# My journey with the Sage Bambino Plus



## Danz0r

Hi all,

Going to treat this thread as a little diary in terms of results and thought process with my new Bambino Plus.

I'm a total beginner who has only ever used pre-ground coffee with a Moka pot up to this point, so hoping that this thread may also be good for anyone who is in the same situation as me and also people more experienced who might be able to offer tips and advice as I seek to improve.

Please correct me on any assumptions / thoughts I have which may be totally wrong, thank you!

*Day 1*

Yesterday my new Bambino Plus and JX-Pro Hand Grinder arrived, along with all the recommended accessories. Setting the machine up was really quite simple with decent instructions included. Disappointingly the machine only came with the Double-Walled baskets (1 cup and 2 cup), which I have now read about and isn't ideal for freshly ground coffee, as far as I can understand.

The JX-Pro feels like a good bit of kit, very well built from what I can tell but the instructions are pretty woeful, especially if you're new to all this. I followed their guide to calibrate the grinder (why it isn't calibrated in the factory before shipping, I really don't know?) so that 0 (tightest) was true 0. To adjust, you then have 40 notches to go through until you get back to 0, and you can do this up to 5 times to give a total of 200 grind sizes.

Their included grind advice card is again, a little ambiguous (see attached), but from my interpretation (which I'm still not 100% sure is right) suggests one full turn (circle) and then somewhere between 12-16 notches for an espresso grind.

So I went ahead and adjusted to what I thought was in the correct range and then obviously came the moment to try and put all the various tips, countless hours of YouTube videos, guides etc to the test.

I went for 18g coffee with a view to trying to get 36g of output from the 2 cup basket, roughly hoping for between 25-30 seconds. "Milk Buster" beans from Bella Barista.

First shot using the Bambino Double Cup button (automatic) - completely choked and did not get a single drop of coffee out. Puck was very dry, in fact water hadn't even penetrated half of the puck.
So, either too heavy handed with the tamp or ground too fine.

Reset, cleaned. Increased the grind size by another few notches. Same result. Bit of head scratching and feeling of "what the hell have I bought?". Lots more YouTube videos, etc etc.

Read someones comments re: Bambino that they don't use the pre-defined timers and have adjusted their dual cup to be 5 sec pre-infusion and 25 second shot for 30 sec total.

I didn't write the exact settings down this day in terms of grind notches etc, so will be doing so going forwards on a little notepad.
I also need to stop changing multiple variables together as that won't help - e.g change tamp pressure OR grind size, else I won't know what has helped.

*Day 2 (Today)*
2 full turns of grinder today, so 80 notches total, which is quite a long way past the grind guide for espresso but wanted to try the other extreme. Similar tamp pressure.

Manual timing this time - 5 sec pre-infusion (finger held on button) then released and stopped manually at target weight. Finally got some coffee-like substance. Got to 36g in about 18-19 seconds so quite a bit too quick. Extremely "sour" espresso to the point where I squirmed a bit. (My palette is not coffee-trained yet, and I don't think I've actually ever drank an espresso in a proper coffee shop, so it's difficult to compare but I would personally describe it as sour).

Despite the taste, thought I'd try it with some milk so I could at least say I've made my first coffee! Tasted okay but coffee taste was completely lost in the milk, so "weak" i'd say and also probably too much milk for my taste.

Believe under extracted which is probably now due to too coarse grinding or too light tamp, so next step is to try a stage inbetween 1.16 and 2 turns and see if we can up the extraction time to get rid of the horrible sourness.

Ran out of milk until Tesco delivery arrives tonight and also put some cheap[er] Taylors beans in the shop to test with, as don't want to waste any more of my nice BB ones as I'm sure I'll be testing lots over the weekend.

Onwards and upwards!


