Breville Barista Touch

Breville Barista Touch Review 2024: Can It Really Make 3rd Wave Espresso at Home?

In this Breville Barista Touch review, we’ll discuss why the machine has been a hit among customers with its ability to make some of your favorite coffee drinks quickly and effortlessly.

Don’t miss the What You Need To Know Before Buying section, as it’s full of informative tips that will help you decide if this is right for you before investing in such machinery.

Breville Barista Touch Review 2024 Summary

The Barista Touch espresso machine is the most recommended espresso machine to a lot of aspiring home baristas. It can heat up fast, has a built-in grinder, and has an easy touchscreen control panel that allows you to choose from eight customizable coffee drinks and five other beverages that you can preset before the day begins. But this machine is not for those who are earnest about making milk froth because its automatic milk frothing produces inconsistent quality froth.

3-Second Heat-Up
Breville Barista Touch

The Breville Barista Touch espresso machine offers barista-quality performance with an easy-to-use touchscreen display, including pre-programmed coffee menus and automatic milk texturing within a compact design.

Key features include a ThermoJet heating system for a 3-second heat-up, an integrated grinder for fresh coffee on demand, and customizable settings for personalized coffee creations. It also boasts energy efficiency, precision burr grinders with 30 settings, and an interactive 3D setup guide, making it suitable for creating specialty coffee at home.

Pros

  • 3-second heat-up time
  • Intuitive touchscreen display
  • Digital pressure control (PID)
  • Has automatic milk texturing

Cons

  • Single boiler
  • Limited tinkering on drinks
  • A bit expensive compared to other models with the same features
  • Grouphead can be a bit messy with coffee puck sticking

What is the Breville Barista Touch?

The  Breville Barista Touch allows you to make café-quality lattes and cappuccinos at home with ease. It has an intuitive touchscreen display that lets you choose from a menu of pre-programmed specialty coffees or create your custom beverage to suit your taste buds using the built-in grinder for fresh ground beans on demand. And since it brews in under two minutes, there’s no reason not to enjoy a great cup of coffee every day!

Breville is an iconic global kitchen appliance brand that empowers people to do things more impressively or easily in their kitchens. Breville has a history dating back to 1932 with its founding in Sydney, and since then, it has grown into a beloved household name known for boosting creativity through thoughtful design.

It also recently acquired Baratza, another iconic brand best known for coffee grinders. This acquisition further establishes Breville’s mark on the brewing industry.

About the Breville Barista Touch: Pros & Cons

The Good

The Barista Touch has four features of an espresso machine that every coffee lover will surely love. It has an intuitive touchscreen display, personalized coffee settings, automatic coffee milk frothing, and a hands-free operation. It’s like setting up a cafe in your kitchen that can make you coffee at the touch of a button!

Other features of this espresso machine worth mentioning are its built-in, conical burr grinder that permits you to grind coffee beans in your desired size and amount—also, the fast 3-second heat-up allows you to prepare coffee on demand.

The Bad

The thing that’s a turn-off about this espresso machine is that it’s a bit expensive compared to other espresso maker models that resemble its features. It also lacks preheating options for mugs to ensure the longevity of the temperature of your coffee. Lastly, cleaning is a challenge because the coffee puck often sticks to the group head rather than staying in the portafilter.

The Bottomline

Overall, the Barista Touch is easy to use and can prepare coffee as quickly as 3-seconds. In addition, its features and functionalities are simple to operate, which makes it a newbie-friendly machine. Best of all, it allows you to experiment with your brew and beans with its settings that allow customization. However, it’s worth remembering that above all these features, it also comes with a price.

So if you’re on a budget, you can opt for Bambino Plus if you’re not a froth person or a Breville Dual Boiler if you’d like an espresso machine that can also prepare barista-quality coffee on a friendlier price tag.

There are three color options available: black, silver, and black truffle.

Breville Barista Touch: The Features and Benefits

Is the Barista Touch enough to satisfy your specialty coffee cravings? Then, check the features and benefits of this machine to guide you in your buying decisions.

