I spent 15 years burning through a series of $150 -$300 dollar espresso makers, a nice used Saeco, a couple DeLonghis) and recently a Delonghi that had a pump failure after three weeks. I was so upset about the DeLonghi failing that I impulsively bought this machine, which with accessories alwas about twice what I wanted to pay after reading reviews that made it clear that in this price range, for the best quality non-automatic machines, it's between this and a Gaggia Classic Pro. I went with the Breville as the reviews indicated it may not be easily hacked, but it works consistently and very well out of the box.
Well, now I am kicking myself for not having bought this machine a decade earlier. It produces amazing shots reliably, every time. I use the stock basket, about 19 grams of espresso.grounds, tamp it with moderate pressure, and let the pour run about 14-15 seconds. I use top quality beans from a local roaster and grind to the second most fine setting on my Capresso Infinity grinder.
The shots are superb without going down the obsessive espresso geek path of modifying the heater, the pump etc. I can't say anything more about that. It heats quickly (5 seconds) and has an auto shutoff, though it's smart to warm the portafilter by running a shot of just water through it, and it's easy enough to shut off with a simultaneous press of the single shot and the milk frother buttons.
There are a few key accessories that make it more convenient. A cheap knock box helps unload the portafilter quicker and make it more convenient to pull multiple shots -imoortant if this high quality coffee accidentally turns your spouse and kid into espresso junkies. A magnetic portafilter funnel helps make it easy to get the grounds in, evenly distributed and tamped. A nice little stainless putcher for steaming milk helps with making A+ lattes and cappuccinos. And an open faced basket produces some interesting flavor variations though I have not mastered it well enough to produce consistent excellent taste.
You will need to get really good quality beans and should have at least a decent low speed burr grinder to get best results, though foreground beans do alright if they are fresh enough - the Illy brand grounds produce a very nice flavorful shot and the Lavazza beans produce a great, traditional strong Italian type shot but fresh local beans may give a much nicer flavor.
I've had it for about two months so far and have pulled at least four or five shots daily between Americanos for my wife and double shots for myself. The taste is great, the shots have a lovely smooth crema, and I am incredibly happy with it. This machine gets criticized as it's not a soulful Italian machine with endless hacking and customization opportunities, it is just a turnkey appliance that makes great espresso with no muss, no fuss. Look, I've owned an MGB and an old Plymouth muscle car, and fussy Italian espresso makers. I loved them and I loved tinkering. But I have a Toyota 4 Runner now that "lacks soul" but it is as reliable as a stone axe, I never worry about it starting when I get in, it's good in all conditions. It doesn't lose its lights in the rain (MGB) and it doesn't have weird features like reverse threaded lug nuts and this oddball relay that fails at weird times leaving me stranded unless I can install the spare (Plymouth). It just works right every dang time. You might be able to find a better machine that takes your espresso shots from a 99 grade to 100 but I doubt it. Once in a while my local roaster - which has won national competitions - pulls off a 100 shot. But usually they are 99's. Using the same beans this Breville is always a 99, no hassles.
The only downside is we are drinking more coffee because this machine makes such tasty shots. It has eliminated coffee stops on the way to work and maybe in the long run pays for itself. But the real reason to buy is that life is too short to drink bad coffee. You are going to drink coffee anyhow; you might as well drink coffee that astounds you and puts a smile on your face every morning. Buy once, cry once.
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From the manufacturer
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Simple Interface with Volumetric Shot Control
Convenient one-touch 1 & 2 shot volumetric control and steam
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Hands-Free Milk Texturing
Silky microfoam with up to one million micro bubbles per ml, ready for latte art
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Stainless Steel Dual and Single Wall Filters
Rich, full-bodied coffee achieved using 18g of freshly ground beans, delivered by a 54mm portafilter
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Ready in 3 Seconds
The ThermoJet heating system with PID temperature control achieves optimum extraction temperature
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Full Bodied Coffee With Rich & Complex Flavors
Low pressure pre-infusion followed by a high pressure 9 bar extraction for an opulent espresso
Bambino Plus
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| | Barista-Style | |
| | Auto MilQ | |
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| | Barista-Style | |
| | Auto MilQ | |
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| | Barista-Style | |
| | Auto MilQ | |
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Manual | Tamping | Assisted |
ThermoJet | Heating System | Thermocoil |
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| | Barista-Style | |
| | Auto MilQ | |
Built-In Grinder | | |
Manual | Tamping | Manual |
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This Item  Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine BES500BSS, Brushed Stainless Steel | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $499.95 | -14% $775.00 List: $899.95 | $299.95 | -10% $179.99 List: $199.99 | $169.99 | -9% $1,364.95 List: $1,499.95 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Monday, Mar 10 | Get it Mar 17 - 20 | Get it as soon as Monday, Mar 10 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Mar 11 | Get it as soon as Monday, Mar 10 | — |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | Amazon.com | BIG BOB'S ELECTRONICS | Amazon.com | Geek Chef US | MATTINATA | Hello Good Deal INC #Recorded Serial Number |
| capacity | 64 ounces | 2 liters | 47 fluid ounces | 1.3 liters | 48 ounces | 67.6 fluid ounces |
| material | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel |
| input interface | buttons | buttons | buttons | buttons | buttons | touch screen |
| voltage | — | 120 volts | 120 volts | — | 120 volts | — |
| wattage | 1560 watts | 1600 watts | 1560 watts | — | 1350 watts | 1750 watts |
| model name | the Bambino ™ Plus | the Barista Express® Impress | the Bambino® Brushed Stainless Steel | GCF20FA | Mattino Aviator Pro | the Barista Touch Impress |
Great when you spend extra money
So I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of figuring out what espresso machine I want. Given the limited counter space, the unknown experience of how much I will enjoy this new hobby, I settled on the Bambino Plus.The main reason to choose this over the regular Bambino is the solenoid that releases the remaining water to the drip tray. The auto milk froth feature is also a nice to have, so you can focus on dialing in your espresso without having to learn everything on day one. It’s been a few weeks and I mainly manually froth my milk now, but every now and then the automatic feature comes in very handy.Yes, the drip tray is tiny and I need to empty it out daily, but honestly with all the gunk of milk from the steam wand in there, you really want to clean it daily anyway.If you watch any YouTube review of this machine and the influencer mentions that they don’t know why the water tank is bigger than the one on the basic Bambino: because the steam wand does auto purge and that uses water. To accommodate this, we need a bigger thank. Thanks brain for figuring this out, what others couldn’t.Now my main reason for the low rating: I got two brand new machines and both leaked from the group head seal with the bundled ports filter and group handle. At first I thought it was a defective seal or something, then I found reports online of people experiencing the same issue with three (!) brand new machines.A friend was able to let me use his group handle for a test and no leaks at all. Since I got a third party setup I’m able to pull fantastic shots without any leaks. I just wish I didn’t have to spend another $100 for this and the thing would work out of the box. Big big flaw in Breville’s end.If you think I did something wrong, Google it, there’s plenty of posts on Reddit showing the exact same issue.Anyway, with that setup I’m very happy with the machine but it stinks that it’s broken out of the box. Now let’s find out how long it’ll last.
