• expired

Breville The Infuser Espresso Machine, Brushed Stainless Steel $349 Delivered @ Amazon AU

900
This post contains affiliate links. OzBargain might earn commissions when you click through and make purchases. Please see this page for more information.

My 7+ year old Infuser broke, was about to book it in for a repair when I decided to check the price for new.

I had seen these previously at $500+, there was a deal recently at $399, I think this is an ATL?

Been very happy with this machine, hence the decision to get the same model again. I don't have the bench space for a Dual Boiler and I already have a decent grinder.

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.

Related Stores

Amazon AU
Amazon AU
Marketplace

closed Comments

  • +1

    All time low was $298 from JB

    • +1

      And stacked with a one day code and discounted GCs was around $255. Going back to 2023 though now! Great value even at OPs price

  • I think this is an ATL

    Been cheaper

  • got mine for $299, great little machine but it chugs through a lot of water and refilling frequency is more than id like.

    • -1

      I just refill with the stainless steel jug before use. I find it easier than removing the tank every time

  • +1

    I'll play ATL limbo… Got mine for $246.26 via JB Commercial when it was on the main JB site for $298

    • +5

      JB Commercial is available to everyone via a free Sunsuper / ART account, in case anyone needs access in future :)

  • +2

    I wish I got this instead of the cheap Delonghi.

    • -1

      They are great plus very easy to repair. I bought a 2nd hand one off Gumtree for $60 which had some leaks.

  • +1

    It's a really good machine. A huge step up from the lower level ones in terms of quality feel. Great coffee too.

  • -8

    I would pay the bit extra for the 870 with the grinder built in personally.

    • +11

      If you value convenience over coffee, yes.
      If you want good coffee, a dedicated grinder is the way.

      • +5

        I'm happy with the grinder in my Barista Express. Previously I used Sunbeam Torino, and Sunbeam Grindfresh. I know they're not high-end. But I think the Barista Express grinder is better than both of them.

      • +4

        Snobby opinion. The express grinder still works really well. Adjustment could be a little finer but with fresh beans it does fantastic coffee.

        This is with a single walled basket and bottomless portafilter. Zero channelling, weight in/out and time is consistent.

        What a lot of people don't know is the express often needs the burrs adjusted straight out the box. Easy to do but not obvious either.

        • +3

          At current pricing the Express (which is basically this with a grinder built in) is $698 on Amazon (RRP $1k), compared to this at $349.

          That leaves you $348 for a grinder.

          The DF54 is currently $430 at AB (RRP $520, although the DF grinders retail at a bunch of prices in that area depending on supplier). You could probably find a decent used Bartza on FB for even less. For only $70 more, you're getting a better grinder in terms of grind profile, adjustment and single dose workflow. You're also uncoupling two devices so a failure in one or the other doesn't render the other part less useful. Breville makes great machines for the price, but are not well known for their longevity or serviceability compared to classic coffee brands like Baratza, Gaggia, Rancillo etc.

          Hell, the Breville Smart Grinder Pro is currently $328 on Amazon, and is basically the same grinder as this afaik, but with better/standalone controls. You could decouple the two machines and save yourself $20 for it.

          You aren't saving any money really, by buying the combined grinder machines. They're fine, but there isn't a compelling argument unless you find one at a truly ridiculous discount. If you want to save tabletop space and potentially a little money, I think the Bambino+most <$500 grinders has a similar or smaller envelope. You aren't losing much with the Bambino compared to this machine either imo.

          • @def: At current pricing your comparison works but the express on sale is typically ~$550. If you're looking at a $200 grinder it's probably still a Breville

          • @def:

            They're fine, but there isn't a compelling argument

            Bench space/aesthetics. My parents want a new coffee machine, I would buy them this Infuser, which is an absolute bargain, but they want a built-in grinder. They want to get rid of their stand-alone grinder which is taking up space and making their kitchen benchtop look ugly.

      • +1

        Correction to my original post.
        If you value convenience and not too fussy with coffee, built in is fine.
        If you want "excellent" coffee, dedicated grinder is the way.
        There's nothing wrong with the built in grinder but there's also nothing great about it either. It does have a large range of settings and a timer which is great and convenient, but the quality of the grind is simply very entry level.
        I owned an express for years, I loved mine and yes it makes good coffee but once you try a dedicated grinder, there's a significant improvement.

