Sage the Barista Express Espresso Machine, Bean to Cup Coffee Machine with Milk Frother, BES875BKS - Black Sesame

Are you a coffe lover, enthusiast barrista... Some people will call us coffe snobs, but no no no. We are coffe lovers, latter artists, and this is our bible.Shortlisted to BE as I have a small household, me and my oh, I went for this model instead of dual boiler.There are some companies witch for a yearly coffe subscription will offer you be or other similar sage machines, or the one witch always sell it for a low price is costco; offers are usually advertised on specialised chats, this is how my oh find the offer and messaged me, the next thing was me ordering it... Price was around £400 witch is a bargain... Also during first lockdown sage had a small offer of 50% off the entire range for keyworker... My oh is a nurse but of course the offer went out so fast.So we got it, in the black variant, witch we don't mind, build quality is superb, it comes in proper packaging... Amazon takes extra precautions so you will get a special code for delivery; all materials are of a high quality, and really easy to use.Starter manual is simple and has plenty of images.Razor is a good tool, but you will use it for the first week or so as you'll get plenty of experience to know what it is a good amount of coffe.At the first time with my machine order I did order a small kitchen scale. So I am more accurate on our dosage then using the razor.Tamper looks nice black in our case, of a good quality, but as general rule you have to use approx 2kg force, so we gone for a dedicated one.On the sage lovers chat there are plenty of people sharing 3d mould drawings for the portafilter funnel, this is a common issue as you will end do a lot of spillage/mess, we just order one from the group, works just fine.Coffe coffe coffe beansWe are fans of Italian style pellini lavazzaIs all about the personal taste,Amazon sells large packs 1kg £12-15, or small ones 250g.The grinder has capacity of 250g,but we roast the beans on the spot so our grinder always stays empty.General rule is 1:2, usually for 18g of beans, you should get 36-40g of liquid for a double shot at around half minute max 32sec.First 5 6 sec there will be nothing pouring down as the machine is doing a pre infusion, also the clock should be in the espresso range more towards the end, but depends on the settings and coffe freshness/type.The grind should start from 6 and increase in order to be in the region of 30sec. This will take some time until you will smash the coffe beans and will differ, a good idea is to try different try taste packages.Try to use independent roasters and local if possible, as fresh coffe is the secret, 2 weeks fresh is generally the norm.We use rave atm as they are based in Gloucestershire near to us in Cotswolds, but we might change it...Water tank has aprox 2.5l capacity, well we are using bottled water as our tap is really hard, also watch the tank not to go under the minimum as it will damage the waterpump really easy as it's struggle on dry. Descale should be done after 60days or 30l of water witchever comes first.Also the tray in front will collect water as the machine is turned on it has some quick cleaning infusion tests, so every other day depending on how often you use the machine, check the tray and empty it.Sage also offer tutorials on how to use the machine, and develop your latte art, it is really useful and I highly recommend joining them, also they offer some 25% discount code from their website if you will attend their classes.Amazon has really good support, in my packaging we was missing the milk frothing jug, after we contacted customer service they refund us as a gift card,Finally if you love coffe. Buy it, enjoy it,Also useful to buy will beFresh roasted beans.scale, timer, remote starter, strong tamper, knock box and if you like syrups, also porcelain cups and double wall glasses.The rest is your practice and imagination, enjoy it and thanks for reading my review.

This was my first REAL espresso machine and after 2 months of scouring the internet, Reading reviews and taking advice from dozens of friends who have had various other machines including. I decided to take the punt, and buy it my girlfriend as a present.(She could be the guinea pig).Note.It’s super simple to use. Has very Clear instructions and makes incredible coffee.Water filling is a sinch. And it looks fantastic.Easy to clean. Has a spill tray that catches the stray drops well.I would make sure you have place near by to dispense of the spent coffee after making each couple of cups.The grinding of the coffee beans is super easy but you need to practice to get the right grind. I wish the bags of beans came with directions as I went through half a bag experimenting with different levels of fine grinds. It’s incredible how you grind the coffee makes a huge difference to how it tastes and filters.Eventually bought some ore ground Lavazza (which is delicious coffee) used that to check the consistency and flavour then ground the beans to the match and amazingly it worked.All lavazza coffee with the espresso or all machines icons on the front work fine and is the easiest way to get quick delicious coffee.I feel like a pro barista having never made anything other than an instant before!This machine literally does everything for you. Well apart from those fancy little pictures on the top. No clue how they do them, but I will learn!What my coffee machine owning friends said.“The steamer is by far the most superior. It’s as good as the ones that are up at commercial level that are over £990+“They were bang on. Literally made perfect latte first time ever trying!!!One friend who is a professional coffee buyer for costa said she would not recommend anything else. It may be £200 more than most but trust me, you save nothing buying the cheaper machines as you never get a decent cup out of them! Buy once and Sage money!I noticed there’s an identical version from Breville in Europe. Not sure if it’s same brand just called something different over there.