Customer reviews from breville.com
Breville - the Bambino Plus Espresso Machine with 15 bars of pressure and Milk Frother - Black Truffle
Average customer rating
4.3
(624 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 624 reviews
5 Stars
428
4 Stars
87
3 Stars
37
2 Stars
24
1 Star
48
85%of customers recommend this product.
(
460 out of
543)
Customer Reviews for Breville - the Bambino Plus Espresso Machine with 15 bars of pressure and Milk Frother - Black Truffle
Customer Rating
4
Our Bambino Plus Two Years Later
on October 13, 2023
Posted by: Jared
Pros:
1) Whether it is a latte for my wife or an espresso shot for the guy I carpool with, others tell me that I make coffee shop quality drinks. This requires learning how to pull an espresso shot (I like the Barista Hustle guides). I only use the manual pre-infusion and shot volume mode (see cons).
2) If you drink a lot of coffee, it can be much cheaper in the long run than k-cups.
3) Three second startup is great.
4) Auto milk is wonderful. I love the three options for heat and for foaminess. It lets you tailor the drink to the individual.
1) Whether it is a latte for my wife or an espresso shot for the guy I carpool with, others tell me that I make coffee shop quality drinks. This requires learning how to pull an espresso shot (I like the Barista Hustle guides). I only use the manual pre-infusion and shot volume mode (see cons).
2) If you drink a lot of coffee, it can be much cheaper in the long run than k-cups.
3) Three second startup is great.
4) Auto milk is wonderful. I love the three options for heat and for foaminess. It lets you tailor the drink to the individual.
Cons:
1) As an engineer it is clear there is a major design flaw in the cleaning cycle. After 200 extractions the machine forces you to perform a lengthy cleaning cycle. The design flaw is that there is no warning when this 200 limit is approaching and there is no way to bypass it. Imagine that you are making coffee drinks for friends. After making some drinks the machine says it needs a cleaning cycle performed and refuses to do any more extractions until a lengthy cleaning cycle is performed. Some of your friends got lattes, but others did not. A much better design would be to give a warning after 190 extractions and let the cleaning cycle be bypassed 10 times.
2) The manual pre-infusion and shot volume mode is great, I wish it could be programmed so that I would not need to babysit my shots. Note that shot volume can be programmed, but manual pre-infusion cannot be. I would like my programmed shot volume to include pre-infusion.
3) After two years and 5 months of use, the pressure is not what it used to be. I believe this is a descaling issue. I have followed all the descaling instructions and used Breville descaler every time that the machine descaling lights flashed. However, I suspect that the machine does not request to be descaled frequently enough.
4) The cleaning cycle is messy. In two years of ownership without fail, every cleaning cycle produces a mess of slippery cleaning cycle water that escapes from the drip tray and spills onto the counter. Note that I follow the instructions, emptying the drip tray prior to the cleaning cycle. The reason this happens is because the drip tray is not able to contain the forcefully expelled water. It is a drip tray design flaw.
1) As an engineer it is clear there is a major design flaw in the cleaning cycle. After 200 extractions the machine forces you to perform a lengthy cleaning cycle. The design flaw is that there is no warning when this 200 limit is approaching and there is no way to bypass it. Imagine that you are making coffee drinks for friends. After making some drinks the machine says it needs a cleaning cycle performed and refuses to do any more extractions until a lengthy cleaning cycle is performed. Some of your friends got lattes, but others did not. A much better design would be to give a warning after 190 extractions and let the cleaning cycle be bypassed 10 times.
2) The manual pre-infusion and shot volume mode is great, I wish it could be programmed so that I would not need to babysit my shots. Note that shot volume can be programmed, but manual pre-infusion cannot be. I would like my programmed shot volume to include pre-infusion.
3) After two years and 5 months of use, the pressure is not what it used to be. I believe this is a descaling issue. I have followed all the descaling instructions and used Breville descaler every time that the machine descaling lights flashed. However, I suspect that the machine does not request to be descaled frequently enough.
