The flaw with this challenge was that coffee art was allowed. It clearly points out which coffee is made my the pro, and leads to bias in judging. A more fair challenge would of seen just straight pours of milk with no art allowed.

I had a crappy cappuccino from a $30k slayer machine, went home and made a great one on my Breville. Its definitely experience that matters!!

Would be interesting to do the same but with the pro brewing on the 2 machines and then judge the difference.

Wait... How exactly do the judges not know which one is which if one has professional latte art while the other had whatever Josh made? C'mon, keep this fair or the results are bogus. Also, Bambino is 🔥🔥🔥

While this was entertaining, you really should try the same experiment with an amateur that actually knows how to use their home machine well.

The “cheap” one is still 8x more expensive than mine 🤣

"I've bought and drank plenty of coffee and this wont be different". Lmao that line broke me, the banter is solid

I use a fully modded Gaggia with a Vario. Having owned both Breville products WITH a naked portafilter, I have to say the combo is fantastic. There are so many extras you can get like 3D portafilter holders and more. It’s a fast wonderful setup

I’m by no means a pro, but I’ve been brewing at home for over 20 years. I can’t afford a high end machine, but I’ve learned enough to know that I can get some really good shots with a mediocre machine and a nicely honed set of skills.

The judges could have easily known her flat white from the latte art, I think that placebo effect had a much bigger role in their decision making even if they don't relasie it, however I don't think they should share the coffee grinder, the challange was meant to compare high-end equipment and low skills to low-end equpmint and high skills, not high-end esspresso machine only.

Would love to see this again with the experienced home barista that’s never used a commercial machine, and maybe add a non-pressurized basket to the breville

Great video, but agree that giving Georgia the stock pressurized basket was unfair to her. Her technique didn’t even matter as it would all go to waste in the basket anyway. Would like to have seen at least that replaced with a non pressurized basket.

Great competition! Well done my Aussie friends! 😊. Greetings from Finland 🇫🇮

Loved it, lots of fun, kudos to both baristas. A fairer competition would have been to use the same coffee, same grinder and a non-pressurized portafilter on the Bambino.

Love this :-3 Spent some years back being a pro barista, but haven't been for work in a while. I became a happy habitual coffee person tho, and have totally used whatever found materials available to still conjure up a decent latte, cappie or pourover, etc.

This is the best thing, of all and any genre, I've seen in years. Thank you so much for this. Hoping for more such content as a new subscriber.

It really sounded like they liked Josh's espresso a lot more, but then they ended up with the same score. That was weird.

This confirms that almost in every field, first step up is the person, then equipment and process.

Wonderful video. I have been breaking my head to make a profesional latte art using a home coffee machine and now I know even a pro cannot make a good latter using a home machine.

Love this video. Georgia seems cool/professional and Josh is absolutely hilarious! Almost died laughing when he said he was making an NFT :)

If she was using a non pressurized filter basket I bet her espresso score could have been higher

Just goes to show it's the experience in the barista, not the price tag of the machine! Such a fun video

The way Aussie’s say “no” just cracks me up 😂 enjoyed the video :)

Love the honesty and highly entertaining!

The fact that she had a pressurized portafilter was basically the equivalent of fighting with one hand tied behind your back. You just can't do really good espresso with a pressurized portafilter. Can't be done.

I have gotten to a point with my Bambino Plus + Niche where my coffee at home is better than the average barista I might encounter at the shops I go to here in Austin (and I only go to the good shops). No match for their best baristas, but compared to newbies who still haven't got their milk texturing skills worked out, I'm pretty happy with what I do at home.

Love the way you guys set this up. Nice.

I am mostly a non-milk drinker. Better machines are more consistent and quicker. That being said the you can make a good coffee from a cheaper machine. Use a Lelit Combi (single boiler) and a Wega Mininova (heat exchanger). Both make good coffee, but my Wega will make an okay coffee even if there are some issues with the grind. The only bug bear I have is flushing the superheated steam out of the e61 group head if the machine hasn't been used recently. The Gaggia classic is a good cheap machine, but has some long term durability issues from mixing aluminium and brass boiler parts.

I think the gap between the machines price and quality was really very high. If you guys would for example, used a Barista Pro machine, Maybe that was really made the gap a little smaller, but without a very large increase in price for the cheap machine. It would still be like 700$ vs 30,000$... I have the Barista Pro, and would be very interested in seeing such a blind test :)

I have the Breville machine and makes amazing milk drink, however in the espresso side it can be a bit tricky. And I’ve used La Marzocco also, amazing drinks. I think it’s all adjusting with the type of machine you have so yeah :D

Imagine this experiment but instead of having a "noob" control an expensive machine, give them a recipe for a manual brewer that they have to follow (maybe something beginner friendly like french press, clever dripper). While that wouldn't allow for espressos in the competition, I think it would be interesting to see if someone who's never touched manual brewing before can get tastier cups than an expert with a cheap machine

I am trying to relearn everything and this helped alot. I only worked on auto for years but missing skills sucks and i hope i can get a job doing coffee again

Nice, fun video. Would like to see more of such fun videos!

