When comparing Delonghi La Specialista vs Breville Barista Touch, I instantly found the Barista Touch to be the better option. In this article, I will review the details and compare the features so you can make the right choice.
Breville Barista Touch is highly recommended by many baristas and professionals. It is able to reach the optimum extraction temperature in 3 seconds. This espresso machine also features pre-programmed beverages, automatic milk frothing, and an intuitive touch screen display. You’ll feel like a real barista in your own home, even if you are a beginner. Also, If you’re looking to start making latte art, you can begin by practicing with this home latte machine.
As a runner-up, Delonghi La Specialista comes with some great features as well. La Specialista has a smart tamper, which helps pack your grounds perfectly, and a pressure gauge you can monitor to ensure you’re making the perfect cup. It also has an adjustable steam wand that can be used for flat or foamy milk. Two separate heating systems allow brewing coffee and steaming milk at the same time.
Delonghi La Specialista vs Breville Barista Touch: Comparision Chart
Last update on 2023-03-02 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Delonghi La Specialista vs Breville Barista Touch: Differences
After comparing the differences between the two machines, I found that the Barista Touch easily wins out. It beats the Delonghi La Specialista 4-0 in terms of flavor, easy to use, milk system and value for money. Delonghi also brews coffee and froth milk very well, but Breville does better.
1. Flavor
The winner: Breville Barista Touch
Portafilter
The brand let me down because the espresso extracted from La Specailista was not as good as advertised. They have claimed that their espresso maker is “professionally-inspired” but this machine only comes with 51mm pressurized filter basket, the same as on the lower end or super-automatic machines.
The pressurized basket has the advantage of being able to get espresso easier and allows us to use pre-ground coffee. they tend to produce espresso that is thin, watery, lacks body, and does not have velvety smooth crema. My first few pulls were incredibly weak flavor with almost no crema. If the machine is marketed as semi-professional, it really should offer a non-pressurized option.
On the other hand, Breville Barista Touch goes with both non-pressurized and pressurized baskets to meet your preference. Non-pressurized basket can produce the true, high-quality, perfect espresso.
The taste and flavor of espresso extracted from the Breville has its limits compared to commercial-grade machines but is much better than from the Delonghi anyway. For true connoisseurs of coffee, the taste of espresso itself isn’t extraordinary. But for its price, I was incredibly impressed—and it’s hard to find anything better.
Grinder
On the Breville machine, there are two main settings for the grinder: the amount of time that it grinds for (that determines the amount of grinded coffee) and grind size. We can adjust the grind size of the machine in 30 steps by adjusting the wheel which is on the left side of the machine.
As for the Delonghi, it only has 6 grind settings ranging from fine to coarse. Additionally, you get to decide how much grinding is going to be done with these machines.
Typically if you’re using the same coffee maybe you do not need to worry about how many settings there are. But as you change coffees and you each kind of change your drinks you may have to adjust it slightly. Thus, having more choices will enable you to adjust to suit different types of coffee more easily.
Heating System
At first glance, I was impressed because the Delonghi had a dual boiler as I can almost guarantee that no machine under $ 1,000 on the market has, at least for now. The advantage of machines with two boilers is that you can pull your shot and steam your milk simultaneously or you do not need to wait time between two progress.
However, I think a dual boiler system is unnecessary. Although the Breville machine has a single boiler, it is equipped with Quick-heating System so it can heat super fast water and doesn’t take a long time to start pulling a shot and steaming milk. Honestly, I never thought I need a second boiler.
Tamping
I love the integrated tamping system on the La Specialista, which means zero mess. After inserting the portafilter, all we have to do is pull down the lever on the side of the machine to tamp the coffee grounds.
Barista Express is more traditional, with a basic manual tamper so it can get a little messy. But this isn’t the fault of the machine, it’s just a fact of espresso. This can be difficult for beginners. But it’s also easy to get used to.
2. Easy to use
The winner: Breville Barista Touch
Pre-programmable Drinks
The Barista Touch doesn’t require skills to make consistently excellent barista-quality drinks. I’ve been super impressed because it’s really easy to make a really good-quality espresso without really knowing at all what you’re doing.
It’s great for beginners because it comes with 5 pre-programmed drinks, which include espresso, latte, cappuccino, flat white, and Americano. Once you have selected your drink, simply follow the three steps presented on the display: Grind, Brew, and Milk.
The machine takes you step by step and will do all for you. The only manual part of the process is tamping down the grinds before brewing the espresso. It is an easy task.
Despite a lot of automation, this machine can be operated manually as well, making it an ideal machine for coffee drinkers of all levels.
For Delonghi La Specialista, it has 3 pre-programmed beverages which are coffee, Americano, espresso.
Personalized coffees
Breville: Once you’ve created a beverage that tastes right for you, name it and add it to the menu. You can add up to eight personalized drinks so that you can easily reproduce your favorites whenever you want. Or in case your family has many people, each person can save your own favorite beverage.
