By the way...If you're in the UK, and you're thinking of buying a Sage machine (any Sage machine, not only their coffee machines), join my mailing list at coffeeblog.co.uk and then drop me an email to see if I have a current discount code to share. I don't currently get Breville discounts, sorry, but I do sometimes have Sage Appliances UK discount codes to share. Ta Kev
Hi, i saw you always use preinfusion. When i use it (with 18g dark coffee) it always ends over extracted. I is not recommended to use preinfusion on dark beans? Ty :)
Btw., there is a sort of auto purge function. press and hold the steam button for 3 sec, and it'll run a small amount water through the wand and then stop.
Thanks Kev for the lesson on the Breville Bambino! I received one as a gift and the Breville Pro Grinder. Having trouble with sour shots. Ratio and time are in the right parameters. Beans are fresh. I watched your video on sour shots from that machine. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance! Love your content too!
We now know why no backflushing - no Solenoid Valve. So, please don't try to backflush this machine. I'll do another video on this. It's not a negative as such, in my opinion, that you can't backflush it because it had no solenoid - the lack of solenoid means there's no reason to really as the main reason to backflush is to clean the solenoid, and there isn't one. So it's just a case of keeping the brew path and grouphead clean, and I'll do another video on this. The Water Filter & Filter Holder doesn't come with the machine in the USA and Australia - you have to buy it separately, it comes as part of the package in the UK under the Sage Appliances Brand. Don't feel too annoyed though, we pay for it! ;-). The Bambino is more expensive in the UK than in the US, and Australia.
@@fawadamin3745 On the Bambino plus, yes. The bambino plus has a solenoid. The Bambino doesn't have a solenoid valve so it can't be backflushed. Cheers, Kev
Nice one Kev! I've just ordered one of these (as my Dedica is slowly dying) and looking forward to getting started with it. Sacrilege I know but I mainly use pre ground coffee (Lavazza) as I've not found another dark roast that I like as much. Handy to have the basket options for this!
It looks like on the first pull the timer started from pre-infusion whereas the second pull it started from extraction. Does it matter when you start it from? I’m confused
Good video, on the strength of it I purchase a bambino as a present for my lady friend. However, when I was setting it up for her there was some issues with the machine, basically quite noisy when extracting and the cup jumped about on the drip. I went to the Sage customer review on this machine, quite a few people said the same thing, because the machine is so light cups do tend to bounce about on the drip tray. Have watched your video this didn't seem to happen to you or did you turn the microphone down while you were extracting? Although there didn't seem to be any movement of the cup on your machine while extracting, quite confusing. I should point out that it does make really good coffee.
I saw reviews that said that the portafilter is made of aluminum with inner plastic lining. Is this an issue at all with this machine for you? Or does this really matter? Thank you!
Hi Kev, quick question. Only getting into making Espresso at home having just bought my self a Bambino and Smart Grinder Pro... what difference does using full-fat vs semi-skimmed milk make in making milky drinks/barista art? Thanks
My Bambino Plus bought a couple of months back has a different nozzle, weird! You didn't demonstrate the milk auto froth which I think does a great job. At the same time bought the Sage Smart Grinder Pro and would advise that cleaning it is a time consuming job to do properly, as I found it necessary to to remove both upper and lower burrs to do achieve an in depth job. Anyone trying this be pre warned it is semi difficult and they should first watch one of the UA-cam videos on the subject. Would also mention I disregarded using dry rice or proprietary tablets for this, preferring to use supplied brush, a new tooth brush, vacuum cleaner hose an aerosol used for cleaning internals of my desktop PC. Maybe you should record how to do all this properly. Finally well done with this latest Sage Bambino Plus video. It gave me quite a few new pointers in refining my current progress from novice to very junior Barista😉
Thanks Frank :-) This is the Bambino, not the Bambino Plus. It has a different steam tip, and no auto steaming. Re the smart grinder pro, OK good point, a grinder cleaning video would probably be a helpful video to do, thanks for the idea, and watch this space :-). Ta, Kev
@@Coffee_Kev Afternoon Kev. Yeah that was stupid of me not to recognise the nozzle different tips. Also explains no auto froth too. After watching your vid I ordered and got today a portafilter funnel ring. Works a treat! So ta 👍
SO helpful! Thank you! Your videos have been a massive help to me, just ordered this machine. Excited to get it. Don’t suppose you know where you got the mug you’re using for your flat white? Or what size it is?
