The Sage Bambino plus is an espresso machine made after a high level of research on what customers would like. This machine is equipped with a three-second start-up time, which is unique and on top of that. It also comes with fantastic frothing capabilities, which are made possible by the four-hole steaming wand. The steaming wand works as a key differentiator on most entry-level espresso machines, and this Sage Bambino plus is an example of such machines. The Sage Bambino plus can make a dry foam and has a temperature range of 65 to 70 degrees in temperature.
Sage Bambino Plus Review
This coffee machine is known for making a good and mean espresso. If you prefer to get the best results, you can use freshly crushed espresso beans because the pressurised portafilter basket is a bit underwhelming. This criticism is aimed at the Bambino plus because it is the case in most espresso machines.
The Bambino plus is put in the category of small home espresso kits sold at a price below £500, and if you do not own a decent grinder in your home, you can choose to purchase bean to cup machines as an alternative.
The Sage Bambino plus coffee machine is easy when it comes to operation. It can be looked after easily. It is equipped with limited programmability for someone wishing to customise the machine to perform according to their preferences.
In addition to that, this Sage Bambino plus machine produces fantastic frothy coffees, and chances of disappointments are low. Get yourself the sage ses500bss bambino plus if you want quality coffee at home, and you will not regret it.
Who is it for?
The Bambino Plus is an entry-level espresso machine from homeware appliance group Sage, which retails under the Breville banner outside the UK and EU.
It's a pure-play espresso machine designed for home use, aimed squarely at anyone looking to quaff down lattes, cappuccinos, and macchiatos at home. It will do you an American too, but one of the machines' strongest suits is its well-designed frothing wand.
If you want a machine that can serve up a richer palate of drinks than that, then you may want to look elsewhere.
The machine has an auto froth setting, but you will still be expected to do most of the work frothing in a separate jug. If that thought horrifies you – you may be after a cappuccino machine.
The Bambino Plus has a digital temperature control that ensures it's delivered to your cup at the precise moment with the right temperature.
Finally, the machine has no integrated grinder – so you will need to either buy one separately or consider if a bean to cup machine is a better purchase.
If you want a hands-on way of practising your barista skills at home and like the idea of pulling shots and impressing your friends with latte art – this could well be the machine for you. Why not check out Presto Coffees wide selection of coffee products to go with the sage ses500bss bambino plus.
What's in the box?
The Sage Bambino plus in the package is accompanied by an excellent array of small extras that provide you with everything that you will require as a home barista. Alongside the machine in the box, found is also the plastic tamper, stainless steel frothing pitcher, and a razor tool from sage which is designed in a way that aids in levelling off your espresso shots.
This razor tool we are talking about comes in handy as it helps in clearing stray coffee grounds that exist at the top of the basket, and the jug steel, which is 480ml, helps show the minimum and maximum levels when it comes to using the machine.
The reason why the metal jug is included is that it works best with the Sage Bambino plus. When it comes to conducting heat, the property of metals is the fact that metal conducts heat well is used in this concept. There is a sensor under where the container sits on the drip tray, which tells the machine how hot the milk has gotten during automatic frothing.
Contained in the box is also a water filter, a cleaning tablet and a disk which is used in the process of descaling the machine; the detailed instructions on how to do this are provided in the manual that is also found in the box. There is also a two-year repair, replace or refund guarantee.
Found in the box is also a 54mm portafilter plus a 1 and 2 dual cup wall. Contained in the box are also 1 and 2 single wall portafilter baskets.
The way the dual-wall baskets are designed enables them to be used with any size ground coffee and makes it possible for the coffee to be pressurised in order to create a false crema. The design of the single wall pieces allows them to be used with grind beans that are powdery and fresh, which results in better results.
Technical Specifications
The Sage Bambino Plus comes with a 1.9-litre water tank which is just first class compared to the compact size of the Unit. It is also possible to fit the tank with a water filter. This might seem like just an extra cost, but it sure helps in stopping limescale from clogging up your machine. This is worth it as it plays a role in extending the life of your machine in the case of you living in a hard water area, and not only that, it will also lead to an espresso that tastes better.
Another feature of the Sage Bambino plus worth mentioning is the patented Thermojet heating coil, which enables your Bambino plus to heat an espresso in just three seconds.
