# Barista Express / Pro or Bambino Plus with existing grinder



## Adam_e91 (Nov 17, 2020)

Hi All,

I'm currently going through the age old decision making process of what espresso machine to get for around 500 quid as I'm turning 30 in January and the Mrs actually wants to buy me something 'big' , little does she know £500 doesn't go too far in the world of coffee!

My current situation is I'm a new (second hand) owner of a Gaggia MDF grinder and love brewing in the Moka pot and french press but also have a Lavazza pod machine I use for 'espresso'.

My main question is, how would the Gaggia MDF stack up against the grinders in the BE/Pro? The MDF is stepped with 34 settings from espresso to french press. If it won't do the job I'm leaning towards the BP but if it will I'm thinking the bambino!

The reason I'm leaning towards a Sage product is the fact it doesn't look like a commercial machine on the counter top (keeps the wife happy) and the quick heating time as well as PID. I'm usually out of the house by 6am and like to have a couple of coffees before! Would probably only be making milk drinks on the weekend.

Any help or advice, even if it is something I haven't considered would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Adam

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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

I'm not sure but I never see anyone talking about or suggesting that grinder, that might tell us something. I just said this to someone in another post so I'll copy the text from there as the same applies to you:

Given your budget and the kind of things you sound interested in I would wait until this weekend, it's likely Sage products will be in the John Lewis/Currys/Lakeland sales. I also didn't want to go down the old Classic modding route either, I got a BE for £375 this time last year. The Bambino may be cheap on the weekend and then you can think about a bigger budget for your grinder. Something to consider anyway.


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## Callum_Pg (Oct 28, 2020)

Adam_e91 said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I'm currently going through the age old decision making process of what espresso machine to get for around 500 quid as I'm turning 30 in January and the Mrs actually wants to buy me something 'big' , little does she know £500 doesn't go too far in the world of coffee!
> 
> ...


Hi Adam,

I owned a Sage Bambino Plus and Sage Smart Grinder Pro. We make americano and cappuccino daily, it takes less than 5 minutes of our time to complete the tasks.

Honestly, I am not a good taste palate person, so the espresso and milk based are perfectly fine for me. If you are more demanding in this aspect, then you may need a better machine.

FYI, I have been using my machines for over 4 months, so far so good.

If budget is not an issue, I would consider Niche zero grinder.

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## SarahA (Jun 4, 2020)

We got a sage smart grinder and bambino earlier in the year. I prefer a modular setup by instinct. Bambino was well discounted. Developed a fault after about 3 months where the machine was usable but kept indicating it needed cleaning. Sage offered to replace. After a wait on new stock and shipping etc, the new machine arrives and doesn't work (DOA as they refer to it on the website). Looks like an electronics issue. Now they don't have stock of either bambino or BE.

Personally, I'd take a refund of my paltry sum and put another couple hundred with it and buy gaggia classic (I bought in curry's so that's not possible now). From my limited understanding they're more robust and more DIY fixable when it comes to the time. I really enjoyed the bambino but all this faff with these faults doesn't give me any confidence. Hope the grinder keeps going! Back to the aeropress for now... no electronic faults there! Should use this time to perfect my aeropress technique I spose....


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## Callum_Pg (Oct 28, 2020)

SarahA said:


> We got a sage smart grinder and bambino earlier in the year. I prefer a modular setup by instinct. Bambino was well discounted. Developed a fault after about 3 months where the machine was usable but kept indicating it needed cleaning. Sage offered to replace. After a wait on new stock and shipping etc, the new machine arrives and doesn't work (DOA as they refer to it on the website). Looks like an electronics issue. Now they don't have stock of either bambino or BE.
> 
> Personally, I'd take a refund of my paltry sum and put another couple hundred with it and buy gaggia classic (I bought in curry's so that's not possible now). From my limited understanding they're more robust and more DIY fixable when it comes to the time. I really enjoyed the bambino but all this faff with these faults doesn't give me any confidence. Hope the grinder keeps going! Back to the aeropress for now... no electronic faults there! Should use this time to perfect my aeropress technique I spose....


Smart grinder needs to perform regular thorough cleaning so as to prolong the lifespan of the impeller. I clean up the upper and lower burr once in a fortnight or when I switched to a new type of beans. This is the only issue being reported after so many years of used by many users.

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## SarahA (Jun 4, 2020)

Thanks very much for that info. I'm thinking the instructions for that are online or in manual someplace? The only thing I've done so far is to take off the hopper and brush the upper bit. We use different beans quite regularly and don't fill the hopper at all, just grind beans for each cup.

for cleaning, is there a lot of dismantling etc? I'm afraid to dismantle only to find I can't get it back to original setup.... I prob need to educate myself here!


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## Callum_Pg (Oct 28, 2020)

SarahA said:


> Thanks very much for that info. I'm thinking the instructions for that are online or in manual someplace? The only thing I've done so far is to take off the hopper and brush the upper bit. We use different beans quite regularly and don't fill the hopper at all, just grind beans for each cup.
> 
> for cleaning, is there a lot of dismantling etc? I'm afraid to dismantle only to find I can't get it back to original setup.... I prob need to educate myself here!


Hi Sarah, I know what will be your concern. Strictly speaking, removing the lower burr can be a little complex, but certainly doable. You can refer to this YouTube as reference:

https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/applications/core/interface/index.html

However, if you are still concern on how to do this, I can recommend you a much simpler approach but it takes a little longer time. I bought this desoldering tool (picture as below) to remove the coffee out from the lower burr. It may not completely removed all the powder, but decent clean.

You can follow this video below to guide you how to use it, pretty simply and straight forward. Hope this helps.

https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/applications/core/interface/index.html










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## Adam_e91 (Nov 17, 2020)

Any other thoughts, all?

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## MarkHB (Jun 12, 2020)

Adam_e91 said:


> Any other thoughts, all?


 I don't have any experience with your current grinder so I can't comment on that.

For what it's worth, I would recommend going for the separate machine + grinder combo. I started off with a Delonghi Dedica + Smart Grinder Pro then upgraded my machine to a Duo Temp Pro, then upgraded again to a Sage Dual Boiler and finally upgraded my grinder to a Niche. I like being able to upgrade or downgrade the separate machines.


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