Performance and Quality

Precise Espresso Extraction

Brewing the perfect cup of coffee is as easy as pressing a button, thanks to Digital Temperature Control! This PID delivers water at just the right temperature +/- 2°C for optimal espresso extraction. Low-pressure pre-infusion gradually increases pressure at the start and helps extract all flavors smoothly during extraction, resulting in balanced tasting cups that are both rich and bright with every sip.

Three-seconds Heat Up

If you want coffee on the go, the Barista Touch can prepare and get it ready in under two minutes. Its ThermoJet heating system heats up in three seconds, so if you want to start the morning with a flat white in an instant, it’s possible with this espresso machine.

How is it possible? Since its features are customizable and the machine operates automatically at a touch of a button, grinding 16-gram coffee beans takes twenty seconds, and custom brew takes thirty to thirty-five seconds. In contrast, the first drip from the pre-infusion takes about twenty-five seconds to have 2 ounces of espresso land in your cup.

Having a Barista Touch at home is like skipping the long queue lines on buying coffee from Starbucks or the waiting time to have your coffee delivered to your doorstep.

The Triple heat up process internally

Microfoam Milk Texturing

The Barista Touch has an automatic microfoam milk texturing feature. The automatic steam wand gives the barista control to deliver a perfect latte for your taste buds. Likewise, it helps you create latte art, whether you’re a practicing barista or a simple coffee lover of espresso-based drinks. This feature is hands-free, so it’s easy to use. 

Built-in Burr Grinder

The Barista Touch comes with a built-in, conical burr grinder for freshly ground coffee at the touch of a button. In addition, the Barista Touch features an easy-to-use interface that allows you to grind and brew with total control. With 15 individual grind settings, you can dial in on the perfect grind size and dose amount for any coffee drink you desire. You can also program automatic grinding times, so your beans are ready when you want them.

Design

The Breville Barista Touch boasts three features that make it stand out among other coffee machines in the same price tag bracket:

  • integrated full-color touchscreen display
  • lightning-fast heat-up
  • automatic milk texturing.

This espresso machine is an excellent addition to your kitchen with its streamlined but straightforward design. It comes in a modern brushed stainless steel finish with removable and dishwasher-friendly parts like the drip tray, upper and lower burrs, bean hoppers, and portafilters.

The machine is easy to operate with buttons, knobs, and touchscreen displays for specific functions. For example, you can turn on and off the device with the button, adjust the grind settings with the knob and customize your drinks and pre-program it for the next day’s brewing with its intuitive touchscreen panel.

Usability

Programmable Shot Control

When you program the shots volumetrically, it produces authentic espresso consistently. Using 19 to 22 grams of coffee beans with the 54-mm portafilter allows you to achieve a uniform and balanced espresso. Such pairing is the key to maximizing the full flavor of coffee beans and getting a cafe-quality coffee.

Basket Options

The Barista Touch also includes two types of portafilter: pressurized and non-pressurized. To choose between these two choices, consider your brewing skills. You may also want to think about how comfortable you are with the process!

Dry Puck Feature

If you don’t like soggy or soupy pucks, you’ll surely love the dry puck feature of Barista Touch. This feature removes excess water from the ground coffee in the filter basket after extraction. It allows you easy and mess-free disposal of the coffee puck.

Durability

Breville Barista Touch is a durable machine, thanks to its robust brushed steel construction. It also features a thermal protection system that reduces the chance of damage by shutting off power in rare cases when, for example, there are rapid fluctuations in water temperature.

The Barista Touch has been designed explicitly with ease of use for moving it from place to place, so it stands up well to wear and tear. The brushed stainless steel housing looks great on even your busiest countertop and resists corrosion. All detachable components can be quickly removed and cleaned. This means fewer parts deteriorate over time with regular washing modes. Finally, its push-button control, knobs, and touchscreen panel make this espresso machine easy to operate.

