Breville Bambino Plus BES500BSS (Stainless Steel)

Adorable new addition to the family! – My new little Bambino Plus is adorable! It's tiny kitchen bench footprint is ideal, it's easy to use and it's little drip tray is the perfect size for keeping the machine as regularly clean as a baby's proverbial! It's not as technical as some,… Read more

but comes with dual walled Portafilter baskets and single walled in two sizes and you are able to adjust the steam temperature or liquid flow with the push of a cute lil' button. Besides it's fresh, shiny appearance, it's well-proportioned water reservoir and self cleaning steam nozzle are beaut features this baby brings to the family. The only downside is that the warming tray does not keep your coffee warm, but as we drink it straight away, that's not really an issue. We are back to drinking coffee the way Breville intended it!

Quality at-home espresso, easily! – The Breville Bambino Plus (BBP) is a very capable machine. I've been using it for a few weeks now and I'm pretty impressed. Once you know what you're doing, it's so easy to use. It allows for a fairly quick workflow, especially with the rapid head up time (3 seconds, compared to 30sec+ in the Brev. Barista Express). The auto foaming function is so… Read more

easy. If you don't want to have to concentrate on getting the perfect foam, the BBP does it all for you, and I find running the milk while preparing the portafilter is so easy. The auto-purge after foaming the milk is also really convenient, it means you won't forget and come back to a blocked steam wand. My only issue with this function is that it sends milk all over the drip tray and sometimes the surrounding bench area, which means you're always going to need to have a sponge handy. My other gripe is also that the drip tray fills so quickly. A larger capacity would have been nicer. Also, what is the point of the razor tool? You dose 19g of coffee only to throw 10% of it away? Not too sure why its included. One inclusion that I do miss is that it doesn't include single-wall filter baskets out of the box. I don't get why they would go to all the effort of making a machine optimised for a barista experience at home without including a single wall basket. Especially if you are going to be grinding your own coffee!

Apart from those minor issues, I could not be happier with the machine. The only thing easier than this machine would be using a fully automatic machine, which is much more expensive than the BBP. Overall, the Bambino Plus offers quality coffee without too much hassle and is more than capable, and has enough customisation to be a flexible machine. Oh an be prepared for additional purchases - things like de-scaler and coffee residue cleaning tablets are all additional things you're likely going to need to purchase. Generic brands are significantly cheaper than Breville ones!

Makes fabulous coffee when working – Makes fabulous coffee when working. I use it to make 4-6 coffees daily in my home. The temperature sensor / auto-cut-off on the steam wand is great and it makes lovely cafe (better than most) quality milk. It heats up really fast. Fabulous coffee with good beans and the right grind (that took me some learning with previous machines). Easy to… Read more

clean. Great small footprint for compact kitchens.

We bought another one for where my wife works - she makes one or two coffees a day there.

The machine/s that makes the 4-6 coffees per day turned out to be unreliable. 1st one broke down after 2 months as it got stuck in clean mode and would not restart. 2 weeks at the repairer then a new replacement unit (same problem with another reviewer). Replacement unit broke down after 12 months (still in warranty) with the buttons not working without multiple presses, then developed a water leak during extraction - water coming out behind the group head, dripping through the vents under the machine making and droplets showing up behind the lights at the front. Off to the repairer again.

I would buy another one again for its compactness, great coffee extraction, speed of heat up, ease of use and cleaning. Hopefully later units will be more reliable.

When combined with the DT50 grinder this machine produces consistent espresso and is good value. Its shortcomings are the excessive vibration which sometimes unlocks the porta filter while pouring a shot, shifts your cup from under the group head while pouring and makes an infernal racket as the tray vibrates. Storing glasess on the top is a no.… Read more

The cleaning function is also poorly designed in that you might be halfway through a round of coffees and are forced to clean. The cleaning function also leaks under the unit. Plenty of design flaws but it’s compact and does what I want at a good price.

Consistently good coffee – Took about a week to get good coffee - playing with the grind etc - but now I consistently get good lattes from the machine. I like my coffee hot and strong and this delivers in both respects. It is VERY quick to warm up compared to my old machine and does not take up much bench space. Being small the drip tray needs emptying quite often. The only… Read more

minor issue I find is that it is a very lightweight machine. This is mainly a problem when inserting and removing the portafilter - the whole machine tends to move so have to grab the machine with one hand and the portafilter with the other.

