The Verdict
The Breville Barista Express in Black Truffle is an all-in-one espresso machine with built-in grinder designed to take you from whole beans to a finished cup in under a minute. It offers professional-grade control over temperature, grind size, and milk texturing for those serious about crafting café-quality drinks at home.
Why We Love It (Key Features)
- Integrated Conical Burr Grinder: By grinding fresh beans directly into the portafilter on demand, you ensure maximum flavor and optimal dose control for every single or double shot.
- Precise Digital Temperature Control: The onboard PID technology regulates water temperature to ensure stable, precise extraction, which is essential for a balanced-tasting espresso.
- Manual Microfoam Steam Wand: The powerful steam wand gives you the hands-on control needed to texture milk into smooth microfoam, making it simple to practice your latte art at home.
- Low Pressure Pre-Infusion: This feature gradually increases water pressure at the start of the extraction process, helping to draw out balanced flavors from your chosen roast.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Complete all-in-one setup with integrated grinder and tamper.
- Consistent water temperature via digital PID control.
- Includes a comprehensive kit of accessories, including a milk jug and cleaning tools.
- Flexible grind size dial allows for customization based on bean type.
Cons
- Requires dedicated counter space for an all-in-one unit with a 67 oz water tank and 1/2 lb hopper.
- Manual operation requires a learning curve for beginners compared to fully automatic machines.
Who Should Buy This?
This machine is a great fit for the home enthusiast who wants to master the craft of espresso. If you enjoy the process of dialing in your own grind size, tamping your coffee, and manually steaming milk, this machine provides the professional tools you need to create third-wave specialty coffee in your own kitchen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it difficult to get the right grind size?
Not at all. The machine features a simple, intuitive grind size dial that gives you the flexibility to adjust settings regardless of the type of coffee bean you are using.
What is included in the box?
The machine comes with a generous accessory set, including a 54mm stainless steel portafilter, single and dual wall filter baskets, a razor dose trimming tool, an integrated tamper, a stainless steel milk jug, cleaning tools, and a water filter.
Is this espresso machine with built-in grinder difficult to maintain?
Breville includes the necessary tools for upkeep, such as a cleaning disc, cleaning tablets, and a brush tool, to help you maintain the performance of your espresso machine with built-in grinder over time.
5.0 out of 5 stars 1st month review Its been a month since I have bought this machine. I have not worked every coffee making device out there but I have operated and tasted many. I had just lost my Deloghni magnifca super automatic machine after seven years of use. It was a pretty good machine for being a super automatic. But I have craved to get a real espresso machine and do a proper cappuccino. I have used french presses, Vietnamese phins, drip, siphon, and single serve kuerigs. Being in the Pacific NW you would except awesome cafe’s everywhere, and you would be wrong. To get a good barrista that knows what they are doing, is slim to none. So with the exit of my super auto, I shopped for a good one. I kept coming back to the breville. Only knocks it was really getting was that breville was Australian and new to the game. I took the plunge and bought it, and I do not regret it.So the good:It comes with its own grinder. It not the best, but then again its no slouch. It can be taken apart and cleaned. My super never did that. What this means is that as you build up grounds on the Burr, you can pull it apart easily and clean it. It has a hopper that you can remove and place unused beans back in its container, that is just awesome, you can make decafe then switch to a new bean. A reviewer gave a good tip that when you first run it, start at the coarse then work it to fine when you start to grind, good advice. I word of caution from me, every different roast of bean will be a new setting for the machine. If you use a oily bean, then you might have to clean the burr a lot in order to get that fine grind. Also be prepared to go through a lot of coffee to figure out the right setting to get that perfect cup.Temperature control. You can decrease or increase the temperature by 4 degree’s, in 2 degree increments. Doesn’t sound like much, but it can change the taste of your espresso.Easy to program grind amount, and shot times.It has a gauge to measure the pressure as it goes through the port a filter. It is a nice touch to be able to tell how things are working, several high price machine you have to feel it out and guess, this you can tell right away if something went wrong and you can adjust.The steam wand is easy to use, the switch on the side is okay, my super did have a better control knob that you could control the amount of steam that came out, but this one is slow enough