Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsAmazing, but with a few flaws
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 8, 2019
The Bambino indeed has a super-fast startup time for both making espresso and steaming milk. A machine that starts up quickly is much less harmful for the environment than one that you need to leave powered up over night, which most of the higher-end machines do.
While the Bambino does start up in 3 seconds, the instructions specify that run a single-cup cycle without the filter before actually starting to make your first shot. This is not going to slow you down if you start up your machine and hit the single shot button before grinding your beans, and the Bambino will be ready before you've finished tamping.
I love the materials and the ease with which the base slides off for cleaning and back on again. It's got a deep tray for water so I haven't had any spills carrying it over to my sink.
However, you should know before you buy that:
(1) There's a good deal of necessary friction to overcome as the filter needs to lock in tight to be sealed under pressure, and the machine is so light that it will slide around your counter before accepting the filter. There's no handle to grab, so the only way I've been able to make this work is by wrapping my arms around the whole (fortunately small) machine. Don't welcome a Bambino into your home unless you're prepared to give it two bear hugs for every espresso you drink. (It gets easier--see update below. A commenter suggested using olive oil as a lubricant, which seems sensible since water boils at 100C and olive oil doesn't burn until ~190C.)
(2) When the steamer self-cleans the tip of the wand, the initial spray often hits the edges of the hole it's supposed to land in. That initial spray contains milk that is being cleared, and the milk splatters. You'll need to keep the towel you used to clean the wand handy to play defense, and prepare to clean up splatter that you miss. Hopefully in v2 the hole will be slightly bigger and the alignment more precise. (Aside from this, the self cleaning function is great.)
(3) The minimum amount of milk required to steam (the min line in the included steel milk jug) is a bit more than will fit in an 8oz mug, especially on the frothiest mode. Fortunately, I've not had any problems after filling a bit below the min line.
I'd definitely buy this again as all the flaws are manageable and I love the quality of the espresso it creates, the ease with which it does it, the ease of cleaning, and the petite size. Having originally eyed the Barista Express, I have no regrets about getting a smaller machine that's easier to clean and starts up more quickly. If my grinder breaks, I can replace it without replacing my espresso maker, and vice versa. I also have no regrets about not getting a double boiler, as having two fast sequential steps (espresso and steam) is just as good as two slower parallel ones. If really I wanted to make multiple espressos faster, I'd get another filter unit so that I can grind one cup while another is brewing.
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Update April 21 2020
After a few months the group head started locking in with less friction (but still makes a good seal), and so the bear hugs are now optional.
I recently had the chance to compare the Bambino with the Barista Express, which I bought as a gift for friends I stayed with for a week. The Barista Express is a more impressive looking machine, also worked beautifully, and when offered for less than the Bambino as it was in January, it might be a better value. The one feature I missed was the automated milk steaming on the Bambino. With the Bambino, I can start milk frothing and move to another task, but steaming is a strictly manual operation on the Express. While the Bambino has a manual option, if I wanted to steam manually, I confess that if I were steaming manually each morning, I'd much prefer the more spacious Express which provides a more ergonomic experience if steaming manually is important to you. The Bambino's automatic steaming does a great job, so manual vs. automatic may simply be a matter of preference.
Only after a year into ownership did I re-read the part of the manual that mentioned tool for cleaning the four holes in the steam wand, hidden under the water tank. It's beautiful industrial design to embed useful but rarely-needed tools where nobody has to see them, but Breville was a little too successful in hiding from. Don't miss it. I had been using a needle from a sewing kit.
When using the two-shot mode to make two small lattes, I found it helpful to have a 600ml (20oz) steaming pitcher so that I can steam enough milk for both. For shot glasses, I've come to greatly appreciate ones with spouts that help me cleanly pour the espresso shots into cup. I use these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GL55KSN.
I've now descaled a few times. Step 8 in the manual instructs that "once the descale solution has been used up, the descale mode will pause." It will actually pause BEFORE all the descale solution has been used up. I believe you can just toss the remaining liquid left in your tank.
After my second descale, the machine started barely producing any espresso during a cycle. I tried another descale, with no luck. Then I tried the instructions under "reset factory espresso volume settings" at the bottom right of page 17 of the manual and everything suddenly worked like new.