4) The cleaning cycle is messy. In two years of ownership without fail, every cleaning cycle produces a mess of slippery cleaning cycle water that escapes from the drip tray and spills onto the counter. Note that I follow the instructions, emptying the drip tray prior to the cleaning cycle. The reason this happens is because the drip tray is not able to contain the forcefully expelled water. It is a drip tray design flaw.
Summary:
I bought our Bambino Plus in May 2021. I would do it all over again. The cons I listed are all fixable (3 software and 1 mechanical). I gave the cons the details I did, because I’m an engineer and I hope Breville will use this to improve their products.
I bought our Bambino Plus in May 2021. I would do it all over again. The cons I listed are all fixable (3 software and 1 mechanical). I gave the cons the details I did, because I’m an engineer and I hope Breville will use this to improve their products.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting breville.com
Customer Rating
5
Worth the splurge if you need an effective espresso machine but have limited space!
on August 25, 2021
Posted by: Karla G.
Verified Purchase:Yes
This machine sits perfectly in my studio apartment kitchen, while allowing me to pretend I am a barista at a fancy coffee shop. The automatic milk frother is by far the best feature on this and worth the extra cost when contemplating between the bambino and bambino plus. The quality of the coffee is enough to make me jump out of bed early in the morning due to the excitement! I am absolutely in love with my machine, even though when taking out the portafiler you have to grip the machine entirely. I found that by having the machine touching the wall behind it, it facilitates the portafilter removal.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting breville.com
Customer Rating
3
Long term milk frother problem
on May 4, 2019
Posted by: Dave J.
I have been using the Breville Bambino Plus for four months. I waited to write this review but now after the original and then two replacement machines from Breville I believe I have experienced a consistent unacceptable longer term flaw with the milk frother. I give it three stars only because of the very good customer service I have received from Breville.
First let me say that out of the box the Bambino Plus works great. On average I make three lattes a day. After about 30-45 days the quality of the frothed milk suddenly greatly diminishes. I'm now on my third machine and this week I have once again experienced the same problem. With the temp setting on "ideal" and the frother set to "maximum" I am now getting just hot milk without any significant microfoam. If I start with the milk volume at the minimum line within the jug (which is 5 oz) the volume only increases to where 6 1/2 oz of unfrothed milk would be. There is no significant microfoam produced, just watery hot milk. Out of the box with the same settings the milk volume would more than double and there would be prodigious amounts of great microfoam. I consistently use the same FairLife 2% milk. The four holes in the frothing wand are clean and clear so there is something going on within the machine that I have no control over. There is no way to induce a cleaning or descaling cycle because it is automatically controlled and will not call for a cleaning until about 200 cycles. The second machine I had did reach this limit but the cleaning cycle did not complete as expected and could not be repeated because of the automation. It had no effect on the poor microfoam production so it was replaced by Breville. This third machine has quite a ways to go to reach 200 cycles and the microfoam is non-existent. I will be contacting Breville to get another replacement. I hope this deficiency can be fixed because when it is working properly the Bambino Plus produces great lattes.
Pros:
Compact size.
Looks great on the counter.
Initially makes outstanding lattes.
Compact size.
Looks great on the counter.
Initially makes outstanding lattes.
Cons:
Milk frother quits making microfoam after about 100+ cycles.
The basket often sticks within the brew head and does not come out with the portafilter.
Water always finds its way beneath the tray.
No ability to manually initiate a cleaning or descaling cycle.
Milk frother quits making microfoam after about 100+ cycles.
The basket often sticks within the brew head and does not come out with the portafilter.
Water always finds its way beneath the tray.
No ability to manually initiate a cleaning or descaling cycle.
