The Breville Bambino Plus includes a dosing tool that the Breville Bambino espresso machine doesn’t. Other than that, both include a decent milk jug, a solid plastic tamper, and a 58 mm portafilter with a plastic handle. If you like cappuccinos and lattes, then this is the machine for you. The Bambino Plus’ thermojet-powered steam wand produces one off the silkiest and creamiest micro froths in cappuccino land, and you can set both the temperature of the froth mixture and its consistency from low to high. Most users claim that it’s easy to operate the Breville Bambino Plus and the Breville Bambino. For cleaning and maintenance, it’s pretty straightforward too. READ NEXT: These are the best Nespresso machines to buy right now Sage Bambino review: Should you buy it? Although the steam wand purges automatically, you can remove the tip and wash this in the sink. Sage also provides a handy tool to unclog the spout should it become crusted with milk. Final thoughts

That said, the Bambino Plus also produces very decent results using pre-ground coffee and the dual-walled basket. Whichever method you opt for you’ll find that the extractions are very consistent and much easier to achieve than when using most other standard espresso machines. We've outlined the key differences between bean-to-cup, espresso, and coffee pod machines, to help you decide which coffee machine to buy. The only hitch here is that the drip tray is a little too small to keep up with the additional water coming through the milk frother cleaning system. That means you'll be washing it out fairly regularly - I found myself draining it nearly every other day when brewing around four drinks a day with milk. Breville / Sage Bambino Plus: PerformanceRugged build quality and excellent results make this a top machine for those who want high-quality espresso manually, but don’t have room for a larger machine. Build and features – Excellent and rugged-feeling coffee machine The Breville Bambino Plus steam wand is better than the Breville Bambino’s because it replicates the control and accuracy of prosumer and commercial machines. The Breville Bambino offers a basic performance with some milk-frothing capabilities that are good enough for convenience-oriented home baristas.

The Bambino Plus heats up in three seconds, and you then press the appropriate button to choose between a one-cup or two-cup brew. Milk frothing is also designed to be super-easy with this coffee maker: all you need to do is select from a choice of three milk temperatures, as well as three different milk textures. The metal steam arm is another nice touch, as many espresso machines come with plastic steam wands. However, all that perfectly steamed milk would be nothing without the rich espresso produced from any of the four included standard and dual-walled baskets. The ability to lean on an easier dual-walled basket is appreciated here, as the additional pressure provided by the basket itself won't require too much precision grinding and attention to detail to produce a nice, strong espresso.

Steam is delivered at a constant velocity with a slight delay between starting and stopping. Even so, I could get the jug at a good angle to swirl the milk, creating neat milk with fine micro-bubbles and a silky-smooth appearance. Overall, Breville isn’t too popular among espresso purists and hardcore enthusiasts. Still, the brand keeps growing in the home market, year after year. One of the keys to their success is building affordable products for home use, which are relatively easy to use. Moreover, they offer good customer service and technical support. If you're looking for a pain-free espresso, and are happy to pay a little extra to ensure high quality every time, you'll be right at home with the Breville Bambino Plus. The same is true even if you're a beginner who wants to learn and experiment, with the default temperature settings yielding a smooth extraction process straight out the box, ample instructions on grind sizes and which baskets fit each one, and an automatic milk frothing system. Next on our testing agenda was to see how well the steam wand worked. We chose to opt for the medium texture setting on the Bambino Plus, and the medium heat setting. We used the automatic setting, and placed the milk jug on the sensor so that the machine would know when the milk had reached the desired temperature. The noise level when the steam wand was in action was even lower than when we were making espresso, reaching 51 decibels while the milk was frothing. When we added the milk to our coffee, it retained a velvety texture that lasted all the way down our drink as we sipped it. The symmetry of both machines’ control panels is notable– with single and double shot options on the left side and steam or water buttons on the right side of their respective control panels.

Considering the water capacity in the Breville Bambino Plus and the Breville Bambino, you can easily prepare dozens of shots without filling the tank. And although the Breville Bambino Plus has more water capacity, that doesn’t seem to be that important in a home setting. 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. Coffee pod machines: These machines are generally simple to use, fast, and mess-free, and coffee pods also tend to stay fresher for longer than beans or grounds. You can only make one cup at a time, though, and some pods aren't always recyclable – ESE (easy serve espresso) pods are a good compostable alternative.At its default settings, the Bambino Plus’ serves up a single 30ml espresso or a 60ml double espresso but it’s easy to tweak these amounts to your preferences. There are both one cup and two cup dual-wall filter baskets included as standard, the one-cup basket holding up to 10g of ground coffee, and the two-cup up to 19g, so it’s pretty easy to get the coffee tasting just how you want it. Are you a fan of cappuccinos, cortados, and caffè lattes? Then, you’ll love the Breville Bambino Plus. 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. The 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.

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.Another advantage of the Breville Bambino Plus is has a hands-free milk-frothing setting. I like this feature because it’s perfect for when you don’t want to focus that much on operating the machine but still want a silky cappuccino or latte. Automatically purging the heat system as water passes through each element, temperature is further stabilised Familiarise yourself with product RRPs: this will help you recognise the really valuable opportunities to save.