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We’re going from one extreme to the other here from the likes of the Classic & the Silvia to the Bambino Plus. If these were cars, this would be similar to comparing the Land Rover Defender to an ultra hi tech Tesla. Classic & Silvia are closer to other prosumer espresso machines, in that they’re made in a fairly standard way, with similar, easy to replace parts, which anyone with a bit of DIY competency (not me then…) would be able to maintain and repair. Machines like this (including much more expensive Heat Exchanger machines and Dual boiler machines) can be maintained and repaired for several years or even decades.

The Sage Bambino Plus, and the other Sage machines, are about as modern and as high tech as espresso machines get. They’re not made using standard parts, in fact Sage/Breville (they’re designed in Australia by Breville, known as Sage only in Europe) tend to invent quite a lot of the components they use in their espresso coffee maker machine 2020. 

The plus side of this, as with driving a Tesla, is you end up with some really clever and helpful features. The negative side of this is that, as with Tesla cars, Sage machines don’t particularly lend themselves to being tinkered with by the owner to be cheaply maintained and repaired over the years. If there’s a problem with a Sage machine, they have to go back to the manufacturer, and if it’s out of warranty, it may be a problem costly enough to make repairing the machine false economy over replacing it. 

But with that said, Sage really do make some clever machines, and the Bambino Plus is no exception to this. The Bambino Plus from Sage, is a really compact little machine. I think it looks great, and for such a tiny machine they’ve managed to give it a really decent sized 1.9L water tank, which has a filter, and which is very easy to remove and fill. 

It’s heated up in a crazy 3 seconds, and this is real, not the usual exaggerated marketing. OK, you’ll want to pull some hot water through the group head and portafilter to get everything else warmed up, but the machine does really only take 3 seconds to heat up. Steam is ready in about the same number of seconds after pulling the shot, too. 

This little inexpensive machine, had a PID, as to do all of the Sage machines, and this means brew temperature stability. This is something you won’t get with the popular Gaggia Classic or Rancilio Silvia unless you mod them with a PID, which you can do for around £100.

As long as you once again frisbee the pressured (or dual walled, but they basically do the same thing) baskets and use the single wall baskets, this machine is capable of some pretty decent espresso. If you’re buying directly from Sage Appliances, or buying the newest stock from a supplier such as a seller on Amazon UK, you should get the standard baskets as well as dual walled. They used to ship with only dual walled, so if you’re not buying directly from Sage, double check with your supplier that you’re going to get the standard baskets. 

The Bambino features the newer Thermojet system which is why it heats up so quickly, and this is the same system as with the new Barista Pro & Barista Touch.

The Sage Barista Express is a semi automatic espresso coffee maker machine 2020 from Sage (or Breville, as they’re called everywhere except Europe, as the Breville brand name was sold in Europe in the 80s), which features an integrated grinder. The Barista Express has been around for a good few years, and there’s a newer model now called the Barista Pro – they’re similar enough for me to include them both in one go.  The differences between the two:

One is price, the Barista Express has a hundred quid lower RRP than the Pro, but as the express has been around a lot longer, you can usually get it for less than this. 

They’re £545.95 at the moment directly from Sage Appliances, although if you shop around they’re sometimes available for quite a bit less. The best I can see at the moment is £449 (or from £13.50 per month), I’ve occasionally seen them a bit cheaper on Amazon UK but they’re quite a bit more than this at the time of writing, to see the current Amazon UK price. If you’re a costco member, it’s worth checking them out there, they’ve been on offer at cost co for among the lowest price they’ve ever been available.

As well as the price difference, the new Barista Pro features the new therms jet system, for faster steam and quicker steam ready time. The pro also has more grind settings, 30 vs 18 settings with the barista express, and the finish on the pro is slightly different. 

There’s also the touch screen version creatively named Barista Touch, which features auto steaming, and personalised one touch coffees. You can completely customise each espresso including milk temp and milk foam, as with the Oracle and Oracle Touch, but this machine really belongs in the bean to cup section. 

Except for the touch version, the Barista machines aren’t bean to cup espresso machine, despite the fact that they’re usually classified as such due to the integrated grinder, these are definitely machines meant for home baristas. The only similarities the Barista Express and Barista Pro shares with bean to cup machines are the integrated grinder, and the lack of grind settings, which leads to the Barista express having a similar limitation when it comes to properly dialling in and getting the extraction bang on.