----------



## cuprajake

so for me on this grinder

i wind as tight as it goes to zero, come back out one full turn back to zero then set it at 5

i find around 5 is good for my fudge rave beans, i out 17.4g in and get most of that out, i then tamp, any more and i have issues

hope that makes sense


----------



## cuprajake

ps dont try with the tesco beans as there totally different to the good beans grind wise


----------



## Danz0r

Cuprajake said:


> so for me on this grinder
> 
> i wind as tight as it goes to zero, come back out one full turn back to zero then set it at 5
> 
> i find around 5 is good for my fudge rave beans, i out 17.4g in and get most of that out, i then tamp, any more and i have issues
> 
> hope that makes sense


 Thanks Jake. I think I've gone to both extremes so far, so next step is to try in between. I'll try your settings tonight.



Cuprajake said:


> ps dont try with the tesco beans as there totally different to the good beans grind wise


 Fair enough. I did know that they would likely be a different grind setting but would rather practice the dialling in process and seeing the differences in taste with some £3/bag Taylors of Harrogate beans than £6.50/bag of BB beans.


----------



## facboy

Quite hard to adjust I suppose with the pressurised basket. Unfortunately Sage's warehouse seems to be almost non-functional at the moment...when things are back to normal you may be able to convince them to send you the single-walled as a good-will gesture.

EDIT: the other alternative if you're handy might be to get the IMS basket (which some regard as an upgrade) and adjust it to fit.


----------



## Danz0r

facboy said:


> Quite hard to adjust I suppose with the pressurised basket.


 Is it really that difficult with the pressurised basket? To the point I should give up reasonable hope of dialling in until I can get the single wall?


----------



## facboy

um...i'm no expert but the problem is that ultimately the extraction time/back-pressure is going to be dominated by the basket. you will have to grind fairly coarse by comparison because of the additional back-pressure from the basket, which is going to influence the extraction profile quite a lot i would think.


----------



## BlackCatCoffee

Danz0r said:


> Is it really that difficult with the pressurised basket? To the point I should give up reasonable hope of dialling in until I can get the single wall?


 The pressurised baskets are just not designed to be dialled in with proper fresh espresso ground coffee.

They are designed so your average user that doesn't want to invest in a grinder and/or doesn't understand how espresso is supposed to be prepared can pick up some preground supermarket coffee and make an espresso-ish type drink.

So apologies but no you wont really be able to dial in is the answer.

If anything you should probably aim for a sort of medium to fine grind and let the pressurised basket do its thing.


----------



## Danz0r

BlackCatCoffee said:


> The pressurised baskets are just not designed to be dialled in with proper fresh espresso ground coffee.
> 
> They are designed so your average user that doesn't want to invest in a grinder and/or doesn't understand how espresso is supposed to be prepared can pick up some preground supermarket coffee and make an espresso-ish type drink.
> 
> So apologies but no you wont really be able to dial in is the answer.
> 
> If anything you should probably aim for a sort of medium to fine grind and let the pressurised basket do its thing.


 Fair enough. Need to get hold of the non pressurised baskets ASAP!

Why on earth wouldn't they supply them with the machine?


----------



## cuprajake

I thought they came with 4 baskets.

Sorry my numbers were for un pressurised basket


----------



## Danz0r

Mine definitely only came with two - and only the two pressurised ones are listed in the manual as coming with the product.

I've found the item number I need which is SP0001520 but it's out of stock everywhere so seems impossible to buy.

I'll contact Sage tomorrow and ask them WTF. If they tell me they're no longer available or it will be months until they are available, I'll probably just return the machine.
Pretty p*ssed off tbh.


----------



## facboy

for a while they were being shipped with both (perhaps it's all new stock?), but it seemed to be pretty random whether you'd get them or not, depending on what your retailer had in stock.

you can probably convince them to send the non-pressurised baskets to you for free, but it's really getting hold of them that's the problem.

the IMS basket is supposed to be a good upgrade, i was planning to try it at some point (or get a machine shop to adjust it for me, if the lockdown eases), so it could be an alternative.

not sure it's quite as dire as @Black Cat Coffee says, depends how much of a connoisseur you are i expect! perhaps you could make something drinkable by while you wait for the single-walls to become available. that said i must have been in one of the windows where they had them available, i got a single-walled within a couple of weeks. geez, they were only £2.50 back then.


