Breville Refurbished Barista Express Scratch/Dent Prog Espresso with Grinder

After using a low-end espresso machine with pre-ground coffee for years, we were ready to upgrade. We wanted a new machine and a grinder but, with a budget of only $400, we were having trouble finding quality products we wanted that fit the price range. This refurbised scratch/dent option allowed us to get a lot more machine (and grinder) for our money! We were a little worried about the refurbished and scratch/dent designations so, before ordering, we confirmed with Amazon that it comes with a 1-year manufacturer warranty (it does). We received the machine only 3 days after ordering and we were anxious to see the condition of it. There are only two small visible scratches on the bottom panel and the instruction manual is a little bent but that is all. We have tested all the major components (including the grinder) and everything is in great working order. As far as the quality of the espresso, we are extremely happy. We definitely need time to perfect our technique with this machine but even the first experimental shots were infinitely better than the best shots with our old machine! We will post updates over the next few months as we've read reviews about the grinder not working after awhile. But, for now, we are incredibly happy with it.

The espresso brewed by this machine is good. It steams milk well, though I was not blown away by either. The real problem is the built in burr grinder. It never worked correctly. I got maybe 2 shots to grind, but each time was preceded by cleaning out the unit. The grinder just seems to be poorly designed from the start. I also noticed that the few times it ground a few beans, the setting of the grind dial seemed to make no difference at all.

I'm very glad that Amazon has such an outstanding return/refund policy.

Another lesson: all the 1 and 2 star reviews noted problems with the grinder. When a good chunk of reviewers all flag the same problem, it's worth noticing.

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This machine is great. I work at a bike shop and we live on espresso. I've been using a Gaggia Classic with an upgraded PID unit wired in and this machine works just as well if not better. The simplicity of having everything on one machine is great. It's easy to use, easy to clean, and nice and heavy. With other machines (Gaggia Classic included) the machines were very light weight and would move or slide when locking the portafilter into the grouphead. That does not happen with this machine. The Burr grinder works well and is super easy to take care of. Others have sighted it as a weak point but I've found that cleaning it on a regular basis is super easy and it runs well when you keep it clean. The triple pre-infusion on the factory settings really does make a difference in the quality of shots pulled with this machine. While other machine simply pull the shot with no pre-infusion, the Breville does a triple pre-infusion which will create a more evenly extracted shot and better cremma. At the end of the day I Love this machine.

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Got this for over $200 less from new. The refurbished one I got looks brand new and works perfectly! Very well built and makes excellent latte's and espressos. I use the dual filter as it is much easier and works just fine. The built in burr grinder works great too. I highly recommmend this to anyone who wants a semi-professional espresso machine.

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Received a refurb that was in bad shape, did not try to use it, cause I was sending it back. Looked like it was used for sometime. The portafilter handle had was broken and the machine itself had a lot of dents in it. I knew it was going to be a refurb but not in this bad of shape. The reviews say it is a great espresso machine so I ordered another, hopefully this one will be in better shape. Good thing that Amazon has a great return program. So it may take a couple of times to get one that is not in that bad of shape or this may have been a fluke, who knows. Gets 1 star based on the shape of it when I received it, not the function of the machine. I'm sure that will be fine.

Update 2/24/12

received another machine and this one did not have a head assembly or seal so could not put on the portafilter to brew coffee. Was missing parts. Not sure how these refurbs are checked but don't seem to be doing a good job. I ordered again, we will see how the 3rd machine goes. I will keep you updated. Thanks.