Plain Buy Guides

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links to Amazon on this page are affiliate links.

Nine Bar Basics product guide

Breville Barista Express Impress BES876BSS

Home espresso makers who want assisted dosing and tamping without going fully automatic

The Barista Express Impress grinds, doses and tamps in one position, with 25 grind settings, an assisted tamp lever that applies 22 pounds with a 7-degree twist, dose correction that remembers the last shot, a 54 mm portafilter and a 2-litre tank. Cleaning and descaling are separate routines, and every part is hand washed.

Check this model on Amazon

Listing checked . Confirm the model, included parts and availability before ordering.

Published specifications

  • Breville: 25 grind settings, dose auto-calculated from the last grind
  • Manual and maker: assisted tamp at 22 lbs (10 kg) with a 7-degree twist
  • Manual: 1 CUP basket 8-11 g, 2 CUP basket 16-19 g, 54 mm portafilter
  • Manual: 67 fl oz (2 L) tank, 8.8 oz (250 g) hopper, 480 ml milk jug
  • Manual rating: 120 V, 60 Hz, 1750 W (listing says 1600 W)
  • Listing: 12.5 x 14.5 x 16.5 in, 23.7 lb, 2-year limited warranty

Fit and limits

Strengths

  • Assisted tamping and dose correction remove two manual steps from each shot
  • Manual states dose ranges for each basket and which basket suits fresh or pre-ground coffee
  • Box includes the Razor trimming tool, descaling powder, cleaning tablets, disc and brushes

Caveats

  • Breville's manual rates it at 1750 W while the listing says 1600 W
  • Back-flush cleaning and descaling are separate routines with their own supplies
  • No part is dishwasher safe, and the instruction book edition read has no warranty section

What the Impress adds to a manual espresso machine

The Barista Express Impress is a semi-automatic machine with a built-in conical burr grinder, and the model code on Breville's page, BES876BSS1BNA1, matches the listing's exactly. The headline feature is the Impress Puck System, which Breville describes as simplifying the grind, dose and tamp steps.

Assisted tamping is a lever rather than your arm. Breville's manual and product page both give a precise 22-pound, 10-kilogram impression finished with a 7-degree barista twist, and the listing bullet quotes the same figure in kilograms.

Dosing is the other half of the system. Breville says the dose is automatically calculated from the last grind, and that precision measurement auto-corrects the next dose. The panel has a dose level indicator and a manual dose adjust dial that switches between automatic and manual dosing.

Grind, baskets and dose targets

The grinder has 25 settings on both Breville's page and the listing, feeding a conical burr grinder built into the machine. Grinding, dosing and tamping all happen with the portafilter in one position, which the manual gives as the reason there is less mess.

Four baskets come in the box. The manual specifies 8 to 11 grams for the 1 CUP basket and 16 to 19 grams for the 2 CUP basket, and says single wall baskets are for freshly ground whole beans while dual wall baskets are for pre-ground coffee and beans past the 30-day roast date. The 2 cup single wall basket arrives installed in the portafilter.

Breville's page describes an ideal dose of 18 grams in the 54-millimetre stainless steel portafilter, low pressure pre-infusion followed by a 9 bar extraction from a 15 bar Italian pump, and a Thermocoil heating system with PID control delivering 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Size, power and what the numbers disagree on

The manual's rating information gives 120 volts, 60 hertz and 1750 watts, printed both on the underside of the machine and in the components section. The listing's details table says 1600 watts. Neither source explains the gap, so read the rating label on the machine you receive before planning a circuit around either figure.

The water tank is listed as 67 fluid ounces, or 2 litres, in the manual's component list, and the descaling section refers to filling it to 68 fluid ounces. The bean hopper holds 8.8 ounces, or 250 grams, and the milk jug supplied is 480 millilitres.

For counter planning the listing gives 12.5 inches deep by 14.5 wide by 16.5 high and a weight of 23.7 pounds. Breville's page did not publish dimensions in the section we read, so treat those three figures as the listing's.

Setup and water

Before the first coffee the manual has you fit the supplied water filter into the tank and run a priming cycle through the group head, hot water spout and steam wand. Follow its own setup pages for the soaking, dating and repeat steps rather than this summary.

Breville recommends replacing the water filter every three months, more often in a hard water area, and says doing so reduces how often the machine needs descaling. The tank takes cold potable tap water, and the manual rules out highly filtered, demineralised and distilled water.

Two small behaviours are worth knowing: the machine will not operate if the water is below the minimum mark, and the Filter light flashes when the bean hopper is not locked into position. Heating takes up to 55 seconds from the power button.

Cleaning is a real routine

There are two different maintenance cycles and the manual is clear they are not the same. The cleaning cycle is a back-flush using the supplied disc and a cleaning tablet and takes about five minutes; descaling is a separate routine using Breville descaling powder with the water filter removed. Follow the manual for its quantities and steps.

Day to day, the steam wand is wiped and purged after every milk texturing and its tip cleared with the pin on the supplied cleaning tool, and the baskets and portafilter are rinsed immediately after use. Blocked baskets can be soaked in dissolved cleaning tablet for about 20 minutes.

Periodic jobs include brushing the conical burrs and the tamp system, and replacing the silicone seal around the shower screen using the supplied hex key. Nothing goes in the dishwasher: the manual says all parts are hand washed, and it rules out alkaline cleaning agents. Follow the manual's own steps rather than this summary.

In the box, storage and warranty

The manual's accessory list is the fuller one: the 54-millimetre portafilter, a stainless steel milk jug, the water filter holder with filter, four filter baskets, cleaning tablets, the Razor precision dose trimming tool, a hex key, a steam wand tip cleaning tool, a cleaning disc, descaling powder and a cleaning brush. The listing names the same items.

One note applies only to coloured machines: the manual says they include a drip tray protection guard and tells you not to discard it. The drip tray also hides a storage tray for the accessories when they are not in use.

For storage, Breville says to empty the hopper, clean the grinder, empty the tank and drip tray, and store the machine upright with nothing on top. The listing states a two-year limited warranty; the instruction book edition we read contains no warranty section, so confirm the term with Breville before relying on it.

Check the current listing

Check this model on Amazon

Confirm the model, included parts and availability before ordering.

Primary sources

  1. Breville product page for the Barista Express Impress, model BES876BSS1BNA1
  2. Breville BES876 series instruction book, USCM F26 edition

Primary sources checked .

Compare with

Keep comparing

Use the Nine Bar Basics product index to compare other models, or read the full buying guide for category-level advice.