Does adding a drop of milk into the americano at the end give you a standard cup of white coffee? By standard I mean if I was making a cup of coffee at home with coffee granules, boiling water and milk. Ps great video, very useful.
Hi William, Pro baristas do all of this but they usually only do this once in the morning while setting up, and the level of gear used usually means only having to do it once or maybe a few times throughout the day. Cheers Kev
Following on from William’s question. I can see that a pro in a cafe would pre-establish the weight, grind size and timings, but I don’t really seem to remember seeing any with dosing funnels and WDT’s. Am I going to below average establishments or is that just for us home based simpletons? Is there a pro-knack to just tapping the newly filled basket on the counter without poking with a WDT and getting a well-tamped basket? Thanks
Nice one Kev! I love the unrehearsed natural feel to your vids - the spills, the 'I forgot to bring the timemore' etc. The tip about pulling the shot into hot water was useful. Do you have any notes on temperature? Not just the water but also the shot temp when it arrives in the (pre-warmed) cup?
Thanks Paul :-). In a pre-warmed up, it should be hitting the cup at roughly 70C, from my experiments - Barista pro is about the same, and Bambino plus. Ta, Kev.
Just starting on my espresso home journey and picked up the bambino plus and I have a Krups. Grinder (like one in your comparison video) I was bought a few Xmas ago as a present. I am going to be trying your coffee too! But could you recommend a reasonably priced but decent knock box please?
quick q - do you have to pre set the quantity like u did for the double shot - i normally use the scale when the coffee pours and comes around the 30 sec mark, just as using diff coffee have to change it again etc
Hi Kev, u said to press on the button for pre-infusion, does that mean i can set how long i want the pre-infusion to be?? Like if i press on the button and don’t let go for 10 seconds, does that mean it will pre-infuse for 10 seconds until I let go of the button?
Great video, thanks Kev! I'm about to buy this machine thanks to your great videos. One question about grinder purging. Do you find this is really necessary when dialing in and grinding multiple doses in a row? I understand that you want to get rid of old grounds, but I don't understand how a tiny amount of grounds of slightly different grind size can make a big impact. Why I'm unsure: - I've got a Fellow Opus that apparently has about .4 - .6 grams of retention. This is only only 2 - 3% of the espresso dose (when using 19 gram of beans) - The grind size ranges around the targeted particle size E.g. between 900 - 1100 nm for the nominal peak. I believe this might even be more amplified for conical burr grinders vs flat burr grinders if I've understood it correctly from the youtube media I've consumed over the last weeks. - If we're changing grind size by small steps, the most pronounced peak in the particle size distribution will only change a slightly (33nm per step in my case for the Opus I believe). - The conclusion I draw is that the impact of the 2-3% of retention on the particle distribution could only be tiny. Maybe the shot I'll pull next is a tiny bit skewed towards the previous result, but I find it hard to understand why purging can make a big difference. Do you find it to be really important when dialing in? Does it cause for other issues that I do not understand? I'm only just getting into espresso, so hopefully I'm not being annoyingly ignorant.
Thanks for the kind words :-). I'd only really bother to purge on grinders that have a few grams of retention, if we're talking points of a gram, defo not worth it. The Smart Grinder Pro and Dose Control Pro, that a lot of people will be pairing with the Bambino & Bambino Plus, tends to have a retention of a few grams, rather than a few points of a gram. Ta Kev
Do you think you could get as good of a shot from the Bambino Plus as with the Oracle if you buy a better grinder than the integrated Smart grinder? I love the automatic steaming feature on both of these machines but the price difference makes me wonder if it's worth just getting the Bambino Plus and a better grinder in the future. I could get a used Oracle and a new Bambino Plus at around the same price. Btw, appreciate all of the Bambino and Bambino Plus content you put out, it's extremely useful!
