Review on 🍾 Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine: The Finest in Royal Champagne by Jerry Moody

I love this machine despite its features. It makes delicious espresso quickly and easily. I deviated from the default a little, which makes it even better for me. I no longer use the pressure filters that came with it. I use unsealed, single wall 54mm 2 shot baskets purchased direct from Breville. You need to email Breville and they will set up a purchase link. Baskets (BES860XL/11.4) are $19.99 each plus tax and shipping ($4.99 for me). I bought 4. I grind and fill all 4 baskets and make 4 double servings, one right after the other - 2 each for my wife and I for Americanos or just quad espressos - twice every morning. My grinder is a Breville Smart Grinder Pro and I set it up for beans from a local roaster: 14.4 seconds at a 20 grind, which gives me 14 grams of grind. I follow Bambino's instructions when tamping - perfect tamping is not required. We don't make many milk-based drinks, but when we do the automatic or manual frother seems to work quite well. Features: I've read reviews that mention filter baskets getting stuck in the brew head. I haven't had this problem. I only tighten the portafilter enough that it is snug and not tight. That said, the thickening disk occasionally gets stuck in the head of the group, requiring the portafilter to be reinstalled and wiggle a bit when removing - no big deal. The drip tray is a bit small, but again, it's okay. .The fastest cleaning process that doesn't follow any instructions. I actually spoke to a customer service representative about this and they confirmed that the change was made after the manual was printed, making the manual inaccurate (it may have been updated by now - I don't know). The original cleaning disc featured perforations that allowed water to flow through the cleaning disc into a reservoir located below the portafilter and steam nozzle. Apparently, Breville decided that a certain cleaning process wasn't working properly, so they stopped perforating the cleaning disk to force more cleaning solution (from the cleaning tab) back through the brew head's screen. Therefore, the new cleaning method requires performing the method outlined in the original manual, followed by manually starting the dual injection cycle (by pressing the dual injection button) multiple times (4 or 5 times). The cleaning solution runs through the machine and exits through the drip tray - pretty messy, but again, no big deal. The "Cleanup" tab is never fully used but seems to work. I follow this cleaning process by rinsing the brew head with just water a few times using multiple single shot cycles. I've done about 5 cleaning cycles (every 200 individual servings) and Bambino is still working great. I would definitely recommend this machine to anyone who wants a great espresso almost instantly without the hassle and headache of much more expensive machines.