Breville Buying Guide

Breville espresso machines offer great quality, at price points ranging from entry-level, all the way to prosumer. While their machines are simple and intuitive to use, making the decision about which one to buy can be a bit daunting to someone new to the world of Espresso. In this buying guide, we’ll move from least to most expensive, and explain what features and quality differences you’re paying for with each step up in price.

• 54mm portafilter
• Combined steam / hot water arm
• Manual control dial

The Breville Duo Temp is Breville’s most basic, and least expensive offering in their lineup. Despite this fact, it still offers users the opportunity to make espresso with the same quality as some of their higher-priced machines. Breville is able to offer this machine at a lower price because there are no “fluff” features on this machine.

Brewing is fully manual, and controlled by a single central dial. Turning to the left will start the espresso extraction, which will run continuously until switched back off. (All of the other machines in the lineup opt to use programmable buttons that will stop the extraction automatically). Turning the dial to the right will activate the steam, or hot water, depending on which is selected.

• 54mm portafilter
• Separate hot water outlet
• Programmable single / double shot buttons
• Analog pressure gauge

The Breville Infuser takes the same functionalities as the Duo Temp, but adds on some nice-to-have features such as a dedicated hot water outlet, pre-programmed single and double shot extraction buttons, and an analog pressure gauge so you can better dial in your shots.

If you are on an absolute strict budget, you may want to stick with the Duo Temp, but if your budget can stretch a little, the Infuser’s added features are very nice to have.

• 54mm portafilter (pressurized only)
• Programmable single / double shot buttons
• Automatic milk texturing
• 3 second heat up

The Breville Bambino is an interesting new addition to the lineup, targeted almost exclusively at latte and cappuccino drinkers. Because the Bambino only comes with a pressurized filter basket (hence no spouts) there will be a slight decrease in overall espresso quality compared to the duo temp and infuser. There is also no option to get hot water from this machine.

The Bambino makes up for these two drawbacks by offering a more compact footprint, a 3 second warm up time, and very good automatic milk texturing that allows you to select your desired temperature and amount of foam, and then walk away from the machine.

If you have limited counter space and care more about milk-based drinks over ultimate espresso quality, this is a good machine to consider.

• 54mm portafilter
• Separate hot water outlet
• Programmable single / double shot buttons
• Analog pressure gauge
• Built-in burr grinder

The Breville Barista Express has been the go to semi-automatic espresso machine for a very long time. It takes the already good espresso and steaming quality from the Infuser, and integrates the Smart Grinder Pro system straight in to the machine for a better form factor.

Grinding beans fresh is the easiest way to achieve instantly better coffee quality. For espresso, a good quality burr grinder is not only recommended, but it is a necessity. The Barista Express is available at a price that is lower than the sum of it’s parts (Smart Grinder Pro and Infuser), and therefore offers great value for money.

In addition to the great quality, and compelling price point, the Barista Express also benefits from a massive online following offering you unlimited help and tips to get the absolute best out of your machine.

• 54mm portafilter
• Separate hot water outlet
• Programmable single / double shot buttons
• Digital Display
• Built-in burr grinder (fine resolution)
• 3 second heat up

The Breville Barista Pro is another recent addition to the lineup that offers a slight facelift to the existing Barista Express. To build on the success of the Express, the Pro also includes an easy to use digital display, finer grinder resolution for more accurate dialing in, and faster heating and steaming thanks to an updated thermocoil design.

If you’re tight on budget, do not feel the need to upgrade to the Barista Pro, as the upgrades do not impact the overall drink quality. However, if you want the best Breville has to offer in this form factor, the Pro does include several nice-to-have features.

• 58mm portafilter
• Separate hot water outlet
• Programmable single / double shot buttons
• Analog pressure gauge
• Digital Display
• Simultaneous brewing / steaming
• Programmable pre-infusion

The Breville Dual Boiler gets it’s name from the fact that it has separate brewing and steaming boilers. This means, that you can pull shots of espresso, and steam your milk at the exact same time. This also allows the Dual Boiler to steam faster than the lower-end machines.

In addition to the separate boilers, the Dual Boiler also includes a wide range of brew parameter customization and quality advantages for the discerning espresso enthusiast. Such as a full-sized 58mm portafilter, adjustable steam and brew temperatures, programmable pre-infusion… and a host of other convenience features such as auto-on and auto-off timers so you can be sure the machine is piping hot the second you wake up in the morning.

This machine is for those looking for the absolute best in espresso quality out of the Breville range, or for those who plan on regularly serving more than 3 or 4 milk based drinks at a time.

• 58mm portafilter
• Separate hot water outlet
• Programmable single / double shot buttons
• Digital Display
• Simultaneous brewing / steaming
• Programmable pre-infusion
• Built-in grinder
• Automated drink making

The Oracle tops the Breville espresso range in terms of both feature-set and price. It takes the already stellar performance of the Dual Boiler, and includes a built in burr grinder, as well as a full suite of automated brewing features. The Oracle will automatically grind, tamp, and brew, at the same time that it is automatically steaming the milk to the temperature and texture of your choice.

Because of the automated nature of this machine, it requires very little touch time to produce very high quality drinks. It strikes an impressive balance between a super-automatic system, and a prosumer level dual boiler espresso machine. The price difference over the Dual Boiler does not buy you any addition drink quality, but this combination of convenience and quality is currently unmatched anywhere else on the market, and is the reason it demands such a high price tag.