These kinds of tests have been performed many times, and it is often very difficult to determine which is better. But there is a far more important issue - On your $300-$400 machine, how many espressos/cappuccinos do you make in a day? I make 2. In a professional setting you might make 100 or more. The issue is not which makes the better product, but which can withstand middle to heavy duty service in a commercial setting. In other words, ARF ARF

what a fun video. Thanks

This was very fun to watch!

I'm pretty sure that Bambino comes with a pressurized and a non-pressurized basket so I'm not sure why they went with the pressurized basket. And someone else said it in the comments, but I agree that they should have used the same grinder, which is at least as important as than the machine itself.

Hi, just wanted to say that 400$ is not cheap. Thanks, bye.

Need more video like this SMCR :) Bloody entertaining...Cheers

I agree skill is extremely important. We know a bad grinder that is incapable of producing a uniform cut will not bring out the flavor notes of a bean. If the machine has limited potential then a great barista can only do so much. That's why the contest was close. You need excellent equipment and a barista capable of extracting all the espresso machine and grinder has to offer.

I like to have seen the lady do this with non pressurised basket, and also allowing her to have a bit more time with the machine. I think she would love the Dual Boiler, and love to see her thoughts with that :)

The pro Barista flexes her porta filter 🤦‍♂️ To make such competitions fair: no latte art or the tasting must happen blind. The latte art gave the pro away. How / where can I get such a cat's pyjamas t from? 🤩

Great stuff guys!!!

Skills matters... experience matters... that's why we hv experts and amateurs. Nice compe... a skilled person with good tools will always win... ❤

70% success is a good grind (assuming calibrated by a Pro in this test). 15% is the machine and 15% brewing skills - do you agree? Next time allow for the grind to be mixed as well (machine vs skills).

I want to see this with a spinny pen foamer or the nesspresso frother cylinder. Also, give the pro a pitcher with a wider spout, making it harder for her to make the latte art. Maybe start with the same beans and grind size

The tall guy is quite the comedian!! I think the girl was crushing on him by the end

Josh's answers to questions were the best part of this video

Great video concept. While I think that most people buying the Bambino will probably stick with the dual wall basket and Smart Grinder (or pre-ground), the enthusiasts watching this video would at least shell out for the $10 single wall Breville basket and would more likely pair with a manual grinder. I would love to see the competition with a single wall basket and something like a JX Pro for the grinder to pair with the Bambino.

I wish you'd given the pro an unpressurised basket. Better comparison of skills

Nice work Georgia! Skillz!

Keep 'em coming!

To be honest, $400 for a coffee machine is expensive af

$700 for home espresso equipment is a premium price point

I'm pretty sure you can get the bottom range Breville for 400buck. Which it is not a cheap machine. Bear in mind a commercial one is more expensive because it is built to last much longer as it will be making lots of coffee per day.

Fun & enjoyable video to watch.🙂

very fun episode. I put myself in the shoe of Josh, He is so fun to watch :}

11:51 that face and that reaction hahahaha

I think there is a certain point where skill definetly matters more than the equipment but in the absolute budget range (say 150$) it is really hard to get out enough of a machine. Especially if it is a steam "wand" with a panerello for milk and wonky temperatures on a pressurized basket for espresso. Tho I gotta say you can get an insane amount of stuff out if you know where to invest. Many people just buy a dedica, swap out the pressurized for a non-pressurized one, get rid of the panerello of the steam want and fix that rubber piece that's left with a zip-tie and boom. You have a machine that can get the job done really well! Especially this bambino is really enough for baristas once you get used to using a thermoblock in terms of steam. Especially now, where they come with non-pressurized baskets. ;)

"Talk to the tamp pretty boy!" "I don't know what a tamp is..." Absolute gold

“Yes and naur” “Yes and naur, here we gaur”

I fail to see how the latte art has any impact on the question of equipment quality vs skill - but then again, most people care more about appearance than quality. Ignoring appearances, I’m quite impressed how the equipment enabled an untrained person to produce an okay espresso.

I've had a cheepie home machine for about 2 months. I'm sure that I've gone through about 5 or 6 pounds of beans now and I'm rapidly getting toward adequate. It's definately experience with a shout out to purchasing really good beans that makes the better drink.

11:48 Hahaha Josh thought he is the one getting the trophy.

Me: "oh this dude works in coffee he'll know a thing or two" The dude: "what's a tamper?" Me: 😮 oh no

You can still pull some great shots from a $400 machine vs a $30,000 one , sadly can't be said the same with let's say a $50 grinder vs a $5000 one

Its definantly experience, but also only up to a certain point. I think you definantly need a decent home machine to be able to get good espresso that could match something you can buy from a coffee shop made by normal baristas (normal meaning people who just work at cafe's as a "job" and aren't really into it).

