Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm here to discuss the Breville BES840XL machine and BCG820BSSXL grinder; my actual machines are shown in the attached image of my kitchen. BUT FIRST - A SIDE NOTE: Less than two months ago, I bought a Nespresso Inissia and Aeroccino Plus milk frother combo. For a home "espresso" system, it is absolutely impossible to find an easier to use setup, not to mention they are ridiculously inexpensive. With those two devices, I could make a "latte" in under 2 minutes starting with a powered off machine all the way to finish and clean up. Like any sensible Nespresso owner does, I began to make my own pods (the Capsul'in disposables are the only way to go) and my Capsul'in packed pods were on par with the real branded Nespresso pods. They also only cost about .30 cents to make instead of the .70 to .90 cents for a "real" pod. This fiduciary delta in pod costs really adds up when you soon realize that you need 2 or 3 pods to make decent tasting drinks. In fact, I would imagine there are many Nespresso people out there who consume one sleeve, aka 10 pods, DAILY at the cost of up to $1.00 per pod that is a $300 a month pod habit! Keep in mind those little pods only hold about 6 grams, so a "double shot" from pods is only giving you about 12 grams versus the 16-18g you will tamp when making a real double shot with a portafilter and a single walled double basket. Having said all that, the Nespresso machines and pods are super convenient, incredibly fast, and perfect for the "Betty Homemaker" types who just want a fast, easy and somewhat OK tasting drink. At about week 2 of my Nespresso ownership I started to research actual/real espresso machines because I knew I was headed that direction and would ultimately be giving away my Nespresso stuff which is precisely what transpired. ONTO THE BREVILLE RIGS. I did a LOT of research. I read a lot of forums. I did a lot of Googling. I read a lot of reviews. I watched a lot of YouTube. I researched not only the hardware (machines and grinders) but also the techniques, the theory, what makes a good extraction vs. totally screwing the pooch. I did not have any sort maximum budget so machines that were 3x or 4x the cost of this were also on my radar and I went with this combo vs. other fancier stuff simply because I did not need all of the extra features, double boilers, bigger portafilter, ITALIAN name, etc. MAYBE in a few years once I have completely mastered this machine and my technique is very, very good I will plunk down a few grand, but for right now this machine and this grinder won out and they are BRILLIANT. As you research, you will come across the "coffee snobs" on the various forums who seem to do nothing but bash Breville - it is what they do and I don't get it. I read all of the reviews on this 840XL on Amazon and the 99% of the negative reviews (other than those who clearly have a bad machine which is a very small handful and is bound to happen form time to time) are NOT because of the machine but user error. This is why in some cases you will see people who bought the machine and sent it back because they thought it was broken only to have their second "replacement" machine arrive and do the exact same thing. Because I did so much research, I was already very familiar with this machine and this grinder before I even took them out of the boxes so it was a very smooth transition for me once I got them setup. I will only get better in time but am already beyond thrilled and pleased with my purchase. I could have spent 2x the cost on a Baratza Vario grinder and spent 4x on a Spaziale S1 machine but I cannot imagine the difference in taste would be THAT MUCH BETTER than what I am getting now. I think those super high end machines are really just so you can say "I have a super fancy Italian made machine" while you drink your shot with your pinky in the air. Yes, the S1 will very likely stretch milk faster and you can pull a shot and do milk simultaneously but I really have NO need to do that. Then again, I could be totally wrong and maybe the S1 makes $1,500 better tasting espresso - I don't plan to find out any time soon. As for negative reviews left for this machine: the "broken" pressure gauges, faulty steam, bad espresso, weak crema, all of the factors and reasons that would make someone post a 1 star review of a machine that does NOT deserve such a low rating in ANY capacity, I witnessed first hand how much of a difference the grind and dose makes, so let me explain. I use only the single wall non-pressurized double basket - I've never touched the other 3 types. The beans I used are not important because everyone is going to have different stuff and you WILL need to adjust grind anytime you try a new bean. I use a digital scale to measure the dose and my tamping pressure, BTW. I think this is crucial for anyone just learning how to do this stuff. VERY FIRST shot attempt was with grinder at DEFAULT. 2 Shot, 17.8 Seconds, Grind Size 12. This yielded 16g of grounds and I tamped it to 30 pounds. Shot results: UNDER EXTRACTED, barely any movement of needle, pathetic looking shot, ran for maybe 10 seconds. My reaction was not "OMG Breville Sucks and this Machine Sucks. What a huge p.o.s. I need to return it!". I knew my grind needed to be finer and I likely needed to increase the dose. (I forget how many test shots in between, maybe 7 or 8? Maybe 9? I kept working my way towards the proper variables - I knew based upon the first horrendous shot that I needed to go finer on the grind and likely increase the dose). SOLVED SHOT grinder settings. 2 Shot, 19.2 Seconds, Grind Size 5. This yielded 18g of grounds which I tamped to 30 pounds. Result: NAILED IT! STRONG meter movement, pegged the meter right in between the 2 metal screws of the gauge, beautiful mouse tails coming out, 26 second pull and DELICIOUS. So there you have it. This rig and grinder kick ass, period. The only thing that I will take stars away for an update for is if they BREAK which so far they have not. I hope this review was helpful to somebody. ** UPDATE 12/24/2015 XMAS EVE DAY ** Just made three delicious drinks, still loving this machine, zero problems!! You can see my super pathetic attempt at latte art in the most recent ic where I attempted to make a christmas tree which turned out very retarded. Let me tell you, LATTE ART IS DANG NEAR IMPOSSIBLE. I have not made a "sink shot" since my initial experimentation after first getting the unit, just making consistent great esresso shots every single time I use this unit. A very good starting point for your grinder, if you get the same Breville unit, is to set it at 7 and about 17.8 or so seconds. ALSO!! I have realized there is no need to completely OBSESS over how the grounds go into your basket. What I did was removed the "cradle" from the Breville grinder so that I can totally "free style" the porta filter while the grounds are coming out. This allows me to get very even distribution into my basket. I just move it from side to side/ back and forth / rap it on bottom of grinder while its coming out. The result is a nice mound of grounds that are even distro'd into my basket. I do not even bother after that with trying to level stuff because that only has an impact on the very top most part of the basket. I simply grind, move filter around, tap it down, tap side/side and then TAMP it. LOVE THIS SETUP ABOUT TO GO MAKE ANOTHER CUP. BTW - I suggest as you learn, to go to your local grocery store and buy 1 or 2 pounds of their cheapest beans. In my case I was able to find some for as cheap as $5.99 a pound. Once you get good then you can get into the good $16 to $20 per pound stuff. LOVE IT!!! Sure wish I didnt suck at latte art.. man that is not easy!!