First time poster, long time oz bargainer. Found this Breville coffee machine to be the cheapest price ive seen as of this year after my Delonghi super auto broke down. Retails for $649. Get a bonus Vogue Living Subscription Offer that ENDS 31 DEC 2020.
$30 off $300+ spend for You and Your Friend (New Customers).
$462 tggc and $361 for black truffle if people have access
What is the difference other than colour/aesthetic of black truffle to the stainless steel?
Colour
the matte black truffle looks better.
easier to clean.
very tidy!
and.. $100 cheaper…
Matte black scratches easily and as it's just a black layer on top of the silver steel, scratches stand out a lot
@cruiserbruiser: Had mine 11 months and no issues with scratches at all. I Find the black hides all the smears and fingerprints associated with SS
@cruiserbruiser: I have had the black truffle for 12 months making at least 3 coffees a day and it still looks as good as the day I bought it. Not a scratch in sight
@Danman87: same, used multiple times a day and I love the matte black. Fits in with the rest of the kitchen.
shame I can't find the breville smart grinder in truffle black to go with it.. tggc had a great price on those which I missed.
I don't know how the black could get marked up easily..
@stickymoo: I would imagine the Brushed Stainless wouldn't look too bad with it though, the grounds catcher area is black and the Bambino has all the chrome accents on it as well.
Edit scratch that, looks like it's actually grey and not black. Man Breville product photos aren't terribly useful..
@TheContact: yeah, it would be fine. depends what else you have in your kitchen. I have matte black everything.
I know stainless shows up the finger prints etc more. But just clean it..
I just can't justify the same thing for a $100 more. But if it matches what you have going one. Then that's fine and probably worth it.
I have the issue with trying to find the black truffle smart grinder that no one seems to stock now for a relatively good price. I don't want a stainless grinder with matte black everything. So I'll probably pay more for something that fits in.
@stickymoo: Perfectly understandable, I want all matte black appliances as well and was waiting on a deal on the Black Bambino before I jumped on the Black Sesame Oracle deal, thinking that was matte because I could hardly see a difference in photos on Brevilles site.
I now have a big shiny black chonker which I've tried to place strategically to make it look less shiny.
September, June, February this year has had posted deals far cheaper ($100-$130 cheaper for Black Truffle, SS slightly more expensive). It should be in the $3xx price range, not $4xx. Use the OZB search function on the model.
You can effectively get this same model for $325 if you purchased with a St Ali coffee subscription right now, for example.
Ohh that is a good deal.
Is the coffee nice from there?
Any recommendations on bean?
I've got one and it makes great coffee but there are various regular cleaning cycles that needs to be done. The cleaning lights also come back on even after completing a cleaning cycle which is annoying.
Also it rattles the entire countertop and doubles as a bench top earthquake generator lol
To be fair, it doesn't require a cleaning cycle until after 200 extractions, and descaling even less frequently. And cleaning is as difficult as inserting a tablet in the portafilter or pouring descaler in the water tank and turning it on. I don't have the issue with cleaning lights remaining on after a cycle.
Had mine a year and it's a ripper. 3 second heat-up, good auto milk function, big water tank, small footprint. Fab.
How does it compare to BES840/870?
That's great it's working well for you!
On mine the steam wand also tends to get regularly clogged up. Needs to be unclogged with a needle and cleaned.
wait, what..
are you sure you are using it correctly?
Are you making sure the unit is still turned on when you put the steam wand down? It does have an auto purge function after every steam operation. There’s also a wand end cleaning tool under the water tank.
Oh and as far as the lights indication needing cleaning, make sure you follow the instructions perfectly for starting the cleaning function. So many times I’ve set it underway on cleaning, only to realise I just reset to factory settings and poured a shot with the tablet in, instead of actually cleaning.
I’d say the issues are easy fixes. Saw similar comments in the comments section of a YouTube review with a Few people suggesting it is the milk wand itself too blocked for regular flush. They unscrewed the wand tip, did a proper clean including running it into a jug of boiling water and it fixed it.
If you have the flashing lights still could be you are cancelling out of the cleaning cycle too early. You should run the cleaning cycle directly from the flashing lights, not push the button to skip it THEN run the cycle. I had that happen once. It’s like it didnt want to count it if it’s not done direct from the warning
In any other case return it as it would be defective.
