Review: Breville Café Roma Espresso Machine

Coffee is a precious resource, rich in go juice and vitality for the day to come. Getting that coffee used to be as simple as getting a cuppa jo’ at the local diner. Nowadays, its a raucous affair, rife with pitfalls and madness in the form of 7,046,876* different combinations of a myriad drinks being served by frazzled college folk working on their PhD thesis who only speak Coffeenese, which you don’t happen to know. Its nice, now and then, to just sit down at home, turn on the TV, flip to an HD channel, and enjoy a nice, hot, freshly ground, freshly steamed cappuccino. It takes a machine, however, to do that. That’s why here, I present a review of Breville’s Café Roma espresso machine.

Just so you know right off the bat, we’re not talking US$69 special at Walmart here. This is a US$229 MSRP piece of crafted espresso machine. Well, mostly crafted. The key to the perfect cup of cappuccino is the concerted effort of a selection of tools and the skill and/or practice of the barista. Each and every part of a well oiled machine must work in harmony for the result to be palatable. So, before I can review the espresso machine, I must first talk of the coffee beans and the grinder. In my opinion, there are only two coffee beans in the entire world. One is Jose’s, a low-cost brand you can buy at CostCo, the likes of which cannot be found elsewhere, with exception to one, 8 O’clock. 8 O’clock’s peerless bean selection, blending, and roasting produces the perfectly rounded selection of coffees from a single bean. (I should note that Green Mountain Coffee is likely the single best coffee bean on the planet, but only within spitting distance of Vermont. I’m convinced that they have roasteries around the country, and not all are equal. We used to shop at the original store in Waitsfield. -TCR.)

Its all in how you grind it and how you prepare it for use. I will not detail coffee grinding here, but suffice it to say that the correct grind is required of the correct bean. You want a mostly fine grind for espresso machines. Once the grind is ready, allowing the greshly ground beans to offer their most flavorful potential, you place it into the filter (that thing with a handle on it), tamp it down just right (it takes practice with your machine to find the right amount), and then secure it to the base of the pressure head. Now, you don’t just turn on the water. You need to heat up the system first. I suggest, for the Café Roma at least, that you let it warm up for about 10 minutes (check the on-board water level first) before firing up the pump.

The Café Roma is a simplified espresso machine designed to be used by people not accustomed to brewing their own coffees outside of a Mr. Coffee or Krups drip machine. Turn the knob left to make coffee, then turn it right to make steam. This means that the Café Roma is a single pump machine. Most machines above US$200 sport dual pumps, but this one seems to work well. I also had an issue with not being able to moderate the steam pressure for preparing the froth, but Breville has managed to figure out a new tip which makes frothing as simple as peeling a pouring the milk into the mug. (I personally steam in the mug I drink from as it warms the mug and makes less to clean. -TCR.)

The Café Roma comes with two double-walled espresso shots, the filter handle and inserts for single, double, and pod, a frothing jug, a tamper and scoop, and a small cleaning tool. One thing I noticed right off is that when the pump is working the deck vibrates and the shot cups start moving around. At my wife’s suggestion, is placed a slightly damp towel under them and no more moving about. Second, when I moved over to frothing it didn’t seem like it was doing anything at first, but it certainly was. Before long my mug was warm, the milk was hot, and the froth was creamy and thick. Extended use has revealed some best practices, but I’m sure its different with everyone. Its also easy to clean and keep together. It has a heated top, like its larger brethren, and the water canister is sizable without being obtrusive. Everything about it and its accessories speaks of pretty good quality, except the tamper/scoop.

It took a few weeks, but now the coffee is coming out nearly perfect. Yeah. Nearly. I don’t know what it is about the Café Roma, but its just won’t make strong coffee. I’ve adjusted the grind, modified the tamping, tried darker roasted beans, even tried several Italian incantations to no avail. I don’t know if its the pressure or the way that Breville creates its pressure head, or how the holes are made in the filter cup or what, but the higher pressure system seems to work fine, it just won’t make stronger, Turkish-style coffee. Feh. Do I like the machine? Yes, I do, and it would be perfect for anyone who doesn’t have the same extreme needs I do when it comes to variance in coffee. I’m not a fan of burnt beans. I like a well rounded, robust, complex flavor, and the Café Roma just doesn’t seem to be able to bring out the more finessed ranges.

I’m pleased to have it on my countertop, though.

* I made up this number. Sue me.