Coffee & Espresso review
Breville Bambino Plus Review: Three Seconds to Ready, and the Catch
The ThermoJet heater removes the single most annoying thing about home espresso, which is waiting. What it does not remove is the grinder you still have to buy.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
Illustration, not a photo — we don’t have a licensed image of this product yet.
Breville
Breville Bambino Plus
Good · researched from 5 sources
If you already own a burr grinder, this is the easiest recommendation in budget espresso, mostly because it removes the waiting. If you do not own a grinder, buy that first, because the Bambino will expose a bad one immediately.
- Buy if
- People who already own a decent burr grinder · Anyone making one or two milk drinks a day on a weekday morning · Small kitchens where counter space decides the purchase
- Skip if
- Households making four milk drinks back to back · Tinkerers who want to control brew temperature directly · Anyone wanting a machine they can service themselves
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
What the three seconds actually buys you
Most espresso machines in this bracket ask you to plan around them. You switch on, you wait somewhere between ten and thirty minutes for the group to come up to temperature, and if you forgot to do that before the shower then you are drinking something worse than you wanted.
The ThermoJet system deletes that. Breville quotes three seconds to extraction temperature and every review we read repeats the figure without arguing with it.
The less obvious number is the recovery. Coffee Chronicler measured the machine back at brew temperature about eight seconds after steaming milk. On a single-boiler machine that gap is normally where the annoyance lives, and eight seconds is short enough that you stop scheduling around it.
Temperature, and who is telling you about it
Di Pacci put a Fluke thermocouple probe on it and logged 92.8C plus or minus 0.8C across twenty consecutive shots. That is a genuinely tight band and it is the number that makes the machine worth taking seriously.
It is also the only instrumented figure we could find, and Di Pacci sells coffee equipment, which is worth knowing before you lean on it. The qualitative reports line up with it, for what that is worth. Coffee Chronicler described the PID as really stable and noticeably more consistent than the older Gaggia Classic they compared it against.
The basket situation is a mess
Breville's US page lists single and dual wall filter baskets in the box. The Coffee Maven, reviewing a US unit, listed two dual wall pressurised baskets and called the absence of single wall baskets a downside. Coffee Chronicler found European units shipping with both and US units not.
Dual wall baskets fake crema by forcing coffee through a pinhole, which means they produce something drinkable from almost any grind and something mediocre from a good one. If you have bought a grinder, you want the single wall baskets. Check the specific listing before you buy, and if it is ambiguous, assume you need to add them.
Where the cost cutting shows
The body is stainless on the outside and light plastic underneath. That has two consequences worth knowing about.
The first is immediate: the machine is light enough that locking in the portafilter tends to push it around the counter, so you steady it with your other hand. The Coffee Maven raised the same thing independently. It is a small irritation you will perform every single morning.
The second is slower. Coffee Chronicler found it difficult to repair yourself and expensive to buy parts for, which is the trade against something like a Gaggia Classic, where the entire appeal is that you can take it apart forever.
The wand
Strong for a machine this size, per Coffee Chronicler, and it extends far enough into the jug to get a proper vortex going. It does not swivel, so you work at whatever angle it gives you.
On the automatic setting with dairy, Di Pacci got latte art quality microfoam about 95 percent of the time. With oat and other alternatives that fell to somewhere in the 70s. Coffee Chronicler was more reserved, calling the automatic result fine for a cappuccino but visibly short of hand steaming.
How it scored
The overall 7.8 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Shot quality
Di Pacci logged 92.8C plus or minus 0.8C across 20 consecutive shots with a Fluke probe. Coffee Chronicler called the PID stable and a clear step up from the older Gaggia.
Value
Coffee Chronicler's verdict was that this is the machine other brands now have to beat at the price. The grinder you still need is the hidden cost.
Build quality
Stainless outside, lightweight plastic inside. Coffee Chronicler flagged difficult self-repair and expensive replacement parts.
Ease of use
Ready in three seconds from cold, with automatic milk texturing at three temperatures and three foam levels.
Steam power
Strong for the size and it returns to brew temperature in about eight seconds, but the wand does not swivel and the auto mode is short of hand-textured gloss.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- Ready to brew about three seconds after switching on
- Brew temperature measured within a narrow band across twenty back to back shots
- Automatic milk texturing that gets close to hand steaming with dairy
- Standard accessories in the box, including a razor dosing tool and a real tamper
What we didn’t
- The US version has shipped with pressurised baskets only, so single wall baskets are a separate purchase
- Lightweight body slides when you lock the portafilter in, so you end up holding it steady
- The steam wand is fixed in place and will not swivel
- Coffee Chronicler found it awkward to repair yourself, with costly replacement parts
- No manual control over brew temperature
Specifications
| Heating system | ThermoJet, quoted at 3 seconds to extraction temperature |
|---|---|
| Portafilter | 54mm stainless steel, 18g capacity |
| Temperature control | PID, not user adjustable |
| Milk texturing | Automatic and manual, 3 temperatures and 3 foam levels |
| Water tank | 64 oz per The Coffee Maven |
| Dimensions | 11.9 x 7.4 x 14.3 in per Breville |
| Weight | 12 lb per The Coffee Maven |
| In the box | 54mm tamper, Razor dosing tool, 480ml milk jug, filter baskets, cleaning tool and disc |
How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
5
sources reviewed
Breville's product page supplied the specifications. Coffee Chronicler and The Coffee Maven each spent extended time with the machine and are the basis for the handling and build observations. Di Pacci is the only source we found publishing an instrumented temperature figure, and because Di Pacci also sells coffee equipment we have attributed that measurement to them rather than presenting it as settled. Where the sources disagreed, most visibly on which baskets ship in the box, we report the disagreement.
What we read
Common questions
Does the Breville Bambino Plus come with non-pressurised baskets?
Do I need a separate grinder?
How long does it really take to be ready?
Is the automatic milk frothing any good?
The bottom line on the Breville Bambino Plus
If you already own a burr grinder, this is the easiest recommendation in budget espresso, mostly because it removes the waiting. If you do not own a grinder, buy that first, because the Bambino will expose a bad one immediately.
How it compares
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