SageThe Bambino Plus - Compact Coffee Machine with Automatic Milk Frother, Black Truffle

It was a NY times wirecutter recommendation, and it did not disappoint. I had it for around a year now and I am very satisfied with its performance.

Had this for a few years now and has been pretty reliable. Perfect for people that want a decent coffee without having to take apart and tinker with a specialist machine. Just takes a few seconds to be ready to use and there's no problems with temperature change for frothing milk so it's possible to make another cup straight away. Ideally you need a decent grinder for freshly ground beans to get the most out of it. There are loads of videos to guide you to make good coffee with this model. Perhaps the only issue is when it decides it needs a backflush or de-scale and the lights start to flash you need to get it done before you can make the next cup and it can take a few minutes to do.

I've only ever made coffee in a stove pot, so my first espresso machine was quite a revelation. It is, fortunately, very simple. The milk has 3 settings for heat, 3 for foam, and then you just hit go and it does the rest. The min max is quite tight - seems to be about 100ml min and 200ml max, and if you go above/below this there's a mess... The coffee itself involves far more skill - I have a Sage grinder and it took me a while to get the right grind (I'm using a 7 now) and the right amount (18g for a double) and I slightly adjusted the volume up just a tad (easy to do). I can't master the single wall (Barista skills required) but with the double wall I get a lovely crema and beautiful coffee.It does need quite a bit of cleaning up - the drip tray after every use etc. and it's not cheap, but having a coffee better than any shop bought, every day, is such a wonderful treat, and I only wish I'd bought one earlier.

I don't like to write negative reviews, I would rather say nothing on most occasions. But occasionally, just occasionally, a company does something really anti-consumer with one of their products and I then think it is necessary to call them out on their behaviour. If we don't, we allow it to become the norm.So this isn't a full review of the Sage Bambino Plus. That would go something along the lines of: it can make good coffee, but it does require some accessories and modifications to do so (precision basket, replacement portafilter and a couple of other things before you get to something good). I would give it 4 stars. Good, but not great. But I'm not here to talk about that, and it's definitely not getting 4 stars from me. I want to talk about one thing, and it's the cleaning cycle.After the machine has made 200 coffees it needs cleaning and the machine starts flashing to let you know this. The cleaning cycle takes about 10 minutes and requires: 1) Fitting a rubber insert into the portafilter, together with a cleaning tablet. 2) Filling up the water filter. 3) A complicated sequence of button presses that I never remember and have to look up in the instructions every time - you first have to turn it off for some reason, then turn it back on, then hold down two buttons, then another button press (or something like that), and finally it will start. 4) Wait about 10 minutes, much noise ensues. 5) Clean up the mess it makes. You have to put a bowl under it to catch he water, but actually the vast majority of water goes into and then overfills the drip tray, spilling out over your counter. After each clean you have to empty and clean the drip tray and then dry your whole counter. The point is, it's not an insignificant task.I don't mind the above, though. It's not great design that the cleaning cycle makes a mess that you have to clean up, but I can live with that. The thing that I mind. That I really, really mind and that every time makes me actually angry with the person at Sage that made the decision, is that when you hit 200 coffees and it's time for the machine to be cleaned, the machine is blocked until you clean it. That's it, no more coffee for you until the machine has been cleaned. Just made a coffee for your partner and now you want to make yourself one too and enjoy a rare moment of peace together? Nope, no coffee for you, not unless you first spend your time cleaning the machine. Got friends over and you're making coffee for them? Well, guess what, you're not anymore. Now you're cleaning the coffee machine. You've just made your coffee and literally all you want to do is froth some milk to put in it? Well, you just wasted that coffee because you're not frothing anything until you've cleaned the machine. All of these scenarios have happened to me in the year I've had the machine.Don't think this can possibly be the case? I wouldn't be surprised if you don't because if you search online, you'll find people saying that all it takes is a certain button sequence and you can skip the cleaning. That would make sense, right? In fact, if you talk to Sage customer support (I know this because I have - when I pressed them on it, they just stopped replying to my emails), they'll tell you that. Except ... on the latest model it's not true. On the latest model, they changed it. On the latest model, you CAN'T SKIP THE CLEANING. They decided you shouldn't be able to any more.Sage know best what you should be doing with your time. This machine knows best and you're a slave to it. It's such a bone-headed, anti-consumer decision. You don't care about your customers when you decide you know better than them. Stop doing things like this. I won't buy from Sage again.

Had this unit for a month now, initial unit that shipped out was faulty and would not turn on; Breville support eventually replaced it with a new model.It makes decent espresso, the cleaning is easy, it’s not overly loud and is smart looking.Beware a few things:- you’ll need to buy a new portafilter immediately because the included one doesn’t make great coffee.- the machine is really sensitive to fine grind so pick up a WDT tool and spring loaded tamper to help.Basically this is about 75% of what you need for a great coffee. It feels like a very entry level model and I’m not convinced the pressure is high enough for more complex tastes.Auto frothy milk is awesome however!

Makes great coffee.

Makes a great cup of expresso and the automatic milk foam work works perfectly. Easy to use and easy to clean up. Compact attractive design fits nicely under the counter. The instruction manual is a series of videos on the app that you download from by scanning the code on the box and instructions are clear and easy to understand. It comes with regular coffee basket filters and double walled filters that the instructions say are better with store bought ground coffee. I use a high quality Italian ground and find the regular single walled basket (with more strainer holes) works best. Expresso is hot and the temperature of the milk and foam level is adjustable from warm to hot. Really an impressive appliance!

Always wanted a Sage coffee machine. Absolutely made up with it . So much better than my last machine.