5-Year Breville Touch Review

Circa late-2020, and very solidly in the middle of the COVID pandemic lockdowns, I discovered James Hoffmann on Tik-Tok, and he inspired to me take a serious deep dive into the world of coffee-making.

I've loved coffee for a long time. In college I bought the cheapest espresso machine I could find (~$40) to make iced americanos using ground coffee (I had no idea what I was doing). I graduate college in 2020, got an apartment with my girlfriend (now wife), and got my first big boy job.

I discovered James Hoffmann and was inspired: I knew I wanted a real espresso machine (I had long since thrown away my cheap machine and was currently using a Keurig for my coffee needs). I spent the next year saving money, asking for Crate & Barrel gift cards for Christmas and my birthday, and eventually saved up enough money to buy a Breville Barista Touch in late-2021

Honestly, the Breville was probably the best purchase I've made. I've had it for five years and have pulled thousands of shots through it. It has a built-in grinder and automatic milk steaming. For a beginner, this is the PERFECT machine. It's ready to go within 3 seconds of turning it on, you can pull shots immediately, and can turn around and steam milk after pulling a shot.

I'd personally classify this machine as semi-automatic. You still have puck prep and have to weigh your beans, but it handles a lot of the heavy lifting. It's easy to add different profiles for different coffee types and drinks.

Admittedly, the built-in grinder is mid. It's great for a beginner, but it's easy to outgrow, which is where I'm at now. I recently purchased a Mokkom 64mm flat burr grinder because the built-in Breville grinder was starting to get really inconsistent.

As great as it is that the machine is ready to go immediately, the ThermoJet heating can cause some inconsistencies between shots, and steaming milk takes around a minute or so (given this is automatic and hands-off so it's a trade-off).

I love this machine but I'm starting to outgrow it. I'm getting to the itch to upgrade and don't know where I'm going to go next, but for a beginner espresso-lover, this has really been an awesome machine to start with. I can't recommend it enough for beginners and people who don't want to take a deep dive into the espresso world.