that its not that bad to operate.Clean up is a snap, I really enjoy the fact that I can easily and quickly clean it up.It has a water filter, where I live we have a high concentration of hard water, so having a second filter to go through is nice.Parts. Breville has all the parts you can buy to fix your machine if they go out or need replaced. I am talking about new port a filters, rings, hoppers, water reservoirs, ect.It is pretty, looks really good, makes you want to drink coffee.The things that are not so nice:You will go through a lot of coffee. This is most true when you first get the machine and try to figure out how to run it. There is a couple of way things can go down. 1) you drink every cup you make, I suggest you do this alone. Anyone around you will worry you are on something because you will be running at a 1000 mph on that much caffeine, no matter what your tolerance is. You will be wondering why everyone around you is moving so slow. 2) invite people over and watch there reaction to find out well you are doing on making that espresso.Mess from the grounds. It has a tray, but for some reason my grounds always seem to go further then the tray. I placed a small dish under the grinder it that keeps it contained and its easily cleaned. You can also fill the port a filter, tamp, then fill a little more until you reach the proper level. I place a paper towel down and do the tamp on that, it catches the grounds that fall when tamping.Don’t expect a piping hot cup of joe. You can get it hot enough, by following their suggestions. I poor hot water in my cup before and do a single shot on a empty port a filter, that seems to do a good enough job.My latte art is of clouds, mushrooms, cotton balls. I believe that is my malfunction though.Overall, for the price (especially now) and the quality of espresso I am getting, its the top choice. Is it the best machine out there, no. But if you can afford those then I am not sure why you are reading things on amazon. Try different beans, they will taste different from what you are used to, each type will need different techniques to get the right pull. The Seattle best coffee bean, I only need to lightly tamp, the Vietnamese Civet I have to really press hard to get to the right tamp. I will trying several others as I go along, but I think that’s the best part of this machine. And to the few people ( there is other things I would call you) about the California restrictions, in the manual it does say that the parts on the machine that does come in contact with coffee or water is BPA Free and there is no parts that will make you grow a third limb, unless you already have one. If you read the blasted bill you might figure out what it actually is saying, Anything with a grinder or power cord falls in this warning. I don’t know about you, but I am not grinding bits of plastic in my coffee, and I am not sucking on the power cord, but if that’s what you want to do, go for it.For me, this has been a awesome buy, thank you for reading.Variation: Color: Black Sesame
5.0 out of 5 stars Would Buy Again - Great Customer Service The reviews I found online were extremely helpful so thought it only right to post one based on our experiences so far following a purchase in February 2018.Initial reaction – very high quality product. Heavier than I expected as well which may also have been a psychological factor that it was built well. We were switching out from a Starbucks Athena which had worked flawlessly for 15 years so clearly this machine has a lot more bells and whistles than the Starbucks unit.First product use – I had read some negative feedback on using ‘oily’ beans which I thought was a bit weird given that we use very dark roasted beans (Italian Roast) that are typically oily. Sure enough, the first attempt at bean grinding was essentially a bust – so I naturally assumed it was the oily issue. Contacted Amazon who connected me to Breville immediately (e.g. 2 minute wait). The customer service rep was fantastic – had me do a grinder calibration by running rice through the machine and dialing the grind number up and down. Once that was done and the beans went back in, the coffee started grinding without a hitch! So, not an ‘oily’ issue. Problem number two occurred while the rep was still on the phone. I was getting little-to-no pressure on the press. The rep had me switch out the insert to help on the pressure. That problem was fixed. I immediately got a good shot of espresso (note that she said good pressure was between “11am” and “1pm” on the gauge). Next test was the foam. We use 2% milk and I was a bit worried that the small foaming tin included would overflow and generally not be big enough. Wrong. This machine produces VERY good foam and does it quickly. I had considered buying the dual-boiler so the steamer was always ready but thought about it a bit and realized we only do espresso or macchiatos so probably overkill. Right call on that. The steamer ‘uptime’ is less than a minute and foam is less than a minute. Excellent all around on this front.Tweaks – we set the water temp up to max as I’ve historically found this to be a problem with first runs in the