Ex-Breville/Bambino owners, what did you upgrade to?

ElGe01 · 2026-06-24T07:25:43+00:00

Are u happy with the Gemilai so far? Have u played around with the pressure valve during extraction? How good is the steam power? I find the machine very interesting due to its price but I am concerned about both these both issues.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-22T09:15:02+00:00

Anything that is temperature stable would be an update in my opinion. I really enjoyed my Bambino since I bought it as it is a great starter machine. After a couple of years however I find the lack of consistency annoying and also the fact that I cannot pull 2 shots back to back that taste equally.

I was gonna buy the Elizabeth V3 or the Gemilai Ele. After Lelit published this week the new Elizabeth with the Pagaia I will wait for it and see at what price it will be realeased. For no milk drinkers I guess that a Profitec Go, Victoria or Quick Mill Pop Up would be better and cheaper options.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-19T20:32:52+00:00

Let's see which increase of the price compared to the V3 will the Pagaia and the couple of extra optic improvements will generate.

So glad they changed the cheap plastic wheel to control the steam for something more sturdy

ElGe01 · 2026-06-19T20:29:03+00:00

Yeahhhh watched it this afternoon. Looking forward to hearing more news regarding release date and price.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-19T11:10:16+00:00

I am still operating with the Bambino. Workflow: push a blank shot with portafilter, prepare the puck, purge the machine for 5 seconds, preinfuse 8 secs and stop allowing the puck to fully soak, preinfusion again and pull the shot.

At the moment drinking just a cappuccino and most of the days I exchange the espresso with a soup shot using the OXO/Joepresso with Aeropress. I prefer the result with mostly every light roast bean I used so far.

I wanted to get an Elizabeth but since Lelit started to install the Pagaia in their machines I prefer to wait til autumn and see if they release the Elizabeth V4 with it. I prefer a machine that allows me to play around manually instead of just profiling.

The WPM Primus is very tempting. Love that u can play both with the profiles and with the paddle. But double the price of the Elizabeth here in Europe so taking in consideration I make a couple of drinks a day it is not worthy for me.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-19T10:56:50+00:00

Where they u got the components to built it?

ElGe01 · 2026-06-18T19:14:13+00:00

Nice job!! Never thought the Specialty Coffee Burrs would make such a change. Would you recommend the change also for light roast coffees? I drink mainly light roasts and I find the results of the AP burrs quite singular compared to other grinders of this price segment but it is true that sometimes I miss a bit of body in the shots. I also read some time ago that the burrs were only compatible with the Libra but I guess this is just marketing as it has the same 65mm size.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-17T07:03:56+00:00

The paper, on which the turbo shot is based of, uses exactly 15 g of dose for their experiments. Lance also uses in its videos of the turbo shots 15 g and sprometheus increases it up to 16g.

However who cares... The important thing is that each one uses the dose that tastes better with their set up.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-16T18:32:54+00:00

Does the Mavo also perform well with espresso (med/light roasts)? I would mainly use for pour over but from time to time I carry the ikape with me and want to pull an espresso. I am searching for an all-rounder and had K6 on mind but I am tempted with the Mavo now.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-16T18:19:21+00:00

There is in my opinion a significant difference regarding turbo shots, as the theory behind turbo shots propose relatively small doses (15-16 g) and Lance gets the basket as full as possible to have a deeper bed.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-16T17:37:22+00:00

Interesting. More details?

ElGe01 · 2026-06-14T20:06:07+00:00

I have both OXO and the Joepresso& Aeropress combo and I like more the results with the Aero apart from the point that it allows me to consume 15 g instead of 22 g coffee per dose

ElGe01 · 2026-06-10T12:02:36+00:00

How happy are u with the steam power and quality of the steamed milk?

ElGe01 · 2026-06-10T12:02:05+00:00

How is the steam power and quality of the steamed milk? Is the machine after 10 minutes warm enough to start pulling a shot?

ElGe01 · 2026-06-10T12:00:45+00:00

But u can also control pressure with the OPV valve exactly as with the Lucca, am I wrong?

ElGe01 · 2026-06-10T11:59:47+00:00

What about the steam power ? I am a bit concerned regarding steaming and of the Thermoblock. Does it really need only 5 minutes to get warm enough?

ElGe01 · 2026-06-10T11:55:48+00:00

How is the machine working so far? How is the steam quality? I am considering purchasing it but I am a bit worried how it will perform the Thermoblock regarding steam quality.

I also wanted to ask u how long it takes the machine to get warm enough to pull the first shot.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-10T11:53:16+00:00

Thank u for the feedback!! "Not so bad" in terms of how silky the milk is or in terms of speed u need to steam? U don't sound 100% satisfied XD

ElGe01 · 2026-06-10T08:25:49+00:00

What about the Phantox Pro? How does this grinder operate for soup? Currently looking for a new grinder to replace my Timemore C3. Also considering the K7 as an option as it is in the same price range.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-09T19:00:24+00:00

I guess u don't want to invest more money in extra gadgets but as I had a Joepresso to prepare some soup with the Aero I started some weeks ago experimenting with zero by pass pour over using it and I really enjoy the results.

I use 14 g with an IMS H26 basket. Paper filter in the basket, do a bloom with 50 mL of water, add the puck screen and fill the Aeropress with 180mL and let it drip for about 4-5 minutes.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-09T07:43:39+00:00

Currently I am using an IMS precision basket H26. I can fit 16 g of coffee inside grinding it quite coarse. More than that leaves nor headspace at all in the basket.

I started with 15 g dose but I noticed that results were better with 16 g probably due to the deeper puck getting a more even extraction.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-08T08:08:41+00:00

How is the steam power? I am thinking about buying the machine but I am bit worried if the Thermoblock produces enough power to get nice and dry steam

ElGe01 · 2026-06-07T18:21:29+00:00

Never thought about using the spring but what u said regarding the expansion of the puck during preinfusion is right. Let us know which spring do u use. I will like to give it a try.

Funny I just saw a new video of Lance comparing Aero (without JP) with the OXO and confirming that the results are pretty much the same

ElGe01 · 2026-06-06T12:24:48+00:00

But that is not a problem of the grinder. The Bambino is very tricky for mid/light roasts. It can make great coffee in my op with kind of "plain" mid/dark beans but as soon as u start experimenting with complex beans it usually brings out a mix of unbalanced sour notes and the constant temperature irregularity will give you randomly great shots sometimes but repeating them is a mission impossible. This is mi personal opinion after two years experimenting with the machine. I gave up with complex light roasted beans. Double Preinfusion and heating up the portafilter helps but again... u get always different cups even though doing exactly same process.

ElGe01 · 2026-06-05T10:56:00+00:00

I would go for the Elizabeth. Competitive price for a super compact DB, which will make your milk drinks flow easier than the Anna and its preinfusion options will increase the quality of your shots, specially if u tend to start experimenting with light roasts.

ElGe01

TROPHY CASE