A couple of hundred off for the oh so divisive dual boiler. I'm aware the price has been lower but hasn't been anywhere close to sub 1000 for a long time. Also available on Amazon for the same price.
Breville The Dual Boiler Espresso Machine BES920BSS $1299 Delivered / C&C / In-Store @ MYER
160
bananafish05 on 03/11/2024 - 09:32 myer.com.au (915 clicks)
Last edited 03/11/2024 - 09:46 by 2 other users
Last edited 03/11/2024 - 09:46 by 2 other users
Related Stores
closed Comments
- 1
- 2
Whoops edited
Price in title
Free?
Shop in title too
breville must be laughing, 100% increase since 2018 with no updated model & people still consider it a deal
Cost is up e.g transport, etc
Yep I paid $790 which included the smart grinder in June 2019.
I paid $780 end of 2022 for just the BDB (including the 10% discount ultimate giftcards) - Even the last few years they pretty regularly go on sale for sub-1000, and at that price point there isn't anything close feature-wise.
If I was looking to get one now i'd be waiting for a better price than this.
They have upgraded the seals and a couple of other internals that were weak points but I get what you mean.
Although in this price range they have nothing that stacks up against it.
Yeah exactly, unfortunately things have gone up in price post covid. Like starting prices for cars like Mazda 3, Corollas etc were in the low-mid 20s, now standard price is 30 something thousand but people still pay for it because they are solid vehicles.
Amazon have it for the same price. Myers RRP is a joke.
How does this work?
Supplier redemption offer
Purchase a selected Breville Espresso Machine and receive a cashback offer of up to $800.* Hide details
*Purchase a selected Breville Espresso Machine between 0:00 AEST on Tuesday, 18 September 2024 until further notice (“Promotional Period”) and receive up to $800 cashback when you buy coffee beans via beanz.com.au, 2 complimentary bags of coffee from beanz and access to a tutorial specific to your Participating Product via supplier redemption after successfully registering your Participating Product and valid Proof of Purchase. This offer is valid until further notice.Edit: Found it, it is pretty meh
Earn cashback
Get $50 cashback for every $200 spent on coffee beans, up to $800 cashback total within 48 months.
https://www.beanz.com/en-auShameless brag: Breville offered me 20% off this in Jan this year and somehow the invoice came to ~$590 including postage - I did not ask questions just told them to send me the invoice. I paid immediately at sure enough it turned up a few days later.
Refurb machine? ;)
Brand spanking new! They did state at one point it seemed cheap but I distracted the with thoughts of sending the invoice.
Nice one, congrats!
Was that direct from Breville?
Yes it was
That's an insane deal. Well done!
My father is CEO of Breville Australia, we'll send you a PM. Thank you.
Selling for $1224 on the Good Guys Commercial website, still not a good price for these machines so unless you absolutely need something now I'd wait until the Xmas/Boxing Day sales.
Did you try adding to cart? Good luck, has been there for ages without being able to get it.
Nope, bought one from them in December 2022 for $889 and it's still going strong touch wood.
Have you tried contacting them?
edit: I can get all the way through to the payment screen using chrome browser, maybe try another browser?
Gave up when Costco deal for $50 more with grinder came up a couple of weeks back.
26 December 2021, I paid $800 at tgg
It's a great machine so far but deep down I've always wanted to upgrade, it's def not an end game machine
that's what is holding me back. my wife won't let me get even the bambino plus… "hold out, we'll buy la marzocco later" its been 2 years. So here I am doing hand ground pour overs, but I do enjoy a v60/aeropress I guess.
Do yourself a favour, get the BES920, a quality grinder, throw on a stainless or brass inner shower screen, an IMS precision screen and get a naked portafilter.
You'll be making quality coffee for a reasonably low cost, this is why these machines are so popular. You'll get 5+ years of good coffee while you wait to get the gs3 mp.
Please do tell me more about these upgrades?
I replaced the shower screen myself 2 years ago when they cracked but any upgrades would be great.
@meong: It’s out of stock right now, but something similar to this.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/184521440474
Naked portafilters are available on AliExpress.
@OzzyBrak: What is the improvement over the stock part?
