Breville BES250XL Cafe Venezia 15-Bar Stainless-Steel Espresso Machine

I'm not sure why this espresso machine has such a low rating (note: small sample size), but the Cafe Venezia espresso machine has been magical ever since I bought it in March 2010. Since this machine was a bit more complicated than my previous machine, it took a little while to get everything exactly the way I liked it, but now the machine is pretty much perfect.

My one and only complaint would be that it seems to use a lot of water for non-coffee making/milk frothing activities. I'm assuming it's doing some self cleaning or whatnot, and it's not all that big of a deal since this thing holds a good amount of water, but the trough (as I like to call it) seems to get filled with water pretty quickly. But really, I'm just nitpicking.

I grind my coffee using a burr grinder on the extra fine setting, and the machine has never blown up on me except for the first time I used it (All espresso machines do this to me for some reason). The frothing wand needs to be cleaned regularly, and if not it turns a weird color, but even if I'm now drinking poison, I welcome my delicious, aromatic death.

This machine requires a lot of maintenance to stay functional. Each of the filters needs all the little holes unclogged between almost every use or else it gets clogged a huge time suck. The coffee is luke-warm and although the crema is thick and beautiful, the flavor is mediocre. I wish I still had my simple Kitchen-Aid one that was half the price, reliable & low maintenance.

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We were given this espresso machine as a Christmas present and absolutely LOVED it. We were making our special lattes every morning, the coffee tastes great, everything was working just fine... untillll... water started shooting out of the electronic buttons as tears flowed from my face. It looked like the machine was crying with me. It was a tragic day. We are now debating whether or not we should get the same one and pray for the best or try a different model...

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I agree that I don't know why people don't like this machine. Mine has been going great for several years. Several things to keep in mind: 1) Take off that little black tip on the frothing wand and only use the naked one. Before frothing turn on the steam wand until it steams nicely (no water coming out), turn if off and on quickly and then insert into the milk. This will avoid water going into the milk before the steam comes out. 2) I learned that the coffee tastes a lot better if you use a burr grinder. 3) Regular maintenance is to run the steam wand and wipe with a damp sponge or cloth to prevent clogging after each use. I have never had my filters get clogged. I do agree that the coffee is not as hot as that which you get from Starbucks but from what I understand lattes are not supposed to be drunk really hot. Breville has excellent customer service.

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This machine looks good, thats it. Everytime you use it you have to unblock the tiny holes in the filter with this needle type tool, washing the filter isn't enough! This is a major pain! The espresso is not hot, but is does test nice.

So if you want a machine that looks good but aren't going to use it then this is the one, but if you make espresso everyday like me then buy something else.