Breville BES870XL Barista Express Espresso Machine Review (2026)

Who the Barista Express Fits

The Barista Express suits people moving up from pod based or drip coffee makers who want to learn real espresso making without buying a separate grinder and machine as two purchases. It is a good match for anyone willing to spend some time practicing grind adjustment, dosing and tamping, since the machine hands you the tools to do all three but does not automate the process away. The manual steam wand also makes it a solid pick for people who want to learn proper milk texturing for lattes and cappuccinos rather than relying on an automatic frother. It suits a smaller kitchen better than buying a grinder and machine separately would, since both live in one unit, though it is less ideal for anyone who already owns a dedicated espresso grinder and only needs a machine.

Grinder, Pump and Key Features

At the front of the machine sits a built-in stainless steel conical burr grinder with an adjustable dial offering a useful range of settings for dialing in espresso. Behind the group head, a 15-bar Italian pump drives extraction, and a pressure gauge on the front panel gives visual feedback while you fine tune grind and dose against a new bag of beans, a feature that dedicated espresso machines at similar price points often skip. A grind cradle lets grounds go straight from the burrs into the portafilter, cutting down on transfer mess between grinding and tamping. The steam wand is fully manual, giving you direct control over milk texture rather than handing that job to an automatic mode.

Living With It Day to Day

Learning to use the Barista Express well takes some patience at first, since grind size, dose weight and tamp pressure all interact and beginners typically need a few bags of beans before shots come out consistently. The pressure gauge helps shortcut some of that guesswork by showing whether a shot is running too fast or too slow while you adjust the grinder dial between pulls. Once dialed in, the built-in grinder and cradle system make morning espresso fast, since there is no separate grinder to clean or maintain. The manual steam wand does take practice to texture milk well, but it rewards that practice with genuinely good microfoam once you get a feel for positioning the pitcher.

Trade-offs and How It Compares

Against its own stablemate, the Bambino Plus, which ranks just behind it in the same guide, the Barista Express trades some counter space and a bit of extra cleaning for the convenience of a built-in grinder, since the Bambino Plus skips the grinder entirely and heats up faster instead. Compared with the De'Longhi La Specialista, another grinder-equipped rival in the same guide, the two machines compete closely on features, though the Barista Express's pressure gauge is a standout for beginners learning to read a shot visually. The built-in grinder's main limitation next to a dedicated standalone espresso grinder is a narrower adjustment range, so serious espresso hobbyists sometimes upgrade to a separate grinder down the line while keeping the machine itself.

Verdict: Who Should Consider a Different Machine

For someone stepping up from pods who wants one machine that grinds, brews and steams, the Barista Express remains a well rounded starting point, with its pressure gauge doing real work to shorten the learning curve. Buyers who already own a capable standalone grinder, or who want faster heat-up and automatic milk texturing over grind control, should look at the Bambino Plus instead. Anyone expecting espresso shop consistency on day one should also budget time to practice, since the built-in grinder and manual wand both reward experience over instant results.

Frequently asked questions