Bijou Espresso Machine | Automatic and Manual Espresso, Cappuccino & Latte Maker | 15 Bar Pump | Steam Wand | Silver [VCF149]

This is honestly the best low-end coffee machine you can buy. I received this on the 29th of September at around 11 a.m. I then started making coffee at about 2 pm after buying some beans, and since then (now on the 30th of September) I have made around 12 cups of delicious cappuccino/latte; and boy. It is tasty (beans depending, obviously). Pros: - Easy to get the machine up for the first time - just as simple as emptying half of the water tank through the portafilter into a big bowl and washing the accessories with warm water. - Super easy for beginners to use. - Makes excellent-tasting espresso and milk-based coffee once you get the knack for it. - Get *almost* everything you need to start; you just don't get a metal milk jug for the steam wand which sucks but you *CAN* just use a normal cup (I guess... - thankfully I had two jugs anyway; I'd recommend buying a slightly smaller one as one of my jugs is a little large and doesn't fit deep enough for small amounts of milk) - The steam wand is ready to use within around 5 minutes and when you are skilled enough can produce delicious frothy micro-foam-filled steamed milk for your milk-based coffees. Cons: - Steam wand takes around 10-20 minutes to cool down, so you can't make more espresso during this time. - The portafilter is a little bit cheap feeling and the notch basket design isn't ideal in my opinion as it can be a little tricky to get the basket out, especially after getting the puck out. You need to swill and dry the basket to easily take it out after use. I'd recommend buying a new portafilter for it once you get the hang of pulling shots with it. No opinion: - With any new coffee machine, you will need to dial it in to find the right dosage, right beans, right pull time, etc. So be ready to waste some beans dialing it in. Overall, I would say this is an excellent coffee machine for the price (I paid £99.99 on offer, but it usually retails for around £200) so if you're on the fence about which bean-to-cup coffee machine to buy, then definitely give this a whirl if you can afford it and be sure to shop around for the best price on this bad boy. I'm in love <3

Product Name: Breville Bijou Espresso Machine Brand: Breville Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars Review: I've been using the Breville Bijou Espresso Machine and am really impressed with it. It's a great little machine that makes excellent espresso, cappuccinos, and lattes. The build quality is excellent. The machine is made of high-quality materials, and it feels very sturdy. It's also straightforward to use. The controls are simple, and getting great results with a bit of practice is easy. I especially like the fact that the machine has a built-in steam wand. This makes it easy to froth milk for cappuccinos and lattes. The steam wand is also mighty, so you can get the perfect foam. Overall, I'm thrilled with the Breville Bijou Espresso Machine. It's a great little machine that makes excellent coffee drinks. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good-quality espresso machine. Pros: Great build quality Easy to use Makes great espresso, cappuccinos, and lattes Built-in steam wand Cons: It can be a bit noisy The water reservoir could be bigger Overall: I recommend the Breville Bijou Espresso Machine to anyone looking for a good quality one. It's a great little machine that makes excellent coffee drinks.

We bought this so that we weren't using coffee pods in our aging dolce gusto machine and I've waited a good few months to review it as it's billed as frequently returned. We use it every day and it hasn't let us down. If you use good coffee you get a great cup of coffee out of this with a decent crema on top. We haven't used the steam wand as neither of us take milk so I can't review that. Pros. Good coffee, easy to use, small machine, works well, clear user guide, not too noisy, only a small leak on first using as I was a bit ham fisted in first use. Cons. Apparently the steam wand results in the pressure/ heat taking time to reset. My advice would be to make your espresso first and then make up your milk. The tamper which comes with it is plastic which doesn't allow for even pressure on making up your puck. We've just used this with variable results, but no real drop off in the taste of the coffee. Some pucks come out too wet and there is some channeling. All in all, it's a great wee machine for our morning coffee. It all depends on what you want from the machine you are looking to buy. If you want fancy you need to look to something at an entirely different price bracket.

