9/ 10
Check price on Amazon
Around $1,600
- Steam wand
- Manual
- Heater
- Dual boiler
- Temperature
- PID
- Stands out
- Brews and steams at once
Why we love it
The Dual Boiler is Breville's machine for people who want to work every variable by hand. One boiler brews and the other steams, so a latte doesn't wait for the machine to switch, and PID holds the brew water within 2°F through a heated group head. The 58mm portafilter takes the commercial baskets and tampers, low-pressure pre-infusion starts the shot gently, an over-pressure valve caps the pump, and the LCD runs a shot clock so you can repeat a good extraction. There's no grinder and the steam wand is manual. Budget for an espresso grinder on top, one that adjusts finely enough to hold an espresso setting: the machine is only as good as the grind you feed it.
Pros
- Two boilers: brew and steam at the same time
- PID temperature control and a heated group head
- 58mm portafilter, the commercial size
- Low-pressure pre-infusion and an over-pressure valve
- LCD with a shot clock, so a good shot is easy to repeat
Cons
- No built-in grinder: budget for an espresso grinder
- Manual steam wand: milk texturing is a skill to learn
- Breville doesn’t state a heat-up time
- Large, and heavy to move
