Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine Review

I reviewed and wrote many articles about different coffee machines, large, small, semi and fully automatic but to pick out a winner is a bit tricky, since everyone has individual coffee needs that are specific and not always the same. So, I will describe the Breville Bambino Plus Espresso machine in detail with all its pros and cons to make sure it fits your needs.

Breville is a company (based in Australia) that produces high-quality and innovative kitchenware through thoughtful design and great ideas based on consumer needs. The company is well-known for producing high-quality brewers and the Bambino Plus is their newest showcase.

Breville succeeded in breaking the code to espresso makers with the Bambino Plus brewer. The machine can produce higher quality texture milk than most of its counterparts. You’ll get more details about the Bambino Plus in this review.

Specifications for Bambino Plus Espresso Machine

Breville Bambino Plus is an attractive espresso machine that comes in six colors, with a tank of 1.9 liters, which is good for this compact machine.

You can fit the tank with an optional water filter. This helps to prevent the limescale from clogging the machine over time. This measure will dramatically increase the life span of the machine and also will produce better tasting espresso.

The thermoJet heating technology is one of the best innovative features of Breville Bambino Plus. It gets the machine ready for brewing in three seconds. It heats up incredibly fast. I don’t know if there is another coffee maker able to do that.

The Bambino Plus supports both manual and automatic frothing of milk. It enables the user to pull a single shot or double shots. The machine has a decent adjustable frothing wand which has four steam tips.

Aesthetics

The machine comes with five buttons that control all the processes. Two buttons function to pull one cup or two cups, otherwise known as shots. While the other buttons start the steam wand used to decide the level of foaminess and controls the milk temperature, and the result will produce a barista-quality microfoam.

Dimensions

• 7 3/4″ wide x 12 1/2″ deep x 12 1/4″ high.
• 64-fl. Oz. capacity
• 11 lb.

Performance of Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine

This compact footprint machine won’t take up much space in any kitchen top, but will likely enhance the appearance of your kitchen. The machine has a nice design with Stainless-steel housing. This coffee maker makes a good it fit into a modern kitchen and it comes in multiple colors.

Breville Bambino Plus has a touch button setup that makes the machine intuitively easy to use. It has two buttons at the top that allows a user to select single or two shots.

The filter basket of the machine holds the 18 grams of coffee. The double-wall filter basket dispenses some under-extracted substance. But using the non-pressurized basket gives the best result for most espresso machines.

The milk foaming provides hands-free auto steam. The two left buttons are used to control the texture and temperature of the milk. It has three distinct options that produce different textures either wet or dry.

The milk foaming doesn’t require any expertise as the machine has an auto-frothing mode. What is required of you is to put the nozzle in the jug, and the machine will get the best job done. You can also choose to manually do it yourself – but the machine is quite efficient. The milk is always hot and nice; the wetter foam has some tiny bubbles in it.

Features of the Breville Bambino Plus espresso machine

• 3-Second Heat Up Time

The machine has an innovative thermoJet heating system that makes the brewer reach the optimal temperature in just 3 seconds. This is an impressive feature that takes away the long wait and basically cuts down on the brew time. Besides, this feature enables users to instantaneously switch between steaming and brewing.

Microfoam Milk Texturing

The Bambino brewer is designed with an automated steam milk wand. It enables the user to adjust the texture level and temperature of the milk as it’s done in a café bar.

This feature allows users to make barrister-level microfoam milk with a velvety layer in each cup. It also helps to improve the brew’s flavor and aroma.

The high pressure of the machine steams the milk to produce a lot of small bubbles for a better taste.

• Easy to Use and Maintain

The product has five intuitive buttons that make it easy to perform all the functions. It will be a great choice for a novice who wants to brew espresso.

It provides the fastest and easiest way to make coffees, espresso, or steaming milk with consistent texture.

Breville recommends to run clean water through the machine before using it. Cleaning the coffee maker is simple;

• Hand-wash filters (do not use dishwasher), filter holder, and drip tray.
• The steam nozzle should be purged and wiped after each brew
• Wipe clean the machine exterior with a moist cloth.
• Do not use detergents and abrasive cleansers.

Also, the Bambino Plus comes with tablets and a set of cleaning discs to make cleaning easier. Moreover, its portafilters and drip tray are both separable and have an automatic descaling technology that checks the device build-up minerals, and the milk wand automatically cleans itself.