        • I read that the grinder in the express has been updated in recent years.

          • @ForkSnorter: It's not bad/terrible by any standard but there's a lot of factors to consider as per above comment by def. Separating the machines has many advantages, servicability, upgradability and the cost difference is negligible.

    • That machine is a lot bigger, so good idea of you have space. I've owned both and prefer the infuser. I swear I does the milk better.

    • Ouch. Downvotes for personal opinion.

      They would only have different models if there was a market for it. Some like seperate grinders. Some like it inbuilt. Some like auto milk. And so on :)

      I have a good seperate grinder as well. But laziness won me over when I replaced my old machine.

  • This or Bambino?

    • +1

      Bambino has a much smaller footprint if that is of concern to you. The primary advantage the infuser has is variable temps, which I'd say most would not use or notice. Or more directly, if you don't know which to get, you should get the Bambino.

      • Have not used the variable temps in 10 yrs of ownership

      • +2

        I have the Bambino plus which froths the milk automatically which I use 100% of the time. I can get basic latte art with it

    • +2

      I had the same question, here's an article that discusses that.

      https://coffeegeek.com/blog/new-products/the-breville-infuse…

      I don't have any experience of the Bambino or the Plus. I do have the Infuser.

      I drink 2-3 flat whites or espressos per day, plus the other members of the family use it. It's stood up well.

      As others have said, probably the biggest step change in making decent coffee is having a half-decent grinder and using fresh beans. A scale also helps to get dosing correct, and maintain consistency as the beans age etc.

    • +4

      The Bambino is fiddly to get tall cups (e.g. for an iced latte) or 2 wide cups (e.g. two long black cups) on the drop tray/under the portafilter, if you foresee yourself in those sorts of situations. You can always decant from a smaller vessel, but its a minor annoyance with the workflow. It is however, really small for essentially the same machine.

      This has a 3-way valve, slightly more buttons (these dedicated buttons are replaced with multi-button inputs on the Bambino) a pressure gauge and variable temperature.

      • 3-way valve cuts pressure immediately to group head, basically means you should wait a few seconds to remove portafilter on the bambino non-pro and end up with a wetter puck sometimes. Much of a muchness to me.

      • Pressure gauge is occasionally nice to have, but also whatever. Some people have reported the Infuser, unlike the Bambino pulls above 9 bar, but product page says 9 bar. May be a QC issue? My Bambino's pressure seems generally fine based on timings.

      • Variable temp you will probably never touch.

      The Bambino Pro adds a 3-way valve and an automatic frother. The automatic milk thing is a stupid piece of junk. Avoid unless its the same price as non-pro.

  • +2

    For what it’s worth, and I don’t think they’re the best at reviewing coffee machines, but Choice magazine just gave this model the lowest score of all the machines they reviewed.

    • What's the top one?

      • +3

        They say Profitec Pro 300 but thats around $3k. The highest scoring under $1k was the Breville the bambino. I’d definitely take choices coffee reviews with a grain of salt but if its at the bottom you have to wonder if its not that great. Ive got to say the bambino model looks cheaper.

        • Its makes sense to be at the bottom of its the cheapest machine they reviewed. Dont really see the relevance of reviewing it against true "prosumer" machines.

          • @MambaZone: That’s not correct, it was nowhere near the cheapest,according to listed rrps, there were many cheaper in the review that scored higher, such as other breville I mentioned

            • @Captain Hindsight: Right, my bad, for some reason read your comment as it and the Bambino were the only ones under $1k.

              RRP does seem wildly inflated for this model for some reason - even though on special it seems to be cheaper than Bambino/Plus ever are.

    • +5

      I’d strongly disagree with that assessment. I’m pretty deep in the coffee world and used this machine for many years, it’s a good reliable machine. Great for the price, though it clearly isn’t a high end machine. Only nitpick is like zanzir said in another comment, it’s annoying how much water it flushes.

      • +2

        Great machine. Had it for six years now. Tg4 pressure gauge just died but it is like an old car to me. I can hear the different pressures now 😁. Same for running low on water. Can also make the coffee while still half asleep every morning.
        Very consistent when using double filter. Single or pressurised are crap.

