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.

Small footprint is great for a machine with a pump that makes such great tasting espresso. It’s ready to brew or steam in an instant. The auto froth feature works perfectly and isn’t any louder than frothing will necessarily be. They ought to call it the Maialino and paint it pink from the cute little “oink-oink” noises the pump makes. 🥰 The lighter weight of it makes it necessary to brace the machine with one hand while removing the porta filtre with the other. Reservoir is easy to refill, even without removing it from the machine (which is also an option) but be careful as the opening is flush with the top of the machine; if you’ve got demitasse or a tamper up there, they’re prone to falling in. Ask me how I know 🙄. The auto-clean feature for the steam wand is nice in keeping it cleared out and, for idiot proof avoidance of a clogged wand, probably better to have than not, but it can be a little annoying because it clears automatically whenever you retract the wand back into operating position after removing the pitcher from a steam. If you forgot and put it right back down into the next pitcher, you’ll get flush water in your next milk 😜. Also, it tends to fill up the catch pan after a few uses. What I do is put my wipe rag over the grate of the catch pan before lowering the wand to flush so the rag soaks up the flush water and then I have a hot damp rag to wipe off the wand. All in all, it’s a simple, compact, quality espresso machine. 7/23/24 edit: had to do the automated clean cycle and had my first encounter with breville’s weird support setup. Their own video was inaccurate on how to initiate the clean cycle (found the solution on Reddit) and there’s no way to provide them feedback on the info error without having a breville account to log in or taking time to call, neither of which I’m messing with. It’s a bit of a convenience fail. Sorry if that makes me a bit of a Princess Karen. Still an awesome machine.

I just got mine today and I had pre-learned about it. I had watched a lot of videos on it. Some people didn’t like it. So adjusted mine grind size differently. Watched a lot of barista’s talk about grind size what you need to do if you like this flavor profile or that, so I selected a medium grind I got organic coffee Low acid beans and 1st cup was perfect. I like to do about what’s considered three shots and a 16 ounce cup put my monk fruit in it in my half-and-half milk and cream and it was absolutely wonderful smooth delicious. coffee as good as I’ve ever gotten out of a absolutely. My coffee now is just really good! My advice is choose your beans carefully they make more difference than you may think. Always use filtered water learn about it before you get it. I was very impressed with the quality and the great results. It’s the best coffee Machine I’ve ever had. It looks very high-quality. I’m sure it’ll function perfectly for many years to come. A great investment for my morning delightful cup Of coffee. I absolutely recommend this product. If you want to become knowledgeable on it you will enjoy it.

I am happy in general, it does make a great coffee and foam, no complaints here. But there are some little annoying design quirks. Like when it signals that a backflush cleaning is needed, there is no heads up ahead of time, so if I need to make 2 espressos and after the first one it decides it needs cleaning - that's it, it won't make a second one - you MUST clean it then and there. I worked around it by calculating the average amount of days between cleanings and I am cleaning it on schedule now. Also, when that cleaning process expels water, it does it through the hole on the bottom, not through the portafilter, which is a bit awkward to catch, but I got used to it. Still, it is a great machine and I am not sorry I've bought it.

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. 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.

This espresso maker is the best appliance I have ever purchased. From the sensors that never allow the water tank to pump dry, to the easily cleaned base and steaming wand. Perfect foam on every cup. Rich brews time and time again. My cups of magic now foolproof with the push of a few simple buttons. Highly recommend.

Click to play video 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, 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

I’ve been loving this espresso machine! Unfortunately the steam wand stopped working properly after having it for about 70 days. I did everything the manual said to try and fix the problem but nothing was working. I contacted Amazon and they kindly sent me a replacement. So far no problems! :)