----------



## BlackCatCoffee

facboy said:


> for a while they were being shipped with both (perhaps it's all new stock?), but it seemed to be pretty random whether you'd get them or not, depending on what your retailer had in stock.
> 
> you can probably convince them to send the non-pressurised baskets to you for free, but it's really getting hold of them that's the problem.
> 
> the IMS basket is supposed to be a good upgrade, i was planning to try it at some point (or get a machine shop to adjust it for me, if the lockdown eases), so it could be an alternative.
> 
> not sure it's quite as dire as @Black Cat Coffee says, depends how much of a connoisseur you are i expect! perhaps you could make something drinkable by while you wait for the single-walls to become available. that said i must have been in one of the windows where they had them available, i got a single-walled within a couple of weeks. geez, they were only £2.50 back then.


 I certainly didn't mean for my post to come across as it being dire. Rereading it I'm not sure it does tbh but it is obviously impossible to sense tone on a forum.

You just need to accept that their is limited control with the pressurised baskets. They are not intended to be dialled in so to speak.

As I said if the OP goes with coffee fresh ground but to a more medium to fine then will likely get better results until a non pressurised basket can be found.


----------



## cuprajake




----------



## facboy

BlackCatCoffee said:


> I certainly didn't mean for my post to come across as it being dire. Rereading it I'm not sure it does tbh but it is obviously impossible to sense tone on a forum.
> 
> You just need to accept that their is limited control with the pressurised baskets. They are not intended to be dialled in so to speak.
> 
> As I said if the OP goes with coffee fresh ground but to a more medium to fine then will likely get better results until a non pressurised basket can be found.


 yes, fair enough. i thought 'espresso-ish drink' sounded pretty harsh .


----------



## BlackCatCoffee

facboy said:


> yes, fair enough. i thought 'espresso-ish drink' sounded pretty harsh .


 I see what you mean.

It was more meant as a way to manage expectation about what can be achieved with that basket. Don't get me wrong the machine is more than capable of producing fabulous results with the right one but those pressurised baskets make a sort of 'mock' crema with a slightly odd texture to my taste buds. Not terrible, just not like the real deal.


----------



## Wisey

@Danz0r

sure I've read somewhere they come with 4 as others have mentioned however on the currys product it states just 2


----------



## Danz0r

Wisey said:


> @Danz0r
> 
> sure I've read somewhere they come with 4 as others have mentioned however on the currys product it states just 2


 Yeah, it seems "new" stock has all 4 but older just the two. I got mine AO on the recent offer, so maybe they were clearing the old stock.

I'll see if they respond to me on Monday to at least advise a date I may be able to get one. Otherwise it's going back to AO.


----------



## Danz0r

facboy said:


> for a while they were being shipped with both (perhaps it's all new stock?), but it seemed to be pretty random whether you'd get them or not, depending on what your retailer had in stock.
> 
> you can probably convince them to send the non-pressurised baskets to you for free, but it's really getting hold of them that's the problem.
> 
> the IMS basket is supposed to be a good upgrade, i was planning to try it at some point (or get a machine shop to adjust it for me, if the lockdown eases), so it could be an alternative.
> 
> not sure it's quite as dire as @Black Cat Coffee says, depends how much of a connoisseur you are i expect! perhaps you could make something drinkable by while you wait for the single-walls to become available. that said i must have been in one of the windows where they had them available, i got a single-walled within a couple of weeks. geez, they were only £2.50 back then.


 I'm really not a 'hands on' guy so any custom metalwork is not going to be possible, sadly.

Don't even mind paying the £7 or whatever they want - just need to know if/when they will have them again.
Frustrated.


----------



## facboy

Danz0r said:


> I'm really not a 'hands on' guy so any custom metalwork is not going to be possible, sadly.
> 
> Don't even mind paying the £7 or whatever they want - just need to know if/when they will have them again.
> Frustrated.


 it's just bending with some pliers, 'custom metalwork' is a bit of an overstatement! but I understand, i think it looks a bit of a pain too. one reason i haven't tried it yet.