• Temperature Control

The machine has a digital temperature control system for better control, precision, and balanced extraction of delicious and tasty brews. The digital temperature gives more precise regulation over the water temperature at all times.

• The Pre-Infusion System

The Bambino Plus brewer prides itself on low-pressure pre-infusion technology that ensures the taste is evenly distributed in the espresso shot during the extraction process. It’s an automated process.

You can also manually control the pre-infusion system. To manually start the pre-infusion, simply hold down the shot button. After the pre-infusion, release the button to enable the pressure to increase to 9 bars.

The ideal time recommended for the pre-infusion should be between 6-10 seconds. But you may also explore to find a time that works for you and stick to it.

It is advisable to keep the other elements in sync. Changes should only be made one at a time – that is pre-infusion time, dose, and grind size.

• 15 Bars of Pressure Italian pump
  

The machine’s 15 Bars Italian pump which is the perfect pressure for an espresso. You might have come across other lower-cost espresso or similarly priced machines as Bambino (labeled as perfect bar pump machines). The espresso machine has to create 9 bars of pressure after a low pre-infusion in order to have a precise coffee extraction.

Professional espresso machines that Pro Barista used have 9-bar pressure

Cleaning Cycles of Breville Bambino Plus

The machine has two cleaning cycles; these are as follows:

• The cleaning cycle
• The descaling cycle

The Cleaning Cycle

This cycle is otherwise known as the back flush cycle. Back flushing is the art of using a blind disk that clogs the filter basket’s hole. You then put some cleaning tablet followed by series of short shots.

The machine automatically gives signals for back flushing when the need arises. The signal is mostly to wink at you. Alternatively, it flashes both the single and double shots as a signal for the back flush cycle.

You can either respond to the backflush prompt or press the steam button to ignore it when you’re not ready. But the machine will keep prompting you for a backflush anytime you turn it on until you do it….

The Descaling Cycle

Just like the backflush cycle, the Bambino Plus will also prompt you to descale when the need arises. It does this by flashing the shot and steam knob light for few seconds. Again, you can cancel it if you’re not yet ready, but it will signal you the next time you turn on the machine.

If you want to descale the machine, you need to remove the filter from the tank and fill it with water to the 1L mark.

Pour the descale detergent into the water and stir it. Remove the portafilter and place a bowl under the steam wand to catch the water during the rinsing cycle.

Simultaneously hold down the single shot and steam button for 5 seconds to start the descaling process. Both buttons will continue to flash as the descaling process is running and will continue through to the completion stage.

The process will pause when the 1L of water has been used up. Refill it and press the steam button to continue the descaling process.

Once it is through with the descaling process, both the steam button and the shot light will begin to blink again. This will make the machine go into standby mode.

Finally, empty the bowl and rinse both the water tank and the drip tray. Return the water filter and you are good to go. After you clean and descale the machine a few times, it becomes very simple process.

Pros of Bambino Plus Espresso Machine

• Simple to use
• Small footprint
• Advanced function
• Affordable
• Automated foam frothing
• ThermoJet heating technology

Cons

• No integrated grinder (Semi automatic machine)
• Small drip tray to catch all the spills

The Takeaway

Breville Bambino Plus would be a good choice for anyone interested in an espresso machine with user-friendly features. It brews better-steamed milk and it automates the steaming process versus its competition.

It’ll produce well-textured milk and is equipped to deliver an amazing user experience for all coffee lovers, or beginners.

Bambino Plus is also compact and portable; it doesn’t take up much space.

Great tasting and flavorful coffee as well as espresso, requires fresh ground coffee meaning you need freshly ground beans — add a grinder to the list and more space required… but…

You can find a way around this issue by buying a manual burr grinder which is inexpensive, and it’s a great coffee grinder. The other solution is to simply use fresh pre-ground coffee from a coffee source you know sells fresh pre-ground coffee.

Dollar-for-dollar, the Breville Bambino Plus is simply one of the best espresso machine around for the money. Its functionality shot qualities from the box and beginner-friendliness make it a great choice to enjoy a delicious cup of golden nectar.

If you have any comments, please leave them below, I’d love to hear from you. If you’re a coffee lover and a dog lover check these pet supplements.