A friend of mine recently upgraded his espresso equipment and I was able to acquire these at the friendly price of "haul it off and it's yours". I consider myself very lucky to be in that position. I should mention that both have three year extended warranties against breaking down that transferred to me so that is not a concern.

Are there any members with some positive experiences with these machines that might be able to provide some good insights into how to brew some quality espresso with these machines?

My experience with espresso is limited to what I have tasted at a few coffee shops (other than Starbucks) and Alton Brown's Espress Yourself (S10E19) episode.

I used to have one and it was a good starter to my current lineup. Remember to let it sit on for at least 30 mins, use fresh, freshly ground coffee with a good grinder. Since it sounds like you received it for free, invest some money in a quality grinder. Look around the site to see what I mean; there are plenty of reviews and recommendations. I have a Mazzer Mini. Follow the standards like any other machine i.e. 20-25 second double shot pour and you will be good. As for microfoam, it is hard to get real microfoam on this machine, there simply isn't enough umph. You can get pretty close though. Cold pitcher, fresh cold milk, and steam in the sweet spot. Good luck!

The grinder that I got with it seems to be a pretty decent grinder from what I can tell.

Is that not the case?

Nope. It does not grind fine enough for an unpressurized basket.

I recently acquired a Breville 800ESXL and BCG450XL at the low low price of "haul that off and it is yours", but I find that I am in over my head when I want to get started making Espresso.

I hope it is okay to bring a grinder into this post as well since I am a newbie.

It seems that the Breville 800ESXL isn't a very good machine from what I've read. The "pressurized portafilter" seems to take away from the flexibility of the machine and is like putting training wheels on a bicycle. I can't quite decide if that is necessarily a bad thing to start with or if it is best to sell this machine to put the money towards a better machine. I also don't get the "15 bar pump" when the best pressure for Espresso seems to be 9 bars. Is this regulated by the machine with "up to" 15 bars?

Comments for a newbie?

The other factor (and seemingly more important than the machine itself.. go figure for a newbie) is the grinder. This grinder retails for roughly $100 on Amazon so I figured I was getting a pretty decent grinder, but apparently I was mistaken. There are grinders that go all the way to $1000+!

Is there a reasonably affordable grinder that will do a good job? Not just decent, but a quality job that will hold me as I figure out more about Espresso makers?

Hi,
I don't have any experience with the Breville espresso machine but I do have a bit with the grinder, I bought one about a year ago from Williams Sonoma. I returned it a week later, it wouldn't grind fine enough for my Gaggia. If you are looking for a reasonably priced espresso grinder I would take a look at the Ascaso I-Mini at $229 or the Le'Lit PL-53 at $239, both are doserless and stepless. I have an I-Mini and I am very pleased with it, I have used it for my Gaggia, Astra Pro, and lever machines so far it has been great.
Cheers,
David

Since you got the machines for free, no harm in playing around with them. I always found upgrading a fun thing, and if you find that you really like making and drinking espresso you will upgrade soon.

The pressurized filter will make the grind more forgiving, but you will want to do away with that soon.

A good hand grinder is an excellent idea, but I eventually found it tedious.

Original poster, you'll find a lot of information about the Breville here and on other sites, just look around. Read about the Breville pressurized filter, as opposed to a standard (non-pressurized) filter. Unless your friend was a tinkerer/purist and either modded or replaced the filters, you certainly can use the Breville grinder with the Breville pressurized filters (they're a little forgiving on the grind), and you can have some perfectly enjoyable results for someone just getting started with espresso. It's definitely a beginner setup and may make more advanced home-baristas or very educated palates cringe a little, but there's nothing wrong with getting started with it and seeing how far you want to take your espresso habit/hobby!

I type way too much in a day to put my hands through grinding manually, but I can appreciate the cost vs. quality argument there.

I've read up on different types of grinders including the Mazzer Mini, Mazzer SJ, and a few others including a "Hybrid" that seems to blend two types of burr grinding wheels.

This grinder looks to be the most interesting I've found http://www.baratza.com/products.php?itemid=31 though it doesn't look like it is available yet.

This is the Espresso Machines forum so I don't want to turn this into a grinder thread!

How would one go about "modding" the machine to depressurize the portafilter? I'm no stranger to taking things apart (mostly computer equipment from rackmount servers to high end portables such as a Macbook Pro), but would this just involve changing the filter basket to something without the "crema enhancing" pin hole?

I think I could sell this grinder and machine for about $200 to put towards a decent Espresso machine. Any recommendations on where I should start in that direction if I should decide to look that way?

I've been looking at the Gaggia Classic to start with. It looks like it is a good middle of the road semi-automatic and combined with a good grinder like the Vario it should be just a matter of finding good coffee.

Any comments on those choices or alternate recommendations?