Thanks Dana. These are completely different machines, in very different leagues and price points. The Oracle is the Dual Boiler with on-board wizardry, so at the heart of it is the same dual boiler plus heat exchanger and twin PID, it's really not fair to expect the Bambino plus to compete. The Oracle punches very well in its weight class but it's not going to last many rounds against the likes of the Dual Boiler or the Oracle or Oracle touch which are based on that. Cheers.
How coarse would you do the coffee? My grinder says settings 1-3, any higher is for french press or for filter. Cant seem to get 40ml of coffee.. Also changed the time to 28seconds, but was wondering how can i change it to set again ti set it to 30?
Hi, I'm pretty much a beginner with the Bambino. What I don't get is that if I use grind time of 18 on the Smart grinder pro, 2 shits and grind size 12 (default settings), I get an overflow of coffee in the basket. Does grind time of 18 correspond to 18g of coffee? I haven't got scales. Can you suggest a starting grind time and grind size to get me going until I get some scales? Im using the standard basket as you recommend. Thanks for you channel and help
Hey, did you ever hear anything from Breville about the "blind disk" and the backflush for the screen / head cleaning? i wondered about that also. I read thru the comments and didn't see anything.
Hi Keith, Sage have clarified - no solenoid is the reason for no backflush disk, so you definitely don't want to backflush this machine! I'll do another video on this. Cheers, Kev.
"should" is an interesting word ;-). Does it - no, not really. You should get even extraction from a pro style portafilter with a U splitter, but the Bambino and Bambino plus come with the style of portafilter you'll get on most cheaper domestic machines, and these always appear to produce fairly uneven flow in my experience. Traditional splitters I think do a better job of evenly splitting the coffee - which would matter if you're wanting to pull a double into two cups. As long as you've not got channelling going on, you should get quite even extraction with one of these. The portafilter on these though instead of allowing the espresso to flow from a central hole onto a U shaped splitter, they have a plastic maze looking device in them, and I think some of the espresso gets lost ;-). I think they're just not quite as good at equally dividing the espresso. You can buy the portafilter for the Barista Pro/Express, breville.oie8.net/5ogV3 and this will fit the Bambino and Bambino plus - this should improve things. They also feel a bit nicer, they're a bit heavier weight. Cheers Kev
Hi Kev! Thaks again for your great videos! Did Sage answer you about the Bambino cleaning cycles or backflush cycles? I'm worried about if not doing those cycles could be the machine life shorter. (Sorry, my English is too poor...). Bye!
Hi - yes, they have confirmed that the lack of backflushing disks or instructions is that unlike the Plus, the Bambino doesn't have a solenoid, so you can't backflush it. I'll do another video on this. Cheers, Kev.
It's the older version of this one amzn.to/3EKZ36z Bought it as a little back up scale, and it's OK. Not as responsive as the Timemore black mirror, doesn't have the same features, timer etc., but it's very cheap, and I think it's pretty good for the price, and as you say, nice & small. Cheers Kev
Thanks for the great videos. I'm slowly learning with the bambino. I'm curious what the circular item is that you then prod with the wooden handle spikey things? Sorry for a dumb question
It's an older version of these, amzn.to/3lJ76cN just a little back up scale for when I (usually) forget my main scales, which are these: ua-cam.com/video/-AFA7QTNDi8/v-deo.html
It's all manual steaming so you have control over the steaming as you would with any machine with a pro steam wand, so should be fine with any milk alternatives. Cheers, Kev.
You can use the portafilter for the Barista Express & Barista Pro, it's a nicer portafilter - and if you're in a region where the machine comes with only pressured baskets, you can buy the standard baskets from Breville. Cheers.
Hi Kev, I've got a Barista Pro and am considering buying a grinder upgrade. Would a niche zero/df64 be overkill? Do you have a preference between niche/df64?