morning. Overall, this seems to be a good adjustment.Still need to work on the following – 1) for whatever reason, we still get an occasional low pressure on a single or double shot – not sure why. No change in grind using the same insert. I’m convinced we’re using the same amount of ground coffee and tamping it the same. But, the pressure gauge stays in the 9am range…not 11am to 1pm that the customer service rep said was in the good category; 2) I haven’t spent enough time playing around with different grinds and inserts so I’m sure there is a better taste waiting at some point; 3) Size of single or double shot – these seem to be consistent and appear to be tied to the compaction of the grind – when tamped a lot, the shot runs longer but you get about the same amount of espresso (makes sense). However, I thought I read that you can adjust this flow and I’d like to do that given my preference for a longer pull of espresso. 4) we haven’t done a thorough cleaning yet, e.g. full clean of the grinder, but the machine is easy to keep looking great. We make a point of cleaning/washing the water catcher immediately after use each day given that our old machine stained after years of use and lack of daily cleaning. So far – it’s working.I’ve seen a lot of ‘tinny’ products on the market and this is not one of them. I also read a lot of comments on ‘perfect espresso’ – seems to me that espresso is a lot like good wine. One wine – most people just know if it’s good or not and whether they like it or not. This machine will be a great machine for all of you. It might be a good fit for the experts but I just don’t know…I’m not one.Variation: Color: Black Sesame
4.0 out of 5 stars For those with Starbucks habit - I make my same daily iced venti latte for probably 90% savings Okay so it takes me around 15 minutes but I clean everything completely every time (filter, tray, etc.) and I haven’t learned how to make 100% consistent pull on shots (gauge at same pressure), but I was really surprised by how I can make exact same Latte they make me at Starbucks with same flavor. I have had this machine in my Amazon cart for 4-5 years (I think it has been pretty much the same machine for better part of a decade but may be mistaken). I figure that must say something about design and this is echoed in most reviews I watched. The last straw that made me buy it on Prime Day discount a month ago was that price of my daily Starbucks drink (iced venti vanilla latte) shot up from $5 something to nearly $7. I was reluctant previously because I figured it would take a bunch of time to make myself, be a pain to clean up and I probably couldn’t make it taste the same as the Sbux I enjoy… I was mostly wrong on all these counts. When I bought the machine, I found the Sbux Espresso Roast whole beans (around $13 for 18 oz) and Sbux vanilla flavor (around $25 for pack of four 12 oz bottles). I set up the machine in less than 20 minutes and took me only a few tries to get the grind setting (I like 5 ). I use the filter that arrives pre-installed (double wall double shot) and presto my pulls are generally in the middle of the correct pressure range. So I make a three shot venti Iced Latte drink with about half the Vanilla Sbux normally uses (3 pump equivalent) and since I make same drink for my 18yo daughter I do three double shot grinds and pulls to make the two drinks (bonus = bonding with daughter over coffee at home). In the month I have owned and used this machine, I have made those same two drinks every morning in re-usable sbux venti Ice drink cups I bought for few bucks and have gone through two and change bags of beans and two and change bottles of syrup for two triple venti drinks every day for a month = 62 drinks (not counting a few hot lattes and straight shot espressos I experimented with). Buying those same 62 drinks at Sbux would have cost $415 (not count tip I always leave so actually closer to $500 for 62 triple venti Ice lattes at Sbux costing nearly $7 each + tip. So I figure I when just considering supplies I used $30 in beans and syrup and at around $4 per gallon, I have used maybe another $20 in Milk so $50 total in supplies about vs. around $500 for buying the drinks at Sbux including tip means I paying 10% what I used to and have saved $450 ($150 less than I paid for the machine) in a single month on the drinks for me and my daughter. As I started off saying, it does take me 15 minutes from start to finish of cleanup to make those two drinks but it could be half that without cleanup every time but I also never wait in a drive through line. I am very happy with this and really enjoy the smell of the beans and process of making the drinks. You do need to watch the beans level (the hopper is small) and the water tank is also small – I have run out of both beans mid-grind and water mid-brew by not paying attention but otherwise this machine is pretty straight forward. I did experiment with steaming milk and wasn’t a big deal but you can’t really steam that much milk at a time with small carafe and steam wand (made more for 8 oz. mug drink vs. venti hot latte I think, but I mostly like iced drinks. Anyway the steam worked fine and the espresso also tastes great straight and gets good crema (spelling?) if that’s your thing. Anyway I would recommend this machine for sure to someone like me and I wish I bought it years ago. Cheers!Variation: Color: Black Sesame