Specifications

  • Item Model Name: Barista Touch
  • Item Model Number: BES880
  • Automatic Purge: Automatic cleaning function for the steam wand.
  • Bean Hopper Capacity: 1/2 lb. 
  • Water Tank Capacity: 67 oz.
  • Construction Materials Brushed Stainless Steel.
  • Water Tank Material: BPA-free
  • Dimensions (WxDxH): 12.7″ x 15.5″ x 16″
  • Power: 1680 Watts.
  • Pre-Infusion Function: Steadily increases water pressure to expand grinds for an even extraction gently.
  • Settings: Touch screen operation
    • Five pre-programmed Café favorites.
    • Create, save and name eight customizable coffee settings.
    • Adjustable Grind Control.
    • Programmable Milk Temperature and Texture.
    • One/Two Shots.
    • Hot Water.
  • Voltage: 110–120 Volts.
  • Warranty: 2 Year Repair Guarantee

Accessories Included

  • Stainless steel milk jug
  • Cleaning disc
  • Cleaning tablets
  • Dual Wall filter baskets (1 cup & 2 cups): Use with pre-ground coffee.
  • Single Wall filter baskets: (1 cup & 2 cups) Use when grinding fresh whole coffee beans.
  • Water filter and holder
  • Cleaning brush
  • The Razor™ precision dose-trimming tool
  • Steam wand cleaning tool
  • Water hardness test strip

Note that all parts of the Barista Touch that come into contact with coffee, water, and milk are BPA-Free.

The Breville Touch makes excellent 3rd wave espresso at home.

Cleaning

Barista Touch comes with cleaning tools you’ll need to keep your espresso machine spic and span each time you use it. To properly maintain your home barista coffee machine, the following are steps to clean the essential parts of the Barista Touch. 

Take note that the machine notifies you with a prompt about when you’ll need to clean your espresso machine. Usually, it tells you that you need to do a backflushing cycle or a descaling.

How to clean the drip tray

You’ll know when it’s time to clean the drip tray and remove the water that fills up the tray as soon as you see the “empty me!” pop-up just in front of the drip tray. To clean it, simply pull out the tray with its cut-out handle at the bottom. As you pull it out, the back tray is also dragged to the front. 

How to clean the portafilter

Clean the portafilter every few weeks by removing the grime and build-up of coffee residue wrapped around the pour-out or the piece of metal splits the espresso. When cleaning the portafilter, it’s best to unscrew it to get to the surface and have a thorough cleaning.

How to clean the steam rod for milk frothing

The steam wand is an essential part of the espresso machine that needs to be thoroughly cleaned because it comes in contact with the milk you put in your espresso drinks. In most coffee shops, baristas wipe the steam wand immediately after frothing the milk with a clean damp cloth.

Another way of cleaning the steam wand is running steam for 5 seconds while using a microfiber cloth. In doing this method, you should pay attention because the steam is boiling. Some remove the dried milk by pointing the wand over the drip tray’s hole and running the steam for 30 seconds.

Keep in mind that counting the duration of steam starts from when the steam comes out, not when you turn the steam wand on.

How to clean the coffee grind bin

Another part of the espresso machine that requires regular cleaning is the knock box. It’s a container where you throw the used coffee grinds. To prevent the grinds from getting moldy, the coffee grinds should be removed from the knock box not longer than three days. A more sustainable way is to throw in freshly used coffee grinds into your flowerbed or potted plants.

To clean the knock box, simply wash and scrub it under tap water for a few seconds and leave it to dry upside down.

How to backflush the espresso machine

You’ll know it’s time to backflush your machine when you see the “clean me” notification. Take note that backflushing is different from descaling. Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Ensure that the espresso machine is off and check if the water tank is full.
  2. Insert the cleaning disk into the single filter basket.
  3. Place a container below the port ahead if you’ll be using a cleaning disk with a hole to prevent liquid from splashing out.  If you’re using a no-hole cleaning disk, the liquid will pour straight into the drip tray.
  4. Include the cleaning tablet into the cleaning disk before inserting the portafilter into the machine.
  5. Press and hold the single and dual cup buttons at the same time. While doing it, push the power button to turn on the machine. 
  6. Release the buttons when you hear a beep, and the machine starts up.

What You Should Know Before You Buy

To help you with your buying decision, we’ll share everything you need to know about Barista Touch.