Written by a customer while visiting breville.com
Customer Rating
3
installing portafiller
on December 26, 2020
Posted by: Rob
just got my new breville for Christmas. Found it very difficult to insert and remove the portafllier into the unit. Talked to a friend of mine who has the same model and he said the same thing. I had to hold onto the top of the machine so wouldn't move around. My wife would not be able to insert or remove the portafiller because its to difficult. Not to sure if the reason is because its brand new.
What I ended up doing was putting a little bit of vegetable a long the rim so it slid easily.
What I ended up doing was putting a little bit of vegetable a long the rim so it slid easily.
Written by a customer while visiting breville.com
Customer Rating
5
Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.
on January 14, 2021
Posted by: Kristin
Not to throw my husband under the bus, but he is not always the greatest gift giver. Having said that, this past Christmas of 2020 he hit it OUT of the park by surprising the socks off me and giving me the Breville Bambino Plus! He even paid attention to detail and got it in the right color—Damson Blue. You guys—this machine is SO incredibly easy to use! I haven’t even stepped foot into a coffee shop since getting this espresso machine. I have been enjoying 3 or 4 lattes per day without the expense of those high priced drinks at our local coffee shops. My favorite drink I have been making is a chocolate raspberry latte which is shown in the picture. It’s also been tremendous fun trying to perfect my latte art! And I LOVE how compact this machine is. It fits very nicely on our countertop without adding a lot of clutter. I will NEVER drink regular drip coffee again. This is a superb machine and I have had ZERO problems with it. Thank you, Breville! ♥️♥️♥️
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting breville.com
Customer Rating
5
Beth
on June 10, 2020
Posted by: Beth
I feel compelled to write this review after reading complaints about bear hugging the portafilter. The portafilter is a little tight at first but eases after the first few times of using it! This is an AMAZING machine for at home espresso especially when using with single wall basket but even with dual wall it's AMAZING!!! Breville is also a wonderful company that takes care of its loyal customers and I have had nothing but good experiences with over the years!!!:purple_heart: During the covid experience this machine has been a very bright spot in my life something to look forward too every day! Also, the Breville grinder pro is wonderful kicked my espresso up a notch!!! Keep up the good work Breville!!!
Written by a customer while visiting breville.com
Posted by: ML
Verified Purchase:Yes
This machine failed on us twice. We got a replacement and same thing happened....it stopped working within 2 months (both times)!
Response from breville.comBy Consumer Support, December 22, 2020
We are very sorry to hear about your experience with your appliance. We would very much like to see if we can assist in any way and make this right for you. We do have an account for you in our system. We'll be sending you an email shortly. Just reply to it, and we'll be happy to see how we can help you from there.
Written by a customer while visiting breville.com
Posted by: Pomtrey
Verified Purchase:Yes
I bought this machine November 26, 2021 and was mostly happy with it. For an espresso machine, it is pretty easy to use. I did notice some water leakage under the machine, as others have mentioned, but I thought it was not a major problem.
On January 17, 2022 the one and two cup lights were flashing indicating it needed to be cleaned. Odd, because I had just done it 2 weeks before. I tried several times to do the cycle but it wouldn’t complete so I called customer service. She made me try it again
to no avail. We then did the descaling and tried again. No go. So now I’ve had to return our brand new machine to be repaired, or else replaced with one that is “refurbished”. I am very unhappy about this. Ridiculous for a barely used machine.
On January 17, 2022 the one and two cup lights were flashing indicating it needed to be cleaned. Odd, because I had just done it 2 weeks before. I tried several times to do the cycle but it wouldn’t complete so I called customer service. She made me try it again
to no avail. We then did the descaling and tried again. No go. So now I’ve had to return our brand new machine to be repaired, or else replaced with one that is “refurbished”. I am very unhappy about this. Ridiculous for a barely used machine.
Response from breville.comBy Consumer Support, January 25, 2022
We are very sorry to hear of your experience with your appliance. Thank you for allowing us to rectify the situation.
Written by a customer while visiting breville.com