Breville Barista Pro vs Breville Touch: The High-End Espresso Machine Battle

Breville Barista Pro vs Breville Touch

The Breville Barista espresso machines lineup ensures that even non-professional users can brew barista-quality coffee at home.

Since the commercial success with Breville Barista Express, the brand has introduced 2 other espresso machines that come with more advanced technologies for easier and more precise espresso extraction, Barista Pro and Barista Touch.

In this article, we’ll look into the Breville Barista Pro vs Breville Touch to uncover what they have in common, how they’re different, and which one is more suitable for your needs and budget.


Breville Barista Pro Espresso Machine

The Breville Barista Pro comes with a built-in grinder so the user can immediately use fresh coffee grounds to brew high-quality coffee.

In particular, it’s equipped with a conical burr grinder for heightened precision and consistency that’s optimal for pulling espresso shots.

The automatic and manual dose control help deliver the right amount of coffee grounds every time as well.

Breville Barista Pro Espresso Machine, Brushed Stainless Steel, BES878BSS

The Breville Barista Pro is also engineered with ideal water pressure and optimum extraction temperature with adjustable temperature settings in small increments to deal with any type of coffee beans and personal coffee strength preferences.

And, unlike the Barista Express which still utilizes the old heating system, the upgraded system on the Barista Pro significantly boosts the heat-time for a faster espresso brewing session.

There’s also an integrated manual steam wand for creating latte art and micro-foam milk, allowing the users to explore more espresso-based drinks at the comfort of their homes.

For all operations, users can interact via simple buttons and dials and monitor the processes via the intuitive LCD display that isn’t the case with the more dated Barista Express.


Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine

The Breville Barista Touch also comes with a built-in grinder to grind espresso shots with adjustable grind size in under a minute.

The new Breville’s ThermoJet heating system significantly boosts the heat-up time to help users save time on busy mornings.

When grinding, brewing coffee, and texturing milk, the user interacts with the espresso machine via the intuitive touchscreen display to select the programmable settings they desire.

The machine will automatically finish the job accurately and satisfyingly. The user may also save their favorite settings to quickly pull a cup of espresso the next time they need a caffeine fix.

Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine, Brushed Stainless Steel, BES880BSS

Along with the Barista Touch espresso machine and the common accessories, you can also enjoy a branded Knock Box Mini to sanitarily and carefully get rid of the ground coffee.


Breville Barista Pro vs Breville Touch – Similarities

Since they’re Breville espresso machines, they’re properly designed with the 4 keys formula to be capable of making third-wave specialty coffee (as long as you use high-quality coffee beans).

They’re also both part of the Barista line that comes with an integrated adjustable grinder and powerful steam wand to deliver a streamlined espresso brewing experience from start to finish in under 1 minute.

Water Tank Capacity

Both devices share the same water reservoir capacity of 67 oz (2 l), enough to pull plenty of espresso shots for multiple people throughout the day.

Bean Hopper Capacity

They also share the same bean hopper capacity of 1/2 lb (226.8 g).

Although you can leave a large amount of whole bean coffee in the hopper to use throughout the day, it’s best to add just enough to use each time to ensure peak freshness.

Bean Hopper Capacity

Burr Grinder

Both are equipped with a precise stainless steel conical burr grinder that’s optimally designed to produce the right type of grind size for espresso.

Adjustable Grind Size

Although the grinder isn’t the main focus of the product, both Barista Pro and Barista Touch offer a wide enough grind size range (30 espresso grind settings) from fine to coarse to satisfy different types of coffee beans and users’ coffee strength preferences.

Adjustable Grind Amount

The grind amount to be dosed into the filter basket can also be adjusted to ensure the coffee puck isn’t too tight or loose and meet the coffee-to-water ratio that the user desires.

Automatic And Manual Dosing

You can either automatically dose the preset amount of ground coffee for a single shot/two espresso shots or manually gauge during the grinding process.

Hands-Free Grinding

Pick your settings and lock the portafilter in and you can have a moment of rest in the hectic morning while the espresso machine automatically carries out the process.

