Breville Bambino Plus Review

For those wanting decent espresso at home without having to drain the bank or give up a ton of counter space, the Breville Bambino Plus should be on your shortlist. It doesn't play in the big leagues, but it can still produce good-quality shots, cappuccinos, and lattes.

Performance Comparison

Espresso Quality

The Bambino Plus has room to improve, but it still earned acceptable scores for its espresso quality — quite a feat for this less-expensive, pint-sized percolator.

During our standardized tests, the Bambino Plus was able to turn 19 grams of ground coffee into 34 grams of liquid espresso. Its average brewing time was 25 seconds, one of the faster times of all the machines we tested. The Bambino Plus also produced decent extraction yields when compared to the rest of the group.

The extraction yield (shown in the chart above) shows what percentage of the shot you're drinking is actually coffee. To determine this percentage, we used a refractometer. It uses light to determine the total amount of coffee solids that were able to dissolve into water — or total dissolved solids (TDS). With the help of some basic math, we used the TDS from the Bambino Plus shot to calculate the final extraction yield of 18.4%. The industry standard for espresso is 18% to 22%.

Despite having an extraction yield at the bottom end of the industry standard, the Bambino Plus still crushes most of its competition in this price range. It simply can't compete with commercial-grade machines, but we were still very surprised at how close it comes to producing shots that compare with a cafe-made espresso. Its espresso is rich and creamy with beautiful hues during extraction. It offers a mellow flavor, that was followed by bolder notes. In truth, we also picked up hints of harsher notes at times. Lastly, the Bambino Plus struggles a bit to produce perfect crema. Instead of relying entirely on steam pressure, the portafilter's spouts are equipped with aeration inserts designed to enhance the crema by introducing air into the extract. Instead of rich, frothy crema, the result is more average. Our cremas had larger bubbles that dissipated faster than we would have preferred.

Ease of Use

The Bambino Plus offers about as easy of a user experience as one could expect from a semi-automatic machine. It crushed the competition in our side-by-side testing for this metric, earning a near-perfect score.

Simple, intuitive, and beginner-friendly are perfect adjectives for the Bambino Plus. Simply put, it's the easiest to use of the bunch. One of our favorite features is Breville's use of the Bilt App, a third-party app that provides extremely detailed setup and operational instructions.

Despite its compact size, the Bambino Plus still packs a serious wallop when it comes to its 64-ounce water tank. The tank capacity is impressively on par with several larger machines in our testing group. The tank is also stenciled with an easy-to-read how-to guide for when you need to jog your memory on how to perform one of the machine's features.

We also loved this machine's tiny footprint. It's perfect for users who have limited counter space or for those who like to keep their appliances tucked away on shelves or behind cupboard doors. However, being so small does have its drawbacks. The Bambino Plus offers no storage for accessories. It doesn't offer a built in grinder, so you'll need to go with pre-ground coffee or make an additional purchase that will take up more storage space. Lastly, the drip tray is quite small, so it needs to be emptied with each use. However, we did the calculations and found that these inconveniences are more tolerable when you consider the overall lifetime savings the Bambino Plus brings to the table.

When it comes to cappuccinos, the Bambino Plus offers pretty much the same experience you'll get from any semi-automatic machine. You'll have to grind the beans, tamp them into the portafilter, and make sure the extraction is going smoothly. From start to finish, our professional baristas were able to create decent quality cappuccinos in about 4 minutes — not exactly the fastest.

As with many automatic espresso machines, the Bambino Plus unfortunately doesn't have a pressure gauge. Not having this visual feedback increased our dialing-in time because we were left in the dark when adjusting our grind size and tamping pressure. This wasn't a serious drawback, but it does call for a little more trial and error. Thankfully, the pre-infusion stage (which pre-soaks the puck before pressurization) makes it fairly forgiving to inconsistencies in grinding and tamping technique — a perfect feature for beginners or for on-the-go people who don't want to spend a lot of time crafting perfect brews.

The steam wand on the Bambino Plus offers a completely automatic mode. It doesn't produce perfect results, but it does work well and is easier than manually steaming milk. Simply fill the pitcher with milk and place it underneath the wand. Preset options allow you to select desired settings for milk temperature and foam level, and a simple push of a button gets the whole process underway.

Ease of Cleaning

When it comes to cleaning, the Bambino Plus washes up quicker and easier than many of the machines on our list. Given their complexities, espresso machines are generally more difficult to clean than — say, a toaster — so most on our list received average scores for this metric. However, as you can see, the Bambino Plus scores a little better than most.

As with most machines, the Bambino Plus requires that you clean the portafilter and drip tray, both of which are not time-consuming chores. The milk wand conveniently purges itself after every use, so it only really requires a quick wipe-down to clean the milk from the outside. Longer-term cleaning, namely descaling, is a fairly straightforward process and takes about 8.5 minutes to complete; however, the user must be present during the entire process. Additionally, the Bambino Plus needs to be back-flushed after 200 shots are pulled. We like the fact that the machine will alert the user when either process is necessary, but it's important to note that overriding the alerts is not possible. Lastly, the manufacturer suggests using specific cleaning tablets for descaling and back-flushing. So, plan on separately purchasing them.

Milk Steaming

The Bambino Plus offers a few automatic presets for steaming and frothing milk. These settings don't produce perfect results, but most of the outcomes are acceptable enough to please the average at-home barista.

While testing the Bambino's automated steaming capabilities, we were able to produce very acceptable steamed milk for lattes and decent microfoam for cappuccinos in under a minute. However, we did struggle to produce a quality dry foam, so if you like your cappuccinos bone dry, this machine may not be your best option. Likewise, if you're generally picky about your milk, we suggest manually steaming, although the steam wand is not very adjustable, making it tricky to angle the pitcher. Specifically, the wand pivots back and forth but not side to side. Otherwise, the auto steam wand on the Bambino Plus will still get you 80% of the way there with far less effort or skill.

After compiling our testing notes, we felt the Bambino Plus will offer the average user a huge convenience when it comes to its auto-steaming features. Instead of requiring you to learn the ways of a manual steam wand, it gives you the option of simply filling the pitcher with milk, choose your desired setting for milk temperature and foam level, and press start. However, we did see some scalding and boiling while steaming milk at the highest temperature settings, so we recommend using the medium presets or lower.

Machine Customization

Given its primarily automatic features, the Bambino Plus didn't earn our best marks for this metric. That said, it was never designed to be command central for first-rate barista wizards. But, what this machine lacks in customization, it certainly makes up for in convenience.

In a nutshell, the Bambino Plus offers single and double shots, which are pre-programmed for various shot volumes. This can also be accomplished manually, by simply stopping the shot when the desired volume is extracted. The machine's programmable pre-infusion can also be manually done by physically stopping the process. As previously mentioned, the steam wand has a few automatic settings, but it can be used manually as well.

Should You Buy the Breville Bambino Plus ?

If you already have a grinder that is capable of producing the superfine grinds required to make espresso, the Bambino Plus is a perfect companion that can produce good-tasting shots and decent steamed milk and foams, all for a reasonable price. If you're a novice in the espresso game, or you simply want a compact, automatic machine that doesn't require a lot of your time or skill, this little machine-that-could is a great option. It's great for straight shots, lattes, mochas, and cappuccinos.

What Other Espresso Machines Should You Consider?

If you want more control over how your espresso is made, the Breville Barista Express is certainly a step up. It also comes with a built-in coffee grinder. If you already have the technical skills of a seasoned barista, then the Rancilio Silvia is right up your alley.