Coffee has travelled a long way from being just another plantation in Ethiopia to the world’s most loved stimulating beverage. Its discovery has led to the science and art of effective brewing to achieve the best results from a puck of ground coffee beans.
The market is flooded with coffee makers every month promising to offer the best brew you have ever tasted. Not many deliver on this promise. However, the Breville BES870XL Barista Express Espresso Machine is an exception.
Unlike most other brewing machines in the market that demand a prerequisite knowledge about grinding the beans and tamping it with the perfect pressure, the Breville BES870XL Barista Express offers a dynamic range in flexibility when it comes to preparing and experimenting with the right brewing style that suits you!
Whether you’re a professional barista or just someone who is passionate about coffee, Breville’s entry-level semi-automatic coffee maker presents a ton of functionalities that bring café-styled coffee to your kitchen.
Comparison between Breville BES870XL vs Breville BES920XL Espresso Machine
Compared to the BES870XL’s Italian 15-bar pressure pump with PID Temperature Control, the Breville BES920XL sports a dual boiler and pump system mechanism for far better extraction of flavor. The BES920XL’s Over Pressure Valve maintains extraction pressure to provide optimum flavor from the beans. The Purge function of the 870XL adjusts water temperature to suit the best usage of flavor.
The BES870XL Breville features a 1600W temperature control while the Breville BES920XL too, uses a PID system, but also houses an electronic display to indicate shot time and temperature. While the former uses a carbon filtration system in its 67 fl. Ounce water tank to keep impurities away, the latter provides hardness testing strips and even issues instructions for descaling it on the lit display.
There is not much of a difference in their weights, but the Breville BES920XL costs almost double of what a BES870XL cost.
Key Features of the Breville BES870XL Barista Express Espresso Machine
Handsfree Integrated Grinder
The Breville Barista Express BES870XL comes with a 0.5-pound hopper for the beans and an interlocking burred grinder. The conical burrs help increase the surface area that facilitates thorough bean-churning to obtain maximum flavor from the coffee.
A rotating locking mechanism enables you to fix the grinder to the machine while operating and remove it for cleaning. A semi-automated system provided by the BES870XL drops the ground coffee straight into the porta-filter eliminating the need for any human interference.
Efficient Temperature Control
The Express houses a coherent Proportional-Integral-Derivative Temperature Control Unit that maintains optimum water temperature to extract maximum flavor from the beans. It also comes with a thermocoil heating system made of stainless steel.
Unregulated water temperature undermines the flavor of the resulting brew due to improper flavor extraction.
Breville BES870XL Pressure Gauge
The Breville BES870XL Barista Express Espresso Maker’s most standout feature is its Italy-made 15 bar pressure pump that grinds beans at just about the right speed and force for the right amount of time. The perfect mixture of regulated pressure and water prevents the risk of brewing a bitter shot due to excess flavoring while also avoiding losing potential flavor by the brisk flow of water with incorrect pressure control.
360º Swivel enabled Milk Frothier
If you’re someone who prefers their coffee with a little dairy, the BES870XL has got you covered. It features a 360-degree swivel-action frothier to give you a range of milk textures to pick from for your beverage.
67 fl. Ounces Water Tank
Breville’s Express boasts of a 67-ounce inbuilt but detachable water tank with a carbon filtration system. This water capacity coupled with deft pressure and temperature control yields ideal brewing conditions for the perfect espresso.
Benefits of having the Breville Barista Express BES870XL Espresso Machine
Selector Dials
The Breville Barista Express 870XL houses various selector dials that enable you to set a preferable grind size and grind the amount for your desired espresso shot.
It also comes with a sleek and accessible 54mm porta-filter which collects the ground coffee as it exits the grinder. Thus, offering a hands-free and clean transfer of the puck.
Ergonomic Design
While brewing coffee, most beginners struggle with setting the right grinding pressure, water temperature and force along with the correct grind size and quantity. The 870XL takes all of these manual calculations and provides an easy alternative to brewing the perfect coffee.
It offers novices a simpler option by using dual-walled filters with machine-regulated pressure and temperature control and professional baristas the choice to use a single-walled filter which hands manual control over the brewing factors to the user.
Pre-brew and Tampering
The Express BES870XL sports a pre-brew function which distributes hot water evenly through the puck before the brewing process begins. This helps you to extract the best flavor from the beans.
It also magnetically holds a 54mm tamper on one side to even out the coffee puck collected in the porta-filter before its run through steam and water. Its programmable volume control features give you the option to select a 1 or 2 oz. shot and dispenses just about the right amount of ground beans in the porta-filter.
Why Breville BES870XL Barista Express compatible for home use?
Coffee enthusiasts have been plagued by options for choosing the right brewer of their beloved beverage. Breville’s flagship machine, the BES870XL Express Espresso Machine has silenced all the complaints courtesy to its stellar looks and performance. This best Breville espresso machine gives you the power to brew a café-styled espresso within the comfort of your home kitchen. Whether you’re just someone yearning for a cup of freshly brewed coffee or an experienced barista who will not settle for anything lesser than the best coffee experience, the Breville BES870XL manages to satiate your desire and needs with style.
The wide scope of flexibility in terms of choosing the grind amounts and sizes, control over water pressure and temperature coupled with a powerful burr grinder will make you fall in love with coffee all over again. For those who just want a regular cup of coffee, the Express’ quick semi-automatic brewing mechanism will serve a refreshing shot of espresso within minutes! Its volume control features enable you to automatically extract a desired amount of ground beans without the fear of spilling any excess puck. An inbuilt cleaning kit and its ability to dispense dry bean remains aid you in maintaining its cleanliness.
What users saying about Breville BES870XL Barista Express
Most of the BES870XL’s users expected a coffee machine that would offer semi-automatic brewing controls for a rich espresso experience and that is exactly what it delivered. Its semi-automatic nature, presented a range of choices to play with when it came to selecting a coffee flavor.
Although the Express entices potential customers over hands-free grinding of coffee beans, users found the entire process rather messy than promised. Also, there were complaints about the 15-bar pump losing its pressuring power after six months. A small section of users online found the frothier cup a tad bit small for use, but the majority of the consumers were happy with its functionality.
My Experience with Breville Espresso BES870XL
Personally, I used standard coffee drip makers up until I laid my hands on this engineering marvel. Standing at 12.5” made it difficult for me to slide it under the wall-shelves above my kitchen counter. I am not a barista but operating the BES870XL certainly made me feel like one. I prefer my coffee with a little sugar and milk and the Express’ 360-degree milk frothier catered well to my needs.
Its super user-friendly dials and controls gave me the option to tinker around with the quality of my espresso and discover what suited my tongue and mind the best. Unlike most of the reviews I read online, I found the BES870XL ergonomically designed and simple to use on a daily basis.
Final Verdict
All in all, the Breville BES870XL Barista Express Espresso Machine review suggests one thing: a quick, controlled and rich coffee experience. With a ton of semi-automatic controls and automatic features, it has something to offer you whether you’re a professional barista or a home drinker. Its stainless-steel body oozes charm and its appealing design is sure to add a graceful touch on your kitchen counter.
Breville have kept user-friendliness in the back of their mind while designing this magnificent machine. Decked with a dedicated burr grinder and tamper, the BES870XL at almost six hundred bucks, promises bang-for-the-buck performance.