I got this refurb and fully serviced about a year ago for just over $600 and use with the DF64 DLC, and have made lots of upgrades to the puck prep process, including the paper filter and a puck screen, the RDT and the WDT. I used a bottomless portafilter to make some additional adjustments, but have switched back to the stock one sfter watching Lance Hendrick's video called "Bottomless portafilters are liers".
However, my shots are still not nearly as consistent as I'd like (although not as bad as the Silvia & Rocky combo from years ago).
So definitely interested in this upgrade, but would love to understand more about the return on investment.
@elektron: It’s mostly just the IMS competition screen. I needed a new seal as I have a 2016 model, and replacing the plastic inner screen with brass or stainless allows larger grind sizes, more consistent heat and removes a plastic component which is important to me.
You could likely get 90% of the benefits with just the IMS screen. I’m happy to pay a bit more for the solid metal inner screen.
@OzzyBrak: Thanks for the explanation, will definitely consider this, as I didn't even realise the original part was plastic.
@elektron:
Larger grind sizes, should actually be more weight of ground coffee in the basket, as you get a bit more room.I would agree with this poster and have had a similar experience. https://www.home-barista.com/repairs/using-ims-competition-s…
@elektron: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/184475293342
this is close, shame how expensive postage is. I think that was partly why I opted for the $100 pack as it had free shipping.
@OzzyBrak: Thank you - not bad at all for 90% benefits. By the way, that pack has been updated to $104, including shipping, probably in response to the demand / traffic from your post.
@elektron: It looks like eBay has some cheaper options from Bulgaria if you are willing to wait. Amazon also does one for $97, however the inner screen is stainless (which is fine).
@meong: The newer machines have upgraded the shower screen I think anyway
Get a puck screen and you should be good
I have the dual boiler and a DF54. I'm now often disappointed getting a coffee out and about as mine is better
@ToonarmY: The inner screen is still plastic on the new ones isn’t it? Having a brass or stainless inner screen and a quality ims outer screen is worth $100 to me.
@OzzyBrak: I have added brass inner and ims outer, all other accessories, df83 with DLC, I get great coffee, but, a great cafe easily beats mine, like, I can tell wtf is wrong with mine in first sip. I also use distilled water 😂
WDT RDT, scale measurements, following the recipe, fine adjustments, light and medium roast beans, what else do I need to do to get to the next level?
I often do back flush with tablet, back flush without tablet before every coffee I make. Machine is great, but it's not the end game for me.
Mine is also slayer moded. 6bar shots are possible.
@sqheaven: I’ve got no idea. I do way less than that and struggle to buy cafe coffee as it isn’t as good. Is it most cafes or just a single cafe that beats yours?
Are you watching your naked shots to check if your puck is correct?
@OzzyBrak: I post all my shots on Instagram 😂 Shot mirrors, to see every shot. Record it for learning and showing off. Shots look great.
My office has Naked Duck nearby, easily make better coffee than mine, on most days. I don't go out for coffee as I have invested a lot into my setup. Only when there is a work requirement for work from office. Maybe every 6 months lol
@sqheaven: I wouldn't use distilled water without adding anything to it.
This can equally strip your machine and effect the taste of your coffee. Minimum add right dose of potassium bicarbonate to your distilled water
@ToonarmY: Yeah, I was suss on distilled water too. I didn’t even think it was recommended for drinking.
@ToonarmY: This! Try Pavlis Water.
For espresso I add 1g potassium bicarbonate to 100 ml of Reverse Osmisis or distilled water for a concentrate solution.
I then add 10 g of concentrate per litre of brew (again RO or distilled) water.
You can use only 5 g of concentrate if brewing darker roasts.
His original article is here: https://www.home-barista.com/water/1977-la-pavoni-europiccol…
Here is another example recipe: https://www.home-barista.com/water/water-recommendation-t574…
Or you could get third wave, etc water additives.
@ASA: Iv been putting 1g of potassium bicarbonate into 10litres of purea water from Woolies
Iv found this by far the easiest method to make rpavlis water.