Hi :-). Well, it depends on what you mean by overkill really, and it depends on what you're upgrading for. If it's purely for taste, then how much of a difference you'll notice in the cup by using one of these grinders instead of the integrated grinder - not sure, I'd have to do blind taste testing, but I'd assume not a great deal - and would depend on how sensitive your palate is. To really upgrade the cup quality you'd probably need to upgrade the machine too. If you upgraded the machine to the Sage dual boiler or something at a similar level, for example, I'd think that upgrading the grinder to get the most from the upgraded machine would make more sense, if you're looking to enhance the taste purely. If you're wanting to upgrade not purely the taste but the experience, then I'd say switching from using the integrated grinder to using the NZ, would be a big upgrade - because I find the retention on the pro to be much higher than I'd like. The grind adjustments seem to take a couple of shots (or grinding and purging a couple of shots worth, which would be sacrilege) to fully register, and although the grind adjustment is finer than the express, it's still not as fine as with the Niche Zero or other true stepless grinders. Would the DF64 give the same upgrade in user experience, I'm not sure. I've not used it, I'm aware of it of course, and my opinion of it is that to most people who don't have Q-grader level palates (as I don't) the taste is going to be similar, although not the same as the DF64 has flat burrs, but the DF64 doesn't seem to offer the same kind of user experience, no clumps, no static, and almost no retention. From what I've seen, the DF64 is a bit messier, the clump crusher is a bit of an issue although it's moddable, and although it's low retention I don't believe it's as low as the NZ. I'd recommend James Hoffmann's video on this if you've not seen it: ua-cam.com/video/53lTlpjM2sQ/v-deo.html Cheers Kev
Amazing thanks Kev. Have ordered an NZ as they were available! Will try it out... Have nothing to lose as it will hold its value, and improve my UX. My palate is not great... So concur with your thinking on the df64. I don't want to waste time modding it.
Hey, Kev. New to your channel and already loving your content. Just bought a Bambino Plus and Smart grinder. I'm increasingly impressed with the grinder and the Plus for pulling shots. But - trying to texture milk for a flat white - 125ml - is nigh impossible! Just get bubbly froth in next to no time - not enough time to texture. I swapped my old (now dead) Barista Express 1-hole wand tip to try to slow the process down - but it was clearly too big a difference and tripped the pressure safety system. 😔Any advice on how to slow the process down? I have to say, I look on with envy at the leisurely way you can do your milk on the Bambino (and miss the same on my Express....)!
Hi, Thanks for your message, I would really recommend you watch my youtube video on How to make a flat white:ua-cam.com/video/LhrHw5I9qN8/v-deo.html There is loads of content on steaming milk and also I used a 4 hole steam tip to create the milk for the flat white 4 hole steam tip: Sage Appliances UK: breville.oie8.net/EaEeDQ This might be a good option for you. Cheers Kev
By the way...If you're in the UK, and you're thinking of buying a Sage machine (any Sage machine, not only their coffee machines), join my mailing list at coffeeblog.co.uk and then drop me an email to see if I have a current discount code to share. I don't currently get Breville discounts, sorry, but I do sometimes have Sage Appliances UK discount codes to share.
Ta
Kev
Hi, i saw you always use preinfusion. When i use it (with 18g dark coffee) it always ends over extracted. I is not recommended to use preinfusion on dark beans? Ty :)
Btw., there is a sort of auto purge function. press and hold the steam button for 3 sec, and it'll run a small amount water through the wand and then stop.
Great video! It would be really helpful to see the puck after when it’s not dialed in and when it is!
Thanks Kev for the lesson on the Breville Bambino! I received one as a gift and the Breville Pro Grinder. Having trouble with sour shots. Ratio and time are in the right parameters. Beans are fresh. I watched your video on sour shots from that machine. Any other suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
Love your content too!
Thanks for this demo, I was struggling with over extraction but this has just taught me I need to grind much coarser
Glad I could help :-)
We now know why no backflushing - no Solenoid Valve. So, please don't try to backflush this machine. I'll do another video on this. It's not a negative as such, in my opinion, that you can't backflush it because it had no solenoid - the lack of solenoid means there's no reason to really as the main reason to backflush is to clean the solenoid, and there isn't one. So it's just a case of keeping the brew path and grouphead clean, and I'll do another video on this.
The Water Filter & Filter Holder doesn't come with the machine in the USA and Australia - you have to buy it separately, it comes as part of the package in the UK under the Sage Appliances Brand. Don't feel too annoyed though, we pay for it! ;-). The Bambino is more expensive in the UK than in the US, and Australia.