On the Delonghi, you can press the “My” button to personalize your favourite recipe. Unlike the Breville, you can only customize the amount of extracted coffee, can’t customize the amount of beans, or temperature of the milk. Press the button again to save this drink setting and La Specialista will remember this every time that means you don’t have many profiles to save your drink.
3. Blending power – Milk System
The winner: Breville Barista Touch
To achieve good frothing, you must practice a lot but with the Barrista Touch, automatic barista-quality frothing is quickly and easily accomplished. You choose the temperature of the and froth level, press the milk button and the machine is going to do the rest. When set to a lower froth level, the automatic frother creates incredible microfoam that is good enough to pour latte art.
The traditional steam wand on the Breville is both manual and automatic.
Customers are hoping for latte art, which is something that is a little hard to achieve with a Panarello wand on the Delonghi.
4. Value for money
The winner: Breville Barista Touch
Although Breville Barista Touch is more expensive than Delonghi La Specialista, it comes with many great utilities. These utilities absolutely work in a great way, not that brand only tries to add them to hype prices. It works almost perfectly as well as what the brand has advertised.
Delonghi has a lot of interesting features: a smart tamping station, two separate boiling systems, an analog pressure gauge, 19-bar pump pressure,… However, I feel like the brand was adding these luxury features so that the machine seemed high-end because some of the features didn’t prove to be useful or necessary during my experience.
Delonghi La Specialista vs Breville Barista Touch: Similarities
Both of these two machines are recommended a lot on coffee forums, and that’s right, they have some similarities to brew excellent espresso.
In terms of design, they are made from stainless steel so it looks very durable. Their size are not too different. Breville Barista Touch has width, length, height respectively is 12.7x 15.5x 16 inches. And that of the Delonghi La Specialista is 14.48 x 15 x 17.5 inches.
Both come with built-in conical burr grinders so you don’t need to buy a separate grinder. It doesn’t only bring convenience but also avoids mess on the counter. For making Americanos or dispensing water for hot tea, there is a separate hot water spout.
About ease of cleaning, both brands have models with self-cleaning features and removable reservoirs, drip trays that make cleaning easy. Both brands have machines that automatically rinse themselves.
Quick Rundown Of Delonghi La Specialista
- Note: 1)Too coarse a grind, too little coffee, or insufficiently tamping the grounds before brewing can all lead to inadequate pressure for a proper brew. 2)It is important to note that the amount of espresso extracted will vary depending on the grind size and amount and reprogramming may be needed when the size and amount are adjusted
- Sensor grinding technology: Exclusive segsing technology delivers precise, consistent grinding and the optimal dose for espresso, every time. Plus, the bean sensor ensures you’ll never run out of beans while grindin. Auto shut-off
- The smart tamping station: Simply pull the lever to tamp the ground coffee with the right pressure for perfect results. There’s no need to remove the portafilter, so you get to enjoy a mess-free experience, for Espresso Made Right(TM)
- Active temperature control with dual heating system: The best temperature stability for optimal coffee extraction and milk texturing. One thermoblock for extracting coffee and an independent heating system for steaming milk or frothing
- Advanced latte system: Micro-foam frothing for Latte Art or rich froth for cappuccino. Just place your cup under the spout and select flat or foam. Now, you can enjoy your flat hot milk, or the perfect foam to express your latte art creativity
Last update on 2023-03-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Quick Rundown Of Breville Barista Touch
- Note: 1)Too coarse a grind, too little coffee, or insufficiently tamping the grounds before brewing can all lead to inadequate pressure for a proper brew. 2)It is important to note that the amount of espresso extracted will vary depending on the grind size and amount and reprogramming may be needed when the size and amount are adjusted
- The Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine helps you create third wave specialty coffee with ease with intuitive touch screen display with pre-programmed cafe drinks in 3 easy steps Grind Brew and Milk; You can easily adjust the coffee strength, milk texture and temperature to suit your taste.
- Precise Espresso Extraction: Digital Temperature Control (PID) delivers water at precisely the right temperature ensuring optimal espresso extraction
- Faster Heat Up Time: Innovative ThermoJet heating system achieves the optimum extraction temperature in 3 seconds; Ready to make your best coffee without the wait
- Automatic Micro Foam Milk Texturing: Auto steam wand allows you to adjust the milk temperature and texture to suit your taste; Delivering barista quality micro foam that enhances the flavor of the coffee and is essential for creating latte art
Last update on 2023-03-02 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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References:
- Breville Barista Touch: https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/espresso/bes880.html
- Delonghi La Specialista: https://www.delonghi.com/en-us/la-specialista-espresso-machine-with-sensor-grinder-and-dual-heating-system-stainless-steel-ec9335m/p/EC9335M
I am a passionate coffee drinker. Since I left my job as a barista a few years back in 2012, I’ve been sharing my expertise on coffee and buying the best coffee equipment online. That’s how Wild Boar Coffee came to life.
I write about everything coffee-related under the sun. Where to buy the freshest coffee beans from? How to test coffee beans based on texture, aroma, and acidity?
I know all this from scratch – all thanks to my years and years of experience as a barista. So I’ve gotten real up-close-and-personal with coffee beans and different brewing techniques.