Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine (BES880BSS) – Brushed Stainless Steel

For coffee enthusiasts who enjoy café-style espresso at home, the Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS offers a refined blend of automation, customization, and manual control. This machine is part of Breville’s well-regarded Barista Series, known for integrating grinders and brewing systems into a single unit designed to create high-quality espresso beverages quickly and consistently.

This review explores the Barista Touch’s design, grinder performance, workflow, controls, milk texturing, maintenance, and use cases, to help you determine if it matches your expectations and daily routine.

Design and Build Quality

The first impression of the Barista Touch is its sleek, modern stainless steel exterior, which blends well into contemporary and professional-style kitchens. The build materials feel durable and refined, with a smooth finish that resists visual wear.

A standout feature is the touchscreen interface, positioned at eye level. The layout simplifies the espresso-making process, providing visual guides and tap-based settings.

Key design features include:

Overall, the design prioritizes ease of use without sacrificing control.

Grinder Performance and Dose Control

The integrated conical burr grinder allows the machine to go from whole coffee beans to prepared grounds instantly. The grind size can be adjusted through the menu or side control, offering fine tuning to match different roast levels and brewing preferences.

The dose control system delivers consistent coffee amounts into the portafilter. This is a key advantage for beginners, as it reduces common extraction inconsistencies such as:

• Under-extraction (sour or weak taste)

• Over-extraction (bitter or harsh taste)

This system helps create a more stable flavor profile, especially when combined with the machine’s pre-infusion pressure control.

Espresso Extraction and Flavor

The Barista Touch uses low-pressure pre-infusion, gradually applying pressure to saturate grounds before full extraction. This helps ensure flavors are extracted evenly, leading to a balanced espresso shot.

Another important performance component is PID temperature control, which regulates water temperature with precision. Temperature stability has a significant impact on flavor clarity and aroma intensity, and this machine handles it well.

Additional advantages:

✔ Strong crema formation
✔ Stable body and flavor consistency
✔ Suitable for medium to dark roast beans
✔ Capable of producing espresso with both rich sweetness and balanced acidity

Users who prefer control can adjust:

• Brew temperature

• Shot volume

• Strength level

Meanwhile, those who want simplicity can simply use the preset recipes.

Milk Frothing and Microfoam Quality

One of the standout features of the Barista Touch is its automatic milk steam wand. Unlike manual wands, this system allows users to select milk temperature and texture level with minimal effort.

The machine produces microfoam suitable for latte art, which is a distinguishing aspect from many automatic espresso systems. The texture is consistent, creamy, and integrates well into espresso-based drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes.

Users who prefer manual steaming can also take control and adjust technique based on experience.

Touchscreen Control and Customization

The touchscreen interface is designed to simplify the drink-making workflow into three core steps:

1. Grind

2. Brew

3. Milk

Each step can be customized and saved. The machine can store up to 8 personalized drink profiles, which is especially useful for:

• Households with multiple coffee drinkers

• Users who alternate between drink types

• Work-from-home or office centers

Presets include common café beverages:

• Latte

• Flat White

• Cappuccino

• Americano

• Espresso

• Hot Water for tea or americanos

The interface is intuitive, reducing the learning curve significantly for new users.

Heat-Up Time and Workflow Efficiency

The ThermoJet heating system reaches the optimal extraction temperature in around 3 seconds, which is notably faster than many traditional boiler-based espresso machines. This makes the Barista Touch more practical for busy morning routines.

The workflow from beans to finished drink typically takes under a minute once the user becomes familiar with the steps.

Included Accessories

The machine includes:

The inclusion of both pressurized and non-pressurized baskets makes the machine equally suitable for beginners and experienced espresso users.

Maintenance Requirements

While the machine includes automated cleaning prompts, regular maintenance remains essential for performance:

• Clean grinder chute to prevent clumping

• Descale periodically depending on water hardness

• Rinse portafilter after each use

• Wipe steam wand immediately after steaming milk

Using filtered water extends machine longevity and maintains flavor quality.

Who Is This Machine Best For?

Best suited for:

✅ Users who want café-style espresso with minimal learning curve
✅ Home baristas who value both automation and manual customization
✅ Households with multiple coffee drink preferences
✅ Users seeking fast workflow and consistent taste

Not ideal for:

❌ Users seeking a budget or entry-level espresso machine
❌ Those who prefer full manual control over steaming and extraction
❌ Users needing very compact machines with minimal accessories

Pros and Cons

Final Thoughts

The Breville Barista Touch BES880BSS offers an excellent combination of ease-of-use, brewing precision, and customization. It bridges the gap between automatic espresso makers and professional manual machines, making it suitable for users who want café-quality beverages without needing barista-level skill.

Its touchscreen interface, fast heating system, integrated grinder, and automatic milk microfoaming make it a strong fit for a home espresso setup that prioritizes speed, flavor, and convenience.