Breville Espresso Machine ($699.95)
Make cafe-worthy espresso drinks with this machine. Grind beans, froth milk, and extract espresso all in one machine. Digital temperature control (PID) delivers water at the correct temperature, ensuring optimal Espresso extraction. There are also adjustable grind amounts and manual overrides for each setting.
“After working as a barista for 4 years, the thought of leaving the cafe to go to grad school was upsetting. As an early birthday gift slash cafe departing gift my mom purchased this machine for me. It does everything I need it to in order to prepare any coffee shop drink! Perfect single or double espresso (even coming with dual wall filters to give decent espresso from preground coffee), steam wand with acceptable pressure and good heat for texturing milk (latte art is a must for me and this machine allows me to achieve it 7/10 times), tamp which could be wider but works perfectly fine to be included in the price, nice size water tank with good filter, hot water spicket for americanos, milk pitcher for pouring is sized well to fit with the steam wand, storage tray hidden inside to hold filters and tools, a built in burr grinder which is amazing because it requires no extra space in your kitchen and works just as well as a separate one, and a shot splitter on your portafilter (nice for splitting a double shot into two small mugs and steaming a large quantity of milk to make 2 coffees at once since there’s no dual boiler). I really love this machine and after 4times daily use for the last 2 months I have yet to need to clean it with the tablets provided due to all of the self cleaning the machine does. Water is a great temp for brewing and steaming, and it’s not piping hot but plenty hot enough from the water spicket. This machine is kind of a “why on earth not?” kind of deal.” — Samantha Stangl
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