The best Breville espresso machine

Best Breville espresso machines for 2021

Making coffee at home is easier and more popular than ever, whether as a daily ritual or a time-saving convenience. Beyond the classic drip coffee, espresso drinks offer a wider variety of caffeinated or decaf drinks that can incorporate milk, foam or added flavor syrups. Breville, an Australia-based home appliance company, provides some of the best home coffee equipment on the market, from hyper-onvenient to hands-on.

Whether you are a novice, hobbyist or coffee professional, Breville probably has an espresso machine that fits your skills and needs. 

How to choose a Breville espresso machine

To determine the best Breville espresso machine for your home, consider a few factors, such as experience, time, volume, and the amount of space needed. 

• Skill and experience: For espresso drink newbies, Breville offers several automatic machines with built-in features that take out the guesswork, ensuring easily made drinks consistently. Breville’s manual espresso machines provide a hands-on experience, from grinding beans to pulling your shot and steaming milk if you’re a more advanced barista.
• Convenience and time-saving: If you’re adopting espresso-making as a hobby or craft and you have plenty of time to learn and execute new skills, a manual machine will add substantial time to the drink-making process. Breville also offers quick and easy automatic machines that can save you time and money for coffee lovers on the go.
• Volume: For folks who plan to host coffee time for family and guests, automatic machines can produce more drinks faster than a manual machine. If you plan on opening an amateur café in your kitchen, an automatic Breville espresso machine is your best bet.
• Kitchen space: Whether you choose an automatic or manual model, your espresso machine has a kitchen footprint. Consider your space, outlet access and water availability before committing to a manual espresso machine. Also, consider any other equipment you might need, such as an external coffee grinder or milk frother that would take up more room.
• Cost: Generally speaking, Breville manual espresso machines are more expensive than automatic machines, so consider the cost before committing to a new Breville. However, if you want to make a serious investment in a fully automatic machine, some high-end models do all the work for a higher price tag. Breville automatic machines’ prices range from $180-$2500, whereas manual machines range between $450-$2000.

Best Breville espresso machines

Best overall Breville espresso machine

Breville Oracle Touch Espresso Machine with Grinder

This all-in-one, fully automatic machine is the best of Breville’s high-quality line of coffee equipment. With its impressive touchscreen, you have an entire café at your fingertips, with a built-in burr grinder and automatic microfoam milk steamer to complete the setup. The only downside is the price tag. The Oracle Touch is Breville’s most expensive espresso machine.

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Best bang for your buck Breville espresso machine

Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine

This is a small machine with significant capabilities, providing the whole café experience with a compact footprint. The ThermoJet heating system brings water to perfect espresso temperature in mere seconds, and the automatic microfoam steam wand has three temperature and foam settings. The biggest drawback is the need for a separate espresso grinder. Unless your grind size is precise, this machine may not produce the optimal shot.

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Best semi-automatic Breville espresso machine 

Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine

Another all-in-one machine with a built-in grinder and a manual microfoam milk steamer, the Barista Express is an excellent option for an experienced user or a barista-in-training. It puts more control in the user’s hands. However, its biggest strength is its main drawback; unless you can learn and practice making drinks, an automatic machine is recommended.

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Best Breville espresso machine on a budget

Breville Café Roma Espresso Machine

If you want the authentic feel of pulling your shot but can’t afford the bigger models, the Café Roma is a simplified manual espresso machine without the bells and whistles. The portafilter, which holds the espresso grinds during brewing, is built for a single or double shot, and it’s even fitted for pods for more ease of use. If this machine is still too complicated, we recommend buying a Nespresso Vertuo.

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Honorable mentions

Breville Infuser Espresso Machine

The Infuser shares many qualities with Breville’s Barista Express but with a simplified, automatic operation interface. While it lacks an espresso grinder, it produces superior espresso. It uses a low-pressure pre-infusion to ensure perfectly even extraction, and its incremental water temperature increases at a rate that keeps your coffee from being scorched. The Infuser is also slimmer and sleeker than the Barista Express.

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Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine

For a more substantial investment, the Barista Touch is sure to impress your guests with both its drink quality and appearance. It’s essentially a hybrid of the Oracle Touch and the Barista Express, featuring a built-in precision conical burr grinder with dose control and digital temperature control. The touchscreen interface is intuitive, and the automatic microfoam steam wand heats and aerates milk to your texture preference. It may help you create latte art, as well.

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Which Breville espresso machine should I get?

The entire Breville line of espresso machines is impressive as far as consumer coffee products go. Still, if you’re looking for the best balance of the most features for the best value, the Barista Express is a worthwhile investment to upgrade your home espresso drink needs.

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Matt Fleming writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.