Breville Barista Express BES860XL Review By An Actual Barista

With so many espresso machines on the market and being a professional barista for almost 2 years, I have a particular interest in reviewing them. I love to make good espresso and drinks.

What I look for in a good espresso machine:

• Personally, I like having both an automatic and a manual option for frothing milk
• Obviously, quality of the espresso, meaning what features does it have to ensure consistent, quality espresso each and every time, whether the user is a beginner or an advanced barista.
• Additional features like built in grinders. More specifically a burr grinder that doesn't heat up the beans cause the quality of the beans to suffer tremendously.
• Price
• Real user reviews

You can see all of my reviews at http://www.espressomachinereports.com.

After much consideration, review, and research of tons of espresso machines, I kept coming back to the Breville Barista Express BES860XL. I went into Williams Sonoma and talked with the sales person, read hundreds of reviews, and compared it to the many others I had looked at, and I fell in love.

This machine has it all. Here is a list of it's features:

• 15 Bar Italian-designed Thermoblock Pump
• Sealed bean hopper with 8oz capacity
• Integrated conical burr grinder
• Removable 67oz water tank with water filtration system
• Programmable or manual settings
• Users boast the ease of use and the quality of espresso
• Perfect counter top size
• Looks amazing

It is a mid priced espresso machine and I would only recommend it to those who plan on using it at least a couple times a week. However, I think it is every bit worth the investment, and am actually going to purchase this myself. Looks like I better start saving!!! LOL.

If you are interested in the the Breville Barista Express 860XL then I would recommend Amazon. They definitely have the best prices all around, and I have had a lot of success with other purchases through them.

And a side note for those of you who plan on making espresso every day, and consider yourself an advanced barista, this machine has as an UPGRADE! Yes, an upgrade, and let me say, I look at it and begin to drool. Same amazing machine, but bigger, more bars of pressure, and even more impressive than the original. But for the cost, you'll definitely need to use it daily and for entertaining to make spending that kind of cash justifiable. :)