Hands-Free Grinding

ThermoJet Boiler

The innovative ThermoJet heating system can help the espresso machine reach the optimal extraction temperature in a blink. (It in fact takes a few seconds but who’s counting such a short amount of time?)

This way you can practically start making coffee as soon as you turn it on, unlike the older Breville models which make you wait a couple of minutes for them to heat up.

And you don’t have to waste any time when transitioning from the espresso to steam function to quickly whip up a cup of espresso-based beverage.

PID Digital Temperature Control

Digital temperature control is a recurring technology in many Breville machines. It helps enhance the water temperature stability to maintain it within the ideal range for brewing espresso coffee.

PID Digital Temperature Control

Adjustable Shot Temperature Control

When reading reviews online, you might have come across people complaining that they find the coffee too cool or hot for them.

This “espresso machines fail” can be easily fixed with the adjustable shot temperature feature. So rest assured that this won’t be the case with the Barista Pro and Touch.

Bar Pressure – How Many Bars Is Breville Barista Pro?

All Breville espresso makers are designed with a 15 bar Italian pump that applies 9 bar pressure on the water flow during the extraction process for an ideal espresso pull.

Low-Pressure Pre-Infusion

The pre-infusion feature makes sure that the pressure is built up gradually at the beginning to achieve a thorough and even coffee extraction as the water flows through the puck.

Volumetric Control

These machines are set up with preset 1 and 2 cup volumes for pulling a single (1 oz) and double (2 oz) shot.

If you want more or less coffee to be dispensed (longer or shorter extraction), feel free to manually override or reprogram the default shot volumes to fit your preferences.

Dry Puck

The coffee puck after brewing can be wet and messy. Therefore, the Barista Pro and Touch come with a Dry Puck feature that effectively removes the excess water from the filter basket to make cleaning much easier.

Instant Hot Water – Does The Breville Barista Pro Dispense Hot Water? Can The Barista Touch Make Hot Water?

These two machines have a dedicated hot water outlet to preheat serving cups and make various drinks (Americano, tea, hot chocolate) and instant foods (instant noodles, oatmeal).

Accessories – What Does Barista Pro Come With? What Comes With Breville Touch?

  • 54mm Full Stainless Steel Portafilter
  • Single & Dual Wall (1 & 2 Cup)
  • Filter Baskets
  • The Razor™ Precision Dose Trimming Tool
  • 480 ml Stainless Steel Milk Jug
  • Cleaning Kit
  • Water Filter
Accessories - What Does Barista Pro Come With? What Comes With Breville Touch?

Can The Breville Barista Pro Make Coffee? Can The Breville Touch Make Coffee?

Yes, other than variations of the espresso brewing method (Ristretto, Normale, Lungo), with the hot water outlet and steam wand, the user can explore many different espresso-based coffee drinks such as the common latte and cappuccino and the less-common Flat White and Cortado.

Can The Breville Barista Pro Make Coffee? Can The Breville Touch Make Coffee?

Barista Pro Vs Touch – What Is The Difference Between Breville Pro And Touch?

Semi-Automatic/Automatic Vs Fully Automatic Espresso Machines

The Barista Pro can be considered to be either an automatic or semi-automatic espresso machine.

It has an electric pressure pump to apply pressure on the water flow without the need for human operation, differing it from manual devices.

Though most of the operations can be automatically performed, making latte art and textured milk with the steam wand isn’t. This means it’s not fully automatic like the Barista Touch.

While most fully automatic machines make users rely largely on the presets and automation with little freedom for modifications, this isn’t the case with the Barista Touch.

Automation is in place to produce quality coffee consistently and quickly, but users can switch to manual functions anytime as well.

Interface

Both the Barista Pro and Touch don’t have an analog pressure gauge like the Barista Express.

You can watch and monitor the grinding and brewing process of the Barista Pro via the LCD display which shows a count-up timer and other helpful guides, descriptions, and animations.

So, if you’re used to timing your espresso extraction, you’ll be able to get acquainted with this device in no time. But you’ll still essentially operate the machine via buttons and dials.

