I'm an ex-professional-barista and now a home espresso enthusiast. Part of my job is to test out the best espresso machines — every model from the super-cheap and basic all the way up to $3,000 dual boilers and beyond — and I have an utter blast doing it.
But what's my favorite espresso machine? Probably the Breville Bambino Plus ($499). It's compact, intelligent, and brews delicious espresso. It's everything I would want in an espresso machine.
So when I tested out the $129 Casabrews 3700 Essential, I couldn't help but compare it to the Bambino Plus. To me, the 3700 Essential looks and behaves like a Bambino Plus duplicate, so I thought I'd swap out the machines and find out if the $370 savings are worth it.
Espresso extraction
The Casabrews 3700 Essential only ships with dual-walled portafilters, which are pressurized baskets intended for use with pre-ground coffee. While this is a decent starting point for complete beginners, I wouldn't personally recommend using dual-walled portafilters or pre-ground coffee.
If you're not sure what the difference between dual-walled (pressurized) and single-walled (non-pressurized) portafilters are, let me show you a picture.
So, as the Casabrews Essential 3700 only comes with dual-walled baskets, if you want 'proper' espresso, you'll have to make an additional purchase. Thankfully, this additional purchase is only $38, and you can easily add it onto a Casabrews order.
So now that the playing ground is a little more even, we can compare the Casabrews 3700 Essential's espresso and the Breville Bambino Plus's espresso. Yep, it's a little annoying you have to buy a separate portafilter to get decent espresso from the 3700 Essential, but, come on, it's literally $129. Here are two side-by-side shots of Bambino Plus and 3700 Essential espresso.
As you can see, the Bambino Plus's espresso shot is bright amber, with a fluffy layer of crema. The 3700 Essential shot has thick crema, too, and you can see the layers between the body and the heart of the shot.
I'm not going to hold the darker color against the 3700 Essential, as I took the photo of the espresso about ten seconds after extraction finished, as opposed to one or two seconds on the Bambino Plus. That wouldn't be fair.
Now, I'll talk about flavor. Obviously there's no evidence I can show to support this claim, but the Bambino Plus's espresso tastes better. It is true — not surprisingly — that the Bambino Plus makes superior espresso to the Casabrews 3700 Essential.
That could be due to the Bambino Plus having a PID controller, which regulates water temperature to prevent espresso burning, and the 3700 Essential does not. Alternatively, it could be because the Bambino Plus has better pressure control, or maybe even because little goblins live in the Bambino Plus and inject every espresso shot with deliciousness serum.
Whatever the reason is, the fact of the matter is that the Breville Bambino Plus makes espresso better than the Casabrews 3700 Essential. I mean, are you surprised? I'm not. Breville is widely regarded in the coffee world as one of the most trustworthy and reliable (semi) affordable espresso machine manufacturers.
Even so, that's not to say that no one should buy the Casabrews 3700 Essential. I don't think the Bambino Plus's espresso is superior enough to justify a $370 price increase, especially if you're a beginner. While I, personally, would rather spend $499 on the Bambino Plus than $129 on the 3700 Essential, that doesn't mean everyone has to follow suit.
In a pinch, I could certainly see myself using the Casabrews machine and having a good time while using it. Among all the Casabrews models I've tested now, the 3700 Essential is probably the only one I would personally buy based on espresso taste.
Milk steaming
Right, now I'll talk about the steam wand on both the Bambino Plus and the 3700 Essential.
The long and short of it is this: when I was using the 3700 Essential, I longed for the sweet, sweet Bambino Plus steam wand. Make from that what you will.
The Bambino Plus has a 4-hole steam wand, whereas the 3700 Essential has just the one hole. While it's not a hard-and-fast rule, usually, the more holes, the stronger the steam, and the easier it is to texturize milk.
Here's some visual representation of what I'm talking about.
As you can see, the texture of each milk is, initially, comparable. However, if you look closely, you can see some more uneven bubbles in the 3700 Essential's milk. The Bambino Plus's milk is more structured and shiny.
It's much easier to get 'perfect' milk texture on the Bambino Plus, but some beginner baristas I've spoken to actually prefer the weaker steam wands of machines like the 3700 Essential. This is because it takes longer to steam the milk, and therefore there's more time for learning and self-correction.
Personally? As an experienced barista, I'm craving commercial-level steam wands like you'd find on the Smeg EMC02 and the Breville Oracle Dual Boiler.
For that reason, I was so happy to go back to my old faithful Bambino Plus. But that begs the question, is the difference between the steam wand of the Bambino Plus and 3700 Essential worth $370? Is the Bambino Plus capable of making $500 milk? Or is this just down to personal preference? What about for beginner baristas — do you actually want a lower-power machine to learn how to use one first?
You should consider longevity
Now, this section is my personal speculation, so please feel free to take with a pinch of salt. I've only had my Bambino Plus for six months, and I only used the 3700 Essential for a week.
However, I do know a thing or two about maintaining an espresso machine.
The Bambino Plus comes with a bunch of cleaning products: a cleaning disc, some brushes, and Breville has a huge range of aftermarket solutions available for purchase on its website. There's also a horde of information online about how to tinker with your Breville machine.
Comparatively, Casabrews doesn't ship a single cleaning product in the 3700 Essential's box. I actually pawed through the box a few times, desperately searching for — at least — a cleaning disc.
Then, in the 3700 Essential manual, it actively warns against unscrewing the shower screen. But how are you supposed to clean the mulch inside the shower screen? I've unscrewed my Bambino Plus' screen a few times and cleaned the inside, and it's often been a bit vile.
So it makes me a little wary that you are told not to clean the shower screen.
Also, the 3700 Essential's boiler is prone to overheating, and you often have to purge excess steam from the wand before pulling a shot of espresso. What does this mean for its longevity? Will the boiler be able to handle years of slinging shot after shot?
Both the Bambino Plus and the 3700 Essential have removable water tanks, so you'll be able to clean both well, and removable plastic drip trays. The exterior of both machines is very similar, so it's not the exterior I'm worried about.
However, the Casabrews 3700 Essential is just $129... so, theoretically, if one machine lasts two years, you could buy 3.9 3700 Essentials for the price of one Bambino Plus... which works out to eight years of service. Eight years is usually the lifetime of a Breville espresso machine (according to users on sites like Reddit).
Would I make the switch permanent?
The short answer is no, but the long answer is, well, long. You've just read 1,500 words of explanation.
I would rather pay $370 extra for a more powerful machine, so I am happy to go back to my Bambino Plus now. I've got over three years of barista experience under my belt, so, personally, I want a machine that can match the power of the commercial machines I cut my teeth on.
However, I think if you're a beginner, and you want your first espresso machine, then you should get the Casabrews model. If you've already had an espresso machine and you want to level up, then you should get the Bambino Plus.
What do you think? Do you think the sacrifices in espresso flavor and milk texture are worth a $370 saving? Let me know in the comments!
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