----------



## Caffeinated_fiend

facboy said:


> it's just bending with some pliers, 'custom metalwork' is a bit of an overstatement! but I understand, i think it looks a bit of a pain too. one reason i haven't tried it yet.


 @facboy Which is the IMS basket that fits the sage once modified?

Also it's a shame that Sage didn't include all the baskets from the off as they are basically nerfing a more capable machine that is capable of making decent espresso.


----------



## Border_all

Caffeinated_fiend said:


> @facboy Which is the IMS basket that fits the sage once modified?
> 
> Also it's a shame that Sage didn't include all the baskets from the off as they are basically nerfing a more capable machine that is capable of making decent espresso.


 I understand the La Spaziale basket 53mm is the one you are looking for 👍


----------



## facboy

that was my understanding too based on other posts in this forum over the years.


----------



## Danz0r

https://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/IMS-Spaziale-Competition-Filter-Basket-1416g---B652TH275M/m-2007.aspx

https://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/IMS-Spaziale-Competition-Filter-Basket-21g---B652TM32M/m-2024.aspx

https://www.espressounderground.co.uk/DOUBLE-FILTER-BASKET-53MM-PN-SP0915-p/sp0915.htm

One of these? @facboy


----------



## SarahA

I bought a Sage Bambino a couple weeks ago from Currys and all the baskets came with. I'm getting the hang of it at the moment too in terms of filling the basket (I only have a normal digital scales) so I'm aware that it's not possible to get really repeatable results. I'm trying to aim for a decent cup of americano (topped up to a decent 250ml) with plenty of flavour.

I'm getting confused however about shot time and whether I need to do the manual shot extraction as the volumes seem to be quite variable - 40ml at one stage to a very small amount another time (again I'm aware I need to start measuring now that I'm trying to troubleshoot). Proper distribution and tamp pressure is also on my mind! Looking at Kev on Coffeeblog.uk, he doesn't appear to tamp very hard at all... We have used the same beans (medium roast) all through this and we started off with grind of 12 on the sage smart grinder pro. We went down to 8 on that but I'm thinking we were almost getting better coffees (when topped up with water) at start when using 12. Probably because the volume of coffee coming out was greater (using the pre-programmed double shot all the time here) as opposed to the slower shot with the finer grind with 10 and 8 and then getting a smaller volume and hence weaker americano when topped with boiling water??

Sorry for the complete ramble on here - as a new user who has done a little reading and watching, I think I'm getting confused!! On other hand - the coffee I get when topped up with medium heat, high foam milk for a Italian size cappuccino is great!!


----------



## facboy

I think i've posted on this before, but the pre-programmed shots are not v useful imo. Perhaps if you can get your dosing, distribution, grind and tamp perfectly consistent every time, but as a new user the last three will be virtually impossible.

IMO you really need scales that can measure to at least 0.1g, otherwise you could be almost a gram out. In and of itself maybe 1g out of 18g is not that big a deal but it can potentially affect how much the puck can expand which will definitely alter the extraction. More importantily you won't be able to reliably judge the effect eg of changing your grind/distribution/tamp if you can't keep the dose consistent. I believe reasonable scales can be had for ~£20, they may lag a little but in my experience that's not too hard to account for by stopping the extraction early.

Use manual shot extraction and weigh your dose and extracted coffee accurately. Again you can't reliably measure the extraction amount by volume because the amount of crema (also affected by your grind/distribution/tamp) will affect how big the volume appears even if it is the same weight.

That was a ramble for you in response .


----------



## facboy

Danz0r said:


> https://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/IMS-Spaziale-Competition-Filter-Basket-1416g---B652TH275M/m-2007.aspx
> 
> https://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/IMS-Spaziale-Competition-Filter-Basket-21g---B652TM32M/m-2024.aspx
> 
> https://www.espressounderground.co.uk/DOUBLE-FILTER-BASKET-53MM-PN-SP0915-p/sp0915.htm
> 
> One of these? @facboy


 i'm afraid i've never looked into buying one in enough detail to say which of those is the one.

