Breville 800ESXL Commercial 15-Bar Triple-Priming Die-Cast Espresso Machine
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List Price: Our Price: $99.99 You Save: $399.91 (80%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Breville 800ESXL Commercial 15-Bar Triple-Priming Die-Cast Espresso Machine
Customer Review: Is it sick to love a coffee machine?
Summary: 5 Stars
I know it's expensive... and I can't believe I paid full price for it, but I love this coffee machine.
Doing the math, it only took me a hundred and fifty coffees to pay for itself (and the coffee used), so this machine has made it's price back.
Things that I love about this machine: 1) perfect crema all the time, every time. 2) easy to clean and keep clean 3) perfect steamed milk easily 4) big water resevoir 5) warm cups 6) easy to make several cup of coffee... in other words, the grounds are easy to dump, refill and keep on going 7) is a stylish coffee maker
Just a few downsides (and what love affairs don't have small drawbacks): 1) it's important to keep the grind just a little bigger so that the holes in the screen of the coffee filter don't get stuck 2) sometimes the little float thing that tells me to dump the waste water gets stuck and then it relieves itself over the counter -only happened once or twice 3) it's great tasting coffee and ease of use has made me drink LOTS of coffee!! -and spoiled me for any other coffee!
::smile::::
So there you go... my love affair with my coffee machine is revealed. You can tell that it is a true love and runs very deep. You can find me online, looking for fancy demitasse cups!
Customer Review: Works for me...
Summary: 4 Stars
First off... I'm not an espresso virtuoso.. I just like my daily mocha. I purchased this unit in October '09 as a Woot (new not refurb) for $185. It came with a huge "knock box" (which is useless given the muddy consistancy of the grounds and as such was quickly relegated to the basement). For the first several days, when I turned it to steam I would get a stream of water first. Eventually discovered this didn't happen if I waited a bit for the heating light to go out before turning it to steam. You do need to read the instructions - you are only supposed to lightly tamp the grounds. I've gotten the foam creation down to a science - you CAN create a nice, dense, microfoam with it. I followed directions left by others and run a short burst of steam with the wand in water at the end of my use to help clean it out. I also run straight water through the espresso setting every couple of days to help clean out the double-walled filter. It does use a LOT of water - I make a 20oz drink with 3 oz of espresso every morning and end up emptying the drip tray every time and filling the reservoir every three days.
So far so good... it does the job I need it to.
Oh, and best plug-design in the world (finger hole for unplugging)... whomever owns that patent should be rich.
Customer Review: Great value and well built for this price range
Summary: 4 Stars
I had purchased the Breville Cafe Roma for my girlfriend at Christmas and we were very pleased with its performance over our steam machines. We learned how to brew the pefect cup of cappucino and really like Peet's Espresso Forte and Garuda beans. We did have a leak issue with the machine due to a poor seal on the water basket, but Breville replaced it promptly with a brand new unit....Great customer service.
I decided to purchase the upgraded die-cast model for myself for the fantastic look of it, the larger water basket, storage compartment and overall improved construction. It doesn't make the shots any better tasting but is nicer to work with and very easy to clean. We also use the Breville burr grinder and get the best results with it set in between very-fine and extra-fine settings and use a professional RB tamper. And yes, you do not get a hard-dry puck afterwards due to the double-wall permafilter but rinsing it out under running water is easy enough.
The frother is a thinner version than the Cafe Roma and doesn't seem to froth quite as good. If your total budget for a complete espresso making system is around $500 then this is a good choice. I paid $345 for the machine, $95 for the grinder, $70 for the tamper and they all work well together.
Customer Review: More is Less! In Breville's case, it's way less
Summary: 1 Stars
A beautifully designed machine that produces quite bad results because Breville didn't keep it simple. Here are my 2-cents:
1. Dual wall filters are a terrible idea and does not produce silky crema. Dual walls is a cheap trick that a cheaper machine with weaker pump should have used but not this one. It does produce more foamy espresso but it is the silky crema that any powerful pump machine can produce. i hear the fix is simple. Throw away the breville filter and use single wall filters from krups. I am yet to find krups filters but i am certain it will fix.
2. Before extracting espresso, Breville produces 3-4 steam bursts before the pump takes over. This creates a watery mess inside the filter pod. It loosens the compacted coffee resulting espresso is weak, watery product. The final puck is "never" dry like it should be. This is simply over-engineering. One reviewer that you could aviod the watery mess by waiting until the 2nd or 3rd steam burst to load the filter pod -- something called "cold pulling" or tech stuff like that. This is not easy and go ahead and try if you don't mind scalding yourself perfecting this technique. This cannot be fixed and the engineer responsible for this over-engineering should be fired.
Customer Review: Anchors away
Summary: 1 Stars
I consider myself lucky that I had 2-1/2 years of good service from this machine before the pump gave out. I contacted Breville to troubleshoot and they were quick to mention they make quality and superior products then they referred me to their out-of-warranty repair subcontractor. I called them - the folks in Nile, Ill. and they could not tell me anything other than to send it in for them to determine what it will take to repair it. All I could see was dollar signs and a high probability I would not be satisfied. I turned to Amazon to look for another espresso machine and I saw these reviews. I thank each of you for posting these as it confirmed my suspicions and prevented me from buying another Breville.
I have their coffee grinder too. From day one I knew this was poorly engineered. Try to fill up the container with grinds - enough for 4 shots. You can't. The small opening prevents that and soon the mountain of grinds grows to the point where it stops up the opening and stresses out the motor. I fixed that problem by breaking off the lid to the container. Now I have grinds that fly out all over the counter but at least I can fill up the container.
If I had a boat I would not need to buy an anchor!