Espresso dial-in settings for the Breville Bambino Plus, from the manual

Espresso dial-in settings for the Breville Bambino Plus, from the manual

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The Breville Bambino Plus dials in the same way as its smaller sibling, at the grinder and the scale: dose 8 to 11g in the 1 cup basket or 16 to 19g in the 2 cup basket, then watch the first drips. Breville's BES500 manual says espresso should start to flow 8 to 10 seconds after the button, that flow before 6 seconds means an underdosed basket or a grind that is too coarse, and that dripping without flowing past 15 seconds means the grind is too fine. [1] One thing the manual makes clear that most buyers miss: the Bambino Plus ships with dual wall baskets only, which changes how much your grinder matters.

What the Bambino Plus manual actually specifies

Spec Breville's published figure
Portafilter 54mm stainless steel, with a 54mm tamper included [1]
Filter baskets Dual wall only, 1 cup and 2 cup, plus the Razor dose trimming tool [1]
1 cup dose 8 to 11g [1]
2 cup dose 16 to 19g [1]
First flow 8 to 10 seconds after the button (under 6s = under extracted, dripping past 15s = over extracted) [1]
Tamp 30 to 40 lbs (15 to 20kg), then trim the puck level with the Razor [1]
Preset volume About 1oz / 30ml for the 1 cup button [1]

The dial-in loop on the Bambino Plus

Weigh the dose into the manual's band, pull toward a 1:2 ratio by weight in about 25 to 30 seconds, the window the printable dial-in cheat sheet is built around, and taste before touching anything. Fast and sour means grind finer; slow and bitter means coarser; the full trees live in why espresso runs sour and why it runs bitter. The machine's own feedback is the first-flow window above, so time from button press, not from first drip, and write each shot down in the dial-in logbook.

The dual wall catch

Dual wall baskets regulate pressure on their own, which is why Breville assigns them to pre-ground and older coffee: they produce a decent shot almost regardless of grind, dose, and tamp. [1] That forgiveness cuts both ways, because grind changes move the cup less than they would in a single wall basket. Breville's Smart Grinder Pro book reflects this by telling dual wall users to start at the coarse end of the espresso range, setting 30, instead of 12. [2] If you find the dial-in loop unresponsive on the stock baskets, that is the design working as intended, and the fix is a single wall basket, which is exactly the path covered in when to upgrade from a Bambino.

Grinder starting points for the Bambino Plus

Grinder Espresso band
Breville Smart Grinder Pro 1 to 30; start at 30 for the stock dual wall baskets [2]
Baratza Encore ESP 0 to 13 [3]
1Zpresso J-Max 0.6.9 to 1.5.3 [4]

The bench kit

A scale with a timer is the one purchase that makes the manual's numbers usable: espresso scales with timers sit in the about $20 class. Add a 54mm dosing funnel to keep grounds in the small basket and a 54mm tamper if you want more feedback than the included one gives.

Related reading

More on this

FAQ

Does the Bambino Plus come with single wall baskets? No. The BES500 manual's parts list shows dual wall 1 cup and 2 cup baskets plus the Razor trimming tool; single wall baskets are a separate purchase.

How much coffee goes in the Bambino Plus basket? Breville specifies 8 to 11g for the 1 cup basket and 16 to 19g for the 2 cup basket, trimmed level with the Razor after tamping.

Why does my Bambino Plus drip instead of pour? If it drips but will not flow after 15 seconds, Breville's manual calls the grind too fine. Coarsen one step and pull again; if you are on pre-ground coffee, the dose is the easier lever.

Sources

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