Barista Express has 18 grind settings, which is more than most bean to cup machines, but still isn’t enough to properly get dialled in with a wide range of different coffees. Barista Pro has 30 grind settings, so that’s better, but you’re still going to be limited vs having a stand alone grinder. 

So with the barista express, and with the pro too although not quite to the same degree, you’ll just have to dial in as close as you can and then make do – which is likely to be closer to perfect than with a bean to cup machine with 5-10 grind settings, but not as close as you’d get with a stand alone espresso grinder.

This model is ideal for people who want a resistant and easy-to-use coffee maker. Its timer allows you to program the start-up of the device, and the automatic stop saves energy.The Melitta Look IV Therm Timer 1011-16  coffee maker  will seduce you with its sleek design and optimal qualities: it allows you to make up to 15 cups of coffee by selecting the aroma that suits you. Equipped with a programmable descaling program, you can always enjoy perfect coffee whenever you want!Design :Elegant finishes  with the  filter holder and the steel panel  on the filter cover for a  unique look!Power and capacity:The Look IV Timer 1011-16 coffee maker with a capacity of 1.4 liters, has a  power of 1000 Watts  for  quick preparation.Equipped with an  insulated jug , it allows you to make  up to 15 cups of coffee . The water tank has a  capacity of 1.4 liters. 

Programmable : Want to wake up to the good smell of coffee? The coffee maker is equipped with the  Timer function  designed to  program your coffee in advance. 
The backlit screen  will show you  the time  in addition to allowing programming.Aroma selector: Full-bodied or light , do it the way you like! Measure the strength of the coffee  according to your tastes or the mood of the moment thanks to the  “AromaSelector” function.
Protection 3-in-1:  The  regular descaling your coffee ensures optimum operation . To do this, the 3-in-1 protection function makes maintenance easier: – Preserve the life of your device!  In order to obtain  a coffee with an always intact taste  and to  limit the risks of scaling , it is equipped with a  descaling program. 
– A  descaling indicator  warns you when it is necessary to start the descaling program.- You have the possibility to  adjust the hardness level of the water . 

The Brera is a cool looking, compact, well built little bean to cup espresso coffee maker machine 2020 from the brand behind the invention of the modern espresso machine, Gaggia. I used this bean to cup espresso machine for a week or so, for my Gaggia Brera review, and it impressed me overall, for a bean to cup machine at a relatively low cost. As far as bean to cup machines go, for around £400, I don’t think you can ask for much more than what the Brera delivers in terms of espresso quality right out of the box. It’s not perfect, and it’s not going to be with bean to cup machines, but in my humble opinion, you’re going to have to spend quite a bit more for a bean to cup machine capable of better espresso quality.To explain this in a nutshell, the main issue with bean to cup machines when it comes to the espresso not being perfect, is that they lack the grinding range and also the ability to fine tune the grind, in order to properly get dialled in with the coffee bean.Most bean to cup machines only have a few grind settings, usually something like 5-10 settings (Brera has 5 grind settings) and this isn’t enough to be able to fine tune in order to get exactly the right grind with each coffee bean. So all “normal” bean to cup machines with a small number of grind settings, are going to deliver similar results when it comes to espresso quality, which generally speaking, is espresso that flows too fast and is under extracted. 

The exception to the above, is the Oracle and Oracle Touch, which I mentioned earlier, and which aren’t “standard” bean to cup machines, for a start, they have 45 grind settings. This gives you a lot more control over the grind than with any other bean to cup espresso machine I’m aware of. This isn’t the only reason the oracle machines get so much closer to perfection though, see my sage oracle review for more. It’s not fair to compare the Brera with the Oracle machines, though, as the Brera is about a fifth of the cost, and the same is true of the other lower cost bean to cup machines. When it comes to milk, if you remove the panarello wand and just use the steam pipe as a single hole steam tip (I talk about this in the review) you can get pretty decent microfoam from this machine, too, capable of pouring latte art. If you keep the panarello sheath on, and use is as per the instructions, you’ll get thick spoonable microfoam, which is fine if that’s what you like.The Brera features the removable brew unit, which is a great feature that you’ll find on all of the Gaggia bean to cup machines. What this means is that maintenance in terms of cleaning the brew unit, the bits that do the coffee brewing, consists of simply pulling out the brew unit, rinsing it under a tap, and then sliding it back in. The Brera scores highly from me when it comes to ease of use, really simple machine to use – it also impressed me when it comes to size & easiness on the eye. It’s not a particularly loud machine, and the drip tray is a good size, it doesn’t appear to be the case as it’s a low level drip tray (which is good in terms of up clearance) but the drip tray goes all the way to the back of the machine, which makes it a fairly decent size. 

