I’m loving this machine, but the Breville Barista Express does require some time and effort to learn. It’s definitely worth it if you wanna learn to make lattes and know more about coffee. But if you just want simple, the Nespresso is still the fastest way to get good coffee.
Also, I’ve never been a barista so I didn’t realize how much cleaning this machine requires. After you froth milk and stuff you really wanna clean the steam wand and pitcher cause the foamed milk can get mad sticky quick. And then underneath that the drip tray collects a lot of water. So if your machine is far from sink you wanna empty that earlier than needed so you don’t spill the coffee grinds and yuck water when you’re walking across your kitchen (not speaking from personal experience? lol).
But yea. Lots of cleaning required on espresso machines. And my counter is really dinged up and slightly coffee stained. so if you’re tryna protect your counter, you’ll probably want to invest in a tamping station. Which is something I’m looking for next, but I’m going to practice some more to figure out what other tools I want.
Still highly recommend this machine. But just thought you should know about some caveats of the Breville.