Thinking of purchasing the Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine? Keep reading to hear my honest thoughts.
Growing up, my family used a French press and a Keurig (we used both) that was all I had ever known for a while.
In college, I mostly just drank Starbucks because we had one on campus.
For the most part, my morning coffee used to just be my caffeine boost for the day, nothing more – nothing less.
After Grant and I got married, we really started enjoying our coffee time. We also realized that we really didn’t love the coffee we were drinking… We had both a French press and a Keurig.
We tried different methods for brewing, different kinds of coffee beans, etc. To no avail, we began the search for a new coffee maker.
Everyone is different. Some people might have preferred to have a Vitamix or some other kitchen gadget. However, for us, coffee had become our sacred time in the morning and we wanted to take it to another level.
When I tell you we did the research, we (Grant) really did the research. We looked at soo many different kinds of machines and watched sooo many reviews on Youtube.
Ultimately, all we wanted our coffee machine to accomplish was to make a good, single cup of coffee.
After months of debating back and forth on whether or not to splurge and get the Breville machine, we finally did it.
And I’ve never craved a cup of Starbucks coffee since.
The Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine is definitely a manual espresso machine. It has the least amount of gadgets and gizmos which means you really need to know what you are doing to make a cup of coffee. (measuring the beans, grinding, pressing, etc.)
Grant became the expert on how to use the machine (dialing in the beans, cleaning out the filter, etc.).
I thought I could never learn how to work the machine, however, after a week of doing it all on my own, I had the hang of it! Now, it only takes me about 5 mins to make.
The Breville Barista Pro is one step up from the Breville Barista Express, and from our research, it’s not worth the extra money — it doesn’t do THAT much more than the Express.
Then there is a big jump to the Breville Oracle Touch Espresso Machine. And considering the price, all you should do is THINK about a cup of coffee and it should make it for you.
But seriously, If you really know nothing about coffee or espresso and don’t care to learn (no shame there!) you might consider paying a little bit more to have the machine do more for you.
In all, we have definitely saved money in the long run because I crave a cup of coffee from home now! I usually make an americano with almond milk and Grant usually makes a latte 🙂
Thanks for reading! Happy to answer any more questions you might have!
