Discount Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine BES500BSS, Brushed Stainless Steel

Discount Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine BES500BSS, Brushed Stainless Steel 

BUY NOW

 Product Description Read More

 

Customer reviews
Elizabeth
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect espresso machine
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
I absolutely love my bambino plus by Breville!
First let me tell you that I ordered a Philips and that was too complicated and too many buttons/options plus I couldn’t even figure out how to get it to work! Then I ordered a jazzy. No way. Horrible piece of junk. Then my daughter said I have a juicer made by breville why don’t you try one of their machines? So I opted for the bambino plus. Well it does a beautiful job making my two to four capachinos a day! After a year of owning it I’ve become quite good at understanding beans/shots roasting dates the two main types of beans/ tampers /baskets etc. then I bought the breville grinder and what a great move! Both machines are awesome! Easy to use I’m going on two years now with bambino and one year with the grinder. Did I mention there’s no waiting for water to get hot? Lovely and when you’re ready you can buy a bottomless coffee portafilter with an Italian basket( ims) 14-18 gram and what a beautiful sight to see that rich crema flowing straight out into a honey colored thick stream into your clear glass coffee cup! I use Tony’s sugar bee espresso beans or roasters 7 beans hapuna espresso blend. Both have roasting dates and both are divine in taste(medium roast)if you want a stronger blend the upsetter by thanksgiving coffee is very nice! No bitterness but full and rich flavor. Oh I could talk about coffee all day and night! lol anyway bottom line is breville bambino plus ROCKS! Oh one more thing if you’re not so good at making milk froth this machine does it for you! The only negative thing I can think of is the learning of how to clean and descale was a bit confusing. My advice is to watch utube videos on how to do it and you’ll be fine:) thankyou for reading and remember to laugh every day 😊!
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report
M
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy and perfect for us .
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
It’s really very easy to use !
We enjoy the simplicity of this machine . We chose to go with this model because it takes the guess work out of frothing your milk. I will say my latter comes out perfectly every time. It took very little time to learn to use and cleaning it is a breeze afterwards.
My husband and I save quite a bit of money making coffee at home , and it still feels like a treat because the quality is so good.
I will say , we buy nicer coffee beans to be used in espresso. If you buy poor quality coffee beans it really affects the taste of your espresso.
Helpful
Report
K. Seaman
5.0 out of 5 stars Fast, easy, delicious!
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2019
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
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.
48 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report
Dog friend
5.0 out of 5 stars strong flavor, great crema.
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2024
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
Easy and quick to use for a dark and tasty espresso. Coffee quality and grind matter a lot. Small footprint, attractive shiny little workhorse. I love my baby Breville!
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report
Art
5.0 out of 5 stars Great, if you know what you are doing
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2019
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
Update May 2022: I felt this needed an update - 3 years later, the Bambino is still working just fine, making 1-2 lattes and cappuccinos a day. I was somewhat harsh on the automatic milk frother function in my original review, it actually performs just fine. Setting 3 on volume and setting 2 for temp will produce decent texture if you don't overfill the pitcher. Manual frothing will produce better results, but automatic will do just fine for 99% of people.

I had to adjust to new coffee several times and it took a number of days to dial in grind size and extraction times but it is doable. No machine will do it for you with a random bean, if you require perfection.

I am finally amending my rating to 5 stars as this machine has thus far performed above and beyond my expectation. the price, size and performance are just right and I couldn't wish for a better machine at this point

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Update April 23rd 2019: Bambino going strong after 3 months, with a few negatives that don't really deserve a star taken off:

- First the good: manual milk frothing produces absolutely gorgeous microfoam. The wand is great and easy to work with

now the bad:

- portafilter is not that good, basket retention is poor. The basket gets sucked onto the group head so tight that the portafilter comes off without it.

- machine chokes with moderate tamping pressure, it is definitely not designed for standard tamping technique

- machine seems to be extracting by volume which makes dialing in and timing shots very difficult. Not sure if I am correct on this one, but different tamping pressure results in differently timed shots, but they also weigh differently, which is rather odd. One would think it's one or the other. It takes good technique and practice to pull a consistent shot. I still haven't mastered it

- cleaning instructions are very confusing, you have to be patient and let the machine do its thing, LED indicators actually don't seem to match the manual

Original review:

This machine is capable of producing great cappucinos and lattes, if you skip its main attraction/feature - automatic milk steaming and frothing. The automatic process produces weak bubbly froth, but thankfully you can skip it and do it manually.

