 Great machine and great customer service |
| Review Date: September 29, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Laurel Monsanto, |
| I love this espresso maker, but I am even more impressed with Breville's customer service. I had a problem with the machine after 9 months and they replaced it, payed for the shipping and did not even need my receipt. They said if the machine has their name on it they will replace it. I was very impressed. And it makes great espresso. |
Outstanding
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| Review Date: June 7, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Stephen C. Holtzman, Pointe-Claire, Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
When I read some of the reviews on this machine I was concerned. I won this model and a year supply of Espresso coffee from a local radio station. I had a baby Gaggia before and several others over the years.
I have used this for a month now and it works perfectly each and every time and is a breeze to clean up. Remember how your coffee is ground and the quality of it can make the difference. I always get dry cups, I have never had any clogging and as for the frothing, this is the first machine that makes it perfect each and every time, and I have hated my past machines I had since they could not froth the milk properly. I am using Whole milk each time.
while I am not a fan of Stainless Steel, it is a beautiful machine and heats up fast, although I always run one pass without coffee then wait 5 minutes and it is oerfect. My luck, when I read the instruction book, I noticed that the Company is located 5 minutes from my home, just around the corner, should I have any problems.
I recommend this to model to everyone. I drink several cups a day of espresso, cafe au lait, etc. .. I have been doing this for years and this machine produces outstanding coffee for the price.
It might take you several grinds to find the perfect one, but once you do, there will be dry pucks after you make it and a perfect cup of coffee. |
Breville 800ESXL Tips for Excellent Espresso
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| Review Date: January 21, 2008 |
| Reviewer: FoMo, |
After 3 weeks of "so-so" espresso's and cappuccino's, I was ready to return the 800ESXL. The espresso produced was not hot enough, and the frothed milk not even close to the dense foam I had hoped for. But I gave it one more try using the below techniques, and the results were night and day.
Pre-Heat the machine, then run water thru the portafilter for at least 10 seconds. By doing this, the water temp went from 140 to 174 degrees. OK, so this is recommended in the instructions...but who really reads them?
Using the Breville Conical Burr Grinder, I found the "click" setting two clicks down from Espresso (towards Turkish) worked best. (Great grinder, producing perfectly even grinds every time. Highly recommended!)
Practice your tamping technique. I bought a "Terry's Tamper" which is much easier to use than the supplied Breville tamper/scoop. Tamping pressure is the greatest variable between success and failure. At least it was for me.
To improve frothing, I tried covering the top hole on the stainless steel frothing attachment with tape and it worked to perfection. I could not get the desired "micro-foam" before making this modification. I have since used a tiny screw to close up the top hole. This really made a difference in the density of the foam, using both non-fat and 2% milk.
Keep your frothing pitcher in the freezer, and use very cold milk.
As other reviewers have suggested, after brewing your espresso and dumping the puck, run another 5 to 10 second shot of water thru the portafilter to purge it out. I have yet to have the filter clog up. |
Perfect Espresso every time, easy to clean, solid quality
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| Review Date: February 14, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Jackson Hsu, Rowland Heights, CA |
I stumbled on this machine while browsing at the Williams-Sonoma store. It's almost like love at first sight. Beautifully crafted, built like a tank solid, and most importantly.... perfect Espresso every time.
Espresso lovers look for the machine that makes the Espresso with most Creama. [Crema is the beautiful, brown cream found on the top of a perfect espresso.] As other coffee expert describes it..."Crema is the essence of good espresso coffee. I like to think of it as the Holy Grail of espresso coffee. Without it you might as well pour it down the drain."
After extensive research on how to make a perfect cup of Espresso, I am proud to say this is THE machine that produced a lot of CREMA. It's easy to make a perfect cup every time without leaks and no messes. I experimented with different coffee, coffee grind and tamping pressure, and found best brew for my taste. Clean up is a breeze as well. There's virtually no dead spots or hard to reach areas. There's also a neat storage space under the water tank which stores the cleaning tools, extra gruppa, and misc items so that kitchen countertop is not cluttered with many parts.
I don't care what other reviews were saying about thermoblock or boiler heating element differences, or if the ground appears to be soupy after extraction or what not... Nothing is as important as a good cup of Espresso with CREMA! Looks great in my new kitchen as well.
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Best Espresso Machine I've ever used
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| Review Date: October 4, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Erin, |
| I love this machine. Love it. It makes the best cup of coffee I've ever had from a home espresso machine, and truly tops the big coffee chain that we all go to every now and then. The 15 bar pump gives you just the perfect amount of pressure and there is always a nice crema on top of the perfect shot of espresso. This machine comes with three different filters, one for a pod, another for a single shot, and a third for a double. It holds one quart of water in the back, making it possible to pull several shots in a row if you are entertaining. There is a conceled storage container to store your extra parts, tamp etc... The steaming attachment is also great, easy to clean, and heats up your milk very quickly. To make this machine even better you can pull hot water for tea also. The only, very minor complaint that I have about it is that the filters are a little hard to remove. I use my capresso burr grinder with this set on the lowest level of fine, and absolutly get the best cup of espresso I've ever had. Do not be seduced by some of the other brands, this on is the best. I work in an upscale Kitchen store, and have used all the big names. This is by far the best espresso machine we sell, unless you are wanting a fully automatic machine, which are several thousand dollars. If you love espresso, you will love this machine. If you want to entertain, buy a french press. Then you can throw away your old drip coffee maker, and have coffee the way it was suppossed to taste. |
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