Hi Kev,
So we don’t need to do manual backflushing for the bambino plus anymore?
Did you make a video about how to clean the machine now?
Thanks
@@fawadamin3745 On the Bambino plus, yes. The bambino plus has a solenoid. The Bambino doesn't have a solenoid valve so it can't be backflushed. Cheers, Kev
Fantastic demo thanks for sharing! Just got the bambino and a SGP excited to dial it in
You make it look so easy! Mine never comes out like this 😢
Nice one Kev!
I've just ordered one of these (as my Dedica is slowly dying) and looking forward to getting started with it.
Sacrilege I know but I mainly use pre ground coffee (Lavazza) as I've not found another dark roast that I like as much. Handy to have the basket options for this!
It looks like on the first pull the timer started from pre-infusion whereas the second pull it started from extraction. Does it matter when you start it from? I’m confused
Good video, on the strength of it I purchase a bambino as a present for my lady friend. However, when I was setting it up for her there was some issues with the machine, basically quite noisy when extracting and the cup jumped about on the drip. I went to the Sage customer review on this machine, quite a few people said the same thing, because the machine is so light cups do tend to bounce about on the drip tray. Have watched your video this didn't seem to happen to you or did you turn the microphone down while you were extracting? Although there didn't seem to be any movement of the cup on your machine while extracting, quite confusing. I should point out that it does make really good coffee.
Can anyone recommend a dosing funnel that works with the smart grinder pro
I saw reviews that said that the portafilter is made of aluminum with inner plastic lining. Is this an issue at all with this machine for you? Or does this really matter? Thank you!
Fantastic information! Thanks so much.
Thanks Jim 😀
Hi Kev, quick question. Only getting into making Espresso at home having just bought my self a Bambino and Smart Grinder Pro... what difference does using full-fat vs semi-skimmed milk make in making milky drinks/barista art? Thanks
My Bambino Plus bought a couple of months back has a different nozzle, weird!
You didn't demonstrate the milk auto froth which I think does a great job.
At the same time bought the Sage Smart Grinder Pro and would advise that cleaning it is a time consuming job to do properly, as I found it necessary to to remove both upper and lower burrs to do achieve an in depth job. Anyone trying this be pre warned it is semi difficult and they should first watch one of the UA-cam videos on the subject. Would also mention I disregarded using dry rice or proprietary tablets for this, preferring to use supplied brush, a new tooth brush, vacuum cleaner hose an aerosol used for cleaning internals of my desktop PC. Maybe you should record how to do all this properly.
Finally well done with this latest Sage Bambino Plus video. It gave me quite a few new pointers in refining my current progress from novice to very junior Barista😉
Thanks Frank :-)
This is the Bambino, not the Bambino Plus. It has a different steam tip, and no auto steaming.
Re the smart grinder pro, OK good point, a grinder cleaning video would probably be a helpful video to do, thanks for the idea, and watch this space :-). Ta, Kev
@@Coffee_Kev
Afternoon Kev. Yeah that was stupid of me not to recognise the nozzle different tips. Also explains no auto froth too.
After watching your vid I ordered and got today a portafilter funnel ring. Works a treat! So ta 👍
@@frankweaver301 Cheers Frank :-), excellent.
This is great and massively informative. Would appreciate your suggestion between the "Bambino" and "the Duo-Temp Pro" please
It is on my list to film soon :-)
I wonder if co2 in the bags will preserve ground bagged coffee like they do with perishables foods.
hmm, would depend on whether the bag has a degassing valve I reckon. Ta
SO helpful! Thank you!
Your videos have been a massive help to me, just ordered this machine. Excited to get it.
Don’t suppose you know where you got the mug you’re using for your flat white? Or what size it is?
Thanks Josh, that's nice of you to say. Yeah these are olympia whiteware CB469. It's officially 7 ounce I believe. Cheers
Does adding a drop of milk into the americano at the end give you a standard cup of white coffee? By standard I mean if I was making a cup of coffee at home with coffee granules, boiling water and milk. Ps great video, very useful.
