Breville Barista Touch Impress Espresso Machine BES881BSS, Brushed Stainless Steel
Semi-Automatic Espresso Machines
Breville Barista Touch Impress Espresso Machine BES881BSS, Brushed Stainless Steel
$4.90
| Asin | B0C1T4W797 |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 13.62"D x 14.09"W x 16.42"H |
| Weight | 24.2 pounds |
| Manufacturer | Breville |
Chris Van Dervort –
I purchased the Breville Barista Touch Impress because of my interest in having third-wave cafe quality espresso at home. As a beginner, I wanted a machine that would be easy to learn on. After watching reviews online, I decided to purchase the Barista Touch Impress, and absolutely loved the machine. The espresso drinks rival the best coffee shops in town, and it was a great way to dip my toe into learning more about coffee. I loved the machine so much that I purchased a second one for my office. Unfortunately, the second machine was a very different experience. The grinder is much slower (about 40 seconds vs 18 seconds on the previous machine), and milk steaming stops at 132 degrees as opposed to the 150 degree setting, and I have received the dreaded E09 error during steaming. My first machine, on the other hand, has worked flawlessly. The only difference I see is that my first machine is running firmware v1.7 and the second, not so great machine is running v1.6. I’m still happy with the end result, so I haven’t tried returning it, but as a consumer, if I would have gotten the lesser machine first, I wouldn’t have bought a second. My advice would be to wait until Breville works out the kinks and maybe wait for the second generation of this machine, or check to see if the machine is running v1.7 of the firmware before purchasing (not sure how you would do that, though).
Go Blue 91361 –
Absolutely love this machine. So far no problems other than the blue paint chipping on the drip tray. I love the blue color but was unaware it was prone to chipping. If you are concerned about that, get the machine in stainless steel. I use it daily and it makes amazing espresso. I am enjoying trying the different coffee options from their beanz.com website. Coffee is roasted and shipped right away for the freshest beans.
Raquel –
Delicious drinks at the push of 3 buttons. The tamper feature makes a perfect puck every time with no practice needed. Easy to use and perfectly frothed milk. Best cappuccino I’ve ever had. Pricey but worth it!
Josh –
This has been the most catastrophic customer experience I’ve ever had with a product costing over $1,600. I received my unit in September 2023. While it generally worked well, I noticed a few issues early on, like the milk frother not reaching the programmed temperature. It would stop at 130°F when set to 150°F, as if it was trying to keep my coffee lukewarm to match the lukewarm customer service I was about to receive.
Recently, the integrated grinder decided to play hide-and-seek with my sanity. Despite my efforts to keep it clean, it kept throwing a tantrum with a fill hopper error. I had to push the grind button more times than I can count, just to make a single cup of espresso. Grinding coffee from this machine got to the point where it was like trying to get a straight answer from a politician—impossible.
I contacted customer support and had a video call where we tried numerous solutions, none of which worked. They asked me to send the unit in for repairs and provided a 5-day ground shipping label from Houston to Chicago. For a $1,600 machine, I expected them to send it via teleportation, but alas, they chose the slowest, cheapest shipping option. Amazon offers same-day shipping for toilet paper, yet Breville chose the slowest shipping for a premium espresso machine. It’s like they’re saying, ‘Your coffee is important to us, but not as important as toilet paper.’
Breville took nearly a week to repair the unit and sent it back with the same slow shipping. It took almost three weeks in total to get my machine back, and it was still broken. This time, the tamper decided to take a vacation. Not only was the tamper not working, but the machine also came back dirty, as if it had been partying in a muddy field. I called customer support again, and after another video call, I was told to send the unit back for repair—shocker!
I requested a new unit, but they insisted I send back the machine first using the same 5-day ground snail shipping method. From there, once they receive the old unit, they would ship the new one, again using the slowest shipping method on the planet—it’s like they’re trying to test my patience. Breville’s customer support is the worst I’ve experienced for a premium product–EVER. Customers willing to spend $1,600 on a coffee machine deserve better, including priority shipping for issues beyond their control.
Moving forward, I’ll purchase all my Breville machines from Amazon with product insurance to avoid dealing with Breville’s unprofessional and unaccommodating support ever again. And who knows, maybe I’ll even get a free roll of toilet paper with my next order.
Allie –
Yes, this machine is expensive but it works great! I make my own coffee every morning and it’s better than coffee I could get at Starbucks or other coffee shops. I love that it shows you the steps and does them for you (no tamping yourself!). I also love that it adjusts for the type of milk you want, as I like almond or oat milk. The only thing that is annoying is when you fill the water tank, it’s a bit hard not to spill the water when putting the tank back in the machine but maybe that’s just because my machine is under cabinets on the counter.