I recently got a fridge with filtered water so may not need to do this anymore
@ToonarmY: Purea water is what Ive been using for about a year. I got 10x 10l off an Ozbargain deal a while back :)
@ASA: It's not purely distilled water, this https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/0000000000…
Did not notice a day and night difference. Just an upgrade which probably did nothing.
@sqheaven: Hmm, I havent seen that in woolies but interesting. Its kinda similar price to the Pureau 10l casks. I'm not sure about the 1/1000 Sodium… Is Pureau better? Have to check…
(I also chose Pureau cause some Aussie coffee experts I follow on IG were using it :) )
@sqheaven: Honestly I really appreciate your investment into your machine, I also own a Breville BES920, IMS Precision Shower Screen, Brass Block, VST, Bottomless Portafilter, etc. WDT, Precision scales, Puck Screens etc, dialed in over 32 Single Origins and idk how many blends.
It does sound like there may be something wrong with your machine or process, check the flow rate of your setup because it's not normal at least in the world of coffee. Rather than thinking about coffee machines are inherently better/worse than others, a budget setup can occasionally offer the rare perfect extraction. Higher coffee machines can only reduce the variance in our shots rather than improving taste, so if you're not dialing in the beans enough then it may not be ideal.
The flow rate between different setups may also vary, if you're using different temperatures, different pressures, different weights etc they'll all change the equation in which your flow rate is, therefore it's not necessarily good to follow the roasters recipes to a tea. Visually, the flow rate may also change based on the freshness of the beans such as coming out faster except it's more "foamy" etc, look at the extraction weight as well. Sometimes, even starting extraction cold can affect results, so I always heat the group head up by extracting 4-5s empty first.
For Medium-Light roasts, I use a relatively fine setting, 93c, 20.5g in my portafilter, and somewhere between 41g-50g out, 27s extraction time as an initial assessment. Then taste and adjust as necessary, I prefer a more ristretto-like ratio at first and adjust based on whether I think it's too astringent or not based on the priority of adjusting grind first which typically solves it. I personally don't find that adjusting extraction time or temperature to be ideal. Temperature and time kills flavonoids.
Unfortunately, I don't really know what's wrong with your setup but I personally don't think the machine is holding me back. I use a La Marzocco machine at my workplace and it's not really that much better than my setup, just more consistent.
@Yve: The answer is in your reply. BDB occasionally hits the sweet spot. There is nothing wrong with my setup or the workflow; it's just that I am not satisfied. You could mess up a shot even on a 10k machine. The only difference is that the possibility is rare. I bought the new grinder in hopes of unlocking the flavors and complexity of cafe-grade coffee. It is still not seasoned. I have only passed 1kg through it. I see so many videos on coffee making, and people messing up shots on their high-end machines. I think it's a challenge that we home baristas face daily.
I want to increase the consistency of pulling great shots and unlock the complex flavor out of the coffee. That's it.
Can you recommend a quality single dose grinder that does not break the bank?
@Brakus: What is breaking the bank to you? The answer will depend on that as I went with a niche zero since it didn't break the bank for me. I have purchased a vario vs3 as a wedding gift which I would consider a banging budget single dose grinder. The df64 is the recommended between the two I mentioned in terms of price and quality.
@Brakus: I have had a DF64 gen 1 with DLC burrs since Dec 2021 and am happy with how it works with the Dual Boiler.
The cost then was USD $420 from alibaba.
You know if you buy Sony Alpha 1, that does not mean you'd become a pro photographer from day one.
You have to start somewhere, and BDB is a great start. I started from a 100$ Delonghi Ec155, I thought it's the only thing I need. Used my spice grinder to grinder coffee, instantly regretted it 😂 So I bought a Delonghi Kg-79.
Fast forward couple of years, I have BDB and df83 and eureka Specialita.
Ec155 ~ Breville Pro ~ BDB (8 years of journey)
Kg-79 ~ Specialita ~ df83
That said, for home, the best setup is pour over, aero press. Without going into the complexity of espresso, you can get amazing coffee. So my advice is, stick to it. I never knew this when I started.
Yep you should have got an Oracle. No regrets there.
Asides from the Decent, what else has features you're missing on the BDB?