Thanks for the kind words 😊. Yeah if someone asks me for 'just a standard white coffee' I make them an Americano and add a splash of milk. Cheers, Kev
What I don’t understand is when you go into a coffeehouse you don’t see them faffing about with scales and timers, but you still get a great coffee.
Hi William,
Pro baristas do all of this but they usually only do this once in the morning while setting up, and the level of gear used usually means only having to do it once or maybe a few times throughout the day.
Cheers
Kev
Following on from William’s question. I can see that a pro in a cafe would pre-establish the weight, grind size and timings, but I don’t really seem to remember seeing any with dosing funnels and WDT’s. Am I going to below average establishments or is that just for us home based simpletons? Is there a pro-knack to just tapping the newly filled basket on the counter without poking with a WDT and getting a well-tamped basket?
Thanks
it is always nice to watch Kev's demo again. I noticed that the Bambino frothing tip is different from the Plus model. Am i right?
Nice one Kev! I love the unrehearsed natural feel to your vids - the spills, the 'I forgot to bring the timemore' etc. The tip about pulling the shot into hot water was useful. Do you have any notes on temperature? Not just the water but also the shot temp when it arrives in the (pre-warmed) cup?
Thanks Paul :-). In a pre-warmed up, it should be hitting the cup at roughly 70C, from my experiments - Barista pro is about the same, and Bambino plus. Ta, Kev.
Just starting on my espresso home journey and picked up the bambino plus and I have a Krups. Grinder (like one in your comparison video) I was bought a few Xmas ago as a present. I am going to be trying your coffee too! But could you recommend a reasonably priced but decent knock box please?
quick q - do you have to pre set the quantity like u did for the double shot - i normally use the scale when the coffee pours and comes around the 30 sec mark, just as using diff coffee have to change it again etc
Hi Kev, u said to press on the button for pre-infusion, does that mean i can set how long i want the pre-infusion to be?? Like if i press on the button and don’t let go for 10 seconds, does that mean it will pre-infuse for 10 seconds until I let go of the button?
Hi on the bambino plus do I want the milk texture setting on 1 for a flat white please?
Great video, thanks Kev! I'm about to buy this machine thanks to your great videos. One question about grinder purging. Do you find this is really necessary when dialing in and grinding multiple doses in a row? I understand that you want to get rid of old grounds, but I don't understand how a tiny amount of grounds of slightly different grind size can make a big impact.
Why I'm unsure:
- I've got a Fellow Opus that apparently has about .4 - .6 grams of retention. This is only only 2 - 3% of the espresso dose (when using 19 gram of beans)
- The grind size ranges around the targeted particle size E.g. between 900 - 1100 nm for the nominal peak. I believe this might even be more amplified for conical burr grinders vs flat burr grinders if I've understood it correctly from the youtube media I've consumed over the last weeks.
- If we're changing grind size by small steps, the most pronounced peak in the particle size distribution will only change a slightly (33nm per step in my case for the Opus I believe).
- The conclusion I draw is that the impact of the 2-3% of retention on the particle distribution could only be tiny.
Maybe the shot I'll pull next is a tiny bit skewed towards the previous result, but I find it hard to understand why purging can make a big difference. Do you find it to be really important when dialing in? Does it cause for other issues that I do not understand? I'm only just getting into espresso, so hopefully I'm not being annoyingly ignorant.
Thanks for the kind words :-). I'd only really bother to purge on grinders that have a few grams of retention, if we're talking points of a gram, defo not worth it.
The Smart Grinder Pro and Dose Control Pro, that a lot of people will be pairing with the Bambino & Bambino Plus, tends to have a retention of a few grams, rather than a few points of a gram.
Ta
Kev
That makes sense - thanks for the explanation Kev!
Do you think you could get as good of a shot from the Bambino Plus as with the Oracle if you buy a better grinder than the integrated Smart grinder? I love the automatic steaming feature on both of these machines but the price difference makes me wonder if it's worth just getting the Bambino Plus and a better grinder in the future. I could get a used Oracle and a new Bambino Plus at around the same price.