An even lower cost bean to cup espresso machine,  the De’Longhi ESAM 4200 also impressed me, overall, for a bean to cup machine at this price. The ESAM 4200 has been around for quite a while, it’s been one of the best selling bean to cup espresso coffee maker machine 2020 on Amazon UK for a few years, not surprising since you can get hold of it for under £300! Click here to see the current price.This little inexpensive machine has impressed a lot of it’s owners too, as you’ll see from the Amazon Reviews, over 3000 of them – and although there are some shocking reviews, the score is 4.4 out of 5 which is pretty good. Also, if you read through the negatives, a lot of them appear to be specifically relating to someone who has been selling customer returns via Amazon. In short, in comparison with the Gaggia Brera (see Gaggia Brera Vs Delonghi Magnifica) I prefer the overall look and feel of the Brera. The Magnifica looks and feels a bit more plasticy and cheaper (and it is cheaper, so that makes sense). I also found the Brera to be just a bit easier to use.The Magnifica does have more grind settings, though, 7 settings with half step increments, so a slightly better range and slightly finer tuning, although there’s not a great deal in it.

Also, the De’Longhi is just over a hundred quid cheaper, which is a plus – and water tank is bigger at 1.8L on the De’Longhi Vs 1.2L, and it’s front loading too & just a little bit easier to remove than with the Brera. The De’Longhi does require a bit more vertical height though, it’s a bit taller than the Gaggia, and you need to open a hinged lid too, in order to load the hopper. When it comes to warranty, all De’Longhi bean do cup espresso machines come with a 2 year warranty from De’Longhi. However, if you read through the Amazon reviews, there are enough owners of this machine complaining about the aftersales support for me to feel that I need to make you aware.I’ve not had any direct experience of trying to get support from the De’Longhi helpline, but there are customers stating that they couldn’t get an answer, some saying that they could get an answer but that he service was awful, someone saying that they were told the warranty is null and void even though the machine is only a month old, because he was using it too much… so these kinds of complaints don’t fill me with confidence. 

The Cadorna is a very clever new range of bean to cup espresso coffee maker machine 2020 from Gaggia, the range consisting of Style, Plus, Milk & Prestige.The main feature of the Cadorna range has to do with drinks personalisation, with four programmable personalised user settings. This means everyone using the machine (up to 4 users) can have their name setup as a user, with their coffees set up exactly how they like them, including strength, how much milk, and temperature. So you can continually tweak the settings for your latte, for instance, and when you’re happy with that – it’ll be the same each time regardless of who else is using the machine, as long as they don’t prank you by messing with your settings ;-).Style and plus both have panarello steam wands, which can be removed in order to use the steam pipe as a single hole steam wand as I mentioned with the Brera – Milk & Prestige are both “one touch” bean to cup machines, meaning that you press one button and the machine handles the milk as well as the coffee.

Milk features a “cappuccinatore” for the milk, which takes milk from an external carafe (or you can put the pipe directly into your milk bottle) and froths it for you. Prestige has an integrated milk carafe.Style and plus feature 4 different coffees that can be personalised, milk has 7, and prestige has 11. By the way, if you think these figures aren’t correct, that’s because the marketing blurb states the number of “beverages” which includes frothed milk and hot water.All except style can take taller cups, and feature a cup tray that pulls out of the machine so you can pull the shot into a smaller cup if preferred.There may be some other subtle differences between the models, click here for a more thorough run down of the different models. The Cadorna has 10 grind settings, so double that of the Brera. The water tank is 1.5L.When it comes to cost, style is £699, plus is £749, milk is £849, and prestige is £899.So when we look at the style, it’s £200 more than the Brera, and for this you’re getting double the grind settings & a very easy to use control panel with personalisation for up to 4 users with four coffees (ristretto, espresso, espresso lungo, Americano). For another £50 you get a stainless steel panarello wand rather than plastic (if you’re going to remove this anyway as I would, and just use the steam pipe as a steam wand, then this really doesn’t matter), a slightly taller machine with room for taller cups, plus the espresso tray for using small espresso cups/glasses. Another £100 from here gets you one touch milk drinks via a cappuccinatore frother, plus in addition to  the above coffees, with the milk you also have cappuccino, café au lait, latte macchiato, plus frothed milk, for hot chocolate or babyccino.
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