Pros:

- slim profile, won't take much counter space
- enough space under the portafilter to fit a large mug, this is a huge plus as other machines would only fit a tiny espresso cup
- heats up really fast
- huge water tank
- very decent steam want capable of beautiful microfoam (if done manually) very fast
- pull a decent shot (more on that in cons)
- steam wand auto purging
- comes with a very decent milk pitcher

Cons:

- tiny drip tray. It will overflow after 3 cappuccinos
- cheaper portafilter design than the one that comes with 840 and up, but allows for more room under it
- only comes with double wall pressurized baskets and extra baskets are ridiculously expensive ($50 currently)
- milk autosteaming, one of the main features and contributers to the price of this machine is not very good. It simply is not capable of producing the microfoam you'd expect from a machine in this price range. Luckily you can do it manually

Tips:

- push some steam and let it purge the water onto a cloth right after you've turned the machine on. Push some water through the grouphead onto the cloth to stabilize the temperature. You will use the cloth to wipe the wand. This process ensures the machine is actually up to the correct temperature
- do not overtamp. Double wall baskets are not that sensitive to tamp pressure, but will choke if overtamped.
- clean the basket and the grouphead of any grounds before and after pulling the shot
201 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report
Mark D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Espresso Maker!
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
I have had this espresso maker for a few weeks now and so far I am very pleased with the results. I have always enjoyed a Latte, Cappachino and everything in between. Just getting the right grind of the coffee itself is the secret. After doing some research on the web about making espresso and frothing the milk I feel like a barista. I really like the frothing capabiliy and the fact that it is automatic and senses the temperature.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
Report
FRC
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Results/Smart Compromises
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2023
Color: Damson BlueVerified Purchase
The Bambino Plus requires some attention for maintenance but turns out a nice cappuccino in record time and with minimal effort. I have heard that this machine is the best you can do "out of the box" for less than $500; I don't doubt that. And you can frequently find the machine for $400 from reputable dealers. I also don't doubt that you can get better espresso from some more sophisticated and more expensive prosumer machines but this machine makes the right compromises for me for satisfying results, cost, ease of use, ease of maintenance and size,

I had used a Starbucks Barista machine for more than a decade (a just adequate starter) and had to do manually things that this machine does for you. The Bambino Plus has programmed shot size and frothing temperature - although you can vary the programming and easily restore factory presets. Out of the box, I found the shot too small but the steamer right on (producing small-bubbled, silky froth from 2% milk).

The machine is ready to produce in about 3-4 seconds from powering on, and you do not have to wait between pulling a shot and steaming your milk. (It's magic to me.) The frothing is controlled as to temperature by a sensor on the device (so long as you use the provided stainless steel frothing pitcher) and the degree of air-infusion can be set - so you can froth hands-free with excellent results. After steaming, the machine automatically purges the steam wand on your command - but you do, of course, have to wipe it down after frothing. The machine comes with a "device" to unclog the frothing wand (with a tiny, pointed needle to clear the frothing head) which I found to be needed long before anticipated but it is a quick and easy fix.

The machine supposedly wets the grounds before pulling a shot. The water temperature is relatively even from shot to shot. But to get a cup of espresso or cappuccino at the right temperature. you really have to start with a heated cup so it doesn't cool the output. And the Bambino itself will not do that IMO. (I fill my cups with water and microwave first.)

The biggest design drawback is a tiny drip tray which, if you rely upon it for anything more than the occasional "oops", should be dumped after each use.

The machine comes with two cleaning tablets and two descaling tablets, and it will signal when they are needed.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report
Mauro
5.0 out of 5 stars bello
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2024
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
I've been using Breville for 7 years and it hasn't given me any problems (espresso? It's very good, it also depends on the quality you buy, me?) I recommend it in the future and I would buy it again!
Helpful
Report
megaman17us
5.0 out of 5 stars Love love love
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
I bought this machine after lots of research. Worth the money, easy to use, get for first time users and experienced users a like. Big water tank that is easy to fill. Simple to use but can also be manually used to customize your cup of espresso. As per my title love love love this machine. Note I’m writing this after almost 3 months of owning it.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
Report
Maverick Phantom
5.0 out of 5 stars Saves money
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2024
Color: Brushed Stainless SteelVerified Purchase
I'm only comparing it with what I would get from Starbucks. The lattes taste much better than what Starbucks and other coffee shops have to offer. Working with making the drinks more consistent and better tasting; but as far as comparing what I'm making with the $5+ lattes from Starbucks - staying home with my own drinks!