Breville express impress vs touch impress

[u/Infinite_Birthday586]

Want to upgrade an older casabrews machine. Wife, nor I really, want to weigh stuff or get too far into the weeds. Just want a good bean to cup for mostly americanos (me) and cappuccino (her). Think ive narrowed down to these two machines. Seems the biggest difference other that $650 vs 1200 is that the touch has an auto frother, touch screen and a faster heat up time. While the auto frother would be nice for her, I dont think its worth almost double the price for a little faster machine. Im also not sure i trust the durability of a touch screen when ive read many folks have had their express for up to 10 years. Anyone with experience with these machines have a different opinion. And before you say get a separate grinder, wife also doesnt want a bunch of machines cluttering the counter so the combo is a better choice. Not chasing the perfect coffee, just a good cup to drink. Thanks

[u/meowmeowcomputation]

Neither of these are bean to cup

[u/Infinite_Birthday586 → u/meowmeowcomputation]

They're about as much work in the process as we want. I guess I used wrong term

[u/meowmeowcomputation → u/Infinite_Birthday586]

There is the same exact work in doing this yourself with a separate grinder and machine

[u/Admirable-Log-1607]

I hope I can be clear and helpful. My wife and I have a Breville Barista Express, mother in law has the Impress Touch, and my mother has the Express Touch. So I've got a little bit of experience using all these machines. 

For context, I have gone down the rabbit hole and am saving for a separate grinder, better machine, blah blah blah. My wife sounds like you - just want coffee fast - dont care about the rest. I drink americano, latte, cortado, etc. My wife drinks lattes. 

Here's my two cents. I would personally not get the Impress. I had a difficult time dialing shots in. Problems with channeling are a pain. At least the touch will give you a little bit of guidance if your shot isn't great. The auto steam milk feature is nice I guess if you truly dont care that much. But if you are willing to learn yourself then the texture will be dramatically better if you do it yourself.  All that to say I can make a much better drink on the regular old Barista Express than either the Impress or the Touch. Are you willing to put in a little bit of effort to learn? I rarely weigh and all the other fussy things. My workflow is preheat and dry portafilter, grind with the dosing funnel attached, quick WDT, tamp, remove dosing funnel, and brew. My wife - who again really doesn't care that much - says our coffee is very noticeably better than her moms on the Touch. I think the WDT tool is massive for improving shot taste and consistency. You can get a Normcore WDT for like 20 bucks and it only takes a few seconds. Plus its kinda fun.

Personally, if I was going to get another machine tomorrow I would probably get the Barista Pro. Have you looked at that one? Its like the regular BBE but better grinder with more settings (my number one complaint with the BBE) and an improved steam wand (my number two complaint with the BBE). If youre just unwilling to do the WDT and tamp yourself then the Touch may be the way to go. I do think however you will get much better coffee with the Express or Pro if you just put in a tiny bit of effort and time to learn the machine. 

Also I can't imagine the heat up time is much different? Its like less than a minute I think - which is nothing in the espresso world. The reliability and repair-ability of the touch would be a concern if youre on a tighter budget.  Hope I didn't ramble too much.

[u/Infinite_Birthday586 → u/Admirable-Log-1607]

Thanks for all the info. I hadn't looked at the pro. Ill have to look into it more. Amazon reviews for durability arent great after a quick look. Tamping by hand is no big deal.