Breville 800ESXL is a beautiful latest model that’s specially designed for those who want to brew restaurant quality caffeinated beverages at home. You don’t need to spend a $1000 on coffee machine as Breville 800ESXL assists all the novice and intermediate baristas to take control of their coffee customization fully.
In this review, I’ve thoroughly covered all the aspects of Breville 800ESXL including its stand out and some awesome features and functionalities that help you in pulling out the quality shots with beautiful crema every time.
Let’s delve further…
Breville 800ESXL |
Breville 800ESXL – Top Features
Appearance
Breville 800ESXL is a small-sized kitchen appliance devised in solid brick-like die-cast exterior and a stainless steel finish. Its sophisticated design further enhances the interiors of your kitchen line. It has a control panel with neatly installed bold buttons and a water level indicator as well.
The design appeal is personalized but I feel it is a well constructed and excellent looking machine.
Design and Performance
Control Panels
The display panel is equipped with necessary and functional coffee brewing customization options in the form of big and bold buttons. A water level indicator on the back panel makes it easier to track of the volume of water.
Water Reservoir
The front-fill water reservoir has a capacity of 75oz so you can conveniently make anywhere between 2-5 cups per brew. This means no running back and forth for a refill it every now and then.
For refilling the reservoir, the back panel folds down through which you can effortlessly pour water for a refill. It is pretty easy and you won’t be worried about spilling water over the kitchen counter as well.
Temperature Regulation
Breville Espresso 800ESXL can hold water at a temperature of 204°F throughout the extraction process. This makes selecting the desired coffee brewing coffee temperature easier.
Porta-Filter
What’s more, is that the double-wall porta-filter baskets which hold the coffee grounds pre brewing process. Porta-filters predominantly contribute to making great quality espressos and are found in only the best espresso makers.
Breville’s portafilters offer pressurized 50 mm single and double shots so it can easily accommodate between 14 to 21-gram grounds.
Drip Tray
The drip tray with a storage compartment help in collecting defrosted or condensed water so there is no mess on kitchen counters. It is removable so when you need to run a cleaning session the drip tray can be removed and easily adjusted back.
Auto-Purge
This appliance also features an auto-purge system to allow you to extract the next beverage at your pre-set right temperature. Whenever you plan to switch from steam wand to extraction or vice versa, the water is set to an optimal temperature to extract optimal brews.
Froth Enhancer
The froth enhancer can be added through the frother nozzle. This helps to froth the milk much more easily. The resulting foam is thicker and richer. In addition to this, a stainless steel frothing pitcher is also included.
Cup Clearance
Instead of the carafe or standard coffee cups, you can channel caffeinated beverages into your favorite cups and mugs with the 4-1/2-inch cup clearance.
Cup Warming Tray
The cup warming tray keeps the coffee piping hot so it won’t be much of a hassle for you to keep the coffee warm. I find Brevill’s cup warming tray easy to clean so it saves up on the descaling time.
Frothing Wand
To further enhance your coffee-making experience, the appliance is equipped with a stainless steel 360° frothing wand and a swivel steam wand. This is great for anyone who loves making coffee from different variants, such as lattes and cappuccinos to name a few.
Selector Dial
The selector dial comes in handy for espresso, steam levels or hot water and it remembers your previously options such as steam or hot water.
Quality of Coffee
I’d say the quality of coffee is fairly good and the process of brewing is easy. If good quality coffee grounds are used, the aroma and taste speak volumes about great quality of the coffee. The crema is rich and noticeable and hardly ever disappoints users.
If the pressurized filter basket is switched with non-pressurized baskets, the quality of the shot levels up from good to great.
Durability
Breville 800ESXL comes with a 1-year warranty and if maintained well it can last you many years. The stainless steel parts hold up pretty well for the price. The 15 bar pump which is Italian made as well.
One thing that hasn’t been propped well is the porta-filter basket. It occasionally clogs so extraction of the grounds at pressurized levels gets difficult.
To resolve this issue, a non-pressurized filter basket can be used instead so no clogging occurs.
Ease of Descaling and Cleaning
Appliances that are easy to clean often stand out from the rest of the fleet and Breville is one of them. The portafilter detaches easily when cleaning is needed and for the showerhead, it can be wiped down with a damp cloth.
Descaling should be done once in every 2-3 months, just mix one part of water with two parts of white vinegar to get the job done. Cleaning the frother is much easier than you can suppose, just unscrew the tip and dip it in a bowl of hot water. Let it soak for a while till any solids soften up. Now run the frother but without its tip and the debris will loosen and flow out of the wand.
