BAMBINO PLUS REVIEW: How Good Is It, Really?

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Time Cues:
0:00- Intro
0:30- Disclaimer
2:00- "Beginner" Review
6:43- Some Quirks
8:05- What the Razor ACTUALLY Does
8:39- Standart Sponsor Segment
9:51- My Preferred Accessories
10:58- Crazy Thermal Testing and Tips
16:30- Manual Pre-infusion?
18:25- Final Thoughts

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Music track: Enjoy by Pufino

Track: Impulse by Nomyn
/ @nomynmusic

Track: Classic Disco Funk by MokkaMusic / Bruno

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[LanceHedrick]

RE: PRE-INFUSION- Seems manual PI goes up to 10 seconds and automatically is set to 8 seconds. I missed these two seconds. I stand by thinking calling a 2 second increase "manual pre-infusion" and bit silly. The Infuser, Express, and BDB all have unlimited manual Pre-infusion. I think either don't give the option or have it limitless (might be impossible with thermacoil for some reason I don't understand but can't imagine it would be.)
So, apologies for that. Seems it is manual below 10. Just don't understand what a couple of seconds is good for tbh. Would prefer to hold the whole shot in PI for low flow shots, etc. Or hold it as long as need for full fill, etc. Anyway, SORRY

[bradyvilhauer]

I wanna jump in here as a Bambino owner of almost 2 years:
Lance thank you for bringing light to this machine!! 100% agree about bang for the buck under $500.
For those considering, if I may offer my viewpoint:
Do not buy the Plus for the milk features — only the back flush solenoid function if you desire that. If you care about latte art & great texture, you will not use the auto steam features.
The pre-infuse thing in the manual isn’t fully incorrect; it’s just missing details. You cannot preinfuse past 5seconds by holding down the button. But you can hold the button and release as preinfusion starts to dodge the preinfusion, which I’ve actually preferred lately for a more punchy shot in my opinion. And if you desire to preinfuse for 10 sec, hit the button, stop it before it ramps up, immediately press again. Kind of messy but that’s one of the huge advantages to the Bambino - it doesn’t suck the water back up when you cancel the shot like commercial machines.
Speaking of this, the Bambino slowly releases the pressure when you cancel it, allowing for what I call “post-infuse” or drawdown etc. It’s annoying at first, but if you like the idea of lowering pressure/speed at the end of a pull, you can!
If you desire the shot to remain full pressure ‘til the end, you have to pull your cup and scale out at your desired output grams. Because pressing the button to cancel will slowly release the pressure & drawdown a lot of remaining water.
You can also “bloom” with the Bambino due to this.
Add a dimmer mod and you get that as well, which I’ve been messing with lately.
Grab the 54mm paper filters for the top of the tamped grounds, really helps with spraying if you have that issue on naked porta baskets!
Sorry, I have been exploring this machine for a while so I just wanted to get in here and help anyone who is considering purchasing it. It’s such a crazy good machine, two of my buddies have owned bambinos as well. In my opinion, if I have ~$1, 000 to spend on an espresso setup, I’m paying $300 for this and $700+ for a killer grinder. Personally. Only would step the machine up if I had $1500+ probably. Just my opinion!
It is not a perfect machine! It just smacks so insanely hard for $300. And as one who really likes to dive deep (hence my subscription to Lance), this this has not disappointed. Again, for the price. Insane.
K thanks for reading hope you all the best in your learnings and keep watching Lance if you enjoy learning anything

[BenDarwinDrums]

As someone who doesn't typically care about Espresso, but has a partner who wants Latte's in the morning, this is the perfect machine

[mike]

Apart from the tiny drip tray, I love and swear by this machine left right and centre. Low cost, great espresso, small footprint, I can talk all day. Thanks again for voicing out that low budget with careful choice can still yield great coffee at home!

[alpinekiwi]

This felt like a Part 1 of a 2 part review series.

I've had this machine for a couple years now. With the Sage Smart Grinder Pro, a bottomless portafilter, WDT, one of those grind distributer spinny things, I can make a milky coffee as good (if not better in some opinions) as any local cafe's offerings.

The quality of the coffee this thing can put out is amazing for the price, but it's not even the price of the thing. I'd go and get a La Marzoccho machine, but the 3 second readiness on this Bambino is pretty hard to beat.

Regular cleaning cycles have kept this machine going perfectly. I love my coffees as do many friends who stop in for a morning coffee.

Oh, and with that auto steam wand, my 11yo can whip up a prefect hot chocolate super easily.

[SamPattonMusic]

I've had a modded Gaggia Classic Pro for a couple years. I recently bought a Bambino Plus for half price on Marketplace and I find it much more consistent at pulling shots than the Gaggia. Not to mention the amazing automatic milk frothing. A Breville Barista Touch Impress will be my next purchase.