5.0 out of 5 stars Review from a complete espresso novice. To save some of you a bunch of reading, I’ll cut to the chase first: I knew nothing about making good espresso drinks before buying this machine, and after a year and a half I still use it everyday, and I absolutely love it.A bit of background. I grew tired of the daily trips to the cafe for an espresso, and doubly so with the cost. Drink plus tip was usually around 10 dollars a day, at least 5 days a week. I wanted to make my own, but I knew absolutely nothing about extracting espresso, the machines, or any of the science-y stuff behind it. I did a TON of research on machines, as there is a fairly wide variety of options for the consumer. I was initially put off by the cost of some of the upper tier machines, but after some digging, and learning, I found The Breville Barista Express (BBE) which seemed to be a well made machine, with great reviews, but still pretty expensive for a “coffee machine”. Of course, my perspective on that has changed considerably.Review!The machine is well made. I can say for sure that it’s durable, and probably built to last longer than the parts inside of it. Fairly heavy, but perhaps more just given its shape, and how the weight is distributed. I, personally, like the aesthetic of the machine in black, so I chose the black model. At first glance and a once over, you’ll notice that it’s not a cheaply made product, and already begin to feel better about the cost.The control panel was more user-friendly than I had initially thought. I absolutely believe they had the novice in mind when designing the interface. Although the controls are pretty straightforward, and explained in the user manual, some people learn processes better by seeing rather than reading, and I’m one of those people. If you are also, Breville produced a series of how-to-use videos on their youtube channel, and I also believe they are on Breville’s website as well. These videos are very to-the-point, and incredibly helpful learning the ins-and-outs of the various options on the machine. They absolutely give the end user plenty of support with regard to understanding how to use the machine. For people, like me, who knew nothing about espresso machines, it was nice SEEING the steps and process in real time.Customer Support is fantastic. After about 3 months of having it in the house, a large industrial staple found its way into the grinder. Presumably from a bag of beans. Tbh I’m not sure how it got in there. In any case, it messed up the grinder so bad that I had to send the machine into Breville for repair and service. I had called their number, and the CSR asked for some general details, and without any fuss, sent out return packaging, which I received in 2 days, I shipped it out the day I got the packaging, and my machine was returned to me, in working order, without cost, 7 days later.The machine isn’t without shortcomings, but in my novice opinion, they’re pretty minor.1. The water reservoir is pretty small.2. A second portafilter would be a terrific add. (bought a second on ebay)3. Drip tray doesn’t hold much.4. Steam/hot water knob design could use improvement with a bit of leverage. (3rd party options)5. Should come with a dosing cup that fits the portafilter (3rd party options)All in all, the machine is fantastic. I am by no means an expert, but my drinks are good enough to keep me from going to cafe everyday, and my wife also seems to enjoy them.One note for novices, this machine does simplify the process, but there is still some required learning you will need to do in order to get the best results out of this machine. It isn’t hard, but will probably take you a half a bag of beans to really dial in, and get right.Cheers!Variation: Color: Black Sesame
5.0 out of 5 stars GET IT! GREAT Espresso Machine! We have had ours for about two years now. No issues. It was a little bit of a learning curve at first to get the pressure correct but once we figured it out the quality is consistent. Very easy to use. The machine tells you when it needs to be cleaned and it is an easy process! It is necessary to dump the drip pans daily as well as cleaning the portafilter. I absolutely love this machine! I am moving out soon and just ordered one for my own house because I refuse to go without it:)The breville pictured is not the Matte black option it is the glossy version!Variation: Color: Black Truffle
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Espresso Machine We are obsessed with this coffee machine! Yes it’s pricey, but totally worth every penny! It brews the most perfect cup of espresso every time. It took my husband and I some time to really learn how it works because it depends on the type of coffee beans you use, the size of cup you want, and the pressure, etc…but once you figure it out, you’ll never drink coffee outside of your home again! We got the black truffle color and we love it.Variation: Color: Black Truffle