Breville Die Cast 800ESXL Espresso Machine

This was my first high-end Expresso maker. I bought it about 6 months ago on eBay to replace an old $40 el-cheapo maker that I'd been using for a long time.

First, this machine looks spectacular. The die-cast stainless finish looks very high end. The prices availble on eBay made it relatively affordable as well.

The coffee that this machine turns out is really good. I didn't believe that there would be a noticeable difference in the coffee from a cheap machine to this pump-driven model, but the coffee that comes out of the Breville is foamy and rich like I never had before. My wife's expensive Starbucks habit has gotten under control since we have this at home there isn't the need to go to the store except to buy beans.

On the plus side, it's easy to use and items like the large water reservoir (which can be filled in two ways) is terrific. The quality of the materials and the basket appear to be terrific. The large reservoire to collect spilled water is also very nice to have. It's also easy to remove and clean.

On the downside, we actually had some problems with the filter baskets that came with the machine. They got clogged up really easily and seemed to always be a problem. We called Breville customer support and they were very friendly and quickly shipped us a new 2-scoop basket. There must have been a design change as the new basket has the bottom hole aligned with the top holes so that when it's clean one can see light through it. The original had the holes offset so it was hard to know if it was clogged or not. I think this must have solved the clogging issue as we haven't had any problem since switching to the new basket.

In all fairness, I haven't used any other pump-style espresso makers at home but as a novice I would highly recommend the Breville.

The Breville 800 ESXL is turning out to be one of the best buys I have ever made[[ASIN:B00092ZVXA Breville 800ESXL Commercial 15-Bar Triple-Priming Die-Cast Espresso Machine]].

I had a Gaggia that produced great espresso when I first got it, but recently, it stopped creating any crema whatsoever. Water leaked from the steamer wand and the expresso head. It was time for a replacement.

I studied and studied and studied all the expresso makers and I knew I did not want to spend over $500 for a good pot. My goal was to find a great pot for under that amount. I read every review there is on the internet concerning the Breville 800 ESXL. People love it or hate it but if you read carefully, you may find as I did, that many of those who hate it, did not follow the directions as prescribed by Breville. They treated it like their old pot, however, the Breville 800 is a wonderful pot if used according to the instructions put out by Breville. And dare I say, that some of the others who did not like the pot sounded like coffee snobs who want perfection and had no right buying this machine and judging by standards that only a much more expensive machine could match.

If you want a truly outstanding expresso or cappuccino, the Breville 800 will do it for you, as long as you live up to your part of the bargain. The first thing you need are really good beans and fresh filtered water. Next is to really learn how to make expresso. You need to find the right grind and then stick with it. I have a Capresso Burr Grinder that works great for only $85. You need to learn the right amount of pressure to tamp the coffee (also, it does not hurt purchase a good metal tamp- the one they give you is only okay). You should get a thermometer to make sure your frothed milk is between 140 - 160 degrees and then learn how to froth milk. The cups should be warm and you will have some great coffee.

you may not get great coffee the first time out--- and maybe not the second, but the more you do it, critique what you did, and make adjustments, you will find that the difference between and excellent cup and a good cup has more to do with you than the machine. This is a hands-on machine (which I love about it). Like a cook using fresh ingredients, the results often lie in the art of the cook. It is the same with this machine. If you just want to turn it on and get a great cup of espresso, it may happen sometimes, but not always. It is up to you to make your shot the best. There is a learning curve to be sure, but the end result is fantastic - and for a great price. I was making great shot after great shot in about three days.

I was scared to death about my filters clogging as others have said, but I have found that the best thing you can do is to clean after every shot. it is not a big job to wipe down the nozzle, rinse out the pots and filters, and take the little tool they give you to keep the filters open and poke the hole once to keep it open for the next time. Takes all of a minute- maybe less. The result, great expresso, perfect crema, great frothed milk (once you acquire the knack of rothing), and a beautiful, sturdy machine that should last a long time with the kind of care I ask you to give it.

Some have complained about the temperature of the coffee. I too thought it was not hot enough the first few times I made the espresso, and then I read the manual. When you do what the manual says, the coffee is plenty hot --too hot actually. As for the time it take

I bought the 800 ESXL machine on EBay over six months ago. This machine not only looks amazing but works great. It is with out a doubt built tough, and is quite heavy. I mostly love it because it produces great espresso which saves me tons of money by not having to buy it from a retailer. I also saved hundreds of bucks by buying it of EBay.

I stumbled on this machine while browsing at the Williams-Sonoma store. It's almost like love at first sight. Beautifully crafted, built like a tank solid, and most importantly.... perfect Espresso every time.

Espresso lovers look for the machine that makes the Espresso with most Creama. [Crema is the beautiful, brown cream found on the top of a perfect espresso.] As other coffee expert describes it..."Crema is the essence of good espresso coffee. I like to think of it as the Holy Grail of espresso coffee. Without it you might as well pour it down the drain."

