Breville’s Newest Espresso Machine Makes My Mornings So Much Better — Plus, It’s on Sale During Prime Day

updated Oct 10, 2023
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A photo of a cappuccino with cinnamon sprinkled on top, on a small saucer with a spoon on the side.
Credit: Maria Do

I wasn’t a coffee drinker until I quarantined with my in-laws during the pandemic. Up until then, I was a proud tea drinker and had absolutely no FOMO when it came to coffee and the culture that comes with it. Then the boredom of quarantine set in and, well, I caved. I started taking sips from my in-laws’ carefully brewed pot on those weekend mornings in the early spring of 2020 that felt endless, and soon enough it was something I looked forward to in the midst of everything. 

Quick Overview

What’s to Love About the Breville Barista Express Impress?

So much! But the major feature I love is that the machine grinds, dispenses, and tamps the coffee beans, eliminating the pain points I had with a previous machine. It’s also on sale for 20% off during Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days.

Flash forward to a year later, when my husband and I bought our first home. The first thing I cleared room for on our kitchen counter was an espresso machine. While tea is still what I drink most mornings, I had gotten used to the anticipation of a weekend morning coffee. Once it became safe to frequent coffee shops, I soon loved the treat of walking to our local one and ordering a cortado or a cappuccino.

So many of my coworkers raved about the Breville Barista Express that I knew it would be worth the investment and space in our kitchen, and so we splurged as a housewarming gift to ourselves. Ever since, my husband uses it daily and I loved recreating the coffee shop experience at home on Saturday mornings. Recently, however, Breville launched a new and improved version called the Barista Express Impress. I truly didn’t think they could improve on their flawless espresso machine until I tried this new iteration and now I am completely hooked. So much so, that we’ve now passed our original machine onto friends just so we can keep the new Barista Express Impress all to ourselves.

What’s So Great About the Breville Barista Express Impress?

There is one key feature that makes the Breville Barista Express Impress so much better than the original Barista Express. It’s what Breville calls the Impress Puck System. This is a fancy term for assisted dosing and tamping of the ground coffee. To make espresso in the other machine, you pressed a button to automatically dispense (aka dose) the ground coffee into the filter basket of the portafilter. That worked great, but then you had to tamp those grounds manually with just the right amount of pressure. Unless you’re a trained barista, this is hard to get the hang of. While we eventually did with a lot of practice, it was always a bit of a mess, with coffee grinds falling onto the machine and countertop during the dosing and tamping process.

What I love about this new feature is it doesn’t make the espresso-making process so automated that you lose the fun. This new assisted process simply eliminates pain points I found in the old machine completely and has made the entire process foolproof from start to finish. The machine dispenses the correct amount of ground coffee before you pull a lever that perfectly tamps them in the filter basket. All that’s left to do is pull the espresso shot and froth your milk. 

Credit: Sheela Prakash

What’s the Best Way to Use the Breville Barista Express Impress?

Besides the obvious shots of espresso my husband pulls mid-afternoon to keep him charged through the rest of the workday, there are so many ways to use it. Here are a few of my favorites.

Does the Breville Barista Express Impress Ever Go on Sale?

Yes! The Breville Barista Express Impress does go on sale, especially around major holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Currently, during Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days on Oct. 10 and 11, it’s down to about $720 — the lowest price ever we’ve seen on the machine. It’s still an investment, but one that’s been worth every penny in my home. Buy: Breville Barista Express Impress, $719.95 (normally $899.95)