Features:

  • Automatic microfoam milk texturing: the automatic steam wand allows you to adjust the milk temperature and texture to suit your taste. Delivering Barista quality microfoam that enhances the flavor of the coffee and is essential for creating latte art
  • Faster heat up time: innovative thermojet heating system achieves the optimum extraction temperature in 3 seconds. Ready to make your best coffee without the wait
  • 19 grams dose for full flavor: achieve a consistent and balanced Espresso using the right amount of ground coffee. The 54mm porta-filter with 19 grams is the key for full flavor and café quality coffee
  • Low pressure pre-infusion: low pressure pre-infusion gradually increases pressure at the start and helps ensure all the flavors are drawn out evenly during the extraction for a balanced tasting cup
  • Precise Espresso extraction: digital temperature control (PID) delivers water at precisely the right temperature, ensuring optimal Espresso extraction. Voltage 220–240 volts
  • Auto purge: automatically purging the heat system after steaming ensures your next Espresso is extracted at the right temperature
Makes a wonderful latte - provided you use quality fresh ground beans

This is a great little espresso maker. The auto frothing is wonderful. And the espresso comes out with wonderful crema. My only complaint is that the two cup dual wall filter always sticks up inside the machine and doesnt come out when you take off the porta-filter. So you have to struggle with it every time. Called support but they didn't come up with any really successful method of dealing with it. It is suctioned up there by water/air pressure and is hard to get off! The pucks tend to be wet, but read that is normal with dual-wall filters as water can't leave them as easily. The quality latte I get from this machine is 1000% better than my old $45 espresso maker by Mr Coffee. I am in heaven!

My review & update!

Everytime you use this machine you have to bear hug it. But on the other note, i like it. And it works so far. Update:3/03/19 So, its been a few days now using this machine and my boyfriend and i love this machine! Great Taste and alot better then going to the coffee shop! Will save us alot of money! Once you do espresso you will never go back to regular coffee im just saying! As i mentioned about the bear hugging the machine, after a few uses its becomes easier to pull on the portafilter into place. I know as you read this your constantly thinking about the price am i right? Cuz i know i did when i read the reviews! Ever hear of the amazon credit card? You can make payments every month as low as $25 bucks a month! It does not have to be paid all in one fee.. trust me this espresso machine is worth it!

Awesome Little Machine

For someone like me who just wants a pretty decent latte quickly with a minimum of hassle this machine is great. The auto milk steaming feature really cuts down on the time you spend at the machine, you just push a button and walk away while it comes up to perfect temperature/foaminess.

Quality Machine

Easy use and makes a very good quality espresso!

Love this

Quit expensive coffee shops and just use this. Easy to use and makes excellent cappuccino!

Fast, easy, delicious!

I love this machine even with its quirks. It makes delicious espresso quickly and easily. I’ve diverged a bit from the standard setup which, for me, makes it an even better experience. I no longer use the pressurized filters that come with the machine. I’m using unpressurized, 54mm single wall, 2 shot baskets purchased directly from Breville. You have to email Breville and they’ll setup a purchase link. The baskets (BES860XL/11.4) are $19.99 each plus tax and shipping ($4.99 for me). I purchased 4. I grind and fill all 4 baskets, and pull 4 double shots, one right after the other—2 each for my wife and me for Americanos or just quad expressos—twice each morning. My grinder is the Breville Smart Grinder Pro and I set it for beans from my local roaster: 14.4 seconds at grind 20 which gives me 14 grams of grounds. I follow the Bambino instructions for tamping—tamping perfection is not required. We don’t do a lot of milk-based drinks but when we do the frother seems to work quite well automatically or manually. The quirks: I’ve read reviews that mention the filter baskets getting stuck in the group head. I haven’t had that problem. I only tighten the portafilter so that it’s snug and not tight. The grounds puck, however, will occasionally get stuck in the group head which requires putting the portafilter back on and jiggling a bit when taking it off again—not a big deal. The drip tray is a bit small but, again, no big deal. The biggest quick is the cleaning process which does not happen according to the instructions. I actually talked with a customer service rep about it and they confirmed that a change was made after the instruction manual was printed making the manual inaccurate (it may have been updated since—I don’t know). The original cleaning disk was made with a perforation in it which allowed water to course through the cleaning disk and into the container placed under the portafilter and steam wand. Apparently Breville decided that particular cleaning process wasn’t working well so they stopped perforating the cleaning disk in order to force more of the cleaning solution (from the cleaning tab) back up through the group head screen. As a result, the new cleaning method requires running the method outlined in the original manual followed by manually running the double shot cycle (pressing the double shot button) several (4 or 5) times. The cleaning solution backs up through the machine and exits through the drip tray—pretty messy but, again, no big deal. The cleaning tab is never completely used up but it seems to work. I follow that cleaning process by purging the group head a couple of times with couple of single shot cycles with just water. I’ve run about 5 cleaning cycles (once every 200 single shots) and the Bambino is still working beautifully. I would definitely recommend this machine to anyone who wants great espresso nearly instantly without all the fuss and headache of much more expensive machines.