After extensive research on how to make a perfect cup of Espresso, I am proud to say this is THE machine that produced a lot of CREMA. It's easy to make a perfect cup every time without leaks and no messes. I experimented with different coffee, coffee grind and tamping pressure, and found best brew for my taste. Clean up is a breeze as well. There's virtually no dead spots or hard to reach areas. There's also a neat storage space under the water tank which stores the cleaning tools, extra gruppa, and misc items so that kitchen countertop is not cluttered with many parts.

I don't care what other reviews were saying about thermoblock or boiler heating element differences, or if the ground appears to be soupy after extraction or what not... Nothing is as important as a good cup of Espresso with CREMA! Looks great in my new kitchen as well.

I bought a brand new Breville 800ESXL from an online broker. This machine worked great for about 1 week and then it died in a very flamboyant fashion. The machine was sitting on the counter, plugged in, and turned off. While I was on the phone, it turned on by itself and proceeded to make the pulsating pumping noise and pump all the wate rin the resevoir into the filter tray - ultimately flooding my counter and the kitchen floor.

After spending $350 on the machine, i was a little dismayed. ANyway, I called Breville and described the problem. They sent me a fedex label via email about 2 hours later and I packed up the machine. Breville was also kind enough to schedule Fedex to pickup the package. Two day later I called Breville to get tracking information for the return and they said that their system said it was on the way and that they had already put a new unit in the mail for me. I don't know what shipping method they chose, but the new machine was here at 9am the next day. I was expecting this to take months. Their service really surprised me.

Anyway, hopefully the new machine doesn't go south on me. Either way, it makes a damn fine cup of coffee and I am fairly confident from my experience that breville is willing to replace my machine in short order if I have another problem.

I upgraded from a lower and cheaper espresso machine, great espressos but i had to wait so long for the next espresso to brew (it took an eternity to heat again), the breville has been so great, when i want and espresso i don't have to wait long, it tastes great even on pods, so I'm pretty much happy with it.

the big filter got clogged after a month of use, customer service recommended to boil half a cup of water with lemon juice and throw in the filter for 7 minutes while is boiling, immediately after pass it through an espresso cycle (if it doesn't work the first time, try it again it'll work).

it worked like a charm, and everything is back to normal, great espresso, i love that i can rapidly prepare a second espresso for someone else, easy to clean, the crema is superb. i can actually say that i love it.

I've had this machine for 4 years and use it nearly everyday, and on weekends and holidays it is on all day making countless cups of coffee. As far as operational success it totally relies on keeping it clean, use soft water or 50/50 mix of good filtered water and distilled water too keep down the scaling. And de-scale as needed. I use
GOO-GONE brand coffee pot cleaner (from Bed-bath and beyond or Wal-Mart).

But the biggest thing you need to keep clean is the steam wand, I only use the wand it self (takes a little practice) without the outer aerator piece (one less thing to clean). I am a fanatic at cleaning the wand inside and out, and you will be too after you hear this. My steam was fast, hot and powerful when 1st got the machine, but slowed after a while, I assumed it was just scaling due to my water being kind of hard. So I de-scaled my machine and It seemed to alleviate the problem but when it did it again two weeks later I doubted it was a scaling problem again, so I took the steam wand apart from the ball-joint where it joins the main body and stuck a pipe cleaner through the wand and…it came out coated with brown caramelized milk (which smells Great…Ummm no!) all over it; and I cleaned this thing all the time. Seems the unit creates a slight vacuum when it cycles through the steam purge it goes through after steaming and sucks milk up the wand, I even found milk up inside the machine itself. So to simply avoid this remove the frothing pitcher from the machine as soon as you turn the steam off and then when you are done making coffee for awhile run hot water through the wand before turning it off for the day or if it will sit for awhile between uses, I do not run water through it after every time I steam milk, only if it is going to be a while between my next coffee.

Other that that…perfect (for the money)

This machine is awesome. Very well built and heavy duty. It has great features and makes one banging shot of espresso. Got it on Ebay and paid a third less than department store sale price. LOVE IT.

I bought the Breville 800esxl on Nov. 21, 2006. When I got it home it did not work. Apparently the pump was faulty. Customer service was less than helpful. I was told that they would email me a shipping slip in 20 min. As of 6 hrs. later I have yet to receive it. First they told me to take it to a Fed Exp. ofc. or return it to the store. I told them I have been inconvenienced enough. I will get my money back and purchase one, any one besides a Breville, after spending close to $400.00. This type of customer service is disgraceful. My recommendation is to research other less expensive machines and talk to customer service support prior to purchase. Mark Diamond

I love this item. But if I don't have a time and will drink coffee more than one, maybe not good.This is about every machine anyway. Because we should not leave the machine without clean long time after make a coffee. It's better clean a pipe if we steam milk. So, I usually use this machine when I have time.

This is good for tea too. we can have right temperature for hot water. it's not too hot and low.

My some of cup can't put in the microwave. When My drink got cold, I use this machine(steam). It is very convenient and useful.

This is first machine for me. I don't know some other machines. But I am very happy about this. And this is looks good in the kitchen. I don't like cheap plastic or some.