Top reviews from the United States
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Top reviews from other countries
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in Canada on October 21, 2024
Magic every morning
Color: Black TruffleVerified Purchase -
Pavel LunaReviewed in Mexico on September 6, 2022
Excelente cafetera.
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
Desde hacía meses estaba buscando una cafetera nueva para sustituir una Krups Gusto. Vi de todos tipos, desde las Oster de gama baja hasta las DeLongi superautomáticas. Ninguna me convencía porque no quería gastarme un dineral pero también quería una cafetera que diera una buena experiencia del café.Pavel LunaExcelente cafetera.
Reviewed in Mexico on September 6, 2022
La Bambino Plus cumple por mucho con su propósito. Entrega una taza bastante correcta, mejor que muchas cafeterías que no son de especialidad. La extracción es buena y la crema es consistente y duradera. La espuma de la leche es bastante buena y sedosa; ahora mismo estoy tratando de aprender arte latte.
La cafetera es sencilla de usar. Seleccionas carga sencilla o doble de expreso y la máquina hace el resto. El espumador se puede usar de forma manual pero la función automática trabaja bastante bien y puedes escoger la temperatura y textura de la leche.
Hay que jugar con la Bambino Plus los primeros días. Tienes que probar distintos tipos de molido hasta obtener el que buscas. Si es muy grueso, la extracción será pobre, aguada y sin crema. Si es demasiado fino entonces el agua no pasará porque la canastilla estará tapada. Con la leche es lo mismo: es importante probar con distintos tipos hasta encontrar la textura que buscas -la recomendación es que sea lo más entera posible y de preferencia esté fría-. Eso sí, la barita espumadora es bastante sensible. Si no la limpias al momento, la leche se seca muy rápido y tapa los orificios, que son realmente pequeños. Cuando notas que ya no espuma bien es momento de limpiarla a profundidad.
La caja incluye varios accesorios de muy buena calidad, desde un portafiltros robusto con cuatro canastillas distintas hasta el tamper y una herramienta para asegurarse que la dosis de café es la correcta. También viene con pastillas de limpieza y descalcificador.
Hasta ahora, el único punto negativo que encuentro es el precio. Aunque yo la encontré con descuento, se trata de cualquier forma de un gasto mayor. Ciertamente hay cafeteras que cuestan cuatro o cinco veces más y esta se encuentra en un rango intermedio de precios. Dependerá de la durabilidad del producto para saber si valió la pena.
Images in this review
- Laurie B.Reviewed in Canada on February 16, 2020
Great Machine
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase - Jaime SchroederReviewed in Canada on May 13, 2024
Great lattes made with this espresso machine!
Color: Black TruffleVerified Purchase -
LIC. M.Reviewed in Mexico on June 28, 2023
Ideal para iniciarse
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
Si no quieres gastar un dineral en una máquina profesional esta es tu mejor opción, al principio te costará tiempo adaptarte para encontrar el punto ideal de extracción, inicialmente recomiendo comprar accesorios del mercado secundario de buena calidad , por ejemplo,LIC. M.Ideal para iniciarse
Reviewed in Mexico on June 28, 2023
Un filtro de mayor calidad
Un porta filtro desnudo
Un tamper
Un distribuidor de agujas
La idea es siempre ser constante en todos los procesos y eliminar las mayores variables posibles, una vez que dómines eso , todos tus café van a salir de maravilla , en lo personal no ocupo los botones automáticos, sólo dejo presionado el botón de una o dos tazas por aproximadamente ocho o 10 segundos para la pre infusión y una vez que lo suelto empieza el tiro y tengo extracciones correctas de 25 y 30 segundos, pero si o si debes tener un molino de buena calidad, en mi caso tengo un molino Breville grinder pro y tengo pensado adquirir un Barraza 270 wi , si no tienes un molino de buena calidad nunca vas a sacar un buen espresso, cabe señalar que un amigo tiene la gaggia classic pro y los dos hemos concluido que la Bambino plus definitivamente la supera en muchos aspectos
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