Reddit reviews Breville BES920XL Dual Boiler Espresso Machine
We found 7 Reddit comments about Breville BES920XL Dual Boiler Espresso Machine. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Dual stainless steel boilers and dual Italian pumps for simultaneous espresso extraction and steamingOver-Pressure Valve (OPV) limits extraction pressure;Flexible Shot ControlElectronic PID temperature control for precise water temperatureBacklit LCD displays brew temperature, shot clock or time.We recommend using cold, filtered water. We do not recommend using water with no or low mineral contentIncludes water hardness test strip, descale alert and LCD assisted descale procedure
Only 50 bucks more on Amazon, if you're not a Costco member.
https://www.amazon.com/Breville-BES920XL-Boiler-Espresso-Machine/dp/B00I6JGGP0?th=1
For a long while I was approximating a latte using pod espresso from a Nespresso Vertuoline and Aeroccino Plus. It made a serviceable drink; not cafe-quality, but quick and easy. Plus, the whole setup cost me less than $200 after a Black Friday sale a couple years ago. My biggest issue with this setup was that the froth from the Aeroccino isn't great and I found that it didn't get the milk quite hot enough. I also was getting sick of the same, limited variety of espresso pods available from the Vertuoline (as of right now, only two types).
Recently I decided to step up my coffee game a bit. For the last 4 months I've been making double lattes using a Breville Dual Boiler I bought off eBay for about $800. The first few weeks I was using a hand-me-down Baratza Encore, thinking that all warnings on /r/coffee about using the Encore for espresso were just people being finicky. I was wrong -- brewing espresso is straight-up EXTREMELY sensitive to grind. After upgrading to a Baratza Vario, I've been happily making single-origin espresso every morning. All told, I ended up dropping about $1500 on this setup.
After a lot of browsing I realized that there's an almost continuous spectrum of home-use espresso machines from low- to high-end. From my perspective, the Breville was was a nice compromise between price and features. It's not a Rocket or La Marzocco and I'm sure there's a significant difference in quality, but I'm still learning and it works well-enough.
Hope you find something that meets your needs!
You need to have room in your budget for a grinder. That being said, that would put the Astra out of your preferred budget. But it does seem like an excellent machine for the price point (no experience here).
If you're wanting to do primarily milk drinks, and concerned about ease, the Brevillle Double Boiler is <$1,000 now. But that leaves no room for a decent grinder - the Breville Smart Grinder Pro is about all that would fit into your budget. A nice upgrade on grinder to a Baratza Sette 270 will set you back another $200.
If you need to save money, consider the Breville Infuser rather than the DB.
Lots of folk will encourage you to look at more commercial duty machines that have simpler maintenance, and in the long run they're correct. But if you only have what you have, that's a pretty good bang for your buck. The machine will probably not be as long-lasting as one of the E61 HX machines, but there's not many out there in your budget. There are a few, like the Lelit Mara but that one doesn't have a very long history like some of the more commonly-recommended machines (that are also more pricey).
It's supposed to be a solid machine.
Here's a youtube video comparing it to another solid machine (Crossland CC1)
Amazon page for reviews.
Does he have everything that comes with the machine? You can buy missing stuff off Breville's website, but you can also buy the machine refurbished directly from them for $900.
I have a BES840XL, and I haven't had any issues after about a year of ownership, but I am curious what people who own the BES920XL have to say.
If you post a link to the item in question usually /u/PriceZombie chimes in shortly thereafter with a chart of historical pricing comparisons.
Amazon has some pop up in the Amazon Warehouse section in the 800-900 range all the time if they get marked Used-Good or Used-Accerptable and that usually just means they only come without a box.
You can check that here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00I6JGGP0/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&amp;condition=all
The nice thing with this is that you can buy a 4 year Assurion extended warranty to go with it for an extra $60.
Mine was Used - Acceptable and had a dent on the front. It was $660.
I don't want to second guess you there Zombie, but the $2K price tag seems a bit high -- you can get them for under $2K -- Oh, I see -- I forgot to link to the newer model of the dual boiler -- they are under $2K here.