So I have been browsing through these forums as an observer. I have never commited to actually opening an account because the suggestions and topics are usually self explaining, and easy enough to follow. But now I am stuck. So I guess its my way to say hello but to dive into the topic head on.

My husband has been bragging about this super duper top of the line machine that keeps impressing his higher end clientel. (he is in a startup and apparently, their bank accounts have infinite money..). So I wanted to surprise him with one of those espresso makers one day. I am at the stage where I figured out our budget for it: it must be under 2000$. I also incist (since I'm mostly home), to order it online and have it shipped from a store. Amazon sounds like the perfect thing.

Now to the subject matter. I think we are going for the breville bes900xl, but they have a new model in 2016 called the bes920xl, which, from my understanding, is cheaper and has... more options?

Can anyone shed some light on it please? (this is complicated for me, I never bought espresso stuff, I'm actually thinking of documenting my findings soon to stay organized.

Thanks for the future help guys!

I'd recommend the 920 over the 900 without hesitation. I have owned the 900, and now own and use the 920 every day. I'd actually be surprised if you can easily find a 900, since it is not made any longer and the 920 model replaced it.

Even if you can find some remaining stock of new 900s, I would still recommend the 920. The 900 had a few issues and was not as reliable. The 920 model has superior features, and it appears that they addressed most of the issues from the older 900. Reliability is not known yet, as the model is too new.

I find the 920 to be a pleasure to use.

Just as a double check, but make sure he is willing to use a manual machine.
In my experience offices usually have superautos or similar since you can't expect everyone to know how to use an espresso machine.

I recommend a La Spaziale Vivaldi Surely there is a dealer in Canada.

Yep! Café Union (in Montreal, where the OP stays according to profile) sells them and has them in store (last time I checked).

What are you using for a grinder? What is the experience level of the person(s) who will be using the machine? Espresso has a lot of demands attached to it. If $2k CAD is your total budget and you need a grinder, tamper, milk pitcher, cleaning accessories, etc.. it may be tough to squeeze a BDB 920 into that. Don't forget that you are basically marrying yourself to an espresso subscription from a roaster. If you are lucky enough to have a good roaster near you then you can stay local, but I think most of us order online. You need very fresh and consistent beans to get drinkable espresso. I'm on a 3 week subscription (2 12oz bags) and even with the second bag kept frozen until needed, my third week is fussy getting quality shots. I'm also the only one typically drinking from this subscription, as my wife prefers brewed coffee and we source that coffee from a local roaster.

One note on the Breville 920: Buy from an authorized retailer. Breville has a great warranty, but they will typically only honor it if you buy from one of their authorized retailers. I had an Oracle for a while which is a 920 on steroids. Fun machines.

The BDBs actually come with a decent tamper and milk pitcher. You don't need a lot of cleaning accessories. Some hand towels and a tooth brush will work for cleaning the group head. You might want to get some cleaning tablets but thats not terribly expensive.

Definitely need to factor in the cost of a decent grinder. So if you hadn't accounted for that, then you are really looking at ~ $1500 for the espresso machine and ~ $500 for a grinder.

Have you considered machines like the Profitec Pro 300 ($1549 USD retail) or Lelit PL60PlusT Diana ($1349 USD)? Both are dual boiler machines, but made in Italian factories - rather than wherever Breville makes theirs. I too was recently shopping for a new dual boiler machine in your price range (coming from using a Breville Oracle for a little over a year that didn't live up to expectations) and narrowed it down to these two, finally deciding on the Pro 300.

Either machine will leave you with room in your budget to buy a capable espresso grinder like a Baratza Vario or (upcoming) Sette. Just a thought!

EDIT: Just realized you probably meant $2000 CAD. I think both could fit in your budget, but it wouldn't leave you with much for a grinder.

Bodka Coffee wrote:I recommend a La Spaziale Vivaldi Surely there is a dealer in Canada.

I had a La Spaziale Mini Vivaldi (the non-plumbed, tank version) for ~6 years that I absolutely loved. You get a LOT of machine for the $1795 USD price that it is now.

Keep in mind she is in Canada. With the weak CAD her choices will be limited, especially if a good grinder is needed.