I can understand some people prefer the aesthetics / build quality of the higher end machines like La Marzocco, Slayer etc - but I think the feature set of the BDB is more than enough for 99% of people.
Same price at Costco recently with the grinder included
Why divisive? I hear it's a very good machine at this price point, and nobody seems to offer alternatives around that price?
Fail just outside warranty, build quality has dropped heaps since they became popular, service is rubbish, parts are expensive
That's a shame. So what are the options at that price point?
From what I've heard, the later models have fixed a lot of the issues that affected earlier models - having said that, mine is from 2017 and still going strong.
In terms of other options you could look at a cheaper single boiler, but for DBs the 920 reigns supreme in the sub-2k price bracket.
Hodl for Boxing Day/Black Friday
Yes, hold off for a bit… They usually come down to around 900-1000 once or twice per year. I got mine mid Nov last year for $950 (including a $50 cashback). I knew it would come down further but I had waited for 8 months already. 2 weeks later it came down to $850 I think.
These machines make great coffee for 18months to 2 years then they fall apart.
All coffee machines have o-rings etc that break down need replacing over time. The unique thing to breville is the poor location of these things within the units I.e. right next to your main electronics and triac boards. So despite following all maintenance and descale procedures (even using bottled only water), these parts will break down and you will get internal leaks or dripping steam wands etc. none of this is mentioned in any of the care documentation you get with the machine. The casual first time user will be blissfully unaware until their machine starts having major issues. Mine was was staying boiling hot even when in standby because sensors had been damaged by internal condensation.
In my case,
Machine first broke down at 18 months - repair under warranty
Second break down after another 20 months - had to fight tooth and nail with breville, they finally agreed to pay for parts but I had to pay $500 in labour
Third break down after another 18 months - gave up, sold on marketplace to someone who repairs these as a hobby.
As others have said, while we have had a lot of inflation in recent years, this price is steep for what this machine is (especially considering that when I bought mine this machine came with a seperate grinder - which you will definitely need).
If it still stacks up after all of the above for you, ensure to really kick the tyres on the machine as you get to the end of your warranty period. Also, if extended warranty is available I would buy (usually I would argue against extended warranties but breville are a nightmare to deal with, servicing is expensive and this machine will break down)7 y.o. bes920 here.
Have recently replaced the stream wand ball valve diy cost me about 50 bucks and 1hr.
Have replaced leaking temp probes before, diy cost me about 30 bucks and 20 mins.
Plastic spacer in group head disintegrated within 3yr warranty, was replaced for free no fuss from Breville. Very good warranty.
A little rusty inside cos I let steam leaks go on for too long but other than that it's sweet as a nut.
Good stuff. There are good instructional videos online (not by breville) and parts can be sourced easily from the likes of out-west coffee. The difficult thing is, you need to be pretty handy with electronics to start with, i.e. need a multimeter and special screwdrivers to open the machine up. So yes, great for machines for those that have a garage, tools and the know how. Not great for average consumer that expects a $1000 appliance to last 5-10 years without intervention outside what the manufacturer advises in the documentation you recieve
Yeah that's probably true, if you want a 10y machine you'd be looking at one that costs 5k though with a dual boiler.
The older BES920 isn’t built the same as this one, my original BES920 last lasted 10 years and was better built or better materials, I replaced my BES920 with the latest BES920 and as RKEL403 said it’s just died last week after 2 years 4 months. The exterior is lots of plastic, I got the black model and paints coming off all over it.
They aren’t building them to last anymore, built with profits in mind
That has been fixed on the newer models. The o-rings have been replaced with compression fittings that don't degrade and leak.
https://coffeesnobs.com.au/forum/equipment/brewing-equipment…
Yep - thankfully mine is one of those models (purchased late '22) so that's one less thing to worry about.
I had the same issue with my 920 that i purchased in 2017.
Had extended warranty for 5 years but the temp issue arrived just on the 6th year.
The temp would go up to 120 degrees and i had to manually turn it off each time. Luckily i live near an authorised repairer which quoted me for $350 total to repair it.
Would I buy it again at the original price in 2017? Yes.