All and all, a great espresso machine!
Justin B. –
My wife picked this one out due to the straight forward design and instructions. We love it and use it daily. It makes great coffee and is easy to use once you get the hang of it. Very easy to clean and looks beautiful in our kitchen.
Neil D –
Any review that is less than a 4 star disregard. This is the single best piece of equipment I have bought in my kitchen, hands down. Not only is it beautiful to look at but it makes a great espresso. My only recommendation is buy a bottomless portafilter (easy to clean).
Michael H. –
I’ve had this for 3 weeks now, and have definitely increased my coffee intake, because it is just so good! I replaced an older machine from another manufacturer, and there is simply no comparison – MUCH better espresso, so much quieter, very easy to learn and use, and much cleaner. I love that I could customize my drink (favorite milk product, hotter temp than the standard) and save the settings, so I get consistent results. Also, really nice design – it looks great on the kitchen counter. Yes, this is an expensive unit, but you won’t regret the splurge. Don’t let the incredibly obnoxious yuppie-guy in the Breville video scare you off. I wish I would have taken the plunge a long time ago.
HNIC215 –
I purchased this Breville Barista Touch Impress twice. The first one I had kept getting a ER09 Error Code, so I returned it since it was still within the return period. I read horror stories regarding Breville Customer Support when looking up ER09 error code online and didn’t want to go through that trouble.
The return by the way was still a hassle – Amazon doesn’t make it easy to return large appliances. I returned it and never received my refund. I had to contact customer service multiple times – who then told me to “just wait another week” 3 times – very annoying. They took many weeks to give me a refund and eventually had to get an exec to override and issue a refund because “the return was stuck in processing” – whatever that means.
Due to the fact that my wife and I both enjoyed the first one when it worked, I gave it another chance and ordered a replacement.
The second one has now stopped working after 7 months.
Breville customer service is terrible. In order to honor their own warranty, they need to see video proof, have a video call with you, watch you use the machine, make you sing a song and dance like a circus clown. Last two are a joke by the way lol
The point is… Breville makes you run around and jump through hoops for them to honor their own warranty on a well-known defective machine. There are countless sites and threads online where people complain about this exact model having so many issues. I honestly don’t even know why Amazon sells this model.
Please do yourself, your family and your wallet a favor and skip this model. It is nice while it works but it breaks down extremely easily. Then you are out of $1500+ and your only solution is to pay money to return the product to Breville after they make you jump through hoops – only to get another one that will break again.
Rinse, wash, repeat. Heed the warnings of myself and many others – STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS DEFECTIVE MACHINE.
I would give this product ZERO STARS if I could. Never going to purchase another Breville product again.
David Dufault –
First, let me start with the positives… we loved this machine for the first 10 months (when it worked). The espresso was great, the machine is easy to use and produced consistently high quality results. As a bonus, it was a wonderful hospitality option to treat our guests. These positives were awesome and ultimately why I still give this two stars.
Unfortunately, our machine suddenly stopped turning on (blank screen… no obvious reason) about three weeks ago, and our Breville story has turned into a customer service nightmare since that time.
First it takes a lot of time to work your way through their glitchy call in system. They clearly use an international call center which led to a difficult communication environment to start with. What should’ve been the easiest part (Shipping back the product which was thankfully still under warranty) was NOT, as we were given INCORRECT instructions at the beginning (said they would send a shipping box in 2-3 days, only to receive a call three days later saying they didn’t have shipping boxes and we would need to take care of this ourselves). When we finally did get the machine shipped at UPS, it took over one week for them to receive the machine at their warehouse.
It then took almost A WEEK just to confirm what we already knew – the machine didn’t turn on… but Breville customer service didn’t communicate the results directly to us. We received a very short and confusing email essentially saying “our order was back ordered and wouldn’t ship for 1-3 weeks at the soonest. Upon again braving the call in center labyrinth, I found out the details including the incomprehensible statement that the stainless steel model we owned wasn’t available (note: checked Amazon and it could deliver one to us in 1 day) but they did have other colors. Upon me telling them I’d take other colors, they said we’d hear back shortly… but now over 24 hours later, I AGAIN called only to hear that 1. “The warehouse hasn’t responded yet and there’s nothing the rep can do to expedite” and 2. Upon requesting a supervisor to lay out the frustrating customer service facts of the last several weeks, they said “we can only put you in a queue to speak with a supervisor and it will take 24-48 hours”.
After all this, all the positive good will Breville build over 10 months has been eroded in weeks. For a $1,500+tax premium consumer product, I’m horrible disappointed by this experience. Hopefully we’ll get a machine soon… Will update this post if anything materially changes.