I always get better results on my 100 dollar Delonghi with a cheap blade grinder at home than most coffee shops I visit. Its all in the quality of the bean and the grind...you must get a fine enough grind to make the espresso strong and the blade grinder can get a finer grind than most expensive burr grinders! Also the Delonghi is pump driven so you don't run the risk of burning the espresso like a steam driven machine can do. Also I've found that a simple electronic frother speeds things up and I don't really notice the difference versus the steamer built into the espresso maker. (just preheat the milk in the microwave)

This was a fun video! It seems like the more money you want to spend on a machine, the better your results will be no matter what your skill level. I would like to compete against Josh with my 100 dollar DeLonghi machine though.

Bambino can be amazing with a cheap and easy upgrade: replace the stock basket with non-pressurised precision one.

I have been working as a barista for a bit of time now, however I was only part time and now am basically full time hours; but I honestly am mediocre at best, mind you it’s a low end shop with basically cheap coffee beans to flavor the beverage. So I only try to improve my milk steaming quality. And 2% is the bane of my existence and never comes out good enough

REALLY awesome video 👌❤️

The cost of the machine affects the speed The experience of the barista affects the taste

How did they both get 6 for the espresso when you said one of them had a good espresso and a bad milk drink and the other had a bad espresso and a good milk drink..

That was fun 👍🏼

It was fun to watch :-)

The latte art gave it away, not blind at all imo

This was great! More like this please!

5:58 ‘that looks absolutely delightful’ Cameraman is a gentleman of culture I see 😊

1:48 'pretty boy' - low-key compliment there!

Love the concept of this episode but i would like to see other factors changed if there will be another episode like this: 1. For the Pro Barista, use a cheap but non-pressurized machine like the Breville Barista Express or Dual Boiler, not the Bambino. It's unfair to compare espressos from pressurized (very crappy) to non-pressurized. 2. Grinder for both competitors should be the same and uncalibrated for both, so they have time to calibrate and dial in the shot they want. 3. In my honest opinion, you can only call a barista a PRO if he/she has both experienced using cheap as well as expensive machines and use it well. Unlike Georgia who has only experiences high-end machines but not cheap ones. That way, we can really tell if experience matters over equipments. Which in my opinion does.

Why the two espresso both scored 6. The different grinders alone would cause a different in score.

Brilliant!

As a barista an expensive machine is not really priority here but a smooth quality grinder makes a perfect coffee so long as Espresso machine pulls btw 9 to 12 bars . So chears to gréât coffee every body

A better experiment would be to have the pro use both machines and have the judges rate them out of 10. That way we can see how far you can go with a cheap set up

she knows what she's doing.

that was brilliant !

NFT coffee art, magnificent 😂😂🎉

Fun challenge, but the novice definitely had way too much advantage. They should have at least shared the same grinder (which can basically make or break any coffee drink, especially espresso). Along with the pressurised basket and a sub-par steaming wand i’m surprised people are complaining she shouldn’t get points for properly pouring the milk (despite the machine not performing adequately for her).That’s also part of a barista’s skillset, not just for aesthetics but as a distinguishing factor between different coffee drinks depending on the milk pour and ratio.

lol 400$ cheap and cheerful 😂

Great vid. As a total amateur, my machine's a Dualit - cost, around £199. It makes one cup at a time. Wish I could do the Froth Art. I don't really understand the various coffee compositions - Macchiato, Flat White etc etc. To me, it's all just Coffee........Water..........milk. Top tip for the day - never fill one of those Napolitano stove top boilers with milk . I did this once and could have blown myself up (slight exaggeration for literary purposes ) there's a built in pressure relief valve that clogs up when the boiling milk solidifies

i owned a cafe/coffee shop in dc for over ten years. i had to train people to be baristas and at times did the job myself. it’s not that hard and doesn’t require much skill. i eventually closed down my business to become a fine furniture maker

I think the video was a fun idea but I think it would have been better putting someone who had some kind of knowledge of making espresso drinks on the expensive vs no experience at all.

You could have at least given he a Breville 920 XEL dual boiler espresso machine-at $1200 it would have been a way better test.

Georgia seemed to be more experienced! Great video.

Nice to see that McCauley Culkin has a chill gig in Australia.

Good machine is just as important as your skill. That being said; it does take some effort to become a good barista, but it takes heck a lot more to be able to casually afford a $30K machine without impacting your finance. Anyone can brush up their espresso making over the weekend or during their daily morning and noon caffeine run as long as they have a $30K machine in their kitchen, but you can't just make extra $30K post-tax during 15mins session here and there. lol

I recon Josh would get a same or even maybe even a better score on the cheaper machine. I also think would be way more interesting seeing two pros one moderate to expensive machines like wega against la marzocco to show diminishing returns. Equipment is nice but experience trups it, video shows that nicely. Lastly I don't think the should do the poor themselves as it makes the blind part of the test pointless as presentation obv gives away who made the shot and biase could become a problem

Congrats on the Delano partnership. I use delano coffee in my cafe :)

No cafes in Melbourne could touch my turbo shots made at home. Single origin light/med roast 21g in and extracted in 18sec with an 58g yield. Heaven.