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Was in the market for a new coffee machine - wanted to get this for a while. Comes down to $571.50 with the eBay 10% off COZZIE code.
Great machine for the price
Original Deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/315745
Breville BES870 the Barista Express $571.50 Delivered @ NeedOfTheday eBay
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Same, I got one last month, love it. First real machine for home use away from capsules. Makes Great coffee and easy to use.
Also agree +1 to great coffee machine
How painful is this to clean?
Not painful at all. Cleaning cycle is easy and it comes with a few little tools to help you maintain it. I couldn't be happier with it.
I've had this one for a few years now, no issues and cleaning is a breeze. There is a set cleaning cycle that requires a tablet every month or so. You can also safely use water + vinegar to stop calcium build up - there is no special cleaning agent recommended by the manual.
If I may ask - how often, and how easy/difficult, is it to clean the coffee bean grinder?
Extremely easy.
You just clean it whenever you are flushing the machine (once every 2-4 weeks depending on use). The bean hopper container is removable. You can just wipe out the grinder part with the brush that comes with it or use a paint brush. Then wash the hopper with warm soapy water and allow it to thoroughly air dry. I just wipe it out with paper towel and then give it a soap wash every 2-3 months.
another easy way to clean a grinder is to run it through until empty, then dip in a cup of uncooked rice and put it on a small grind setting. run the rice through - will pick up a lot of grit etc.
Hey mate - do you just use vinegar or the cleaning tablets? I've been using bicarb but not sure if this is the best option…
Do you just use vinegar or the cleaning tablets? I've been using bicarb but not sure if this is the best option. Can you let me know how much vinegar you use?
Bought it a few months ago for $541 from an ebay deal. Superb machine. I love it.
Btw, don't blame the machine for not getting any pressure if using Supermarket coffee beans.
Have you tried Aldi coffee beans? They are not amazing, but still alright, especially for the price ($11.9/kg)! If you're on a budget and have a coffee every morning they are decent for 'everyday' beans. I have a BEP920BSS and no pressure issues with these beans! - From memory the Coles/Woolworths ones are rubbish.
I didn't know Aldi was selling beans. Is it available in NSW? will definitely give Aldi ones a try.
I have tried Lavazza and Vittoria (Mountain Grown). To my taste Lavazza is gives more crema than Vittoria. Vittoria is so strong that you don't taste anything it is just flat bitter coffee.
Then I tried some speciality coffee beans from Industry Beans it gives a nice crema, awesome smell and tastes amazing compared to Supermarket brands that I have used.
I'm quite enjoying the Kayon Mountain from Industry Beans!
Agreed, only the dark roast though! Red/black bag :)
Aldi beans are from Melbourne!
Yep, roasted in Melbourne! I live in Melbourne so I can't confirm if they are in NSW Aldi stores. I'll check out Industry Beans, thanks for the info!
Do they print the "roasted on" date on them?
@dbun1: Yes they do. I buy the Fitzroy St Blend online and have them delivered. Generally the roasted date has been super recent too — often the day prior to shipment. Super fresh. $48/kg I think and free delivery.
Swear by my Aldi beans
the Coles ones are meant to be from a well renown roaster in Melbourne. try getting a fresher bag maybe.
I finally managed to find a bag of Aldi medium roast beans. I am not a coffee snob but Wow, how good is that. I am using 8 on the grind dial (vs "Fine" for all colesworth beans) and I am getting an excellent crema with these Aldi beans. For $12 a bag is an absolute bargain.
Check out the first (double) shot of espresso I did using these beans
@mathans86 thank you so much for the tip 👍
Just bump the grind setting down a notch or two (finer) if you're not getting enough pressure.
grinding finer maintains the pressure but these supermarket beans blondes very quickly which means that you only get a 10second extraction before it starts to blonde.
Ah, makes sense
yep, that's what I am doing now :) I went all the way up to Fine to get some decent pressure. Still you don't get that nice thick crema with Supermarket stuff :(
+1 for this machine. Had mine for almost 12 months and its been perfect. Average around 6 double shot cups a day (3 of us use it).
Echo the comment above-dont use supermarket beans if you can avoid it.What about the Vittoria organic coffee beans? always thought they were a decent bean and you can get them for $20/kg on special
The issue with supermarket beans isn't whether they are organic, gluten free, paleo friendly etc but how old they are prior to you using them. Vittoria organic or mountain grown may be a better bean but still succumbs to the long shelf life of the average supermarket bean
^this. Buy your beans online fresh from the roaster or just find a local roaster. Can't believe people think they're having a good coffee with supermarket beans.
@iMagoo: Absolutely! Your local roaster is your best option to get the best results from your machine. I use Elixer in Brisbane (based in Stafford) who roast in house and their coffee is superb! I recommend their Veluto blend.
I also recommend Josie North (based in Toowoong).
A lot of roasters will give you a free coffee when you buy beans too, which is a nice little extra.
