptive stats (e.g., mean, standard deviation). Heck, you could even run a paired samples t-test to measure statistical significance of the difference. If you find no difference after the test, you've got a perfect return reason for Amazon: the product did not let you more fully use your beans, as the product states in the advertising.
After bellows, I'm 18g in +-0.3g out, consistently.
18 in, 17.8 out.
1 very small piece and some grounds.
Maybe the bellows would get the last bit into the grinder.
Love the machine - use it so much that our coffee maker is collecting dust.
I was told the Baratza ESP grinder is still superior to the built in grinder for Barista Pro despite Breville upgrading the burrs in recent years.
It does sometimes need to be dialed in differently depending on the beans. If you're using old/cheap beans you'll probably struggle to get a nice crema.
Use a scale and adjust the grind and grind time until you get ~18g of ground coffee, ~30s extraction time, and 40g of finished coffee.
Remember to use good beans! Costco Big Sky organic is a fantastic deal for quality beans.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank topraveenpaul
Sent the machine to the service center to fix this problem, and it made no difference.
So those who need real hot espresso coffee, this machine would disappoint them.
Biggest complaint would be that the steam wand can get clogged up pretty quickly despite changing the filter regularly, using bottled spring water exclusively, and blowing out after each use. Might be an issue with all machines though, I've got no frame of reference there.
Biggest complaint would be that the steam wand can get clogged up pretty quickly despite changing the filter regularly, using bottled spring water exclusively, and blowing out after each use. Might be an issue with all machines though, I've got no frame of reference there.
Is the bottled water you use full of minerals, you think?
Do you descale the machine?
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Biggest complaint would be that the steam wand can get clogged up pretty quickly despite changing the filter regularly, using bottled spring water exclusively, and blowing out after each use. Might be an issue with all machines though, I've got no frame of reference there.
Use the wand weekly
Clean and descale as directed
Purge and wipe after each use
Never clogged
I do recommend taking the time to dial in the grinder for each brand of coffee you use, and REMEMBER that there's a manual grind setting inside the actual grind burrs. I was grinding way too coarse even on setting 1 on the digital grinder part before realizing there's 5 additional levels of adjustment inside the burr itself.
I do recommend a metal funnel thingy to add to the portafilter to help catch the grinds.
Overall this thing is a workhorse. With 2 or more daily drinks for almost 3 years I only had to replace the rubber seal on the shower head (easy, $5) and most recently had an air bubble in the flow meter which needed a replacement ($17).
1. The larger single-wall basket is made by IMS and is good! It holds 16-19 g of coffee, which is a great dose range for this machine. Don't be in a hurry to spend $$$ for a different basket.
2. The portafilter is also good! It's not naked, so you don't get to experience that trend, but it has a distinct advantage that aftermarket portafilters lack: Because of the spouts on the bottom, it sits level on a counter top. That means that when you go to tamp, it's very easy to tamp firmly and evenly without any extra equipment like a tamping station. A BIG tip for the stock portafilter: before you insert a basket, remove the black plastic piece in the bottom by prying it out. Keep it for later, if you want, but it doesn't aid the extraction process, it's plastic that is directly contacting very hot liquid (a no no if you are concerned about microplastics), and if you end up buying a larger basket (you don't really need to do this - see #1), you'll need to remove this anyway to fit a deeper basket.
3. The included, no-frills tamper is ALSO GOOD! It has a handy silver ring on the bottom edge that shows you whether you've tamped enough (i.e., if you still see the silver ring, you need to tamp more, or use less coffee). Also, for those new to espresso: it is basically impossible to tamp too hard. You can only tamp too softly. So don't bother buying a fancy spring-loaded tamper unless you physically need one. The included tamper works great.
4. I do recommending spending $13 on a bellows for the coffee grinder. I bought the Aieve one from Amazon and it works great. The bellows helps you solve a legitimate problem with this machine, which is coffee grounds getting stuck in the grinder.