Cannot bypass the cleaning cycle. Ruined many a coffee and left to work angry many times because you can't bypass the cleaning cycle. Breville and its designers must be having a great laugh at what could only be described as an "f-you customers" malicious design every time a user vents their frustration online at this failure of a machine. Well, here's another review for you to enjoy, laugh it up boys. Show details

Have bought Breville Coffee machines for over twenty years, the most recent bambino plus broke down in the first twelve months. Instead of a replacement, it was sent to some repair factory for 6 weeks where they said there was nothing wrong with it and sent it back. It’s still broken , so am I supposed to give it back to breville to send back to… Read more

the repairer. It seems insane to pay freight to another state, pay the repairer for doing nothing and then pay freight back to your state . What a waste of resources. The customer service team couldn’t give a crap. Just another complaining customer. Waiting so long to have nothing done on your machine would not make you buy breville products. Would it be cheaper and use less resources just to replace, at least it would work!!!!

Pros: Bought this for the smaller footprint, which is good. Automatic milk frother Cons: The wand is so tight to put on and machine of course is too light to give resistance. Head cleaning cycle indicator comes on, cannot over ride making it impossible to finish making coffee. After six months head cleaning indicator playing up, will not… Read more

clean. was able to use manual clean so I can use machine, The drip try capacity is shallow and spills occur regularly. Water tank does not have filter, but I bought a jug to filter water to use in tank.

I am disappointed in this machine. I haven’t had it a year and could not in all honesty say it is worth it’s purchase.

Cleaning process is not a great experience – While I like the coffee making process and milk frothier the cleaning process is a real pain. You can be in the middle of making a coffee then all of the sudden it stops and you have to commence the cleaning process before you can commence making the coffee again. Also the drip tray is far to small and overflows easily. I would not purchase this… Read more

particular model again.

Breville need to do a lot better in making the cleaning process more intuitive giving the user a warning in advance that it will either require a cleaning cycle or descaling.

Great coffee machine – Have been using this for more than half a year now. Great coffee machine, it's compact and simple to use. The main trick/skill is to figure out how much coffee is needed and how to pack it in the portafilter. This takes a couple of tries to get right but once done the process of making a coffee is very simple and efficient. The cup of coffee that… Read more

comes out is cafe standard (to my taste). You have 3 levels of how hot you can make your coffee and the 3 levels of how much froth you want when steaming your milk. May not be enough granularity if you're a coffee connoisseur but for me it's great as it's easy to use and the coffee tastes great. The only issue that could be improved is the movement of the cup when the coffee is pouring, the machine is vibrating and sometimes the cup moves from under the portafilter. I solved this by placing a sticky rubber mat used to hold mobile phones, hopefully this is fixed in the next iteration of the product.

Great espresso machine with tips – Milk frother awesome. Makes great coffee. Some tips: * Take the frother out of the milk before it stops and wipe it straight away with wet washer. Stops the end getting clogged and keeps it cleaner * With the automatic purging, use a small cup and tip it down the sink. THen you don't need to empty the tray very often * Use a small washer on top to… Read more

stop vibrations of the above-mentioned cup and tamper * Clean with these tablets (cheaper than Breville) https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/174461062567

Awesome- if you don't have much bench space! – The machine is the ultimate pocket rocket! Coffee tastes great, we use it 3 times daily. It's easy to clean, easy to fill up with water. Milk frother heats up nice and hot. Sometimes the single handle cup gets stuck but I think that's because I jam-pack the coffee in. If you don't like bench clutter and want a minimalist machine- this is honestly worth every cent. No regrets. The silver machine looks so pretty on the kitchen counter too! Show details

Perfect home coffee machine for those will little time and little skill – We were in the market for a home coffee machine for a while and weren't sure which way to go. We settled on the Bambino and a very happy with our choice. The major benefits for us were the large water reservoir - we aren't filling it all the time, it's very easy to clean, it tells you when it needs some TLC - run the cleaning cycle, de-scaling etc… Read more

which isn't all that often and the milk frother's automatic mode means I can be doing other things in the kitchen whilst the milk is being perfectly heated. There are enough settings for milk temperature and texture for what we need. The portafilter has a nice solid feel to it and is easy to lock in place. Whilst the Bambino doesn't come with a built grinder, we love its slim profile and sits nicely next to our separate grinder. All in all we are very happy with this product.

