T3 Awards 2020: Sage’s The Bambino Plus is cute, compact and makes killer coffee

Four days into the T3 Awards 2020 and we could use a coffee. Sage makes the the best coffee machines, for our money. But often, that is rather a lot of money. Not so the cute yet feature-packed Bambino. Sorry, 'The Bambino Plus', to give it its full title. 

Right now you can get it at some incredibly low prices, thanks to various helpful retailers…

Also one of the best epsresso machines, Sage The Bambino Plus delivers incredibly good coffee without the startling price tags of the likes of the same brand's The Oracle Touch.

This scaled down Sage – branded Breville The Bambino Plus outside of the UK, confusingly – serves up perfectly measured espressos with plenty of crema. Its simple settings allow you to make coffee of a surprisingly wide range of strengths. 

Perhaps the real star of the show here – if you favour cappuccinos and flat whites, anyway, is the milk texturing steam wand. This musters up velvety milk in a matter of seconds and because it uses steam, just like in a proper coffee shop, you get barista-quality results. Most home coffee machines don't include a steam wand, and so the results are less authentic.

Bambino goes from off to ready to serve in just three seconds, which is fast enough for even the most severe caffeine cravings. The fuss-free interface has just two main extraction buttons – you just need to choose between a one-cup espresso or a two-cup or double one. It's also easy to customise the temperature of your beverage, and the consistency and volume of the milk.

Even at its full price the Sage The Bambino Plus is already a great buy, but when you consider that it’s often discounted rather deeply, you find it’s often exceptional value for money. Make room for one in your kitchen today.

• Read more about Sage The Bambino Plus

•  T3 Awards 2020 – all the announcements so far.