Why Is My Breville Espresso Bitter? Fix it Without Spending a Dime

The other day I was wondering ‘why is my Breville espresso bitter?’ 

I was really craving a great espresso, so I turn my espresso machine on, did all the preparation and started brewing, I couldn’t wait to have the first sip. It was a huge disappointment. My coffee was bitter… super bitter – I couldn’t drink it. Why does that happen? Stick around, I’ve compiled a guide on what makes your Breville espresso bitter and how to fix it quickly.

Let’s dive in.

Key takeaways:

• What you should know about Breville machines
• 9 common reasons that make your Breville espresso turn bitter
• Simple methods of how to stop make your Breville coffee become bitter

Why is my Breville espresso bitter? 

The main reason that turns your Breville espresso bitter is the quality of the beans and the condition of your espresso machine. If you use coffee beans that you have opened them long time ago the odds are your coffee will be bitter. Similarly, if you don’t clean your machine regularly the taste of your coffee will be spoiled.

9 Reasons that your Breville espresso is bitter

A Breville machine owner shares his on Breville brewers:

My experience with Breville is that the machine lasted a long time and made better coffee than it had any right to for the price. It also had a lot of user-friendly touches that I’m missing in my Ascaso: if Breville launched a dual-thermoblock machine I’d buy it in an instant. They seem to know their stuff and provide thoughtful, functional options for almost every level of home enthusiast. The plastics they use appear to be extremely high quality and likely help keep the bill of materials down so that they can ship above-class features in an affordable package. I suspect a lot of what they’re doing really pushes the competition to deliver.

– wallstreet-butts

Based on the research I did I found out that there are 5 common reasons that turn your Breville coffee bitter. 

Let’s take a look.

1. Not enough coffee grounds in the basket

This typically happens to me when I run out of coffee beans and when I grind them there’s not enough coffee grinds for a single espresso. And as a result, the coffee turns bitter. So, the first thing to do is make sure you have plenty of coffee beans in your cupboard next time. 

Also, make sure that you fill the portafilter up to where there’s a silver line that shows you the right level of coffee grounds. 

2. The machine hasn’t been cleaned recently 

This is a boring yet essential part of brewing aromatic espresso with your Breville machine. 

Coffee residue and oils are stuck on the inside of your espresso machine over time and they spoil the taste of your coffee. It’s vital to clean your Breville machine regularly (at least once a month) to keep it in great condition, extend its lifespan and drink delicious coffee. 

You can use cleaning tablets or powder; I suggest you go for the solution the manufacturer recommends for better results. 

3. Espresso channelling

This is something you should avoid at any cost.

What is espresso channelling? 

Simply put, the water always finds the easiest way to run through the coffee grounds. This practically means that if there are air pockets in your coffee grounds the water will create a little hole and run through there extracting just a tiny bit of the flavours of your coffee grounds, meaning that your coffee is going to be bitter. 

This is what another Breville owner says about his machine:

Have nothing but good things to say about my breville grinder and espresso machine. Machine is about 5 years old now and still going strong. Grinder is about 2 years old

– patderkacz

4. Coffee brewed with coarse coffee grounds 

Typically, the recommendation of Breville is to use 5 grind size for brewing. 

Which is medium grind size; if your coffee grounds are more coarse you’ll probably end up with a coffee cup that tastes just water and it’s bitter. Because the hot water running from the water tank through the coffee grounds isn’t finding much resistance the machine brews the coffee faster than it should and the coffee turns bitter.

Make sure you adjust the grind size to what the manufacturer recommends. 

5. Over extraction

Brewing excellent coffee is more of a science than an art.

By this I mean:

You need to find the right balance between using the correct amount of coffee grounds and the correct amount of water. If the water isn’t enough (for various reasons such as an issue with the pump) there’s going to be under extraction, meaning sour coffee while too much water leads to bitter over-extracted coffee.

The ratio of coffee/water that is recommended is 1:2.

To achieve this make a habit of weighing your coffee every single time. I know it might be a bit more time-consuming but like we said making great coffee is a science.

6. The coffee grounds weren’t tamped

This is a critical part of brewing great coffee.

You need to tap the coffee grounds before you put the portafilter onto the machine. Because espresso machines use high pressure (up to 9 bars) to brew coffee the coffee grounds should be compressed enough that block the water for a few seconds so it can extract the flavours and aromas of the coffee. But it’s important to mention that don’t overly tamp the coffee grounds as you won’t manage to brew a drop of coffee. 

Tamping needs a bit of practice if you’re a beginner; you’ll get the hang of it soon. 

7. Old coffee beans

Has it been a long time since you open the pack of coffee beans? 

Coffee is one of many products (almost all except honey) that go bad. When you open a pack with coffee beans the oxidise and their oils start to dry out, meaning the longer you keep them in a container or in the open pack and you don’t use them, the more likely your coffee is going to taste bitter.

Why not go for a smaller pack if you don’t brew too much coffee every day? It’s better to buy a smaller pack and use it instead of buying a large one and keeping it long enough that makes your coffee taste weird. 

8. Too low pressure to brew 

If your Breville espresso brewer CAN’T hit the right pressure your coffee will turn bitter.

Why does your Breville machine have low pressure?

It can be for a bunch of different reasons. 

Some of them are: 

• Not enough grinds
• Coarse coffee grounds
• Not cleaned enough coffee brewer

9. The temperature is too low

Many baristas suggest brewing with water at a high temperature to avoid the chance of turning your coffee bitter. 

To change the temperature of your Breville machine follow these steps: 

• Switch off your coffee machine
• While holding the program button press the power button
• Now press the 1-cup button which will increase the temperature by2 degrees
• You can also press the 2-cup button and you’ll increase the temperature by 4 degrees
• Press the program button to set the new temperature as the default one

Here’s a table that summarises the 9 most common reasons that result in bitter espresso when brewing with a Breville: 

Problem:	Solution:
1. Not enough coffee grounds in the basket	Add the amount the manufacturer recommends
2. The machine hasn’t been cleaned recently	Give your machine a thorough clean
3. Espresso channelling	Make sure you don’t tamp your coffee grounds too much
4. Coffee brewed with coarse coffee grounds	Use the ground size the manufacturer recommends
5. Over extraction	Make sure your coffee grounds aren’t too thin
6. The coffee grounds weren’t tamped enough	Tamp your coffee grounds
7. Old coffee beans	Get rid of them and buy fresh coffee beans
8. Too low pressure to brew	Fix the pressure of your coffee machine
9. The temperature is too low	Make sure your machine hits the right temperature to brew

How do you fix bitter espresso? 

A great rule of thumb is to pay attention to how long it takes to brew. If your machine brews coffee between 20-30 seconds you’re good to go. When it takes longer than that, this is an issue and it’s probably one of the 9 we talked about further up.

How do I make my Breville espresso better?

A simple yet effective way of making your Breville espresso better is to ‘warm up’ the machine before brewing. Purge the coffee machine by brewing with just water which is going to run through the portafilter’s group. Take off the portafilter wipe it with a kitchen roll (ideally) and put it back on. As mentioned earlier making great coffee is science and in this case, if your portafilter hits the right temperature before brewing your coffee is going to taste better.

What espresso settings for the Breville grinder do you suggest?

The best thing to do is take a look at the booklet and see what the manufacturer recommends for your specific model, so you know exactly what size you need for your machine. 

Let’s wrap it up

Still wondering ‘why is my Breville espresso bitter???’ I’d put the theory into practice to see if the problem is fixed. Many claim the devil is in the details and fixing all these little things will make a massive difference to your coffee.