@quadcaster: Totally agree re using a local roaster. I swear by Merlo beans, but will try Elixer now that I know about them.
When I get beans I always get two tins - one goes straight to the freezer, and the other to the fridge. Each day I grind ONLY the amount for the cuppa as leaving fresh beans in the grinder hopper is a huge no-no.
@StingyBritches: I heard that freezer is ok for beans kept longer than a month (as long as you aren't taking them out then putting back in) but the fridge is a no-no because there is much higher humidity (typically but depending on where you live i guess) than in the cupboard.
I'm with you. I've got close to zero interest in claims of 'Organic', 'Free trade', 'phlogiston-enhanced' etc. - but I find the Vittoria Organic product a pretty reliable (on special, of course) option for coffee at work, or when I've run out of nicer beans at home.
I thought the double boiler was the fan favourite - forgive me I haven't cross-referenced specs myself but from you folk in the know, are there pros and cons between the two?
Yes, it is technically much better than this one and I think when available with the Smart grinder on the occasional sub $1000 special (even sub $900) a very good buy and definitely worth paying the extra for over this, or the Sunbeam equivalent (say the 6910).
I tried this 870 and I found the milk steamer gutless, but I have read a couple of user remarks that they had this and claimed warranty repair and it was better on return. The one I tried couldn't even manage to do one cups worth of milk without having to stop steaming to rebuild pressure.
A lot of people will tell you having the grinder built into the machine is not good as it heats the beans and what if it dies - you have to send off the whole machine. I have the 980 which has the built in grinder and I can't say I've noticed any great heat (it is a bigger machine though).
Agree double boiler is better and having a separate grinder is less risky in case there is a fault. Double boiler comes in real handy when you are making 3 - 4 coffees in quick succession (ie when friends are around). At this price if you make single coffees this machine will make decent coffee.
if you only drink black coffee, like you should (!), then double boiler isnt needed…
If you can cope with the price differential - then, yes, a double boiler is a nicer option.
I've got a Rancilio Silvia (V3) with a single boiler - and the way I cope is to produce all the coffee shots that I need and only then prepare the milk. It is a pain when someone else asks for coffee after I'm set to steam milk as you need to bleed off the steam and prime the boiler (with cool water) to get the machine back down to coffee-making temperature again.
I still prefer this to having a machine that uses a separate thermoblock system for producing the steam. In my experience, they only every produce a weak flow and you tend to end up with thin, watery steamed milk. Better to drink black or use cold milk if that is going to be the outcome.
I've got a Breville 920 sitting in a box waiting for the day that the Silvia needs a big service (or dies - unlikely). My kids are eyeing it off and eventually I'll have to get it set up.
A manual machine deserves fresh beans, you've come this far by buying it don't spoil it with supermarket stuff.
Yes this machine needs freshly roasted beans, always check the roasted date if buying a packet of beans.
The only issue I have with this machine is it grossly over doses even on lowest setting. I instead just manually dose.
Tamp is also important and how hard you need to tamp will greatly depend on the bean freshness and the grind fineness.
Once you've found that sweet spot of perfect bean+dose+tamp you can get a very good quality cup of coffee out of this machine.
This model also allows you to fine tune water temp +/- 2 degrees from memory.
You can program the dosage amounts. mine is programmed to do almost exactly 30ml on the 1 cup setting and 60 ml on the 2 cup setting. it does sometimes to a little less/more, but not by much.
I know you can program the 1 cup and 2 cup to suit, but I was talking about the grinder dosage, I'm not aware of a way to change this apart from the dose amount dial (which I have set to lowest setting, and still way over doses).
ah ok, i have the opposite problem. Mines on 'More' and doesn't grind enough. I'm using the double size basket thingy
The other solution to beans which requires an up front investment and time to roast them is home roasting. You can apparently get good results with a hot air gun into an old bread maker. I use a Berhmor 1600 roaster (about $500).
The advantages are green beens are about $9-13 kg and keep for years if you need to so you can buy them in bulk. This is great if you don't live near a roaster. Also once you've paid for the machine, really cheap. It does take a while though so not for the time poor.
Thought about doing this for a while. Where do you get your green beans from? Are there a few suppliers you can recommend? How do you know which green beans are good?
Also I thought each roast takes a few minutes (at least small quantities in a popcorn machine :)
popcorn machine or a wok does fine as well especially if you can do it outside cuz the smoke smells nothing like coffee. lol
Yes, it does not smell nice, except towards the end. Definitely want to do it outside or in a shed, not in the house. The Berhmor takes me about 25-30 minutes in total - roasting, cooling, letting machine reset. It does a max of 400 grams of green beans. They shrink a bit in weight (lose water), so you need about 3 lots to get 1Kg roasted. I sell half mine which pays for the ones I use myself.