The speed it does this is mesmerising. You will still need to prepare your coffee, and this where you need to run a blank shot through the group head and portafilter first for the metal to be heated up because the first shot that comes out of the machine loses a lot of heat before the cup is heated.
The Sage Bambino plus will gift you a single or double shot and give you the right to froth the milk manually, or the automatic settings can be used. This is made possible by the adjustable frothing wand that comes with four steam tips.
This machine also comes with cup storage at the top. This storage is unheated, and it has a drip tray that can be detached using a handy float device which lets you know when there is a need for you to empty your dregs down below.
Aesthetics
This machine was designed to be small and has dimensions of 32 x 19.5 x 31 centimetres. This small size proves to be suitable for someone who has limited space where a coffee machine can be put. It has to be noted that the weight of the Sage Bambino plus is just seven kilos.
When the shot basket has to be attached or detached, you might notice the machine moving a little bit on the counter if you are using too much force with it.
This machine is built excellently, and this machine is made with stainless steel, which makes this machine look beautiful and stylish. Another advantage of this is that it makes it easy to clean. The Sage Bambino plus also has elegant round buttons, which adds an excellent feel when using this machine.
Performance
The Sage Bambino plus is easy to use, and this is made possible by the intuitive touch button setup. It comes with two buttons found at the top right, enabling you to select a single shot or two shots.
This machine is known for its speed in making coffee, and it does this quietly. It has a filter basket capable of holding 19 grams of coffee, allowing the espresso to be full-bodied and well balanced together with a good crema.
It is equipped with dual-wall filter baskets that work in churning out some pretty weak and under-extracted stuff, but it has to be noted that the best results for any espresso machine exist from using non-pressurised baskets.
The way it froths the milk is just first class. It is equipped with two buttons that enable you to set the temperature and texture of your milk. This coffee machine gives you three different options, which lead to three different results in texture, and it ranges from wet to dry.
The milk comes out at a great and hot temperature, and microbubbles are found in the wetter foam. You do not need to be a specialist to operate this when it comes to auto frothing, which only involves you to place the nozzle in the milk jug and then let the machine do all the work.
Design
Sage's coffee machines are made so that they look luxuriously while making sure that they perform very well, and the Bambino plus is designed in this very same way.
The Sage Bambino plus has a combination of 3 colours and textures of 3 different types, which adds beauty to this coffee machine.
The Sage Bambino plus has a brushed stainless-steel body that is accompanied by a shiny chrome covering 95% of the coffee machine with the black colour existing on the handle of the portafilter base and part of the steam nozzle. This look is just excellent and underrated.
The dimensions of this machine show how small this machine is, which is good. It is 26cm wide, 30cm deep, and 33cm tall. This compact machine has a tiny footprint.
This design is perfect for someone looking for a coffee machine that will not take up a lot of space. The Sage Bambino plus will not take up much of your space.
Functionality
You have to know that Sage aimed at cutting costs and making sure that the price could be affordable. This is why this coffee machine does not come with a built-in grinder; hence worth knowing that you will use pre-ground coffee or grind the fresh beans by yourself.
If you are a person wishing to create a good espresso all by yourself, it is recommended that you grind the beans all by yourself, and this should be done not long before brewing as this provides maximum freshness and flavour.
If you would like to get the best coffee, make sure to get a Burr grinder, ensuring that the beans are crushed consistently and not necessarily come out as chopped. You do not necessarily need to buy a grinder from sage to get a good grind. The grinders provided by sage are expensive but worth the price.
The Sage Bambino plus has a large water tank, something unusual for a machine this small. This water tank can hold up to 1.8 litres of water which only tells you that you will be given enough time before you can add more water, which is not the case in other large machines.
When the water level in the tank is low, a warning light will appear, which is good as you can not burn out by mistake any of the elements found inside. You will get a warning light when the water is really low, so you can't burn out any of the internal components by mistake.
Most coffee machines that are similar to this Sage Bambino plus are known to take between 30-60 seconds to warm, but the fantastic thing about the Sage Bambino plus is that it only takes about 3 seconds, just staggering. No need for you to be standing around while waiting for the machine to become ready for use.
