Breville BES990BSS Oracle Touch Espresso Machine, Brushed Stainless Steel

Let me preface this review by letting you know how we use our machine(s). We are both busy in the mornings with two kids to get to school. We're moving around a lot and need something easy, but also want more than coffee and something we can change up a bit here and there. Previously we had the Breville Barista (it now sits in my office). First the Barista has been a great machine for us. Problem was, my wife never felt comfortable making the drinks. The time it took made mornings tough. I actually enjoy making the drinks but when early mornings come along it really is hard to getting a drink made everyday while trying to get out the door.Now this machine: What a machine it is. First, and most importantly, my wife loves it and she uses it daily, twice per day, on her own. It's incredibly simple to use and clean. The price was something I was shying from at first. In fact I didn't even tell my wife how much it cost for a week or two. I wanted her to fall in love with it first. My game is on point and it worked. I mean, I did get some backlash but man I dodged a pretty good amount of grief.TIME: I can make a single drink in under a minute. It's all automated except moving the porta filter from the tamper to the extractor (I don't even know the correct names most likely but you get the point). The machine has an auto-on setting so it's on and heated up for us when we go to use it. It even has a heater for the porta filter that gets it hot prior to putting grinds in it. I never knew much about it but I guess it helps the taste of the coffee if the porta filter is hot when the coffee grinds are tamped in it. Most amazingly, it TAMPS THE GRINDS AUTOMATICALLY. My biggest issue was always finding consistent pressure when doing it on my own manually. I'm no pro so it was always a different quality of drink. Here, it's the same every single time.Another thing that I loved that so few ppl probably think of when buying anything is, the size of the water container AND how to refill it. Unlike most machines, you don't have to remove the water container or open a lid in the rear to refill the water. You put the container in the machine when you first get it and then on the front is an opening to refill it. So easy. Everything was thought through. Also it holds enough water for us to refill maybe just every few to four days, with regular use.Every thing is touch screen, down to the grind size and temps.Something to address: A previous reviewer said it "cannot make lattes" because of the milk froth. I do want to address this. First, It absolutely can make a latte for the average person out there. Now, if you are a barista, or a person who demands only the top notch froth, yeah maybe this is where the machine is a bit less quality than full manual. When I made froth manually, I could make it absolutely perfect. It's true, this machine cannot do it "as well" but does do pretty well. However, manual machines, often take twice as long to froth milk and it requires constant attention. This machine allows you to set the temp that you want the milk and the amount of froth. It automatically stops frothing at the desired temp. It's really fantastic. It makes really nice froth IMO, but not great froth. You are trading this one aspect. As far as the coffee, I believe this makes better than I can manually becuase of the consistency. Now a barista can probably make a better coffee than this machine, but I cannot. I'm an average joe who wants more than coffee in the mornings, and wants nice quality with ease and quickness. This machine requires almost zero cleanining aside from the froth wand, and is super easy to run cleaning cycles on.Another note: You can always change your grind and coffee pour. For example, if you really want a stronger coffee, you can make the grinds smaller. However, this may cause less coffee to come out during extraction. However, the machine very easily allows you to simply go in and add brew time to the shot so that you get your complete two ounces. If you do purchase this machine, I highly suggest purchasing a 2 ounce (minimum) shot glass so that you can test your grind to extraction ratio. Basically if you aren't getting two ounces, add time. Test when you get it with a small bag. Basically just assume you are going to burn through a test bag of coffee (use the coffee you plan to drink as results change with each bean type). Get it down pat and make sure you get your two ounces and you're set.CREMA: This machine makes absolutely gorgeous crema. Even on my best "pulls", I never got crema like this machine creates. Do yourself a favor if you get time, do a shot in a clear glass just to watch the crema bubbling underneath as it is pulled. It's very impressive.These are my thoughts. If you have the money, get this machine. Don't look back. I know the progression of thought. It's this kind of "want, need, doubt, price, doubt, price, want, need, almost buy, back away, price, need, etc" kind of thing. I promise you, unless you are looking for excellence you will feel you just made the best buying decision you have in a long time. Personally, I think it's better than a Starbucks drink (just my opinion) and truly, considering the price you pay for a Starbucks drink, this machine pays for itself in time. Also, be assured, it's very well built. It's a very nice, sturdy (very heavy), solid machine.

When it is working properly I like the machine & it makes good coffee. Unfortunately it seems very prone to problems.Several months after purchase the machine would not heat up & we needed to return it for warranty service. They solved that problem but when the machine was returned it was very poorly packaged and the front panel was scuffed in shipment. We were without the machine for 3+/- weeks for this repair.It's now < 14 months since we purchased the machine & it is again malfunctioning. Intermittently for the last several weeks the machine will start chattering & leaking water from the water spout &/or steam from the steam wand. This happens even when the machine is off. We now unplug the machine so it doesn't start buzzing & steaming in the middle of the night.Tech support will not help you unless they can establish a video link and you can demonstrate the problem to them live. That is very difficult with an intermittent problem. I finally was able to show them the failure live & they told me to descale the machine. I did that. I was able to make one cup of coffee after that and 10 minutes later the steam wand started blowing steam full pressure while the machine was in standby. Another call to tech support and now I am told to drain the boilers, remove the water tank and drip tray and let it air dry for 12-24 hours. There is nothing in their manual, website or videos about air drying the machine to solve problems.This machine seems to have design problems given the many threads on coffee forums describing how to replace o-rings and replace or clean solenoids. We are still under warranty so when the air drying fails to cure the problem I expect we will need to ship it back for repair again. In the meantime I hope to find a reliable espresso machine to buy during prime days & I will put this one up for sale when/if it is ever repaired properly.I will not be buying Breville & suggest anyone reading this look to another brand also.