(Breville the barista Pro Espresso Machine)
Introduction
Welcome to my bes878 Review. Breville(aka Sage) offers a fully automatic espresso machine with in-built accurate burr grinder, precision dose control and powerful milk texturing. From heating the water to your finished coffee brew it takes less than 2 minutes. I looked deeply into many machines under many brands and the public’s reaction to the most reliable and well performing models. I combine this information with my previous experience with espresso machines and I only report on machines that are highly regarded on my website/blog.
Specifications – bes878
| Brand | Breville/Sage(sister company) |
| Color | Brushed Steel |
| Brewing System | 15 bar Italian Pump, thermojet system, PIP temperature control |
| Interface | LCD Screen & Button control |
| Unit material build | Stainless steel |
| Dimensions | 12″D x 13″W x 13″H |
| Item Weight | 20 Pounds |
| Special feature | Programmable, Water Filter, Jug |
| Coffee Maker Type | Espresso Machine |
| Capacity | 2 Liters |
| Wattage | 1680 Watts |
| Warranty | 2 year limited product warranty(4 years ‘BrevilleCare’ warranty for $99) |
| Portafilter | 54mm |
| Accessories | Dosing Funnel™ Attachment, Single & Dual Wall (1 & 2 Cup), Filter Baskets The Razor Precision Dose Trimming Tool, 480 ml Stainless Steel Milk Jug Cleaning Kit, Water Filter |
| Best Place to Buy | Buy on Amazon (US) Buy on Amazon (UK) |
Build Quality – bes878
The shell of the Barista Pro is formed from thick stainless steel. The boiler is also built from stainless steel as is the grinder. All buttons are well positioned and are solid in operation.
Performance and Features – bes878
Grinder
The grinder is the conical burr type and the actual burrs are built from hardened stainless steel. A dial on the left of the unit controls fine grind adjustments and where bean hopper sits you can adjust large adjustments to the grind. It is advisable to make finer adjustments whilst grinding is in operation.
The performance of the grinder is superb as it grinds your beans evenly and precisely to each grind level you set. There are 30 grind settings so it does take a bit of time to get familiar but once you do, you find it’s a great system. So once you’ve dialed all in the grind size is reliably consistent.
Milk frothing system
What’s great about the milk frothing options on the Barista Pro is that you can make silky milk froth manually or automatically. The system produces true creamy frothy milk. You can get it to your preference as you steam it to get a heavy thick foam or that silky-smooth textured gloss body, just like in the best cafes. The micro foam is particularly ideal for Latte art pouring.
The steamer wand sprays hot water before it begins to steam which may seem strange for some but this has the advantage of clearing the wand pipe interior. The wand is powerful and steams milk very fast indeed. So you can much more easily get consistent silky texture and quality body for Lattes.
The steamer wand is definitely one of the best around.
Heating System
Breville states the Barista Pro heats up in 3 seconds via its unique ThermoJet element. This means you are ready to make a brew in seconds. Furthermore to save energy the design allows for up to 32% less energy when compared to standard Thermoblock heating systems.
15 bar Italian Pump
The quality espresso crema has a wonderful color resembling caramel. You get a pre-infusion at low pressure which is continued by a high pressure extraction with no less than 9 bar from the 15 bar pump.
Dose Funnel
Mess and waste of coffee grinds is reduced by the attachment of a funnel over the portafilter. This means the coffee grinds do not overflow creating the usual mess found with many machines. You can also clean the dose funnel in a dish-washer.
Coffee drink quality
The Barista Pro creates really tasty americanos, lattes, espresso shots, cappuccinos, frappes, Mochas and more. The versatility makes the Barista Pro an all in one machine.
Bean Hopper
The hopper can take a decent amount of beans.
Engaging interface
Through the intuitive display you can manually control what your brew will be like, including your preferred grind amount. There is a also a dedicated 1 shot and a 2 shot button below the LCD display. You can view all your settings of your brew on the digital LCD screen.
Accessories
3D Guide
Just download the app on smartphone or iphone and you will have access to every instruction for brewing and all maintenance/cleaning.
Pros and Cons
Pros – bes878
- Well built unit and parts
- Great looking stainless steel unit
- Efficient and accurate grinder
- Superb performing froth system and steam wand
- Easy to clean
- Good customer service
Cons – bes878
- Tamping device could be better
- No pressure gauge
Final Verdict – Is the bes878 worth it?
The bes878(Breville Barista Pro) really delivers excellent espresso brews. In terms of whether you are getting value for your money, the performance and specs match or exceed many rivals in this price bracket. The water heater is superb and heats up in just a few seconds and is designed to be energy efficient. You get a large water tank so you don’t have to fill frequently like on other models.
The grinder is super efficient and offers consistent perfectly ground coffee. Espressos are full of taste and flavor. The Milk froth performs very well and delivers ideal ‘cafe quality’ milk froth time after time. Lattes are perfect too. You do need to experiment with the grinder dialing and milk steam wand.
The Barista Pro is faster than the much celebrated Breville Barista Express. Furthermore the Pro is quieter. Many users of the Barista Pro swear by its performance, brew quality, brilliant steam wand and generally state it’s better than any machine they’ve tried before.
If you spend a lot of money in cafes you may well some money purchasing the the Barista Pro. With its competitive price tag, consistently excellent performance and delivery of superbly tasting brews you won’t want to strand in-line for a coffee again. I’ve been trying to find negatives with the Barista Pro and I have found minor ones and addressed them but I have not heard or know of any major issues with this machine.
Final Thoughts – bes878
When you experiment with grind settings you need to learn how to properly dial in with the Barista Pro to unleash its full potential. At start you maybe making semi-decent espressos but probably still better than chain-store coffees. After some days or even a few weeks when you master the basics of dialing you may well stand to make brews that might not look as pretty as the top cafe Latte art, however your coffees will have all the taste, layering, crema and milk froth that should be on par or better. Seriously 100% worth it.
Thanks for Reading my bes878 Review. I hope it helped.
(All images courtesy of Breville/Sage)
Specifications – bes878
| Brand | Breville/Sage(sister company) |
| Color | Brushed Steel |
| Brewing System | 15 bar Italian Pump, thermojet system, PIP temperature control |
| Interface | LCD Screen & Button control |
| Unit material build | Stainless steel |
| Dimensions | 12″D x 13″W x 13″H |
| Item Weight | 20 Pounds |
| Special feature | Programmable, Water Filter, Jug |
| Coffee Maker Type | Espresso Machine |
| Capacity | 2 Liters |
| Wattage | 1680 Watts |
| Warranty | 2 year limited product warranty(4 years ‘BrevilleCare’ warranty for $99) |
| Portafilter | 54mm |
| Accessories | Dosing Funnel™ Attachment, Single & Dual Wall (1 & 2 Cup), Filter Baskets The Razor Precision Dose Trimming Tool, 480 ml Stainless Steel Milk Jug Cleaning Kit, Water Filter |
| Best Place to Buy | Buy on Amazon (US) Buy on Amazon (UK) |