Baratza Encore Coffee Grinder vs Breville Barista Touch

- Temp-controlled electric kettle. Not a gooseneck, but I get around that by transferring the right volume of water to a small gooseneck measuring cup thing. Works for now.

There is no control for the temperature of the crema, thus the milk is the only variable with flexibility. The highest temperature setting allowed on the milk is 170 degrees. On my old machine where I manually monitored the frothing with a thermometer, I would go to 180 degrees. Part of the reason I like it that hot to start with, is that I make big lattes

(smooth music) - [Narrator] Freshly Ground coffee makes for a better cup of Joe. Coffee goes stale relatively quickly, so when you buy pre-ground bean...

It does that, and it does that very well. The thermojet heating system provides a very quick transition between brewing and steaming and steaming spee...

- Bolst’s hot curry powder (add to your deviled eggs or chicken salad and you’ll never go back)

So I am disappointed that I have yet to get the same taste from fresh ground beans out of the new machine that I enjoyed with old one. I'm currently doing pre-ground coffee in the Barista for americano's, and they do pretty good. But with fresh ground beans, I have yet to get the right combination of settings. A lot of the time it comes out tasting burned

If you don’t need a grinder for travel, I would highly recommend “buy once , cry once” on a good electric. You are looking at close to $200 US for the grinder and single dose hopper (not necessary, but I love having it, it also quiets the action).

Buy good beans and you are good to go. The longer review: First of all, this machine is expensive so I would look for any sort of sale. For us, it was worth it. The expense: At time of purchase this was going for roughly $799, but in terms of value it was worth it for us

We've had to work through a few challenges to get the grinder to work in a practical way for us, but overall it's been ok. I don't taste a noticeable difference in flavor between freshly ground and the bags we would pre-grind at Costco. Things to consider: *Every time you grind beans, you will have grinds that go everywhere- as you pour them into your coffee maker and as you put the bin back in place. It's extremely messy

I went through the arduous steps of cleaning the burr grinder (yes, tools are involved) and I vacuumed out a ton of coffee dirt but even after all of that the grinder makes noise but fails to grind beans. After just two months this is unacceptable to have it just not function anymore. I am still trying to get an email back from Breville support so I'll update this review if they are able to resolve the problem. Still the fact I have to deal with this in the first place means I am never going to enjoy this machine as much as I had been this thing is NOT cheap

The purchase through Whole latte love was smooth and easy. Great website design, prompt communication, and quick processing to get my package out the door. I love the usability of the BARATZAgear Single Dose Hopper as well.

After speaking to Breville customer service about the differences in machines, I made the decision to purchase the Barista Touch even though it was quite new to the market. Boy was I impressed. The machine was easy to set up with the guided tour on the touch screen. In no, I was making my first latte then cappuccino and then another latte