EDIT: search on the forum but it seems it is either the first or the second . i got the impression the 14-16g is 'about right' for 18-19g dose if you are using the standard sage shower screen, though perhaps the 21g will work as well and give you more flexibility. @joey24dirt probably knows?


----------



## dutchy101

Picked up a Bambino from Curry's today for the bargain price of £229. It came with all 4 baskets but not the milk wand cleaning tool.

Got my grinder coming soon and looking forward to getting stuck in

*** Edit. Just seen in the manual that the cleaning tool is under the water tank. Checked it and it's there.


----------



## Wisey

@dutchy101

wow bargain, was it in store stock? £329 online & out of stock!?


----------



## Apr1985

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/small-kitchen-appliances/coffee-machines-and-accessories/coffee-machines/sage-the-bambino-plus-ses500bhy-coffee-machine-smoked-hickory-10201337-pdt.html

In stock in some stores


----------



## Wisey

@Apr1985

ah typical, closest to me is 30 miles away!


----------



## dutchy101

Weirdly they don't deliver which was annoying but managed to pick it up from a store only 3.5 miles away. I was going to go with the stainless steel as I wasn't sure what the colour would be like, but looking at it now, it's actually even better than the stainless would have been for my kitchen.


----------



## SarahA

Thanks for your reciprocating the ramble. Absolutely understand what you're saying about the weight in and out consistency in order to see what might be happening as a result of the other things. Will get me a scales soon. Today I just brewed a cup of medium roast at my digital scales 18/19g in and prob over did the extraction to 68g out (though the resulting espresso was not undrinkable ). It was strong enough to get me a reasonable size americano. Sorry - this is the level I'm at at the moment - get a decent strength shot for a long coffee... It perhaps does lack some depth of flavour, a little bit thin in the mouth - maybe i'm used to coffee shop darker grinds... I'm also not sure yet what is sour and what is bitter.

I managed to get the bambino at currys 229pounds too.


----------



## Danz0r

Well, I thought I'd had a bargain for £249 from AO but the lack of unpressured baskets has soured that even compared to your Curry's find!

There's one 6 miles from me so I'm tempted to return to return to AO and get this. I will note the Curry's ones also only mention dual wall baskets so guess it's a gamble again.


----------



## Wisey

@SarahA

i bought these last weeks for £13.99, now £11.99...

they're really small & compact!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01DGLFVS0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_fwO8bhyYX2ZHt


----------



## Danz0r

Wisey said:


> @SarahA
> 
> i bought these last weeks for £13.99, now £11.99...
> 
> they're really small & compact!
> 
> https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01DGLFVS0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_fwO8bhyYX2ZHt


 Also got these. Maybe you recommended then to me. They're fantastic for the price.


----------



## Wisey

@Danz0r

im just waiting for a DTP or bambino to come in stock in John Lewis/argos/currys at a sale price (neatest currys for the bambino offer is 30 miles away!)


----------



## SarahA

Ya, my Currys one had all 4 baskets. Maybe go and see the one in currys, the little leaflet they've added in to explain the difference between the 2 types of basket was right inside the lid of the box so it's an easy thing to check before purchase...


----------



## dutchy101

Yeah, my other baskets were in with the milk jug


----------



## SarahA

@wisey thanks for the recommendation


----------



## Danz0r

Been advised September at the earliest for the non-pressurised baskets from Sage, which has really left a sour taste.

Seriously considering a return to AO, but not sure if they'll let me as technically product is as described and not faulty as such.
Obviously around 50 hours research before buying wasn't enough!


----------



## Apr1985

I have heard this company ships to the UK. Potentially available in a couple of weeks

https://www.cremashop.eu/en/products/sage/the-barista-express-2-cup-single-filter/3808


----------



## Danz0r

Thanks. I had already seen this. Unfortunately stock date says unconfirmed and with Sage telling me September... I highly doubt their July date will be correct.