to be fair this worked ok for 6 month before we noticed pump issues, heating issues and steamer issues, it now takes forever to heat uo and when it is up to temperature the coffee is still not hot enough so we have to steam it up to temperature, however that takes for ever to heat up and it pumps out loads of water with the steam where it never did that 6 months ago. we dont have hard water issues but still use non hard filtered water so have never had problems with scale but still run a descale and cleaning cycle regular to keep it maintained. its been in use every day for just over 12 months now and basically ready for the bin, however it is older than 12 months as we never used it for a long while as we was still using pods before pods became too expensive to use.. it seemed like great value at first but i dont like the idea of getting used to changing my coffee machine every 12 months when it just pops out of warranty as it seems like this is designed to fail just outside of the warranty. i will not buy another

Me and my husband are bug coffee drinkers and always wanted a good ecspresso machine but the prices was not in our favour.. but then I found this Breville ecspresso machine and fell in love with it! I always drink my coffee with milk so I put 2cup attachment and make my milk hot and fluffy with steam wand - perfect latte👌😍 this machine ir really easy to use, and clean. All process takes up to 5 min, the machine itself warms up quickly (~1min) I just prepare my coffe in that time, after O make my ecspresso I immediately press streem function and while it warms up I clean up my coffee container and also prepare milk for steam👌 ( Never forget to clean you steam wand immediately after use!?) And the price of this thing is just a bargain, you will never find it cheaper 🎊 really recommend!

Makes decent coffee but has some annoying "features" and is not built to last. I've had mine about 18 months now and it has started leaking significantly and is rapidly getting worse. On the plus side it has always managed to push the water through the coffee no matter how finely I've ground it (unlike my previous De'Longhi) so the pressure is good. On the downside, once you have used the milk steamer it refuses to make another coffee until it has cooled down (takes about 5minutes if you switch off and leave the steamer open) so if you are making two cappuccinos you have to remember to make them both before using the steamer! Also, the steamer can start to get EXTREMELY loud - seriously, it can actually be painful to use it without ear protection (and I'm a 58 year-old male). The steamer is also a bit temperamental - at times it is brilliant, at others it takes forever. On balance it's not bad if you just want something to use occasionally - but if it's daily then you probably want better quality.

I have no idea what goes into those capsule things you find in hotel rooms and I don't want to know. What goes into this one is ground coffee. You are in control of how fancy or expensive that is. Obviously, this can lead to mess as even the best coffee grounds scooper can spill stuff, but it's really as simple as: 1. Switch it on. 2. While it's warming up, sort your coffee out into the coffee-holdy-thingy and attach it. 3. Put your cup under the painfully obvious nozzle. 4. Turn the control to drrrrrr drrrrrrrr drrrrrrrrrr mode and wait delicious coffee. Don't wander off as it will just keep going. It does have a sensible cut off but it can't see your cup. 5. Remember to clean out the coffee grounds. Repeat. All you then have to do is remember to keep the water tank topped up. It makes great Espresso style coffee without all the faff with steam boilers. You can make cappuccinos with it - the steam nozzle is OK but it's not quite the volcano of steam you get from a steam driven system. I tend to use it for espresso 95% of the time but face it - cappuccino is an absolute faff which is why it's a treat. The only thing that's a bit odd is that when you remove the coffee grounds holder it can sometimes be a bit soggy on top so avoid irritating spillages by keeping it upright. Really, the only disadvantage over a capsule system is if you find the thought of wiping up stray coffee grounds horrifying and loading up a small metal device a painful chore. Personally I cannot stand the disposal of capsules if I use one when I'm in a hotel room that has one.

I left writing a review for this until now (9 months after purchase) because espresso machines have a habit of going faulty after a while. The last one which was an entirely different brand lasted a week, which is how we ended up with this machine. My wife likes one really strong cup of Cappuccino a day and this has kept her very happy, as it also does a good job of frothing the milk. One tip see tells me is not to pack down the coffee too tightly. Anyway this has been a good buy for us, but espresso machines seem fickle beasts so remember to keep the box and packing, as even the best makes and machines can have problems.