5. THIS TIP GOES WITH #4: Once you have a bellows, switch to doing single-dose cupping. This means that you only put in enough coffee in the grinder that you need for your shot. So, for each cup, you'll measure out 18g (or however much) of beans and dump it into the hopper. This is important for a few reasons: First, you can now set your grinder to run for however much time it takes to grind the coffee + 2-3 seconds. In that last 2-3 seconds, while the grinder is empty but running, you can pump the bellows to blow out the stuck coffee grounds. This will ensure that your dose is consistent from cup to cup. The second thing single-dose cupping does is lets you keep your coffee fresher. If you fill the hopper up with beans, your coffee is now exposed to air (the grinder is open from the bottom), which does affect the taste of coffee. Third, single-dose cupping lets you switch easily from one bean to another. Why spend $600 to drink coffee if you're not going to change things up whenever you want? Last, single-dose cupping lets you eliminate grind time as a variable when dialing in a new coffee. Since you're keeping grind time constant, you're now free to dial in your espresso by just manipulating grams of beans and fineness of grind.
6. One last thing I do which helps consistency between multiple consecutive shots brewed is to run a shot, without the portafilter, between each cup. This helps keep the shower screen clean.
1. The larger single-wall basket is made by IMS and is good! It holds 16-19 g of coffee, which is a great dose range for this machine. Don't be in a hurry to spend $$$ for a different basket.
2. The portafilter is also good! It's not naked, so you don't get to experience that trend, but it has a distinct advantage that aftermarket portafilters lack: Because of the spouts on the bottom, it sits level on a counter top. That means that when you go to tamp, it's very easy to tamp firmly and evenly without any extra equipment like a tamping station. A BIG tip for the stock portafilter: before you insert a basket, remove the black plastic piece in the bottom by prying it out. Keep it for later, if you want, but it doesn't aid the extraction process, it's plastic that is directly contacting very hot liquid (a no no if you are concerned about microplastics), and if you end up buying a larger basket (you don't really need to do this - see #1), you'll need to remove this anyway to fit a deeper basket.
3. The included, no-frills tamper is ALSO GOOD! It has a handy silver ring on the bottom edge that shows you whether you've tamped enough (i.e., if you still see the silver ring, you need to tamp more, or use less coffee). Also, for those new to espresso: it is basically impossible to tamp too hard. You can only tamp too softly. So don't bother buying a fancy spring-loaded tamper unless you physically need one. The included tamper works great.
4. I do recommending spending $13 on a bellows for the coffee grinder. I bought the Aieve one from Amazon and it works great. The bellows helps you solve a legitimate problem with this machine, which is coffee grounds getting stuck in the grinder.
5. THIS TIP GOES WITH #4: Once you have a bellows, switch to doing single-dose cupping. This means that you only put in enough coffee in the grinder that you need for your shot. So, for each cup, you'll measure out 18g (or however much) of beans and dump it into the hopper. This is important for a few reasons: First, you can now set your grinder to run for however much time it takes to grind the coffee + 2-3 seconds. In that last 2-3 seconds, while the grinder is empty but running, you can pump the bellows to blow out the stuck coffee grounds. This will ensure that your dose is consistent from cup to cup. The second thing single-dose cupping does is lets you keep your coffee fresher. If you fill the hopper up with beans, your coffee is now exposed to air (the grinder is open from the bottom), which does affect the taste of coffee. Third, single-dose cupping lets you switch easily from one bean to another. Why spend $600 to drink coffee if you're not going to change things up whenever you want? Last, single-dose cupping lets you eliminate grind time as a variable when dialing in a new coffee. Since you're keeping grind time constant, you're now free to dial in your espresso by just manipulating grams of beans and fineness of grind.
6. One last thing I do which helps consistency between multiple consecutive shots brewed is to run a shot, without the portafilter, between each cup. This helps keep the shower screen clean.
I have this machine and I always use double dose basket - in my case I can remove it without any affect?
I have this machine and I always use double dose basket - in my case I can remove it without any affect?
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
a few tips that may be useful.
1. start with an empty shot first for better brewing. we do a single shot with the basket included and into the drinking cups so everything gets warmed up nicely.
2. adjust water temp setting based on light/medium/dark roast beans you are using. From what i gather, dark roast could use less hot water than light roast.
3. Beville provided tools are enough for the most part. But if you want to go for weight based grinding than time based, you could buy a scale. a cheap $10 one will do. Razor is useful to scrape off excess grinds...esply during dialing in at first.
4. for snapping the basket out of the portafilter, use another basket to lift on the edge. Your nails will thank you.
5. you CAN remove the black plastic piece out of porta filter. only thing is pour from both spouts could be uneven if you are brewing into two single shot cups.
Happy brewing!!
Leave a Comment