Jeff wrote:With a good grinder and coffee, in the hands of someone with experience with the unit, I'd wager that a Robot, Flair, or one of the better vintage lever machines can more reliably pull a better shot than a Bambino or similar-class machine.

And I'm so sorry to clarify here, but do you mean with all stock parts and pressurized basket? Just wanna be sure you're saying Bambino WITH the IMS upgrades. Not trying to be disrespectful, just asking for clarification.

I've always been that goof who tries to take undervalued / underdog / cheap things and attempt to get them to levels they've never seen, simply because I want to see if my character & intention can bring them there. Compared to the rich man who owns the Linea Mini and pays no attention to variables but expects it to do great things because it's a Linea Mini.
Also I lead a family of 5 as a father so I don't wanna go betting the house on a massive machine haha. Some people say just wait and save until you can get something really good. But my passion reigns truer than my financial capabilities

No worries.

With whatever you throw at it.

Baskets, once out of "crema" or pressurized, and screens don't make a lot of difference and more expensive there isn't necessarily "better". There are fundamental challenges with the water-delivery system in that class of machine.

"Cheap", not "undervalued" (though, for what it is at its price, the Bambino is probably a reasonable value at 20% off its retail price)

I have the Bambino with most of the upgrades that you mentioned, minus the dimmer. With a good grinder, it's certainly a capable machine. As far as the upgrades, a different portafilter is a must. I have the IMS 18-22 basket and it works for me - whether it was worth the price over a cheaper basket of the same size, I'm not sure. Lastly, for the shower screen, I honestly can't tell much of a difference if at all over the stock screen so I would say that could be skipped.

If you are interested, you should be able to get it for around $240 at Bed Bath and Beyond with the 20% off.

Bradyvil wrote:My buddy has a the Breville Duo Temp and I can't tell a huge diff between that and my Flair.

I started my home espresso journey with a Breville Barista Express. It has a thermoblock/thermojet brewing system similar to the Duo Temp and Bambino. It also has a built-in grinder which is pretty bad. Once I gave up on its grinder and got a good quality one, I was able to pull some great shots. So I think you should be able to get results similar to the Duo Temp with a Bambino, provided you use it with a non-pressurized (single wall) filter basket.

Based on your later comments, you might want to try the dimmer switch mod purely for entertainment value, but I think the most effective way for you to get pressure profiling is to vary your arm pressure while using your Flair.

My Barista Pro is of similar technology and now that I am using a separate grinder, I am much happier. The milk texture is great but it's not the fastest steamer. I use the IMS basket 14-18g for doubles with a bottomless portafilter. That basket comfortably handles my preferred 18g for most coffees except the fairly dark roasts. I have considered the IMS shower screen but haven't pulled the trigger so would love to hear how that works for you down the road. I use a paper filter on top of the puck; not sure how much that affects the distribution but I do it to keep the screen cleaner.

Good luck and enjoy.

Bradyvil wrote:... I've always been that goof who tries to take undervalued / underdog / cheap things and attempt to get them to levels they've never seen, simply because I want to see if my character & intention can bring them there. ...

Perhaps consider a used machine? I just bought an old La Pavoni Europiccola - FWIW, I'm not recommending that particular machine, just thinking that the best values are often in used equipment.

I had a Bambino with a Normcore bottomless portafilter for a bit. I agree that it makes very decent milk drinks, but for straight espresso I did not get anything stellar. Usually unbalanced and kind of muted to me, as compared to my Robot which I vastly preferred for straight espresso. That said, it was a fun and simple workflow that got me better at puck prep and I would recommend the machine to anyone starting out that isn't sure if they want a new hobby or just something nicer than a Nespresso. For anyone remotely experienced, I think you will hit a ceiling quite quickly with it and end up wanting as I did. I now have a Breville Dual Boiler on the way

Most lopsided machine / grinder combo?



I've pulled some surprisingly good shots from this. I bought it for my office. I don't drink lattes but i steamed some milk for my kids and it makes great microform albeit a little slowly. Biggest limitation is temp but I've pulled some good lighter roast shots with it. May not work as well for the most acidic coffees. Run a blank shot before pulling shot to heat group and you're ready to go.

I am using-

1. a good grinder & non pressurized basket
2. the dimmer mod mainly to slow flow towards the end of the shot as the puck erodes. Also handy for pour over shots
3. IMS basket for lighter roasts to allow finer grind
4. Bottomless portafilter

Haven't tried shower screen

Thank you all tremendously for the replies! Good to hear some other folks have had success with it. A few days after my last reply I purchased the Bambino from Bed Bath & Beyond (sadly didn't get 20% off.. the exclusions applied to like any good brand ever. But its whatever haha.)

