Breville Cafe Roma Espresso Maker Review
Today we’re taking a look at the Breville Cafe Roma Espresso Maker. If you’re like me, you enjoy a good double shot of espresso but you may not want to stop and pay ‘Fivebucks‘ to get one everyday. How does this pump espresso machine, which is often available in the secondary refurbished market, measure up against both coffee shops and other at home espresso machines?
Review Continued Below…
As usual, lets start with a quick look at the specs for the Breville Cafe Roma Espresso Maker. This unit has a Italian made, 15 bar pump, which produces a superior shot as compared to steam based espresso machines that you’ll find at discount department stores. It has a stainless steel frothing wand that insures a better temperature and easier cleaning for cappuccinos and other milk based hot beverages. It has a generous 40 ounce water tank that allows you to brew up to 26 shots before refilling. Lastly, it uses a dual-wall back pressure system to extract more crèma flavor from the coffee.
As for coffee quality, the Breville’s 15-bar Thermoblock pump insures the correct pressure to produce rich espresso shots with nearly perfect crèma. It is vastly superior to the steam based machine I used to use which had a tendency to deliver a burned taste. The frother also works quite well, much better than other machines I’ve used.
I also found the Breville Cafe Roma Espresso Machine rather easy to use and clean. The drip tray and grid are removable for easy clean up and the rest of the attractive stainless steel unit, with one exception, cleans up easily. The machine is packaged with a stainless-steel espresso cup set and a frothing jug, which is a nice touch. My only real quibble with the usability of the machine is that it isn’t possible to get a large coffee mug underneath the spout if you’re wanting a real ‘wake me up now’ shot of espresso although the best espresso cups to use with it are regular sized ones.
One thing that is essential with the Breville Espresso Machine is keeping the filtering system clean and this isn’t quite as easy as it ought to be. While I haven’t had this happen to me several people have reported clogging problems with the dual-wall filtration system. They said that this happened despite their best efforts to keep it clean. People becoming dissatisfied with the machine due to this situation may be the reason why you see a good number of these machines in the refurb market. That’s something to consider if you’re thinking of buying a refurbished one, so you should know the seller’s return policy.
The bottom line is that the Breville Cafe Roma Espresso Maker produces a great shot of espresso but there are some questions out there about the long term performance and reliability of the unit that you need to be aware of before you purchase.
You have some good prices on the Breville Cafe Roma Espresso Maker. It would be dangerous to have one at home though IMHO - I love good coffee - I would not be able to keep my addiction under control if I didn’t have to pay 5bucks a shot!
Lissie
I’m sure there are plenty of people who would love to receive a Breville Cafe Roman Espresso Maker and would make a nice change from a pair of socks or a dressing gown. The great thing about the internet and eBay is that we can now compare prices so that we don’t have to spend a fortune.
Breville espresso machines are good BUT they dont last. 500 bucks for one of their better models and its dead in 2 years. Spend the really big bucks and get a real one that will last.
Don’t tempt me with a pump espresso machine–I’ve been using a steam based machine for the past two years and the only nice thing I can say about it is that it’s cheap. If you keep it clean it doesn’t give the milk the funny taste you mention, but keeping it clean takes some real focus after using it, when all I really want to do is enjoy a cup of coffee.
But I’ve heard that all of the pump machines have durability problems. I’m thinking a refurb commercial machine might be the best way to satisfy my espresso jones.
Breville espresso machines are good BUT they dont last. 500 bucks for one of their better models and its dead in 2 years.