Sage the Bambino Plus Espresso Machine, Coffee Machine with Milk Frother, SES500BTR - Black Truffle

Product Information

There’s nothing to complain about in terms of the finished product. The crema was nice and oily, with a fine texture without bubbles, and it lasted for a couple of minutes after pouring. I measured the espresso temperature at 55ºC, which is just a little on the cool side. At the rear, an amply-sized 1.9l water tank clips easily and securely into place. Unlike some machines that require you insert the tank from above, the Sage’s design hinges from the bottom so you can remove and refill it without having to slide the machine out from underneath a kitchen cabinet. That’s a huge help in smaller kitchens. If, however, you’re short on space and like the idea of a hassle-free manual espresso machine, then the Bambino makes a very good case for itself. It’s compact, stylish, easy to use and the sheer speed at which it brews coffee and delivers steam and hot water makes it easy to whip up coffees in fairly rapid succession. If you really can’t stretch to the Bambino Plus, the Sage Bambino will be a little bundle of joy. Rugged build quality and excellent results make this a top machine for those who want high-quality espresso manually, but don’t have room for a larger machine. Build and features – Excellent and rugged-feeling coffee machine The Breville Bambino Plus steam wand is better than the Breville Bambino’s because it replicates the control and accuracy of prosumer and commercial machines. The Breville Bambino offers a basic performance with some milk-frothing capabilities that are good enough for convenience-oriented home baristas.

The automatic steam wand allows you to adjust the milk temperature and texture to suit your taste. Delivering quality micro-foam that enhances the flavour of the coffee and is essential for creating latte art. Making a good espresso relies on quite a few factors, and one of them is making sure the coffee grounds are well compacted. To help you do this, a metal tamper is provided, and unlike on many other machines this isn’t attached to the machine itself, which makes it much easier to apply even force to the grounds. Lots of espresso machines also have a plastic tamper, so it’s good to see a more sturdy metal tamper here. Each machine also has a low-pressure pre-infusion feature that ensures maximum flavor extraction. The Bambino Plus even has a feature that dampens coffee grounds before pulling the espresso shot, which is usually only found on more expensive espresso machines.Manual espresso machines can be notoriously complicated to use but this one does most of the number crunching for you. In essence, it has just two extraction buttons, one for a short and one for a double. The default for the single shot is short, barista short – as in a single mouthful. However, extraction length can easily be customised to suit your size of cups. The same applies to the double shot function. If you like cappuccinos and lattes, then this is the machine for you. The Bambino Plus’ thermojet-powered steam wand produces one off the silkiest and creamiest micro froths in cappuccino land, and you can set both the temperature of the froth mixture and its consistency from low to high.

Familiarise yourself with product RRPs: this will help you recognise the really valuable opportunities to save. Just recently, in 2013, Breville launched its first dual-boiler espresso machine for home use. Soon after that, in 2016, Breville partnered with Nespresso and started selling several Nespresso machines with great success. Then, Breville placed itself as one of the home espresso market leaders in America and other markets.

A compact, stylish and easy to use coffee machine that’s perfect for espresso beginners – it’s just a tad on the pricey side, though

It’s nice to have such warnings, but a small LCD screen that indicates exactly what needs to be done would be a neater solution – and you wouldn’t need to turn to the manual to decipher what those flashing lights mean.