Btw, appreciate all of the Bambino and Bambino Plus content you put out, it's extremely useful!
Thanks Dana. These are completely different machines, in very different leagues and price points. The Oracle is the Dual Boiler with on-board wizardry, so at the heart of it is the same dual boiler plus heat exchanger and twin PID, it's really not fair to expect the Bambino plus to compete. The Oracle punches very well in its weight class but it's not going to last many rounds against the likes of the Dual Boiler or the Oracle or Oracle touch which are based on that. Cheers.
How coarse would you do the coffee? My grinder says settings 1-3, any higher is for french press or for filter. Cant seem to get 40ml of coffee..
Also changed the time to 28seconds, but was wondering how can i change it to set again ti set it to 30?
Hi, I'm pretty much a beginner with the Bambino. What I don't get is that if I use grind time of 18 on the Smart grinder pro, 2 shits and grind size 12 (default settings), I get an overflow of coffee in the basket. Does grind time of 18 correspond to 18g of coffee? I haven't got scales. Can you suggest a starting grind time and grind size to get me going until I get some scales?
Im using the standard basket as you recommend.
Thanks for you channel and help
Hey, did you ever hear anything from Breville about the "blind disk" and the backflush for the screen / head cleaning? i wondered about that also. I read thru the comments and didn't see anything.
Hi Keith, I think I've figured it out but I'm waiting for clarification from Sage, I'll reply as soon as I know for sure.
Ta
Kev
Hi Keith, Sage have clarified - no solenoid is the reason for no backflush disk, so you definitely don't want to backflush this machine! I'll do another video on this. Cheers, Kev.
Do your pucks out of the non pressurized basket come out wet? Mine always do. Is this a bad sing?
Should flow be equal out of both portafilter holes? Thanks
"should" is an interesting word ;-). Does it - no, not really.
You should get even extraction from a pro style portafilter with a U splitter, but the Bambino and Bambino plus come with the style of portafilter you'll get on most cheaper domestic machines, and these always appear to produce fairly uneven flow in my experience.
Traditional splitters I think do a better job of evenly splitting the coffee - which would matter if you're wanting to pull a double into two cups. As long as you've not got channelling going on, you should get quite even extraction with one of these.
The portafilter on these though instead of allowing the espresso to flow from a central hole onto a U shaped splitter, they have a plastic maze looking device in them, and I think some of the espresso gets lost ;-). I think they're just not quite as good at equally dividing the espresso.
You can buy the portafilter for the Barista Pro/Express, breville.oie8.net/5ogV3 and this will fit the Bambino and Bambino plus - this should improve things. They also feel a bit nicer, they're a bit heavier weight.
Cheers
Kev
@@Coffee_Kev that’s really helpful. Many thanks!
Hi Kev! Thaks again for your great videos! Did Sage answer you about the Bambino cleaning cycles or backflush cycles? I'm worried about if not doing those cycles could be the machine life shorter. (Sorry, my English is too poor...). Bye!
Hi - yes, they have confirmed that the lack of backflushing disks or instructions is that unlike the Plus, the Bambino doesn't have a solenoid, so you can't backflush it. I'll do another video on this. Cheers, Kev.
@@Coffee_Kev I'm watching again all your videos about Bambino/B. Plus to improve my coffee extraction ;) Thanks once again, Kev! Bye bye! Iris.
Anyone knows what scale that is? Seems to fit perfectly under the Bambino
It's the older version of this one amzn.to/3EKZ36z
Bought it as a little back up scale, and it's OK. Not as responsive as the Timemore black mirror, doesn't have the same features, timer etc., but it's very cheap, and I think it's pretty good for the price, and as you say, nice & small.
Cheers
Kev
Do you count down from 30 seconds immediately after holding the button, or after first drop of coffee into cup?
From pressing the button.
Thanks for the great videos. I'm slowly learning with the bambino. I'm curious what the circular item is that you then prod with the wooden handle spikey things? Sorry for a dumb question
Thanks Kev what scale are you using
It's an older version of these, amzn.to/3lJ76cN just a little back up scale for when I (usually) forget my main scales, which are these: ua-cam.com/video/-AFA7QTNDi8/v-deo.html
Hello, how does it behave with non-fat-enhanced vegetable milk?