I get mine from Beanbay http://beanbay.coffeesnobs.com.au
They run the Coffeesnobs forum, but I won't hold that against them (I find it's a bit of a sponsors club).I have tried a few other places - Beangreen. Got their Starter pack once which was an ok start.
http://beangreen.com.au/product-info.php?pid178.htmlI just read the 'silly' wine-like descriptions and mix pick a batch that suits my use (milk based coffees), some cheaper, some expensive. It seems a good roast is much more in the roasting rather than the beans to me, but I do mixed batches of 6 different types of beans, not single origin. Maybe single origin would be a better way to learn their characteristics and then be able to create a better mix. Currently I can roast better than anything I can buy. Problem is it makes you a real coffee snob when you buy a coffee :-)
Hmmm - will probably hold out for a 15% TGG deal or similar. There was one just gone that I held off on whilst still researching the machine.
Reviews are good, but I'm trying to decide whether I should fork out more for a dual boiler as we like to entertain and there is often a need to make up to 8 coffees.
Put the trigger on the TGG 15% off deal. Had been watching on it for a couple of months, with the cheapest in Costco for ~$590 two months ago. Surprisingly it comes with 4 filters — single & double shots, dual wall for pre ground coffee and single wall for freshly ground one 2x2. Only abused the machine with pre ground coffee powder & it is quick and nice!
yep dual boiler is the best option if you make more than 4-6 cups at once. With this (BES870) you can't froth the milk while brewing.
I love this machine. We make between 2 to 4 coffees a day and never had a problem. Had to play around with the settings at the beginning to get good pressure but now it's always perfect. We have our bean setting on 5 and dose on the lowest setting. Agree with everyone about buying good coffee beans. We buy direct from a local supplier for $30 a kilo. Definitely worth the spend.
$30 a kilo for freshly roasted coffee is a pretty decent price. Can I ask where you live around? Around Hornsby area I couldn't find anything under $47
$47 is quite steep unless they are exceptionally good single origin award winning beans.
I know in Melbourne I've got a few places I get beans form and they vary between $29-$70 a kilo.
I generally use ones that are $30 a kilo for everyday stuff. Occasionally once every few months I'll get a kilo of the $60-70 stuff. The quality is definitely noticeable but I can't justify the price for everyday coffee.
Yes, I also can't justify the cost more than $30 for everyday coffee.
This is the place I was referring to. I think they are award winning.
Thanks. Any good blend that you can recommend for Latte?
Can confirm actually bought this when my wife went into labour.
It is an awesome machine, used and abused daily for a year now. Easy to clean, sourcing those cleaning tablets is anoying but I just vinegar and bicarbonate now anyway.
Can't rate highly enough, nice and compact and looks pretty. Coffee always come out awesome!
Cleaning tablets:
The ever-helpful OzBargain community put me on to Cafetto in SA for my supplies. Good prices and great product. www.cafetto.com.au
Her water's broken! Quick get the Breville! XD
Received one for xmas. First espresso machine and super happy.
I've had one of these for about two years. Has been great, had no issues with it.
Supermarket vittoria beans didn't work, seemed like they were too dry. I use the Colombian beans from Costco and they have been fine.
Anyone able to comment on this vs the 980?
I'd definitely recommend the BES920 and smart grinder over the 980.
It's IMHO one of the best bang-for-buck coffee machine combos going around.
Thanks mate.
As I said above I have the 980 which is great, but I do think the 920 is a better buy for it's discounted money being almost as handy and should be able to produce as good a cup. It just requires a little more hands on work with tamping and steaming milk. That may turn out to be better in the long run as I'm finding (after three years)the steaming is not so good on the 980. Mind you I've not replaced the rubber seals in the steam wand so it may be as simple as that.
If you do want as auto as possible the 980 is certainly that if you want it to be.
Yeah I might wait for a 980, the wife still struggles with a Logitech Harmony after 10 years, 920 + SG would be a nightmare. :)
You would have to assume that having introduced the 990 (the 980 with a touch screen) that they'll eventually stop making the 980 then reduce the (ridiculously high) price of the 990. So I would expect at some point there will be some clearance pricing on the 980.
Nevermind, did a quick Youtube comparison.
As Powershopz already said, the BES920 + Smart Grinder is a more accurate comparison to the 980.
I too would go the BES920 + Grinder route over the 980.
Seller has up it to $699… Poor form
Idiots bumped up the price by 10%
I've been nudged towards buying a new coffee machine after our 12 - 15yo Sunbeam 6910 + grinder began delivering inconsistent pours that no amount of cleaning/gaskets/adjustment can fix.
I see some more attractive BES870 offerings on eBay, but my concern with these 'biggish' item eBay deals is warranty. While the seller could disappear next week, if the appliance fails within a 'normal' warranty period, is Breville known to still honour their part in these on-line deals … even if after a bit of hesitation, misdirection, etc.?
I bought this coffee machine a few months ago. I can't rate it highly enough! It's changed my life.