Contrary to many mid-range espresso machines with this level of customization and additional features, the Breville Bambino Plus uses its simple design to offer an impressively straightforward operation. There's almost no learning curve to get over here before you're pulling high quality shots and topping them up with perfectly frothed milk - simply push a button and you're off. You may find the coffee a touch cooler and the taste a tad more bitter compared to some top-of-the-range professional machines

Overall, the Breville Bambino Plus has a better milk frothing performance. I would say thathere is where the price difference becomes more evident between the Breville Bambino and the Bambino Plus. Digital Temperature Control (PID) delivers water at precisely the right temperature, ensuring optimal espresso extractionThe Breville Bambino and the Breville Bambino Plus espresso machines have a stainless steel case. This gives them a minimalist and sleek design, with their control panels limited to just a few buttons. The Breville Bambino Plus has three additional buttons to adjust milk heating temperature and frothing settings. Still, the user interface is pretty intuitive. Those extra buttons add an exciting layer of customization to the Breville Bambino Plus. 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. Naturally it helps if you use the best coffee beans you can buy and in this respect I highly recommend anything in the Spiller & Tait range, Union Revelation and good old Lavazza for those emergency ration runs down the local supermarket. Both are well-built, compact, and very similar in terms of capabilitiesin terms of quality. Likewise, the main difference between them is that the Breville Bambino Plus has a bigger water tank, therefore delivering more drinks without refilling the tank. Breville Bambino Plus has a hands-free automatic frothing wand. The plain Bambino requires manual handling.

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. The Sage Bambino Plus is a great machine for those wanting to start brewing espresso at home. Delivering quality performance, the 54mm portafilter can extract 19 grams of ground coffee when used. Familiarise yourself with product RRPs: this will help you recognise the really valuable opportunities to save. The milk-frothing features will be the star of the show for most people. Fill the jug with milk, make sure it’s sitting on top of the temperature sensor and a single button press sets the process in action. A couple of minutes is all it takes to create perfectly steamed milk with a wonderfully light creamy microfoam on top. Yes, it’s possible to do it manually by simply pressing the button to start and stop the steaming process, but the automatic results are so good it’s really not worth it. As you can choose between three temperature settings, and three levels of “frothiness”, it’s unlikely that you won’t be able to get the milk just how you like it. According to most users, both the Breville Bambino and the Bambino Plus deliver good shots without having barista skills or experience. On the contrary, Breville made these machines to cater to beginners and offer a smooth espresso-making experience.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. The Bambino Plus is also a good value for money, offering more milk-frothing features. Finding another compact machine that makes such excellent and reliable milk texturing is hard. However, besides advanced frothing features, the other benefits of the Breville Bambino Plus don’t seem attractive enough to pay that extra money. After 200 extractions, the Sage The Bambino Plus will flash the 1 Cup and 2 Cup buttons to show you that you need to use the cleaning mode with an espresso cleaning tablet. When it’s time to descale, the 1 Cup and Steam buttons flash, and you then need to follow the descaling instructions in the manual. The Bambino and the Bambino Plus coffee machines come with a good range of accessories without any meaningful difference. Taste was spot on, with my Fairtrade Peruvian beans (roasted two days before) delivering a smooth and rich-tasting shot. Overall flavour was perhaps a touch more bitter than the same beans used on the high-end Dual Boiler, but that’s a pro-level coffee machine that costs far more.