Beautiful machine that makes a wonderful latte

I normally use a Nespresso machine but after using this I will not be going back. Since I live far away from any Starbucks location, I really wanted to learn to make my own lattes. There is so much to learn but I have made my first one, and made it with soy milk and I am amazed at how great this beautiful machine is, especially the milk steamer/microfoamer. I loved how fast it frothed/foamed the milk and heated it, and even though I was not making latte art, it made such a beautiful latte…I was so impressed and ran around the house showing everyone! The taste was wonderful and yet I still have a lot to learn about coffee bean selection, grind and such. The machine is gorgeous and doesn’t take up much space at all. It’s easy to operate, although I was intimidated at first, but it’s super easy, really. The steamer is easy to clean and I love that it purges itself after frothing the milk. I put the machine center stage in my kitchen, because it is so lovely to look at. Comes with everything you need, except for coffee and milk.

Must Have but Beware!

Oh My Goodness (that needed to be spelled out)! My headline said "Must have but Beware " the issue is once you get this espresso machine and learn how to do it just right you will never be able to drink just coffee again. Plain coffee is just too nasty compared to the wonderful beverage that comes from this espresso machine. Also to go stand in line to get a cappuccino or latte will no longer be something you will be willing to do. So just know if you get this machine you will never be the same. The machine comes with two pressurized filters, a one shot and a two shot. I happen to trip across a UTube that explained with these pressure filters you did not need to tap down the coffee grounds. That's where I was going wrong, I could not get my shot extractions to come out properly. All I did was put the tap onto the coffee in the filter and applied a little pressure with a few spins just to polish the coffee, it worked perfect. From then on my extractions were evenly dispersed. I did want a larger shot (to me the 1 shot and the two shot just did not have enough coffee) it was a little weak when you did a lot of milk. I used the directions in the book to adjust the shots to my specifications and that is one reason I loved this machine, you can make adjustments for what you like. Good luck to my fellow Barristers!

Perfect espresso crema from a very compact machine

The Bambino replaced my 6 year old Breville "the Infuser"...which finally quit on me this past summer after daily use. The Bambino takes up a lot less counter space and yet produces the same quality espresso shots as the Infuser did. (The Infuser eventually sprung a leak that couldn't be fixed). The Bambino works the same way, and seems to have the same high quality components as far as I can tell. The Breville line of coffee machines excels in build-quality and overall finish over the other brands of machines I've used such as Krups. The only thing missing is an integrated coffee grinder but the Infuser didn't have a grinder either. This is also missing the gauge the Infuser had, yet I don't miss not having one. The Bambino seems to have a quieter pump, but you still hear it. This one also moves across the counter due to the light weight, so I have it sitting on a rubber mat. The Bambino heats up a lot faster than the old machine, about 3-4 seconds and it's ready to go. My favorite "cheap" espresso coffee at the moment is Café La Llave Espresso, Dark Roast, Fine Grind, 4-10 ounce bricks, available here on Amazon, where you get 4 bricks of ground espresso for under $15.

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