Breville Espresso Machine Review
This post may contain affiliate links and I may be compensated for this post. Please read our disclosure policy here.
Friday Favorites –
We are sharing a new feature on the blog on most Fridays, where we share some of our favorite products over the years. I always love reading about favorite products from friends & bloggers alike, as I love to try new products & see if they will work better for our family. These products may not always be the lowest priced items, as we have found over the years that quality is most important & even if things might cost a bit more upfront, when they really hold their value & last for years, that is a truly great product for us & saves us money in the long run. Of course, we will always look for the best ways to save on those products with store sales and trying to pair those up with coupons we find.
Breville Espresso Machine Review:
This item is a splurge item (we discuss much more affordable options in this article here, if you want something that is more budget friendly for making espresso). The reason why I include it, as it is the first espresso maker that has lasted more than a few years for me. Plus, I love the lattes it brews up for me.
I had a few budget-friendly models in the past, but they never lasted very long for me. I love the money I save on making my lattes at home, but did not want to compromise quality. I found that with this Breville machine waiting at home, I often say – let’s skip coffee, we can make it at home. I never caught myself saying that with cheaper models (they were great to get me by in the morning, but I still often looked forward to buying a good cup of coffee out).
Breville has great models that will start around $350. We wanted the grinder to be part of our machine (we have a small house, so wanted it to have this functionality in the same machine), so we went with this model that is around $600 (only we used a 20% off coupon at Bed Bath and Beyond so saved $120 off )! This model gets a 4.5 star rating from over 1700 reviewers, so we are not the only ones who love our machine.
I know that price tag is ridiculous. This is how we justified it. My husband was buying a latte a day while he was at work. If we averaged out $5 per day on coffee, 5 days a week, we would break even after 5 months of use (that is not factoring in buying coffee out at other times). So, my husband got a nice thermos too, and started making the lattes at home and taking them to work. In the long run it has saved us money, as we buy coffee at coffee shops or stands much less frequently. Yes, we could have done the same thing with a more affordable machine, but coffee is one of our favorite things as a couple, and so it is an area we chose to splurge. We saved up, checked reviews and here we are three years later and still loving our machine. Ours came with a two year warranty, so I knew I would at least get that many years out of it, and we are now heading into year 4, and I love it just as much as the day we bought it!
Another thing I love about this machine, is that it has been great for entertaining. I go to cash and carry and buy the larger size caramel and white chocolate sauces, and keep to go cups on hand. That way I can make the neighbors, or family and friends who come by, a great cup of coffee. It is a fun way to have something on hand to offer folks. I have set up a little coffee station in a corner of our kitchen (you can read how we did that here), and we entertained lots of folks with some coffee and a few treats on hand.
Some reviews actually list this as a budget espresso maker. I suppose that is because some higher end machines can run in the thousands, but in my book this is a big splurge machine. But I do think you get a nice bang for your dollar with this one. What I wanted was something close to the high end machines (where you could make real espresso, and froth great milk that is so creamy you can draw a picture in it with the espresso). I was a barista in college, and wanted something that would let me make all the drinks I had been trained in. After doing research, reading reviews, and checking the machine out in real life compared to others, I felt like this was the highest quality machine I could find, in this price range.
We used to make our regular coffee with this machine too (Americano style), but we ended up having folks over weekly, and decided it was better to have a pot of coffee brewed as well so folks could help themselves if they wanted plain coffee, and then I would make any latte requests.
This is just what has worked in our house, and may not make sense for others. I have not had any complaints about the quality of the machine or the drinks that it makes, so wanted to share in case any of you were researching Espresso machines at this time.
More Posts you Might Like:
Friday Favorites – Lands End Boots
Sia’s Favorite Velvet Sheets for her Family
