The Breville Bambino Plus is the best espresso machine for under $500

You wouldn’t have to ask many baristas for their favorite espresso machine before you got the answer ‘The Bambino Plus’. In fact, it’s one of the most popular coffee makers on the market.

Breville has established themselves as experts in the coffee community. They produce some of the most premium machines on the market and I love them all. 

The Bambino Plus is excellent for so many reasons. It’s a compact, simple model, suited to everyone from beginners to more advanced coffee connoisseurs. It's certainly one of the best coffee makers on the market.

I took this to our test kitchen to test out its capabilities. It’s a hands-on machine, but Breville has integrated their latest and greatest technology. You’ll have to try hard to make anything less than perfect.

Breville Bambino Plus: Key Info

• Colors: cream, black, red, pastel blue, pastel green, pastel pink
• Dimensions: 13 x 5.9 x 13 inches
• Pressure: 15 bars
• Weight: 10.4 lbs
• Water tank capacity: 1 quart
• Power: 1550 W

Breville The Barista Pro: First impressions

(Image credit: Future)

This is an espresso machine with close to universal appeal. The simple, stainless steel design would blend seamlessly in to most kitchens, especially because this is so small. It’s one of the slimmest espresso machines that I’ve tested. Stainless steel always looks particularly beautiful with granite or marble surfaces. I tested this on a marble countertop and it looked divine.

As a result of its size, this is relatively light. It’s no heavier than a food processor, so I could imagine storing it away if you didn’t want to display it in your coffee nook. Physically, this has a lot going for itself.

To get making great coffee, you’ll have to buy a grinder. Unlike some more expensive espresso machines, this doesn’t include an integrated grinder. Buying a grinder is an expense, but it’s worth it. There are plenty of excellent ones on the market. Breville makes a good one which you can buy QVC. It automatically doses coffee grounds and can achieve a consistent and fine grind. I use the Fellow Ode, which is available at Amazon, because it's the best espresso machine for fine grinds. You won’t go wrong with either of these.

Making coffee in the Breville The Barista Pro

(Image credit: Future)

I had been assured that the Bambino could make excellent espressos. Breville has developed a ThermoJet heating system, which warms the machine in three seconds. It also has a pre-infusion setting which mimics coffee ‘blooming’, taking the edge off any acidity in your coffee. Until I tested them, these features sounded like gimmicks, but they’re not.

First, I pulled a double espresso shot. I used coffee scales, like these from Walmart, to measure out 0.63 oz of freshly ground coffee into my portafilter. Breville provides a range of portafilter baskets and I chose the 2.04 inch, double walled one, because I was using fresh coffee. Single walled baskets work better with pre-ground coffee. 

I used Breville’s provided tamper to apply firm pressure to the coffee grounds. Be careful with manual tampers: always apply consistent pressure, almost like you would to a stapler. Too much of too little will drastically change how your coffee tastes.

(Image credit: Future)

When locking the portafilter into place I held a cautionary hand on the top of the Bambino Plus. This stops it from lifting up or tipping, which I suspected a machine this light would. The flat top is the perfect place for warming and storing cups, but it's also a good place to put your hand.

 The top panel has three buttons, for one shot, two shots or steam. I tested both single and double shots, which came out at 191 and 190 degrees respectively - close to perfect. They both had thick hazelnut coloured cremas, indicating that my coffee had been well extracted. The Bambino Plus extracted some of the sweetest notes out of my coffee compared to other machines. These flavors ultimately depend on grind size and you can adjust the machine's settings, but I was pleased with how the Bambino extracted the caramel notes.

To make an Americano, I used the steam wand which shoots a jet of water. This was quite strong and did splash up my cup a fair amount, but as my cup filled this became less of a problem. The Americano was 192 degrees, so on the cool side. If you run the jet for a couple of seconds, it warms up quicker.

Steaming milk in the Breville The Barista Pro

(Image credit: Future)

Steam wands can be tricky for beginners to use. However the Bambino Plus has three settings for how frothy you would like your milk: thin froth, medium froth, and thick froth. You can also select different temperatures too.

There’s a useful loop which you can hook your finger through to pull the steam wand out so that you don’t burn yourself. The steam wand is really flexible, so you could angle it for any jug and milk quantity. I placed the steam wand under the milk with a small amount of the tip showing, because that will allow you to draw in air and froth your milk effortlessly.

I tried all the different levels of froth on oat and dairy milk. I twisted the dial to my desired setting and the sensors in the steam wand would stop frothing when it deemed that my milk was frothy enough.

My oat was slightly more bubbly on the thickest milk setting, so less smooth, but this is a marginal difference. Overall, it was impressive. I would caution cappuccino drinkers that the frothiest milk comes out as almost half froth and half milk. If you pour slowly, you won’t get as much froth out. I tend to aim for 1/3 froth in a cappuccino if you need guidance.

Should you buy the Breville The Barista Pro?

(Image credit: Future)

If I had to recommend one espresso machine to everyone, it would be this. It costs under $500 and makes incredibly good coffee. The adjustable settings mean that even technical or fussy coffee drinkers can make a brew to suit their tastes, but beginners won’t struggle. There’s a reason why baristas love it so much.

We take all of our coffee makers to our test kitchen where our team of experts tests every feature of the product. We have experience with all the machines on the market, so we can make comparisons and we know what to expect.

Laura, a former barista, took the Smeg BCC02 to our test kitchen where she used it to make a range of functions. She took notes on the whole process, from unboxing to cleaning up, so that she could tell you everything you need to know about this machine.