You can watch and monitor the grinding and brewing process of the Barista Pro via the LCD display

The Barista Touch, however, highlights the “Touch” aspect as you’ll be interacting via its intuitive and beautifully designed touch screen display. It simplifies the entire process into 3 simple steps – Grind, Brew, and Milk.

 It simplifies the entire process into 3 simple steps - Grind, Brew, and Milk.

All you have to do is glide your finger through the screen, pick your preferred settings for each step, and let the machine do its job.

Or opt for one of the pre-programmed drinks to get caffeinated almost effortlessly. Like the Pro, the Touch also displays a count-up timer to help users keep track of the shot pulling process

So in this round of Breville Barista Pro vs Touch, it’s a clear win for the latter.

Savable Customized Coffee

Although you can manually adjust many factors that affect the brew on the Barista Pro machine, the Barista Touch goes above and beyond that to simplify the system significantly.

The user can easily make changes to the coffee strength and milk texture and temperature within the coffee-making process to create customized coffee recipes that better match their personal preferences.

What’s more, you can also create and save up to 8 customized drinks with the settings that you like, a unique name, and an image.

It’s like owning a personal barista that knows exactly what your go-to menus are to quickly and precisely whip up a consistent result every time.

you can also create and save up to 8 customized drinks with the settings that you like

Considering the manual override functions are still available on the Barista Touch model, it beats the Pro in this round of Barista Pro vs Touch as well.

Steam Wand

The Pro still relies on a manual steam wand, so how the steamed milk turns out will depend on the skills of the espresso lovers.

The Touch has moved on to the upgraded automatic steam wand. The user can utilize the milk temperature and texture customization feature to order the machine to make micro-foam milk the way they desire.

The auto steam wand can also be manually operated to give the user more control and learn the craft hands-on like the Pro.

Another win for the Barista Touch in this battle of Barista Pro vs Touch.

Steam Wand

Knock Box – Does The Breville Barista Touch Come With A Knock Box?

As I’ve previously mentioned, the Barista Touch also comes with a neat Knock Box to help you clean up the grounds more easily, quicker, and less messy.

Knock Box

Size

Size-wise, between Barista Pro vs Touch, the latter is a bit smaller in width and depth by around 1 inch and they both share the same height (16”/40.6 cm).

Price

Both of them can be considered high-end machines so the price tags can be out of reach for many casual coffee users.

The Barista Touch is nearly $1,000 dollars and $200 more expensive than the Pro, due to the amount of automation, convenience, and speed it can offer to the users.


Final Verdict – Breville Barista Pro Vs Breville Barista Touch

Is Barista Pro Worth It?

Though the interface isn’t as visually pleasing, interactive, and convenient as the Touch’s, the Breville Barista Pro is still worth the price for the functions it can provide.

You only have to operate the frothing wand manually and can pretty much navigate the rest of the process automatically.

Is The Barista Touch Worth It?

For an additional $200, you can get your own personal barista that’s capable of brewing consistent customizable espresso cups with minimal time and effort.

And, you have the freedom to switch to manual mode anytime.

So if money isn’t the issue, I recommend getting the Breville Barista Touch.

Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine, Brushed Stainless Steel, BES880BSS

FAQs About Breville

Breville is a globally well-known Australian small appliance brand that was founded in 1932 in Sydney.

Today, it’s designing, manufacturing, and distributing various kitchen products to over 70 countries around the world, including its espresso machines and other types of coffee gear that are very well-loved in the coffee community.

Is Breville a Good Coffee Machine?

Absolutely! Breville no doubt provides some of the best household coffee machines in the market, including the best espresso machine. Some of its devices even got certified by the Specialty Coffee Association.

Why Is Breville So Expensive? Is Breville Worth The Money?

Espresso machines, in general, are very complicated to make so they tend to be more expensive than other coffee makers. Breville goes above and beyond to make sure that home baristas can produce third-wave specialty coffee with cutting-edge technologies and various automated functions, so its products are often in the high-end price range.

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