Would I buy in in today's price? No.
I was absolutely blown away by this when it happened to mine, machine appeared off but continued heating indefinitely, only noticed because I happened to place my hand on top and it was lightening hot. Just seemed like a massive safety pitfall, should have been a recall imo
Bro it looked like it was about to take off haha
I had to release the steam to quickly cool it down but it was so hot i was lucky it didnt burn me
This is the issue mine has, 2 years and 4 months old
FYI
They replaced them with compression rings a while ago.
Use filtered water in this (and all machines) it should last you a good few years
Second break down after another 20 months - had to fight tooth and nail with breville, they finally agreed to pay for parts but I had to pay $500 in labour
lol so basically you saved about $50. Not worth the hassle.
Breville will install parts if you buy for them, they are sometimes 30-40% cheaper, but there is no warranty on their work if that part fails again. So for a steam wand you might save 50-60 bucks for instance, but if it fails, money down the drain. Unless you learn to so the repair yourself, which for a steam wand total replacement is way harder than it should be.
I purchased a BDB 20 months ago and am on my 3rd replacement machine since then. During this time I have been without the BDB for 13 of the 20 months while they have been at service centre where a technician has been trying to diagnose the issues but ultimately they give up and have a new machine sent out. Unfortunately, the latest one which I have only had or 3 weeks is having the same issue as the last 2 but I'm so sick of not making a morning coffee I'm sticking with this piece of S—-t for the time being. In my opinion the BDB is a terrible machine and while anyone with basic knowledge of how to diagnose and repair these can do so. For a machine that in brand new and comes with a 2 year warranty you should not have to do so for at least a few years.
For those that have no knowledge/understanding or confidence to pull these machines apart to diagnose, service and maintain the BDB, I would avoid the BDB at all costs.
I can't see a competitively priced alternative though, can you?
These things when purchased on sale for around $900 punch well above their weight.
Before replacing my old BDB I was looking at a Lelit Elizabeth (ironically Lelit is now owned by Breville) but they retail for at least $2300.
Not sure about a like for like for the same price. Anecdotally, two of my siblings bought the Barista Express around the same time as my BDB, both still going strong and haven’t had any breakdowns or services. It’s a “lesser” machine, but still makes a good coffee.
Since I’ve offloaded my bdb, I kept the grinder and have been just drinking freshly ground with a French press. Not as good as the espresso, but far less hassle.If I was going for an espresso machine again in the future I’d either go cheap and cheerful around the $500 (maybe bambino plus) or splash out for Italian made $2000+ . I just think the bdb @ $1k is a false economy. They use the price point as a cop out for poor build quality. makes a really good coffee (equivalent to the $2k machine) but doesn’t last very long
@Rkel403: What $2K machine would you lean towards as an equivalent?
Lelit Elizabeth was on my radar, they sell for at least $2300 though and only have a two year warranty.
@shutuptakemymoney101: I haven’t looked into the higher end that much so take my recommendation with a grain of salt. Every reddit or coffee snob forum I ended up on when troubleshooting my various bdb issues someone would mention lelit or rancilo as having better build quality and easier to maintain. I would be looking towards that end.
Also having the second dedicated boiler ended up being more of a “ nice and I have” than a completely necessary feature. Unless you are needing to make 3-4 coffees at once regularly, it’s not really a major ordeal to rely on the one boiler. Point being, if you find a decent Italian made model that doesn’t have a dual boiler, don’t let that turn you away from it. In my opinion, a higher end grinder is a better investment than a dual boiler.
Have a look on alternative brewing website, they have a good range
That's disappointing to hear but I would say you've been extremely unlucky to have that many failures.
Interesting. Been running a BES920 since 2018, have only had to change my O ring once, nil leaks since. Been running well.
I'm not very handy, just needed a screw driver to replace the O rings, maybe some longnose pliers.
Had a bit of a drama about 3 years ago, where it turns out I hadn't been descaling it properly, so due to calcification it was losing pressure, but with the standard descale/cleaning cycle (multiple times) it self fixed.
I can only speak highly of them for their price.
