Breville 800ESXL Duo-Temp Espresso Machine, 1200 milliliters , Silver ????

This is my first product review so be patient with me. I poured over hundreds of reviews before I made the dicision to purchase this model. There are both tons of good and bad reviews on "all" espresso machines. The key to making this model work for you is to read the manual and read the reviews that others write. You can pick up things that will make your expresso expierence a pleasure. I have been making espresso's for years and have never had a better experience that with this machine! The expresso is better than coffee houses and cheaper to make. I read complaints of the portafilter clogging. I have not expierenced this. The important things that I feel have made a difference for me are as follows.1. Purchase a quality coffee grinder. I purchased the Breville 450xl and grind my espresso at 2 clicks towards the turkish grind. Perfect Grind!2. Pre-heat the brew head before starting. I turn the machine on when i get up in the morning. I leave the espresso cups and my coffee cup sitting on the warming plate. By the time I get out of the shower my cups are warm. I run one shot of water through the brew head before brewing without the porta filter in place. This pre-heats the plumbing and brew head, just as the instructions say.3. I use the double filter and put 2 level scoops of fresh ground espresso blend into the prota filter and tamp to approx 30lbs.4. Once the espresso is brewed, you need to empty the porta filter in the sink and wash out the filter. Takes all of 30 seconds. No you don't get the dry puck! Who cares? If you want that, just leave the porta filter in place for about 10 min and it will be dry.... By using this method, there has been "No clogs"!5. I froth the milk with 1/3 cup in the supplied jug. You need to use the circular motion that is recommended in the manual. It pays to view this procedure on their website. The milk will be perfectly frothed and hot!6. After I finish with the milk, I make my espresso mocha and clean the frothing attachment as follows.7.Wipe off the frothing attachment with a wet wash cloth. Then wash out the jug. Fill the jug with 1/3 water and place it back under the frothing attachment and run for one quick burst. This cleans the nozzel and will prevent future clogging. This take about 1 minI purchased this machine on amazon after searching both retail and internet for months. I puchased it for $304.00 out the door. This included shipping. I have purchased many items from amazon a feel that all have been very easy and as stated. Overall the Breville 800esxl is a very good return on investment and the beautiful appearence is a plus.

I am not an expert and can't go into huge detail on the specs of this machine, but here is what I think: I am a novice espresso drinker and was just tired of dropping hundreds of dollars a month at Starbucks. I chose this machine as it is all stainless steel (except the back of the water tank and the bottom tray), looked nice, and got good reviews. It was also not super expensive.I have had this since April, so 8 months, and use it at least twice a day, if not three or four times per day, every single day of the week. I would say we can make 3-4 drinks before we need to refill the water tank and empty the tray. It heats up fast, and does the job. I love my milk extra hot and steam it first, usually walking away (multi-tasking in the morning) while it heats (you don't have to do a crazy stand there and swirl your milk thing, just put the wand in and let it work). It only takes about 3 minutes total to make a nice latte and clean up. You do have to clean the steam wand after each use or it gets nasty, and I prefer to empty the tray right away, but it is not necessary.We also use the hot water feature to make soup and hot cocoa for the kids. If you are into it, the top heating pad does get your cups nice and warm. This machine is LOUD while it is in action, but I have nothing to compare it to. You get used to the noise, and really it doesn't last long once you get the hang of it.I love it, and recommend it for a beginner.

As for a non-commercial espresso machine, I've got to say: this thing is alright. Is it earth shattering? No, but it certainly gets the job "done". The steam wand leaves a LOT to be desired, but if left in water and running, it WILL boil water.Pros:All Stainless Steel contact areas, this makes it easy to clean, as well as much more durable.The triple priming, takes out some of an advanced technique and lays it in your lapDual temperature, higher temperature for the steam wand, so the coffee doesn't have too many tannins drawn outContinuous addition reservoir, so you can make espresso on a rapid fire rate without reheatingDouble wall porta-filter, to pour a very consistent shotNo settings to screw up, its plug and playThe porta-filter handle is solidly in place and sealed. I haven't done it, but you could pick up the machine by the filter and not have it wiggle.The steam wand hasn't leaked in in the ball-joint for my owning this machine for yearsQuickly gets to temperature for shotsVery easy to cleanHas a "pod" shot adapter (which I have never used)Storage bin is very very nice, especially if you get extra filtersInsanely easy controls. Remembers if you used "steam" or "hot water" the last timeConsThe steam wand has little pressure, and you've really got to work the foam to get any volumeDouble wall porta-filter, your shots will be consistent, but never greatThe "cup warmer" on top is useless, fill a glass with hot water to sit and pour it out before you're ready to pull your shotNo settings to change, I want it to act different; but it won'tTakes a while to get steam-wand pressure, and leaves much to be desired.The tamper is flimsy, and due to its shape, is not easy to really get a good tamp.The scoop on the tamper is equally worthless, and will spill grounds everywhere. Fill directly from the grinder.Heat-block instead of a boiler. Heats faster but at the cost of consistent temperatureSingle heat-block, you've got to wait for the temperature to switch from shots to the steam wandIf you happen to run out of water, it doesn't really want to start pumping again. You should NEVER let it go dry, but when you are pouring a lot of shots: it happens. I really thought I burned up the pump, and it took cooling it off and turning it back on to start pumping again.In summation: this machine is not a mistake to purchase. If you aren't really concerned about what shot you're pulling, keep the original filter. I ordered single wall filters from Breville, and haven't put the double walls back in. I guess if you have a boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife who doesn't care how to learn the art of the grind and tamp, the double walls would be great to keep handy. My calipers say the porta-filter from Breville is on the opening 51.2mm, so maybe order a better tamper. Is it worth getting a Reg Barber for $85 to be a perfect fit? Yes. If you upgrade later, you can move the handle to the new tamper base. The tamper is pretty much garbage, but I used it for a long time. The tamper isn't even really the correct size, it leaves a small "wall" of coffee around one side of the filter.You can have a $10,000 espresso machine, and it won't be worth a nickle if you don't have a good grind going in. If you aren't ready to spend money for a good grinder, you aren't ready to buy ANY espresso machine (unless you plan on using "pod" shots). This is not a bad purchase to get you by so you can apply for money for a decent grinder. I bought a Rancillio Rocky, and it is a great-prosumer pairing. I've set this machine 4" away from a hand made manual La Pavoni, and it isn't even a close comparison. Without doing a A/B contrast between a good shot and this, I'd say nobody would really complain. However, this isn't really a "fill a demitasse" and drink it straight kind of deal, you should make cappuccinos or lattes with this thing. If you have a really heavy roast with a really earthy bean, you can drink straight shots. This doesn't really keep a delicate bean tasting like it should.In the end, do I regret buying this machine? No. I bought this machine when it was $500, and still am happy with the purchase. If I could go back, I would have spent $850 on a rebuilt La Pavoni from the 70's; but I still enjoy and would keep this machine if I got something better. Around a year after spending $500 on this machine and $550 on a grinder, it has paid for itself.