I have had one of these for a couple of years now. I decided to buy this unit because I already knew it was all I needed for an espresso machine and with a sale at Macy-s I couldn't pass it up.

I roast coffee and love drinking it in all ways. I can't tolerate espresso so I just use it for espresso based drinks. It's very easy to use and consistent in the espresso it puts out. Just plain works great for a non-critical espresso drinker.

There is nothing I dislike about it.

This machine does what I expected it to do. It was bought as a Christmas gift for my daughter and son-in-law. They love it. They use the coffee maker every day and have found it to be fast and easy to keep clean, which were their main wishes for a new expresso machine. This machine replaced a smaller, much slower coffee maker. The only complaint (minor) is that it sounds like jet aircraft taking off when heating up.

I flip over industrial "stainless steel" products. My microwave is completely inside and out, stainless steel. I love stainless steel. Just one look at the Breville 800ESXL Espresso Machine, I was in love at first sight. I was looking for a machine after my delonghi died. Talking about a cheap machine, I don't how I ended up, "put-up" with that mold of plastic, for so long. I guess I was just a sucker for cheap brew.

As the song goes... "the best is yet to come, and wouldn't that be fine..." for the Breville 800ESXL Espresso Machine is a fantastic machine of my dreams.

The machine is heavy and balanced and made from all metal components. Looking around and under the machine, shows "nothing but quality". The metal moldings, fittings, and assemblies are tight, solid, and very well fasten. This expresso machine is built like a train; and even the control knob and buttons are metal too. The filter handle is solid and very heavy. Nothing cheap about filter holder for you could even drive a nail through a piece of wood.

Most importantly, the expresso shots, are better than any of the shots made for me at Starbucks, Peets, or the all the other major boutique expresso shops I had been. Its really a great machine, I have nothing bad or negative to say on them, and thats a great thing for a change. No more cheap delonghi for me.

Product arrived promptly new in box at an excellant price. Shipping was a little high. No problems.

xmas present for my wife. i am a drip person, willing to convert.

filter basket clogged on first try using starbuck espresso grind and 30 lb tamp as recommended by many sites.

only one hole in bottom of basket filter. tried carfully to clean it without snapping off needle. failed on both counts. same results with the second filter basket with a lighter tamp. hate the idea of pods.

$400 down the drain.

Screville.

This is an awesome buy! Not at all like my last espresso machine, the Krups. Having a daily Starbucks in this tight economy has urged me to buy a top of the line espresso machine so I can make my latte' at home. This machine was my pick because of the nice outside package, matching my kitchen. I wasn't sure what to expect as far as the espresso. After a month of using it, I am in Love with it! I look forward to my latte' mornings now!

We run a part-time coffee shop. We had a $4,500.00 Grindmaster Espresso machine which did well until it was time for maintenance. It was killing us. We did some research and decided to try several of these Breville Die Cast 800SXL. We are so impressed. I purchased two fo these machines for half the price that it was going to cost me to de-lime the expensive machine. By the way....we did several BIG events and these two little machines served 100 plus people with coffee beverages. Hardly any down time. SImple. Great Price. Makes an incredible espresso!!!

Great Machine, I was able to do 6 drink in less than 30 minutes with this machine. I did my checking and this was the best I feel. Steams the milk fast and brews the shots quick. Very easy to use and fun. I make espressos for my wife and myself everyday in less than 15 minutes. I highly recommend this machine.

fast delivery, like the epresso,fast delivery, like the epresso,fast delivery, like the epresso,fast delivery, like the epresso

I had seen this item on TV... looked it up on the computer... and it was $399.00. I thought... WOW... how could I ever afford this? I looed it up here on ebay... and won the auction for $169.50. Item was shipped fast... New in Box... works perfectly. Would recommend to anyone. Just don't buy it from the company's wensite! An awesome Christmas gift for the Parent's who have everything! This is a MUST HAVE!!! If you like coffee... you will love this item!

I bought it for the solid construction and the frother/steamer. It is slower to steam a drink than I'd hoped - but I may need more practice. From what I'd read I thought it would be a pain to clean - but it really is pretty simple - only takes a couple minutes.

Machine makes great espresso and frother works great. A litle on the noisey side, but not unbearable nor annoying. Looks great. Excellent quality machine for the price.

This is my first home machine. I purchased it based on looks, features, and other positive reviews. I consider myself a beginner and find this machine reasonably simple to use. I mostly use pods from podmerchant and starbucks. The frothing attachment makes great foam and is very quiet, making it great for an early morning latte without waking the whole house. The machine overall is very well designed and looks great on the counter. A minor complaint is the machine tends to cycle quite a bit of water into the drip tray, particularly during the frothing process. This would not be much of an issue, but the drip tray tends to fill after 4 or so brews and the 'full' indicator on the drip tray is neither easily seen nor sensitive enough to tell you the tray is full until it is overflowing. Another issue I have is the on/off button is easy to accidentally push while brewing or frothing. This is not that big of a deal because the machine easily turns back on, but it is annoying nonetheless.