There's another common way wands tend to get clogged that gets overlooked… a lot of people will leave the wand in the milk after steaming instead of taking it out as soon as the steam is turned off.
With the wand turned off the steam inside cools and recondenses, forming a vacuum that sucks the milk up inside where it gets baked on to the internals due to the still high temperatures. The quick purge of the self clean isn't enough to get the now cooked milk protein gloop entirely off and it'll build up over time.
The cleaning cycles are standard per all Breville machines. Don't you want a clean coffee machine? And the only reason the wand gets clogged is if you forget to put it back down to self clean after or don't wipe the excess off with a cloth.
Mine also doesn't rattle the counter. It's half as quite as my grinder.
I've dialled mine in with my Little Marionette House blend bean subscription to the point where I'm making as good a latte as all of my favourite coffee shops in Sydney and Melbourne.
However, this is about as expensive as this machine gets. I got mine for $300 and it was $328 for a lot of the year on TGGC.
+1 for Little Marionette. Discovered this at a local cafe last year, excellent coffee!
Over time I've discovered the steam wand is fine with long life milk but with A2 milk it has a tendency to get clogged up sometimes. This is with the automatic purging function.
I use the breville milk frother for consistent perfect milk and far easier to clean.
@stickymoo: So much easier, simply remove the plastic magnetic spinner (two total, one for latte or cappacino froth) and rinse both spinner and jug.
Interesting. I use a number of varieties of full fat milk and it's fine.
I forgot to mention that a funnel ring and a Matow tamper have contributed massively to the quality of the pour to.
did you change the baskets or using stock pressurised?
Did anybody decide to replace the default portafilter or baskets? Interested to hear if it is indeed worth it (the cost).
Heard that if you change the portafilter to a single wall you yield better tasting coffee for fresh grounded beans. Also heard you could change out the portafilter for a better user experience cause the handle is cheap feeling? I dont have this machine yet still eyeballing for it to come down under $300.
Read this as well!
I would highly recommend it, the double walled basket is a very bad idea if you don't want to burn your coffee.
The flavour profile is markedly different.
I don't see much difference between the BES870 group handle versus the Bambino one, the channeling inside is slightly different is all
I picked up two single walled baskets (single shot and double shot) directly from Breville Australia. About $25 delivered. Has made a huge improvement on the quality of the shot when dialled in right.
This is hardly a bargain. A number of stores have had this price over the last couple of months.
Unless you have a time machine it's not really a valid neg
Sorry, I thought OzB was for posting real bargains, not just the cheapest price on the day.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/help:voting_guidelines
"The deal is not the cheapest available"
Issue with product
Issue with retailer
Feel free to comment that it has been cheaper in the past, by i stand by the guidelines in saying that this is still the cheapest (or was the cheapest) that is currently available.
@dasher86: Thanks for clarification. I've revoked my negative vote, though I still stand by the original state that its hardly a bargain.
@11percent: and i agree with you it has been cheaper and not too long ago. i myself would not buy it at this price.
I got this deal from St Ali (https://stali.com.au/collections/st-ali-bambino-plus-subscri…) as it gave me 1 kg of my favourite coffee beans (dev inc every month automatically) plus the machine for $85 per month over 12 months.
Seeing as you can pick up a Gaggia for $700 bucks - I still wouldn't spend close to $500 on this.
Whoa… that looks like an amazing package for the price, thanks!
i would expect to get this sub $350 for this breville, that deal you linked for the Gaggia seems fantastic, but I think targeting a different sector of the market.
the Gaggia will be more for someone upgrading their skills and has time and patience, whereas the Breville seems no fuss make at home coffee for someone who just wants to make a 'decent' coffee at home.
The Breville has some pretty decent smarts - auto milk steaming, pre-set functions, and a thermoblock with 3 second heat up.
Comes with a crap portafilter and pressurized baskets - so will need to spend more to get the best out of the machine.
I'd get this machine for home just so that other people in the family can use it.
I'd get the Gaggia if it were just for me.
can you recommend a better portafilter upgrade for the bambino plus owners?
I’m also curious as to why it’s good not great, can you explain a little why?
@tommypickles: this is the portafilter that comes with the bambino
https://www.breville.com/us/en/parts-accessories/parts/sp002…
this is the standard portafilter
https://www.breville.com/us/en/parts-accessories/parts/sp002…
the earlier being a flimsy version
Also on Amazon for that price delivered.