Not only does the appliance come with a frothing jug, tamping spoon but also cleaning tools such as a needle cleaning tool just right for the portafilter details.
More Awesome Features
Triple Prime Pump
Breville 800ESXL’s Triple Prime Pump pre-infuses the coffee grounds before the extraction process begins. Pre-infusing has multiple advantages such as:
- Due to the increasing pressure in the filter baskets, the grounds bloom.
- 3 bursts of hot water moisten the coffee grounds for maximal flavor extraction.
- Improves the extraction inflexibility.
- Makes fine grounds so they are utilized well into a shot.
- Pressurized filter basket gives consistent shots even if the grounds lack.
The strength of the resulting shot is desirably strong, delicious and uniformly extracted.
Thermoblock Technology
This Thermoblock technology efficiently heats water owing to it’s die-cast aluminum element. The system only heats the specified volume of water and steam needed for extraction instead of heating the entire tank. This pro-efficient heating system enables quicker brewing and quality shots.
15-bar Italian Pressure System
This produces thicker crema together with ideal temperature brews delicious coffee every time. The higher the bar pumps the greater the taste and quality of the coffee. Breville 800ESXL is amazingly specialized in producing great texture coffee without operating inconveniences or much waiting.
However, on the downside, I feel this appliance’s temperature control range could have been more accurate to spark off optimally hot brews.
Technical Specifications
- Dimensions: 10.3″W x 12.0″D x 12.5″H
- Weight: 26.0 lb
- The manual is your best guide
Learn More About Breville 800ESXL’s Features
Potential Drawbacks
Filter basket
If you want simplicity, pressurized filter baskets are good to go. However, for those who want to extract additional complexity out of their caffeinated beverages, a non-pressurized portafilter basket is necessarily required.
Advantage of a pressurized filter basket
You get more consistent shots even if the grinds are in not uniformity. However it won’t produce the true crema, the foam will be aerated and not rich.
Disadvantages of a pressurized filter basket
Although they are more forgiving when it comes to brewing from non-consistent grounds but they limit the quality of the coffee. If the grind is great non-pressurized filter baskets let you enjoy a 5-star coffee.
Noisy
It is a powerful machine thus the pump is loud and can be annoying in the morning.
Lacks an Auto-off Feature
The selector dial doesn’t feature an auto-stop feature so you need to be careful about timely turning it off once you are done extracting your shot.
Video Review: Breville 800ESXL 15-Bar Triple-Priming Espresso Machine
Check out this video by Breville to learn how Breville 800ESXL works to brew delicious quality caffeinated beverages.
PROS
- Impressive exterior
- A great appliance for novice and intermediate baristas
- Durable appliance
- The machine is equipped with helpful additional features such as auto purge and Thermoblock heating element
- Removable water tank with easy rear access
- 15-bar Italian Pressure System further enhances the flavor of your coffee
- Triple Prime Pump offer multiple advantages
- Built-in durable stainless steel construction thus promising longevity of the appliance
- Easy to clean and de-scale
CONS
- Loud and noisy
- No Auto shut-off feature
The Bottom Line
The Breville 800ESXL is specially designed for novice and intermediates who aren’t interested to spend a grand on a semi-automatic machine. The machine has a sturdy looking and sleek design with stainless steel construction. It’s made with all the advanced features and functionalities that help you pull out great shots every time without compromising on quality and waiting longer.
For the money, this is probably the best machine around!
Check Latest Price on Breville 800ESXL
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is this appliance durable?
This appliance comes with a 1-year warranty so you can have some peace of mind right there. Moreover, if you regularly descale it, keep the interior and exterior clean and maintained, it is going to last you over a year. The pressurized basket can sometimes get clogged but a great alternative to this is to change to a non-pressurized basket and this is pretty too.
2. Does Breville really make quality coffee?
It depends on your grounds as to how good the quality is. To further fine-tune the coffee’s taste, the thermoblock heater, as well as the pressurized filter basket, produces rich caffeinated beverages with great crema each time you brew a cup. However, if you want an even better shot, you could change from a pressurized filter basket to a non-pressurized one. This will further optimize the coffee’s taste and it won’t be heavy on your wallet either.
3. Is it suitable for heavy coffee drinkers?
This appliance can easily pull out 2-3 shots of espresso or latte in a day. However, it is not for commercial purposes. Best suitable for small families and average coffee drinkers who don’t want to compromise on the taste and quality of the beverage.
4. Does it have an auto-off feature?
Since the machine lets baristas take control over their coffee, there is no auto-stop feature so you have to turn the selector dial to an off position to stop it from extracting your shot. However, you just need to be attentive and it won’t be much of a problem.
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