Mark PrinceThe Breville Infuser: The Insider Secret Espresso Machine
There’s an espresso machine that’s a bit of an insider’s secret—one that many people don’t know about. In many ways, it is the secret machine in Breville’s extensive espresso brewing lineup. It’s the Breville Model # BES840XL, also known as the Breville Infuser.
Breville doesn’t market the Infuser much. It’s not pushed on vendors as a SKU to carry. You rarely see it on department store shelves. In fact, this past year, Breville even removed it from their main USA website, and transitioned the machine to an Amazon only SKU.
This borders on being a true espresso tragedy, considering its features, build quality, and price. In my opinion, the Breville Infuser could be the best machine in Breville’s lineup, with everything – including price – taken into account.
That’s a pretty big boast, I know. I hope to explain this fully below. But I also have another reason for this coverage of the Breville Infuser, and it’s time sensitive. You see, the Infuser, for as long as I’ve been aware of the machine, has never really gone on sale. At best, you could snag one for $50 off.
Well, something has changed in the past few years.
Last year for the first time ever, the Infuser was seen on a deep discount on Amazon, hitting $399 and even for a brief day during a Prime sale, dipped down to $349. That is a full $200 (or even $250) off the MSRP of $599 for this machine, making it quite literally one of the best deals on an espresso machine… well, ever. And now the same has happened this year: the machine, as of this publication date, is on for a nearly $200 discount, selling for $399 in the US, in both the silver, and black units.
Even at the full retail of $599, I think I’d pick this over the Barista Express, which is $100 more at full MSRP ($699). Because of the grinder. So let’s get into that some more.
The World’s Best-Selling Espresso Machine
For more than a decade, the Breville Barista Express has held the title of the planet’s most popular espresso machine. While Breville guards its sales figures closely, we know from industry sources that in some years, the company sold as many as thirty Barista Express machines for every single Rancilio Silvia that left the factory.
A significant part of its appeal is the convenience of a built-in grinder, but the machine’s success story is much deeper than that. It boasts a sleek, contemporary design and gets to temperature quickly. Under the hood, a PID system provides stable temperature control, while its feature set is impressively robust: a dedicated hot water spout, a rapid switch to steam (especially for a thermoblock machine), and an impressively powerful steam wand. Even the details are well-considered, from the deep drip tray to a top-mounted cup warmer that actually functions. There is an abundance of things to appreciate about this machine, which we explore completely in our full review.
In short, the Barista Express earned its top spot by offering an excellent combination of features, build quality, and value.
If the machine has an Achilles’ heel, however, it is that same integrated grinder. While not entirely incapable, it has been outpaced by the significant advancements in espresso grinding technology over the last several years. The timer-based dosing system feels particularly archaic; its adjustment dial jumps in increments of several seconds, making the fine-tuning required for great espresso a frustrating exercise. Breville’s suggested workaround, using their “Razor” tool to level the dose, simply results in wasted coffee.
So, what if you could have the core of the Barista Express, with all its excellent brewing functionality, but without the compromised grinder? What if you could pair that capable espresso-making side with a much better grinder of your own choosing?
As it turns out, you can. That machine is the Breville Infuser.
The Breville Infuser, in the (now discontinued) Piano Black finish. The current black version is more matte.Some History on the Infuser
The Infuser has a bit of a backstory: it even has a “father” machine: the “Die Cast Automatic” espresso machine, model BES820XL, released back in 2009. At the time, it was basically a grinder-less version of the first Barista Express, but neither machine was particularly impressive. This was before Breville hired Phil McKnight, who would go on to revamp their entire espresso lineup.
The BES820XL chugged along for about five years. Meanwhile, Breville introduced some game-changing machines: the Dual Boiler in 2011, and in 2013, both the updated (and still current) Barista Express and The Oracle, their fully automated espresso machine. These were all major leaps forward for the company.
Then, in early 2014, Breville quietly introduced the Infuser (model BES840XL) as a replacement for the BES820XL. It didn’t get much attention at first, but it was a solid upgrade. Initially, the Infuser came in Breville’s classic Brushed Steel finish, and later on, they offered a slick Piano Black version, which looked stunning with its shiny black finish, mirror backsplash, and drip tray. We got our hands on the Piano Black model in 2014, and it was a real beauty.
Everything the Infuser comes with, even a steam pitcher.Everything about the Infuser feels polished and well thought out. The water reservoir is easy to access and spacious, and the coated cup warming tray does its job and makes cleaning a sinch. The machine’s front panel is simple, with just four control buttons, two indicator lights, and a pressure gauge. It has an articulating steam wand and even a magnetized tamper built into the machine. Nothing feels unfinished or out of place.
The control panel is simple, easy to understand and the pressure gauge is still the bomb to this day.Under the hood, the Infuser is packed with the same brewing system, volumetric controls, pump, and electronics as the Barista Express. Since it doesn’t have a built-in grinder, it’s more compact, making it a better fit for smaller kitchen counters, The machine is only a bit wider than a Gaggia Classic or Rancilio Silvia, yet feels spacious and can accommodate a much wider range of cup sizes.
What’s great about the Infuser is that nearly every accessory or upgrade designed for the Barista Express works with it. That means you can easily find better dispersion screens, filter baskets, tampers, portafilters, and even lever-style arms for the steam and hot water controls.
Pair the Infuser up with any of the grinders from our Best of Budget Grinders Guide, and you will have a winning combination capable of exceptional, hand crafted espresso, and a wide range of milk based espresso drinks.
These are some of the first espresso shots I pulled on the Infuser, back in 2014.The Price
One big knock against the Infuser is that some feel the price is too close to the Barista Express pricing to justify its cost. This may have been more true in the past, when the Infuser was $599, and the Barista Express was $649, a difference of just $50.
Today, the list price for the Barista Express is $699, and the Infuser is $599, or a difference of $100. For me personally, that’s enough of a discount to definitely buy it over the Express, and use that $100 (plus another $100 or so) to buy a grinder that’s 2x better than the one built into the Barista Express.
What grinder to consider? Pair this machine up with the MiiCoffee DF54, and you’ll have a killer combo that, to be honest, would rival $3,000 setups from just a few years ago (yeah, the DF54 is that good). Even at full retail, the expenditure is $800 for the combo, and it could be the last espresso machine and grinder you may ever buy. Or you could pair the machine up with almost any of the grinders listed on our Best Manual Grinders Guide, and have a full retail setup with exceptional grind quality for under $700.
The Breville Infuser paired up wit h the DF54 grinder is a fantastic combination.When the Infuser goes on sale again (like it has just this week), you’d be getting one of the best deals on the planet. At $399 for the machine, and $230 for the DF54, you’d be punching several classes above your weight, at under $600 all told for your espresso investment. Pair it up with a manual grinder like the X-Ultra or Blade R3, and your awesome home espresso setup as low as $500 all in.
And what about the Bambino Plus, the machine we’ve heralded as one of the best beginner machines on the market? The Bambino Plus has so much going for it, including the automated frothing system and the instant on, instant steam ability, which still makes it a class leading machine.
But unlike the Bambino Plus, you do not have to run blank shots on the Infuser prior to actually pulling an espresso shot. Just let it heat up for 10 minutes, and Bob’s your uncle. Transition time to steam is around 30 seconds, which is very acceptable. And the entire machine is bigger, and does not have a drip tray so small that you have to empty it every shot pull, like the Bambino + demands.
For 2026 and beyond, we may have to set a new choice on CoffeeGeek for the best entry level machine to consider. The Infuser is definitely a candidate.
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David G. Smith
SoapDog