Breville - Barista Touch (BES880)

From what I understand, the barista touch is essentially the Bambino plus with an attached grinder and some semi-automated programs. I believe the guts of the brewing side (thermojet system/etc) are the same. Have you tried manual mode on the touch? Brewing with the Bambino plus should be a nearly identical experience. That being said, if you do like manual mode on the touch it's still a better use of your budget to get a Bambino plus + nicer grinder rather than keeping the touch.

Never thought about it. I have the Breville Barista Touch Express. I'd be surprised there were plastic tubes in there given the price...

I have one I picked up used. Been using it for 6 years now, it’s great. I had a separate grinder which was better, but had to ditch it moving to a small apartment. The built in unit still does the job fine. If you can get it for a good price I’d say go for it. It’s a great starter with legs to hold you over for a while. In fact I just picked up a barista touch off the side of the road that needed repairs, and even after fixing it, the BBE is the unit I decided to keep for home and the Touch got sent to the office for work duty.

I got myself a second hand sage barista touch and never looked back. I rarely buy coffee out anymore. Brilliant machine.

No. The steps in the Breville grinders aren’t fine enough. If you aren’t enjoying the touch, you won’t like the bambino except for the price. MaraX is more manual versus buttons.

I've had the Breville barista touch for about 6 years now and it's still going strong. its not cheap, but it has solid build quality and has an integrated grinder which saves some space. if you keep up with basic maintenance, it’ll definitely last a while. You can find some good options [in this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/productbible/comments/1ljvgzh/the_best_home_espresso_machines/)

I have a breville touch and I think the grinder is pretty good. Ive had it for 6 months now and been loving it. I’m not sure why the grinder doesn’t have good reviews and I don’t have a budget to buy a separate grinder ☹️

Same reason I have a barista touch. I’m not particularly consistent on when I have coffee and sometimes I want one in the middle of the day too. Not waiting for the thing to stabilize. 

I have a breville barista touch and a bambino plus ($1000 and $500). I only ever use my 3 cup bialetti ($30) and the milk frother of one of the machines. the barista touch has a grinder, frother and touch screen and you can adjust the grind size, timing of brew, customize certain settings for different types of brews and more. its actually amazing. except a long time to set up and get it right. if you and your family prefer different coffee beans then the built in grinder will be inconvenient because the holder is big and the beans will still be inside the holder even though you already grinned them. in short I think its more convenient to do the moka pot, buy your own grinder, and frother. will come out insanely cheaper than buying a machine and has more diversity

Yeah i have the breville touch, which doesnt have as much control as I would like, but its shared with roommates that dont know the first thing about coffee. The touch is easy for anyone to use, but the coffee from a barista express or pro is better. As long as they choose a machine theyre suited to, they’ll be fine