I had a 10 year old model that never had a single issue until it died, it was so good I purchased another 2 years and 4 months ago, this ones sitting on my kitchen bench waiting for Breville to respond after 2 weeks of them requesting the same receipt twice for the issue that many have that they temp gauge continues to climb non stop and the unit looks like it might explode, I didn't notice it the first time and had water vapour inside the gauge at the front, the unit was scolding hot, I'm surprised it didnt pop.
The current generation of BES920s are made of cheaper materials, the black unit like mine has paint issues after a couple months of ownership.
I wont be getting buying Breville again, the build quality has dropped and the support is terrible.
This has been an interesting thread to get varied experiences.
Some people saying the old ones are worse as the new models have updated compression fittings instead of orings.
Then there’s are those such as yourself that have experienced both and claim the build quality of the newer ones is worse.
My take is that, those that have had no issues are lucky and in the minority. The rest of us have been plagued with dealing with breville trying to get them to fix their lemons.@Rkel403: It's just as likely that those plagued with issues are in the minority. It's a very popular item, it isn't reasonable to assume that the majority have continual issues.
what? we had ours for 10 years. if you want longevity out of these machines, you need to maintain them. have a couple bags of o-rings for leaks and replace stuff that breaks.
its really not that hard but if you dont put in the effort, they wont last
Wow the first comment on that leaves much to be desired to be honest…. "Dan s 8 days ago
Died after 2.5 years, can be fixed but will cost close to what it's worth. Apparently descaling the dual boiler can cause a common fault that causes the steam boiler to run dry and burn out."I am sure Breville will at least assist in repairing this, but that is a pretty big red flag from only doing what the instructions tell you to do….
Use filtered water or rpavlis and you shouldn't need to descale
All machines will have these issues if not looked after properly and poor water quality
Yes, when mine broke and I ended up on forums looking on forums, most common issue was the machine breaking following a descale. So prevalent that suggestions were to never run a descale no matter how often the machine asked for it …
I wouldn’t make any assumptions about help from breville. They are notoriously difficult to deal with, and you will have to fight tooth and nail for anything once your warranty is up, despite that being contrary to what is “reasonable” per the ACCC. Out of pocket servicing from authorised repairers are so cost prohibitive that more often than not people do a cost benefit analysis and abandon the old and buy a new. Consumer culture at it’s finestCan guarantee that the repairs would be cheaper than buying a new machine. I think the problem is the people RAGE when costs get up over $300-500. Just the dollar amount seems to cause this belief that they should "just get a new one"and they didn't really think through the savings they'll make by staying the course. Even if you spent the price you paid for it repairing it for 10 years, you are still ahead of buying a new one every 5-7 years. I mean if you didn't look after the coffee machine you had, the bigger and better the get the more servicing/care they need, so you are likely to break that one too.
Thanks for posting about your genuine experience. I clearly struck a nerve with someone else who downvoted me for just pointing out facts LOL
The discussion from others about using filtered water to my comment is just ridiculous to me personally…
The problem here is the machine kills itself when using a function within it. No matter what water is being used, that is not acceptable!! Glad you agree with that rational comment.
Interesting timing. Mine worked fine yesterday afternoon, but the steamer didn't work this morning. The steam boiler is completely cold, so I'm guessing it's a thermal fuse or something that's died. I found a receipt for a bes920 last month that suggested I might have paid $1399 for it in Feb 2014, and I've replaced a few hundred $$ in parts since then.
This doesn't seem like a good deal.. Pretty sure it was less than 1k not long ago.
Owned the original and it lasted a decade, was so impressed I got the same machine when the first died, this one has lasted 2 years and 4 months. Apparently a common issue these fail just out of warranty.
The build quality to the original is significantly lower, paint coming off all over for the black model so avoid this. Now plastic. I’m pretty annoyed and have a ticket open with Breville. I’ve uploaded my receipt twice and been asked to verify myself twice with the same receipt and that’s the only thing I’ve done with them in a week, their support portal and support in general is hot garbage
Won’t be buying again, clearly the product quality has been lowered to increase profits so don’t expect much out your $1300
Not the OPs fault, just posting my experience
- 1
- 2
Price in title please :)