    • What were the reasons? I thought this was essentially the same internals, aside from the grinder, as the well reviewed Barista Express?

      • Common issues included a dodgy pressure gauge (often stuck or inaccurate), underwhelming steam wand (struggles with more than 2–3 drinks), and reliability concerns like parts failing. Also, there's a steep learning curve for beginners – you really need to dial in grind and technique to get decent results.

        I had the breville express so cant confirm or deny any of these, but i remember dialing in was a hassle as it was my first proper machine. Because of this i thought my guage was rubbish but that tuned out to be the user

        • +3

          I don't know if I can take seriously a review that marks down an espresso machine down because you need to dial in the grind. They all need that. Might as well take points off because you need to plug in the machine and press the button to make it pull a shot.

      • -1

        Hard to tell, they scored it badly in Coffee temperature consistency and equal lowest in the taste test.

    • +2

      Sometimes I don’t understand Choice. I remember many years ago when these were fairly new and Choice gave them a “recommended”. After many years, those original reviewers may have moved on and new ones come in?

  • -8

    it's better to get the deluxe one with the bean grinder.

    • +3

      What about for people that already have a separate quality grinder?

      • -1

        well for those people that already have deluxe quality grinders, they would also have a quality espresso machine too.

        • +2

          You underestimate the number of us that pair good grinders and cheap machines like the Gaggia Classic Pro for espresso because of the lack of distinct good machines in the 1-2k range. Breville is basically it unless you are willing to wait 20-30 minute warm up times. I had the dual boiler, "downgraded" to the GCP but am always looking for the features to dollar to heat up time Goldilocks machine. This would satisfy many.

          • @Unotifoso: wow, you really know about this stuff much better than me. If I were really into it I would buy an old la marcozza machine from a coffee shop and use that since it's industrial/commercial quality rather than these home use ones.

  • +1

    Have this - its a great machine. Biggest drawback is the pressure is very high (well above the golden rule of 9 bars). Good news is this can be modded - various instructions online on how to do this. The shots it pulls with great beans is nonetheless still very tasty once dialed in with your preferred grinder. Would recommend!

    • Fun tip: no need to mod if you're not confident, just press and hold down the shot button for the whole pull - that keeps it in pre infusion mode at a steady 9 bar.

  • +4

    FYI, Lance Hedrick just dropped a "budget" (<$1000USD) semi-auto tier list. He gave the Breville Barista Express a C-rank (because of the built in grinder), but said he would have given the Infuser (same machine without the grinder) an A-rank if it was still available (sounds like it's discontinued elsewhere):
    https://youtu.be/wk9x3OtBce0?t=1810&si=VC3_uOpZn6jgOH1R

    He gave Bambino / Bambino Plus a B-rank, fwiw. (He loves the auto-stean on the Bambino Plus, apparently.)

    A+: Gaggimate (modded Gaggia)
    A: Gaggiuino (modded Gaggia), Delonghi ECP3420, (and unofficially, Breville Infuser)

    (Gaggia Classic Pro - C / Gaggia Classic Pro E24 - B)

    • Keep in mind he is a Breviile ambassador.

      • Fwiw, from my understanding, he isnt a brand ambassador for Breville - he has been / is a consultant for Breville (including on a secret project he keeps mentioning, that hasnt seen the light of day yet), and in the past has been an ambassador/creator for Williams Sonoma (using Breville gear). But not quite a brand ambassador for Breville per se.

        But yes, you are right that he does indeed have some kind of relationship with Breville - and that is something to keep in mind, for sure.

        Fwiw though - I think he is pretty fair in his assessment of Breville machines. His views are pretty consistent with the broader views on Breville gear and my own experiences with it. I dont have any reason to believe there is any undue bias towards Breville in his ranking. (FWIW, he ranks a Delonghi over any other Breville!)

        But yep, keep it in mind!

  • Bambino FTW.

  • +1

    Also chiming in to say this is a great entry to mid level machine. The variable temperature feature is great for when I'm trying lighter roasts. The pump is a bit overpowered and can result in channelling, but the easiest way to fix that without modding the machine is just to hold down the shot button for the full length of the shot - that forces it to stay in pre-infusion mode and it'll never go above the standard 9 bar.

Login or Join to leave a comment