TJ Maxx in actual stores has the Breville Barista Pro for $499.99! This is not a markdown or refurbished, but probably ymmv. It doesn't show up on their website.
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TJ Maxx in actual stores has the Breville Barista Pro for $499.99! This is not a markdown or refurbished, but probably ymmv. It doesn't show up on their website.
Thanks! Do you remember how much the Bambino was? and where?
My TJ Maxx had Bambino for 240. Non Plus.
I was able to find two Barista Pros there, too (for 500), but ultimately decided to get the Bambino Plus elsewhere instead (for 400) since I already have a grinder (Encore ESP).
Last edited by darthalal December 10, 2024 at 07:51 AM.
I have a feeling a lot of these are the older units with the older grinder. If you can tell the manufacture date before opening, anything made in 2024 should have the newer baratza grinder.
There are at least 3 versions that I know of. The oldest does not come with the dosing funnel. So if you don't see that on the box you know for sure it's an old unit. The newish ones come with one.
The latest one has the dosing funnel + updated grinder.
I honestly would recommend a separate grinder and just get the bambino plus but that's just me. I no longer use the built in grinder on mine. I use a DF64 gen 2 and it's much better than my old one.
The two that I found had the Baratza picture advertising the newer burrs and other posts around Slickdeals this past month have mentioned getting the new grinder.
The new Brevilles in 2024 use Baratza M2 grinders which are excellent. The downside of the Bambino is that it doesn't have the three way solenoid and will produce watery pucks which are a pain to clean. I'd rather have the Barista Pro. IMO only the snobs can tell the difference between a Baratza grinder and something better and personally I'd rather have less mess.
Get a bambino and a good espresso grinder. Bambino is the best entry level semi-auto espresso machine. I have heard from the coffee snobs on reddit the grinder on this sucks.
Supposedly the grinder in this uses the same burrs as my grinder, the Baratza Encore ESP, which is generally "well respected" as a starter grinder? What makes it "suck" in the words of the "coffee snobs on reddit" is more that the adjustment range doesn't let you make fine enough steps to really dial in most beans, unless you get fairly lucky. I will say even on my Encore ESP, one click makes a pretty big difference, and is usually the difference between choking the machine and a still-slightly-too-fast shot. With my grinder and my beans, and my prep routine at least, YMMV.
I'm seeing mostly recommendations these days for a DF54 or DF64 v2 to pair with the Bambino. I may make the jump myself to one of those, depending on how things go with the Baratza.
Supposedly the grinder in this uses the same burrs as my grinder, the Baratza Encore ESP, which is generally "well respected" as a starter grinder? What makes it "suck" in the words of the "coffee snobs on reddit" is more that the adjustment range doesn't let you make fine enough steps to really dial in most beans, unless you get fairly lucky. I will say even on my Encore ESP, one click makes a pretty big difference, and is usually the difference between choking the machine and a still-slightly-too-fast shot. With my grinder and my beans, and my prep routine at least, YMMV.
I'm seeing mostly recommendations these days for a DF54 or DF64 v2 to pair with the Bambino. I may make the jump myself to one of those, depending on how things go with the Baratza.
The Barista pro has fake steps displayed from a rotation sensor somewhere in the gearing. It is actually stepless internally. The knob is all mechanical as well, no electronic step adjustment. So technically, you can dial in half steps or 1/3s
Can confirm for BBP models occasionally showing up at local Homegoods in SocCal. +1 for those mentioning the ones so far ive seen in stores currently coming with the Baratza Burrs. Saw some about a month ago surprisingly in the Stainless Steel colorway. Would have picked up but got one a few years ago in the Damison Blue colorway. Odd color but still going strong, looking to upgrade to a dual broiler system soon. But the BBP's are great machines.
Stainless is the cheapest color option, I actually like that Blue one but my 6 year old Express is a tank so I don't see myself upgrading any time soon! LOL
The Barista pro has fake steps displayed from a rotation sensor somewhere in the gearing. It is actually stepless internally. The knob is all mechanical as well, no electronic step adjustment. So technically, you can dial in half steps or 1/3s
This. There is actually quite a lot of rotation between the displayed steps so you can really dial it in finely if you wish. Also, I recommend changing the upper burr setting from the factory default of 6 down to 4 or 3 which will give you more range to grind finely.
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I was able to find two Barista Pros there, too (for 500), but ultimately decided to get the Bambino Plus elsewhere instead (for 400) since I already have a grinder (Encore ESP).
There are at least 3 versions that I know of. The oldest does not come with the dosing funnel. So if you don't see that on the box you know for sure it's an old unit. The newish ones come with one.
The latest one has the dosing funnel + updated grinder.
I honestly would recommend a separate grinder and just get the bambino plus but that's just me. I no longer use the built in grinder on mine. I use a DF64 gen 2 and it's much better than my old one.
I was able to find two Barista Pros there, too, but ultimately decided to get the Bambino Plus instead.
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I'm seeing mostly recommendations these days for a DF54 or DF64 v2 to pair with the Bambino. I may make the jump myself to one of those, depending on how things go with the Baratza.
I'm seeing mostly recommendations these days for a DF54 or DF64 v2 to pair with the Bambino. I may make the jump myself to one of those, depending on how things go with the Baratza.
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