You probably still remember the days when you had to dump a few spoons of instant coffee into a mug to make that much needed first cup of coffee in the morning. Over the years, many advancements have made that a thing of the past. Thanks to tremendous innovations in coffee technology, it’s now possible to enjoy barista-quality coffee in the comfort of your home. If you’ve ever tried Breville’s espresso machines, there is a good chance you are familiar with Barista Express too. The built-in grinder has made it a legendary machine. The simplicity is one of the most outstanding features. It helps you learn the basics of crafting the perfect espresso. The Barista Pro was introduced recently. It’s similar to the Express, but has a few extra features that many owners truly appreciate. In this Breville Barista Pro vs Express review, we shall compare these two fantastic coffee machines and their functionalities to decide which is more suitable to buy for our home.
Contents
Breville Barista Express
The coffee machine takes your coffee from bean to espresso in less than a minute. Breville Barista Express is an all-in-one espresso machine that enables you to create an extraordinary specialty cup of coffee from your home. In order to give you full flavor, the machine allows you to grind the coffee beans before extraction. That also ensures optimal espresso extraction and precise temperature control.
Breville Barista Pro
The Breville Barista Pro offers superb performance with the new intuitive interface it uses. To make things easier for you, the interface provides all the information you need to create a third wave of specialty coffee at home. It has a built-in grinder that delivers the correct amount of ground coffee on demand, to give you terrific flavor. The heat up time is only 3 seconds. You get to enjoy your coffee faster than ever before.
Breville Barista Pro vs Express : 6 Key similarities
1 PID temperature control
Both machines feature an Electronic PID which ensures temperature stability. Temperature control is vital when making espresso, so it’s an outstanding feature on the machines.
2 Burr grinder
They both come with a high-quality built-in burr grinder. The grinder does not make a lot of noise, and produces minimum heat to give optimal flavor. The two also have a heavy steel tamper, of excellent quality. The tamper is also magnetic, and slides next to the grinder.
3 Layout
When you look at the Barista Express and the Barista Pro side by side, you’d barely notice any differences in the design. They both have a tamper and a grinder placed on the left-hand side, as well as a manual milk wand, plus a water spout on the right.
4 Pre-infusion
The two coffee machines feature pre-infusion. It’s a technology that’s very popular when it comes to high-quality home espresso machines. The pre-infusion allows water pressure to go up gradually, which means the machines gently expand to give an even extraction.
5 Capacity
The two machines have a 2 liter water tank capacity. They also have a 227g bean hopper. The large capacities mean you won’t be doing topping up of beans or water that frequently.
6 Design
The Barista Express and the Barista Pro have a brushed stainless steel finish.
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Breville Barista Pro vs Express : 3 Key differences
1 Internals and performance
The most noticeable difference between the two machines is the interface/visual differences. The Pro stands out due to its performance. The Barista Express uses thermocoil water heating. To get the perfect brewing temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit, water is pulled through a heated coil. That allows the machine to heat up much quicker. But it’s still practical to give it a minute after turning it on so that it warms up properly.
On the other hand, the Barista Pro uses the Thermojet heating which it’s a newer heating technology. This allows the water to heat up in just 3 seconds, which means you can pull shots within 20 seconds of turning the machine on. This also means it has a rapid warm up time for steaming. There’s basically non-existent downtime between making drinks. Pro has much better heating, period.
2 External features and design
The obvious difference between the two is the analog vs. digital displays. The Barista Express has a lot of buttons that perform different functions. It also has an analog pressure gauge placed in the middle of the interface.
For the Pro, it has a digital display that’s bright and backlit, but the buttons are smaller. However, some users like the analog steam gauge better. But it doesn’t make much of a difference. If you want to dial in a shot, you need to focus on the time it takes to pull instead of watching the steam gauge. The screen on the Pro helps you have complete control over brewing without having to clutter the face with buttons.
3 Milk Frothing
You can easily make lattes and cafe quality flat whites with these machines with their attached steam wand. However, there’s a difference in the steam wands. The Barista Pro has a steaming wand with 4 holes, so it’s quicker to froth milk, and getting the desired texture is effortless. The steam wand on express only has 1, so it takes longer to steam milk.
Breville Barista Pro or Express: Which To Buy?
Both machines have excellent features for making espresso at home. This is why the Barista Pro is offered along with the Barista Express instead of as a replacement. Which one would work for you depends on what you prefer in terms of appearance and functionality.
The Pro is much better and faster. But if you want an analog gauge, then the Express is perfect.
If you already have an Express and simply desire an improvement in performance, the Pro is a sufficient upgrade.
Breville Barista Pro
Hope this review on Breville Barista Pro vs Barista Express has helped you decide which to buy.
