Breville Barista Express Impress - Perfect Espresso Machine for Beginners

I’ve just upgraded my cheap Ninja coffee machine to the Breville Barista Express Impress to see if I could actually enjoy coffee at home. If you are new to the world of home espresso like me, there are a lot of things to learn and I chose this Breville because this is a semi-automatic espresso machine which could walk me through those complicated processes.

Effortless Espresso Right Out of the Box

The biggest challenges for beginners are learning how to properly grind, dose, and tamp coffee for espresso. The Barista Express Impress streamlines this with its integrated conical burr grinder, intelligent dosing system, and assisted tamping feature. Therefore, you will be able to get the right amount of coffee, compacted perfectly for extraction – without needing months or years of experience.

Firstly, you need to fill in the water tank and add coffee beans to the hopper. It may take a few attempts to dial in the perfect shot with your coffee beans, but the Express Impress makes the process easy and intuitive. Start by inserting the portafilter and pressing the dose button to begin grinding. Once the coffee is dispensed, push down and hold the tamping lever. If you see a smiley face on the tamp gauge, the machine has applied the correct pressure, and it will remember this dose for future shots. If the dose is insufficient, the dose level indicator will show a lower reading. In this case, simply press the dose button again to grind a bit more coffee, then press down on the tamping lever once more. Once the correct dose is reached, the machine memorizes it automatically, so you won’t need to make any manual adjustments.

Besides, the assisted tamping feature applies a precise 22 lbs of pressure, followed by a 7-degree barista twist – just like a professional barista would do. So, you don’t have to worry about under or over-tamping that can affect shot quality.

Not Just For Beginners

While it’s beginner-friendly, the Barista Express Impress isn’t just for novices. As you become more confident, you can fine-tune grind settings, adjust extraction times, and experiment with milk texturing using the steam wand. This allows you to create anything from a simple espresso to a rich, velvety latte.

While the steam wand isn’t the most powerful and you’ll need a bit of patience, it still can heat and texture milk for lattes and cappuccinos. The machine has everything and you don’t need to invest in any other accessory, it cuts down on prep time so you can enjoy your coffee with minimal hassle. I am quite happy with the Express Impress and highly recommend it to beginners.