Breville Barista Express vs. Express Impress: Which Should You Buy?

What the Impress Adds to the Barista Express

The Barista Express Impress (BES876) is a Barista Express with the dosing and tamping done for you. Instead of tamping by hand, you pull a lever that presses a 10 kg tamp with a 7° twist. A dose gauge shows whether the basket is under, ideal or over. If it's under, the machine offers "A Bit More" and remembers the correction for the next shot. The original Barista Express (BES870) leaves dose and tamp to you.

The rest is a close family resemblance: the same kind of conical burr grinder, a pressure gauge, a manual steam wand, a 2 L tank, and a CLEAN/DESCALE light that flashes for cleaning and stays solid for descaling.

Edition note: the BES870 facts come from Breville's US book. The BES876 book we used is the Australia/New Zealand edition, so its temperatures are in °C.

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Side by Side

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The Impress Puck System, in the Book's Own Terms

• Tamp: push the lever "to the end until the beep", then release slowly. Breville recommends tamping twice.
• Dose gauge: the ideal dose is the middle bar. Under it, the DOSE light flashes and you can grind "A Bit More". The machine then lengthens its auto dose for next time.
• Over-dosed: trim with the Razor tool. A severe overdose makes the lever very hard to push.
• Manual mode: press MANUAL DOSE and set the dose with its dial. The book notes the auto time doesn't adjust in Manual mode.

Breville's baskets and targets are the same on both machines: 8-11 g for one cup, 16-19 g for two, with flow starting at about 8-12 seconds.

What the Express makes you do yourself: set the GRIND AMOUNT dial, tamp by hand at about 10-15 kg (22-33 lb), and judge the dose from the shot and the pressure gauge.

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Resets and Alerts: The Impress Has More

Neither has a display or numbered error codes; every alert is a light or a beep.

Fixes only the Impress has:

• Lever very hard to push: a severe overdose (trim, check the filter size) or coffee build-up. Remove the tamp cover and brush the tamp face.
• Puck not flat: grounds on the tamp face.
• Severe overdose or underdose: usually the wrong basket for the setting. A single basket in double mode overdoses; a double basket in single mode underdoses (then reset the auto dose time).

More: Express Impress tamping problems · Express Impress lights explained.

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Living With Them: Cleaning and Descaling

Both run a back-flush cleaning cycle with the 1 CUP basket, the cleaning disc and one tablet, in about 5 minutes. They descale with 1 sachet of Breville descaling powder in 1 L of water, run through the coffee, steam and hot water paths, then rinse with a full 2 L tank. Neither should have its tank removed or emptied during descaling, and both leave descale mode after 5 minutes without action.

The differences are the entry buttons (see the table above) and which button runs the coffee part: 1 CUP on the Express, 2 CUP on the Impress. The Impress book also says to remove the water filter first and not to descale with bottled water.

Extra Impress care: brush the tamp face and cradle, and keep fingers out of the tamping chute. The book also says: "Do not open the programming port."

More: Barista Express descaling · Barista Express cleaning.

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When Either One Stops

• On but stopped working: both books say to switch off, unplug and let it cool 30-60 minutes. The BES870 calls it the safety thermal cut-out; the BES876 says it's too hot. If it persists, call Breville.
• Espresso only drips: on both, the grind is too fine, there's too much coffee or the basket is blocked. Go coarser, lower the dose, and clear the basket with the pin on the cleaning tool. Descale if that doesn't help.
• Grinder times out (Impress): the grind is very fine, so clean the burrs.

Neither book gives owner repairs inside the housing. The BES876 book says: "Servicing should only be performed by an authorised service representative." Breville US support is 1-866-BREVILLE (1-866-273-8455).

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Which Should You Buy?

• Choose the Express Impress if you're new to espresso and want the machine to tell you when the dose is right, and to tamp evenly every time.
• Choose the Barista Express if you're happy to dose and tamp by hand and want the simpler machine.

We haven't compared prices, and the books don't compare reliability.

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FAQ

Does the Barista Express Impress tamp automatically?

It assists rather than tamping on its own. You push a lever, and the machine applies a 10 kg tamp with a 7° twist. Breville recommends doing it twice.

How many grind settings do they have?

The Barista Express has 16. The Express Impress has 25, and its book suggests starting at 16.

Can I reset the Impress's dose if it keeps under-filling?

Yes. In standby, hold MANUAL DOSE and FILTER together for 3 seconds to reset the auto dose time. Check you're using the basket that matches the filter setting first.

Do both have a pressure gauge?

Yes. Both have a gauge. The Impress adds a separate dose level gauge for the grounds in the basket.

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Related Breville Guides

• Barista Express vs Barista Pro
• Barista Touch vs Barista Express
• Barista Express Not Working?
• Express Impress Tamping Problems

Sources: Breville Barista Express BES870 instruction book (USCM V23); Breville Barista Express Impress BES876 instruction book (ANZ C22).