It's all manual steaming so you have control over the steaming as you would with any machine with a pro steam wand, so should be fine with any milk alternatives. Cheers, Kev.
How long would the bambino last if you made on average 4 coffees a day?
That is very hard to say, it depends on many factors, such as hard water, how well you look after your machine etc
Is there a recommended upgrade for the basket and/or portafilter?
You can use the portafilter for the Barista Express & Barista Pro, it's a nicer portafilter - and if you're in a region where the machine comes with only pressured baskets, you can buy the standard baskets from Breville. Cheers.
Hi Kev, I've got a Barista Pro and am considering buying a grinder upgrade. Would a niche zero/df64 be overkill? Do you have a preference between niche/df64?
Hi :-). Well, it depends on what you mean by overkill really, and it depends on what you're upgrading for.
If it's purely for taste, then how much of a difference you'll notice in the cup by using one of these grinders instead of the integrated grinder - not sure, I'd have to do blind taste testing, but I'd assume not a great deal - and would depend on how sensitive your palate is.
To really upgrade the cup quality you'd probably need to upgrade the machine too. If you upgraded the machine to the Sage dual boiler or something at a similar level, for example, I'd think that upgrading the grinder to get the most from the upgraded machine would make more sense, if you're looking to enhance the taste purely.
If you're wanting to upgrade not purely the taste but the experience, then I'd say switching from using the integrated grinder to using the NZ, would be a big upgrade - because I find the retention on the pro to be much higher than I'd like. The grind adjustments seem to take a couple of shots (or grinding and purging a couple of shots worth, which would be sacrilege) to fully register, and although the grind adjustment is finer than the express, it's still not as fine as with the Niche Zero or other true stepless grinders.
Would the DF64 give the same upgrade in user experience, I'm not sure. I've not used it, I'm aware of it of course, and my opinion of it is that to most people who don't have Q-grader level palates (as I don't) the taste is going to be similar, although not the same as the DF64 has flat burrs, but the DF64 doesn't seem to offer the same kind of user experience,
no clumps, no static, and almost no retention. From what I've seen, the DF64 is a bit messier, the clump crusher is a bit of an issue although it's moddable, and although it's low retention I don't believe it's as low as the NZ.
I'd recommend James Hoffmann's video on this if you've not seen it: ua-cam.com/video/53lTlpjM2sQ/v-deo.html
Cheers
Kev
Amazing thanks Kev. Have ordered an NZ as they were available! Will try it out... Have nothing to lose as it will hold its value, and improve my UX. My palate is not great... So concur with your thinking on the df64. I don't want to waste time modding it.
Hey, Kev. New to your channel and already loving your content. Just bought a Bambino Plus and Smart grinder. I'm increasingly impressed with the grinder and the Plus for pulling shots. But - trying to texture milk for a flat white - 125ml - is nigh impossible! Just get bubbly froth in next to no time - not enough time to texture. I swapped my old (now dead) Barista Express 1-hole wand tip to try to slow the process down - but it was clearly too big a difference and tripped the pressure safety system. 😔Any advice on how to slow the process down?
I have to say, I look on with envy at the leisurely way you can do your milk on the Bambino (and miss the same on my Express....)!
Hi,
Thanks for your message, I would really recommend you watch my youtube video on How to make a flat white:ua-cam.com/video/LhrHw5I9qN8/v-deo.html
There is loads of content on steaming milk and also I used a 4 hole steam tip to create the milk for the flat white
4 hole steam tip:
Sage Appliances UK: breville.oie8.net/EaEeDQ
This might be a good option for you.
Cheers
Kev
That 4 hole steam can be used in the bambino?
oh sorry here it was
Kev's changed something in this video.
Can anyone guess what it is?...
He's got himself a new apron?
@@markdolby Haha, nah it's the same old apron although I fixed the strap this time which was twisted on the last video ;-), but that's not it.
@@Coffee_Kev Is it the microphone?
@@stevenhari9339 ooh you're close, but no Cigar ;-)
It would be easier to drive 5 miles to the coffee shop.