[NotSafeForWork]

This is one of the most honest, comprehensive and nonjudgmental reviews I have seen. I have this set up right now currently an after watching this video, my shots have become even better than they were before. I cannot recommend this machine enough and well done sir, for one of the best coffee machine review videos I have ever seen..

[MM-rnii]

I used to own the bambino ( not plus ) which i believe has the same pre-infusion capability as the plus version, and I can confirm that it does up to 10 second pre-infusion which you can control manually or program into either of the shot buttons, which I learnt to do from the manual ( but I agree with Lance about the misinformation as the manual doesn't say it's a max of 10 seconds ), also the manual mentions to purge the group head before pulling a shot to stabilise the temperature ( just like Lance discovered from his own experience )

Actually I discovered a hack ( without having to mod ) to the Bambino before upgrading to e61

The bambino doesn't have two way valve so when the shot stop, the excess water pressure continues to flow through the puck, so here are some hacks .

• You can pre-infuse as long as you want by running the pre-infusion to its max time of 10 seconds ( or less ) then quickly stop and start pre-infusion again, you could even run the full shot like that if you desire. I had some great results applying that hack to my shots, it can completely stop channelling

• you can also use the pre-infusion at the end of the shot, let's say you aiming for 40 grams out, you stop the shot at 30 grams or even 25 grams , and again Same like the previous hack, you quickly start pre-infusion again which will reduce the pressure/flow and end the shot smoothly which also helps avoiding channeling

AGAIN that's possible because of the lack of two way valve, so whenever you are stopping the shots you are not loosing positive pressure over the puck therefore you don't lose puck integrity, etc ...

It's an amazing machine if you willing to tinker little bit with your shots and understand how to manage thermal stability

[catbert]

Lance, the plastic piece in the Breville portafilter does come out. You just need to remove the retention spring and use a pair of chopsticks to push the plastic piece out. A few people, myself included, found that coffee/water can get trapped between the plastic and portafilter. It was a nightmare to keep clean

[dee]

Regarding the quality and longevity of the unit.

I have used this machine, 1-4 (sometimes more when hosting) times a day for 3 years straight and never had a problem.

[thebitterfig]

Had my regular Bambino for about a year, and love it. I’m sure there’s better machines, but it certainly punches up. I am starting to get a hair nervous about longevity, but it works for now.

Good to know on the pre-infusion stuff, one less thing to worry about. I’ve typically not purged before shots, too, so it seems like there’s room for improvements.

[kencoleman]

Cool video! You mentioned modifying a Gaggia Pro as the only potential competitor as best value under $500. The thing that I don't think you can modify with the Gaggia is the aluminum boiler which made it a no go for me. I think the Flair 58 or even the PRO 2 have to be included as best value espresso machine although it's manual.

[Ryan_F.]

I’ve got a Bambino Plus and a Niche Zero—have had them for at least a year and love the workflow on it. The auto milk steaming is nice cuz I can wash my portafilter when that’s going and don’t mind not having perfect texture every time. Originally got this as a starter machine, but the coffee from this setup is pretty tasty and I find it hard to want to upgrade since a lot of more expensive machines have a slower workflow

[danguee]

Bambino plus owner for 2 years. It took a bit of getting used to - I did *_not_* like it at first. Milk foaming drove me nuts! But now I love it. I learned how to make silky microfoam for my flat white (100ml of milk): a combination of initial manual foaming for a few seconds to get some air in there and finish off with auto. Espresso is good. It's quick, small footprint reliable (for now...)

[mcini]

Your integrity is one of the many reasons I enjoy watching you

[Wazgaga]

I’m so glad this video exists, thank you Mr. Hendrick!

I was so frustrated with my machine for at least a year and couldn’t get my shots right. I followed your 2-3 simple steps (steam flush and short time with no “infusion”) and right now I have finally a thick chocolaty and fruity espresso I’m going to cry

[mohamedsultan]

Mine actually has a full 10 seconds preinfusion. Try to program the double shot button with a puck prepped like you're actually making a double shot, press both the single and double shot buttons to enter programming mode, then just hold the double shot button for about 10 seconds and let go to run the pump at full pressure for the rest of the shot, as the maximum i could do is 10 seconds anyway. Try it and let us know please, hope am not hallucinating that 😂.

[Bebealc]

I have this machine for about 3 years now, really happy about it. Easy to use, and now on the verge of upgrading the tamper etc because the stock one sucks.
I upgraded also my Sage grinder for a Timemore 078s and the setup is just perfect.
less than 1000€ for both thanks to the kickstarter price and I think that's a really hard combo to beat for the money I spent on it !

[charlesyateschalfant]

Hi Lance. I have the standard Bambino that I use daily to make myself a cappuccino. I must say that often I find the results better than coffee's from numerous cafes. Puck prep and good baskets make all the difference.

[deadlypalms]

Love, love, love the editing in this video. Subscribed. Just got a bambino, a total bambi beginner over here and ChatGPT can't resolve all my issues yet, so here I am on the tubes.