  • The Barista Touch is a single-boiler espresso machine. If you’re aiming to buy a dual boiler in the Breville line, you should go over between Breville Oracle Touch and Breville Dual Boiler.
  • It has manual overrides, which allow you to brew espresso to your liking.
  • The Barista Touch coffee machine allows you to tinker with your drinks, but you better go with Barista Pro when it comes to complete flexibility, as it permits you to do more tweaking to achieve the best-tasting coffee.
  • The Barista Touch is a better option when it comes to usability than the Barista Express. It is easy to use and has a faster heating element than the latter.
  • It’s a coffee machine with automatic milk frothing and fast heat-up times that pre-entry coffee enthusiasts will surely love.
  • This espresso machine allows you to have complete control of the brew temperature and the brew times.
  • One of the impressive features of this machine is its preinfusion which helps you produce a delicious espresso. 
  • It doesn’t have a pre-heating feature for mugs.

Looking for coffee recommendations? Check out these articles to get the best insight into which coffees to buy at home.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are the answers to some of the common questions about the Breville Barista Touch:

Is the Breville Barista Touch worth it?

Barista Touch is worth it because the coffee will taste amazingly fresh. Great for when you are REALLY in a hurry (or want to impress).
The Breville Barista Touch could save you a little bit of time and money if you drink coffee all day. It also makes things easier by creating the same quality of espresso every time since there is one button that needs to be pressed. The downside is that this machine is expensive, but maintenance can often make up for the cost, with cheaper devices running into more problems than their high-end counterparts over time. So, although the price tag may scare some people off buying this machine now, once they redeem themselves with tight budgeting and find it saves them enough dough later on.

What is the difference between Breville Barista Pro and Touch?

The Breville Barista Touch is a more entry-level espresso maker than the Breville Barista Pro. They both have pros and cons, but the barista touch should take care of most simple espresso-making tasks just fine.
The Barista Pro has more features that will be useful to experts in coffee and those who may want multiple espressos brewed at once. For example, it has adjustable water hardness settings, manual tampers, timer buttons for brew cycles, and an interesting integrated variant of PID-automated steam wand heating that allows you to control how much air gets into your milk foam with manual pressure-activated extraction times or “shots.” 

Does the Breville Barista Touch make regular coffee?

Yes. The Barista Touch allows you to make regular coffee by selecting from the screen the type of drinks you’d like to brew, ranging from Americano, flat white, latte to cappuccino. In addition, you can customize the extraction of the coffee beans by adjusting the grind duration, the grind size, and the duration of the extraction.

What comes with the Breville Barista Touch?

The Breville Barista Touch comes with all the essential items you’ll need to brew a delicious cup of coffee. Accessories you’ll find upon unboxing this espresso machine include stainless steel milk jug, dual wall filter baskets, single wall filter baskets, water filter and holder, The Razor™ precision dose trimming tool, cleaning disc, cleaning tablets, cleaning brush, steam wand cleaning tool and the water hardness test strip.
So when you purchase this espresso machine, the only thing to care about is the coffee beans and milk you’d like to use to prepare your favorite drinks.

Is Breville a good espresso machine?

Breville is one of the higher-quality espresso machine manufacturers on the market. They offer coffee, tea, and espresso machines featuring power, precision, and control. They focus on “solving common problems that are often the result of poorly designed or tampered with equipment,” and their quality control standards strive to ensure that every coffee drinker gets optimal flavor.

Is the Barista Touch worth it?

Absolutely! The Barista Touch is much easier and more intuitive to use than the manual espresso machines – which can be a complex affair. The Breville Barista Touch also trumps the other semi-automatic machines because it takes just a few simple steps to make espresso instead of pulling shots in the correct order on these entirely manual variants.
With this automatic machine, you needn’t worry about getting your ratios right for one thing; the process has been automated for you. 

Is the Barista Touch a dual boiler?

No. The Barista Touch can’t brew coffee and froth milk simultaneously because it’s a single boiler. It can only do one task simultaneously, so it first needs to brew the coffee before it can froth the milk.
If you’ve observed, the milk must be heated to 160 degrees Fahrenheit to create a micro-foam for use as an espresso component successfully, and this needs to be done by placing it under your espresso machine’s steam wand, which is inaccurate enough on its own without also trying to brew coffee at the same time (and you wouldn’t want cold milk being poured onto your freshly brewed cup of hot java). 
Yet its fast heat-up times compensate for its particular boiler. Moreover, the speedy heat-ups shorten the time to wait before you can pull shots and froth milk for your desired espresso drinks.