The best purchase! Love it! – I love coffee and since having my first baby and being on maternity leave, I have found a new love for it! I wanted a machine that had a small footprint (I have limited bench space) but I didn’t want to compromise on quality. I settled for the Breville Bambino Plus and what a good choice that was! The machine itself is compact and semi automatic… Read more

which makes it super easy to make my coffee with minimal cleaning and mess. The taste of the coffee is phenomenal (I make sure I buy good coffee beans which I’m sure would help) to the point where I would say it tastes the same as what I’d get at the cafe. This machine has honestly been the best purchase, well worth the money.

Great coffee but irritating portafilter – I bought this machine because the reviews said that the coffee was good and because of its size. And I've had it now for 1 year and I would agree that the coffee it makes is brilliant. In fact, the coffee is so good that I find it hard now to find a coffee as good as my home made one. The machine is consistent, easy to clean and use. I had… Read more

another De Longhi machine and it was always stopping for one reason or the other, which was extremely irritating. BUT!!! there is a caution....the portafilter was initially so tight that I did have to hug the machine (like some of the other reviewers) to get it in or out. It's much better now but it was like that for MONTHS!!! The other really irritating thing is that the filter basket that sits inside the portafilter always gets stuck to the machine so you need to wriggle the portafilter to dig that filter basket out. So many people have complained about it, I don't know why Breville just can't fix it. Fiddling around with that first thing in the morning before my coffee is not what I want to do, but there you have it.

OK but some annoying oversights – I got mine at the factory outlet in Brisbane with a minor dent which no one will ever notice. Good looking and makes an excellent coffee. Getting the portafilter in can be hard. Sometimes the filter basket gets stuck to the machine. Auto frothing is fine but I do it better manually. Update: Getting the portafilter in was hard and the filter… Read more

basket sticks to the machine. I did some DIY to modify the portafilter and it works fine now but I do think this was an oversight of Breville quality control.

Very disappointed – I am so disappointed with this machine. Issue 1: The filter baskets get stuck in the machine after extraction. Difficult to remove. Issue 2: Also, the auto milk frother does not produce the silky microform with my Bonsoy milk, no matter what setting (heat / froth strength) I'm setting it on. I used the Breville Creatista at work for years, which… Read more

has an auto milk frother as well, with outstanding results every single time.. I wanted to get away from the capsules type machines, so I choose the Bambino. Brilliant idea, gorgeous looking little machine, but frustrating to use and does not deliver. Im also struggling to get a good coffee out of it, but thats most likely user issue then the machines.

An awesome performing espresso machine in a small space saving design – This unit produces great espresso as long as you dial in the coffee grind to the right fineness. It produces 3 different levels of milk temperature and textures depending on taste and preference. I would recommend this product to a starting out home barista or intermediate level coffee enthusiastic wanting to produce quick and easy espresso! Show details

Love everything about it except for one issue – The product looks good on a countertop, doesn’t take up space, ready to make coffee in 3seconds, and the frother auto cleans. That’s so much reason to love the product. One thing they missed out on which is a key part of making expresso is the tightness in locking the portafilter. You really need to exert some force and hold the machine to get it locked. Show details

Fantastic Machine but Breville do make better ones – We are not new to coffee machines and have had top of the line Sunbeam, Breville, Nespresso also fully auto Saeco machines. Purchased this to take while based OS working. Back in Oz we still have the BES870. (Another fantastic unit) First thing we liked is the size and weight, which meant we could put it in our suitcase after a short stint in Oz… Read more

and take it with us. We also immediately purchased a Non Pressurised filter basket from Ebay, which is essential especially if you’re grinding your own beans. Our advise is to do the same asap and get a grinder and you will not regret it as getting the grind right is the first essential step to great coffee. (Baffling why Breville don’t include non pressurised with this unit) The machine produces Excellent Coffee, Consistent pour, Auto milk frother is a great option and works better than expected. Manual milk frothing also works very well too. It appears that this unit may be targeted at beginners and those that want ease of use. However it can produce coffee very close to to Brevilles top of the line Oracle Touch. Pros: Compact, cute, easy to use, very quick, consistent coffee, quiet, light weight, large water tank. Self cleaning milk frother, programmable milk heat and froth levels. Cons: Non Pressurised basket not included, needs a grinder which takes up space, No off button means you must push 2 buttons together to switch it off. (I switch it off at the wall) Conclusion: If you want an easy quick and small coffee machine I think this is the best there is. If you want the best possible coffee I think the BES870 is slightly better and has built in grinder. If money is no issue then Oracle could be even better but you may need an apprenticeship for it.