Breville Bambino vs Bambino Plus: How to Make The Best Decision

Expert Consulted: Carl. Utilizing my 6 years of experience in the coffee industry, I’m able to provide accurate and concise information, helping you make informed choices about beans, brewing methods, and equipment, thereby elevating your coffee experience. So, Breville Bambino vs Bambino Plus: Which is the one for you? In this article, I’ll share my knowledge and first-hand experience to present a detailed comparison to help you find the perfect espresso machine for your needs.

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So you’re looking to buy an espresso machine? You’ve come to the right place; I have a lot of experience with Breville machines and believe they are some of the highest-quality machines available.

In my opinion, the Breville Bambino is the greatest budget espresso machine on the market; small and compact but packs a punch.

On the other hand, the Breville Bambino Plus is a very nice upgrade to the Bambino with a few extra features.

I’ll go into further detail in the rest of this article about the specific benefits that each machine has to offer so that you’re not stuck for days trying to find information scattered around the internet.

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Breville Bambino vs Bambino Plus: Compared

To basically sum up my findings:

The Breville Bambino Plus is the best choice if you’re more into lattes, cappuccinos, and milk-based coffees and don’t mind the slightly larger size.

This is due to the automatic milk steamer, but not only that, it’s also equipped with 3 holes for the steam to come out of, while the Bambino only has 1.

Also, if you don’t know much about latte art, I have a little guide here.

However, if you’re maybe on more of a budget, the Breville Bambino may be the one for you. It will produce the exact same espresso as the Bambino Plus, and it can fit almost anywhere due to its tiny size.

But don’t let its size fool you; the Bambino is fully capable of doing all the things you expect from an espresso machine; the main difference between these two is the automatic milk steamer on the Bambino Plus.

If you don’t mind steaming the milk yourself, then the Bambino is a great option.

Breville Bambino vs Bambino Plus: Detailed Comparison

This is the main event.

Extra Details

Still don’t feel like you know enough about these wonderful machines? Well then, this might be just what you’re looking for.

User Interface

Both machines are equipped with a user-friendly and intuitive user interface. There are 2 buttons for your desired amount of coffee, one for single-shot, and another for double-shot. There’s also a button for turning on the steam wand, and a couple others with scale indicators for adjusting milk temperature and the texture of milk foam.

Overall, the Breville Bambino and The Bambino Plus have a top-tier user interface that won’t require you to spend unnecessary amounts of time looking through the instruction manual. Although, in the manual, there’s some detailed information to help you figure out various ways to program different machine settings.

Pre-Infusion

Pre-infusion is very important for the overall aroma of your drink and also allows for slightly below-par tamping.

With that being said, still try to tamp to the best of your abilities.

However, it’s actually not a given for every entry-level machine to have this function.

Pre-infusion is when the coffee puck is dampened under lower pressure and then followed by the normal pressure of whichever machine you’re using, typically 9 bar.

That’s another reason why these machines are so great, both come with automatic Pre-infusion, as well as manual Pre-infusion.

Just holding down the brewing button will adjust the Pre-infusion time until you decide to let go.

Portafilter

Both machines come with the Breville standard issue 54mm portafilter, and that’s perfectly fine, you can achieve great results with this.

It’s worth mentioning, however, that investing in a bottomless portafilter will improve your coffee greatly, as it allows you to see exactly what’s going on during the extraction.

The main thing you want to be looking for is channeling, this is when coffee sprays out during extraction or when the coffee isn’t in one full stream.

With the standard spouted portafilter, you have no idea whether you have any channeling going on, which means you could be getting bad results and not know why.

The standard portafilter comes with both double-wall and single-wall filter baskets.

Unless you’re using pre-ground coffee, or you’re feeling lazy and just want a quick average espresso, I would say to just ignore the double-wall baskets.

Tamper

One important item for making espresso is a tamper.

In the case that you don’t know what a tamper is; a tamper is a tool that squishes and condenses the coffee grounds into the coffee pucks that you know today.

The standard tamper that comes with both these machines is decent, not the best but not the worst.

But, it performs fine and is quite easy to use and clean.

Cleaning

Everyone’s nightmare, do not be afraid though, as both of these machines are very easy to clean.

After each use, make sure to rinse the portafilter and flush the grouphead. Also, insert the portafilter without any coffee and just run a 1-cup of water through it.

For the milk steamer, I heavily suggest keeping a microfiber cloth handy and giving the steamer a quick wipe after each use.

In terms of descaling and other more extensive cleaning, the instruction manual will have everything you need.

Conclusion

So, if you are looking for the most bang for your buck and a smaller-size machine, the Breville Bambino will be your best bet, coming in at only $264.99 (at the time of making this article).

But, if you’re trying to find the machine that can make the best and easiest lattes, cappuccinos, and other milk-based beverages, then the Breville Bambino Plus is the one for you. Priced at $499.95 (at the time of making this article).

That concludes: Breville Bambino vs Bambino Plus. I hope this helps you decide on the right machine for your needs.

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Image Attribution and Licensing

Main Image: Canva Pro – Custom Made by me.

#1 and #2: Both images are used under the terms of their respective affiliate agreements.

#3: Canva Pro/Getty Images – ‘Stainless Tamper’ by Sophon21.

#4: Canva Pro/Getty Images – ‘portafilter’ by Adam Smigielski.