Is the Breville Barista Touch worth the money?

The Breville Barista Touch is a quality espresso maker for the price. Its intuitive controls and smooth double spout make it easy to control water pressure while simultaneously pouring coffee into an espresso cup, cappuccino, or other milk to foam at the press of a button. However, if you are looking for something with fewer bells and whistles but still want good quality, go for the Breville BES870XL Barista Express instead- you can adjust all aspects manually.

Breville Barista Touch Alternatives

Here are other coffee makers you want to consider when deciding if the Barista Touch is right for you:

The Breville Barista Express

The Barista Express™ is the first all-in-one espresso machine that allows you to create third-wave specialty coffee in less than a minute. It features an integrated grinder, PID temperature control for optimal extraction, and manual microfoam texturing so you can be hands-on like a barista. 

Built-in Grinder
Breville Barista Express

The Barista Express is a home espresso machine that grinds, doses, and extracts coffee to create third wave specialty coffee. It features an integrated conical burr grinder with precise temperature control and a manual steam wand for microfoam milk, essential for latte art.

It also features a 54mm stainless steel portafilter, PID temperature-controlled Thermocoil heating system, and an easy-to-use interface with volumetric shot control.

De’Longhi La Specialista Espresso Machine

The La Specialista by De’Longhi is a fully automatic espresso machine that makes it easy for anyone to make delicious espressos, lattes, cappuccinos, and more. In addition, it features an advanced latte system where you can choose between flat or foam. You also get two different heating systems: a Thermoblock for precise extraction and an independent heating system for texturing or steaming milk.

Advanced Latte System
De’Longhi La Specialista Espresso Machine

The De'Longhi La Specialista is a professional-grade espresso machine featuring Sensor Grinding Technology for precise, consistent grinding, and a Smart Tamping Station for mess-free, optimal tamping.

It offers Active Temperature Control with two independent heating systems for coffee extraction and milk texturing, ensuring optimal temperature stability. The machine also includes an Advanced Latte System for customizable froth, a 1-Second Quick Start function for immediate brewing, and a separate hot water spout for Americanos and tea.

The Breville Barista Pro

Are you looking for a great espresso machine? The Breville Barista Pro is one of the best home espresso machines on the market. It’s easy to use, has a variety of settings, and makes excellent coffee. If you want to upgrade from your current machine or are just starting, this is a perfect choice. Read our full Barista Pro review to learn more about this versatile machine.

Speed+Precision
Breville Barista Pro

The Breville Barista Pro espresso machine offers barista-quality coffee at home with an intuitive interface and an integrated smart grinder for optimal flavor. It features a ThermoJet heating system for quick heat-up and efficient energy use and includes features like a manual milk texturing wand, volumetric shot control, and a range of accessories.

Verdict

The Barista Touch espresso machine is the most recommended espresso machine to a lot of aspiring home baristas. It can heat up fast, has a built-in grinder, and it has an easy touchscreen control panel that allows you to choose from eight customizable coffee drinks and five other beverages that you can preset before the day begins. But this machine is not for those who are earnest about making milk froth because its automatic milk frothing produces inconsistent quality froth.

Customizable + Quick Heat-Up
Breville Barista Touch

The Breville Barista Touch espresso machine offers barista-quality performance with an easy-to-use touchscreen display, including pre-programmed coffee menus and automatic milk texturing within a compact design.

Key features include a ThermoJet heating system for a 3-second heat-up, an integrated grinder for fresh coffee on demand, and customizable settings for personalized coffee creations. It also boasts energy efficiency, precision burr grinders with 30 settings, and an interactive 3D setup guide, making it suitable for creating specialty coffee at home.

  • Pre-programmed coffee menus
  • ThermoJet heating system
  • Integrated burr grinder with 30 settings

Other Breville related articles you may be interested in:

Espresso Machines:

Breville Espresso Machine Comparison Guide: A Must-Read Before You Buy

Coffee Makers:

Grinders:

Milk Frother:

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