----------



## Scwheeler

I may have a spare single wall double shot basket for sale over next couple of days if you don't return it.

I think you may be able to tell the newer model with 4 baskets and no-hole cleaning disc from the product code on box. If it just says SES500 it should be the newer one, if it has UK or other letters after this it may be older stock.


----------



## Vaughny

facboy said:


> Quite hard to adjust I suppose with the pressurised basket. Unfortunately Sage's warehouse seems to be almost non-functional at the moment...when things are back to normal you may be able to convince them to send you the single-walled as a good-will gesture.
> 
> EDIT: the other alternative if you're handy might be to get the IMS basket (which some regard as an upgrade) and adjust it to fit.


 Sage have great customer service in my experience - my Bambino Plus from Costco only came with double walls so when I called Sage they offered to source one from their returns dept to send to me but turned out there where none anywhere available!

I am also hopeful they will get some more single walls back in stock soon.


----------



## Danz0r

Scwheeler said:


> I may have a spare single wall double shot basket for sale over next couple of days if you don't return it.
> 
> I think you may be able to tell the newer model with 4 baskets and no-hole cleaning disc from the product code on box. If it just says SES500 it should be the newer one, if it has UK or other letters after this it may be older stock.


 Would happily snap that up off you. How come you have a spare?



Vaughny said:


> Sage have great customer service in my experience - my Bambino knelt can with double walls so when I called they offered to source one from their returns dept to send to me but turned out there where none anywhere available!
> 
> I am also hopeful they will get some more single walls back in stock soon.


 They've been terrible with me so far to be honest, but that was via email and live chat.


----------



## Vaughny

Scwheeler said:


> I may have a spare single wall double shot basket for sale over next couple of days if you don't return it.
> 
> I think you may be able to tell the newer model with 4 baskets and no-hole cleaning disc from the product code on box. If it just says SES500 it should be the newer one, if it has UK or other letters after this it may be older stock.


 I would be very interested if it is going spare?!


----------



## SarahA

As regards the journey of the bambino plus, im realising that good fresh beans versus cheaper older is really a huge difference when trying to get more complex flavours out of coffee. Even to an inexperienced home espresso maker/drinker, it's apparent.


----------



## ArkellvsPressdram

I got a Bambino Plus about a month ago so your posts really resonated with me, this was my first real espresso machine as well. I've got a Eureka Mignon Facile grinder alongside it.

re the baskets, yes there is a pretty obv quality ceiling with the pressurised baskets, I've seen replacement baskets available on Amazon for £8 or so compatible with the bambino. Tougher to acquire it seems are 54mm bottomless portafilters, I've got one from some Chinese reseller on Amazon arriving end June for £30ish. Sage don't have any available, though their customer service when I asked was very good from the charming Lea G at Sage CS.

The learning curve is tougher than I thought even having read and watched a lot before grinding my first bean. There are lots of things to hold in your head at the same time. The advice often offered to fix everything and change one variable at a time, prob your grind settings if you're learning, is the only way without going insane. I found fixing the workflow, doing stuff in the same order, my bits and bobs in the same place every time, everything ready before I start making coffee helped reduce the mistakes which immediately break a shot. I still spent too much time surrounded by filthy glassware, coffee grounds all over the counter, myself and the cat, frustrated as hell with a busted overwhelmed palate having tried too much obviously bad espresso.

But then you make some drinkable shots, and then some better shots and remember why you signed up for all this in the first place. Then something happens, a change in atmospheric pressure, your karma balance goes out of whack or more likely you get some new beans and suddenly you're drinking slurry again. And then the cycle begins again.


----------



## SarahA

God, ya, this resonates with me! Sans 🐈  even trying to repeat a recipe is tricky


----------



## Apr1985

There's a set on eBay, little bit pricey but if you want them quicker

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303600886281


----------



## Vaughny

Just a note that the 54mm single wall two cup filters are back in stock on the Sage website:

https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/parts-accessories/parts/sp0001520.html


----------