It is recommended that you put a portafilter in without any coffee aswell as an empty glass below. This is a way of bringing everything up to the right temperature for your coffee. The one cup button has to be pressed, and hot water will be pushed through the portafilter into the glass, and everything will be heated up to a reasonable temperature. It, not a necessity, of course, but it sure helps.
This machine allows you to create a coffee rather than produce one. The fun fact is that you can do this using just a few basic and self-explanatory buttons, and you will get your favourite coffee in no time.
The one cup or two cup buttons are just easy to easy as they are apparent. The large filter has to be used for two cups, and the smaller one has to be used for one cup.
You are also gifted with the right to control the coffee's temperature as there are 3 different settings that you manage using one button, low, medium, and high.
This is the same case when it comes to milk temperature. There is one button that caters to all options, low, medium, and high. This process is very simple and quite effective.
Another fantastic feature that comes with this coffee machine is that it has a fully automatic milk heating function that places the jug on the base of the machine. Below the steam wand, you will find a sensor that detects if the milk has reached the selected temperature, and it will end up shutting off right away when that chosen temperature has been reached. How amazing is that!
This is just a great feature as you will not need any thermometer, and your hands will not be scorched from holding a hot jug.
This coffee machine is also accompanied by a coffee tamper that helps push the ground coffee down to compress it so that the result should be excellent coffee extraction. This is something that is not taken seriously by most coffee machine makers, but it sure helps.
You will be blessed with a jug that is of the perfect size for this coffee machine, and it is equipped with a maximum and minimum line; hence no worries of you going over or under. It would help if you always kept in mind that milk will be double its initial volume when fully heated.
The Sage Bambino plus comes with a pre-infusion feature that will make you fully understand how this works.
It is common in many machines that pressing the start button forces water through the coffee and into the cup when it comes to the Sage Bambino plus; it's different. This machine involves a two-step process. The first step involves the water soaking the coffee slowly, accompanied by a delay before the water is then pushed through the coffee and then into the cup. This is done to ensure a more even and full coffee extraction. It might seem like a small thing, but it plays a huge role in ensuring that you get the best coffee.
Pre-infusion is a concept which involves you paying a little more, and a lot of manufacturers do not care about this, but the Sage company makes sure you get the best coffee.
Another great thing about this coffee machine is that it comes with a 2-year warranty that tells you that this machine will last a very long time.
Ease of use
When the milk and water temperature has been set according to your preference, all that's left for you to do is press one button and make the coffee. This enables you to create your coffee in the easiest way possible.
After the milk and coffee have been added, the heating process will commence and stop at the correct temperature. The Sage Bambino plus is just very easy to use. Almost anyone can operate this coffee machine as the buttons on it are just clear and self-explanatory, preventing the machine from being damaged.
Quality of coffee
You have to remember that it's not you making the coffee but the device creating it, which should tell you that you will need to get great coffee to be used when it comes to coffee machines.
This is why we recommend looking at Presto Coffee; we pride ourselves on our delicious taste and range of popular blends. All our coffee is roasted in small batches to optimise flavour and ensure perfection in each roast.
Great coffee will only result in the coffee machine producing the best coffee as well. Make sure to get fresh beans roasted in the last 4 weeks, and it will be perfect for this machine. This coffee machine will do the rest and create a perfect cup of coffee.
Value for money
If you are a person who wants to have a great coffee experience, this Sage Bambino plus machine is worth every coin of your money.
If you are running low on money and are on a budget but still want to get a decent coffee machine, just know that the Bambino plus will enable you to make a much better coffee than the coffee you might get from a coffee shop.
Conclusion
This is a great little machine that anyone with ease can use. It is stylish and beautiful. This machine produces the best cup of coffee. It has excellent features which make using this machine good, and it does not take up much space as it is small. Remember, The Sage Bambino plus is an espresso machine that was made after a high level of research on what customers would like. This machine is equipped with a three-second start uptime, which is unique. It also comes with great frothing capabilities, which are made possible by the four-hole steaming wand. The steaming wand works as a key differentiator on most entry-level espresso machines, and this Sage Bambino plus is an example of such a devices. The Sage Bambino plus can make a foam that is dry and has a temperature range of 65 to 70 degrees in temperature.
Like this review? Checkout these next: gaggia classic review, sage bambino plus review, delonghi magnifica review.