ANYWAY. Only been using the Bambino for a couple weeks, but wanted to share to those who may find this in the future (especially since I couldn't find what I was looking for in my searching).

I bought the Bambino retail, currently applied 0 mods to the machine itself.
I picked up a $30 bottomless portafilter on Amazon
I picked up the 18-22 IMS basket from Amazon
I am using the very common 3D printed WDT tool with acupuncture needles
I picked up a magnetic dosing funnel for the basket (turns out the IMS basket nor my portafilter are magnetic though HEH.)

The short of it: I am VERY happy with what kind of espresso this thing can produce. I am not an espresso expert by trade, nor have I had long-term experience with a "high-end" setup.

The long of it:
I only could afford around $300. Didn't want to have to invest any more money, given I already had a Flair. But once I saw Lance Hedrick and MorganDrinksCoffee pour two AMAZING milk beverages, I had to try this, because the Nanofoamer I was using for milk was dope, but tasted very strange. Not sure why, but steamed milk vs Nanofoamed milk is the difference of creamy silky taste vs a drier, more hollow / bitter taste. So I said, if the espresso tastes half as good, I'll just risk it for the milk at the least. (For the record my drinks of choice are 4.5-6.5oz caps, or straight espresso for tasting. I don't make anything else at all).

So we've used 3 coffees so far on it:
-El Salvador Gesha from my guys at Pair Cupworks in Mesa, AZ
-"Apollo" Costa Rica Anaerobic from my people at Mythical Coffee, Gilbert, AZ
-A Fellow drop my buddy picked up that was I think Colombian Washed.

The results have been not short of awesome. Again, I am not a connoisseur. But I have pulled hundreds of shots in my Flair and now about 40 in the Bambino. I have had 20+ drinks from Pair, 30+ drinks from Mythical, and many around my area. We consider Phoenix to be fairly forward when it comes to light roast, third wave, specialty coffee shops, that roast single-origin, and care about their farmers & relationships. There are a small quantity of those in Phoenix, in my opinion. That said, my palate is far from "professional," but I drink every cappuccino, cortado, one+one, short shot, long shot, etc., with INTENTION and ATTENTION... and I only enjoy a select few drinks in the entire Phoenix area.

I ramble about all that to SAY:
The Bambino is producing both straight espresso & entire cappuccinos to a level that absolutely meets or exceeds my expectations, given the huge paragraph above. And I do not think that is a self-bias... I legitimately think that is my actual tongue agreeing with the bambino's output as much (or more) as my tongue agrees with Phoenix's most intentional shops.

I'm sure some will read this and say "wow what a naïve home barista to say their $300 machine rivals $3000+ machines." And I understand that perspective, but if you're very intentional, have a Sette grinder or greater, use a WDT, or other invasive distribution technique, weigh your beans & shot output, time your shots, etc and etc., this thing can do for you what it does for me:
create rich shots with acidity or body (depending on grinder / bean / roast / other 1000 variables), and be sensitive to YOUR puck prep & preference.

In other words, this thing smacks so far. Smacks. I'll attach a few pictures below so you can see how it looks. Also want to address the water distribution comment someone made earlier, about how cheap machines simply don't have great water distribution. Please observe the pictures below to address that.





If you guys have any questions about this or want me to test, especially before you buy, let me know.

This post is in no way sponsored by any organization or company or anything. It is simply a revelation of my studies & ambitions as a chump with a Mazzer Mini, bambino, and a few extra tools.

Appreciate you guys! This is just the beginning, maybe it breaks down in 6 months, maybe it starts to get inconsistent later, or maybe I'm delusional. But I had to write out all this detail so that anyone out there with similar ambition + budget + taste buds as me can maybe glean from this.
THANK YOU ALL GREATLY FOR YOUR TIME!

Brady
P.S. Shout out to my boy Colby for pushing me to try Bambino, and help test grinders & beans on it, and film all the pictures you see here.

dak wrote:Most lopsided machine / grinder combo?
Surprisingly good shots from this. I bought it for my office. I don't drink lattes but i steamed some milk for my kids and it makes great microform albeit a little slowly. Biggest limitation is temp but I've pulled some good lighter roast shots with it. May not work as well for the most acidic coffees. Run a blank shot before pulling shot to heat group and you're ready to go.

Great to hear this! I've got similar experiences as you have. For $300 I am blown the flip away. The temperature thing does stick out to me, as 200 is not only fixed, but low in a lot of people's standards, especially for light roast. But I agree, blank shot for heat / steam release, and we're getting some insanely yummy stuff over here in my lab. Also YES that grinder is flipping next level budget-wise but I'm about to start arguing that the grinder is way more important and bottlenecky than the machine you pull with!! Anyway I'll hold that soap box off 'til I know it for sure (just been feeling that way lately).