Sage - The Barista Express - Bean to Cup Coffee Machine with Grinder and Manual Milk Frother - 16 Grind Settings, 15 Bar Pump, PID Temp Control - With Temperature Control Jug, Brushed Stainless Steel

A fine machine. Very well engineered, with superb customer support and two year guarantee. Makes restaurant grade cappuccino. Very quiet and fast. A premium product and worthy of of the investment.

This is a great coffee machine if you want cafe-style drinks at home. It is not a press one button and done machine, so you need to learn a bit, but it is worth it. The built-in grinder works well and the coffee tastes much fresher compared to using pre-ground beans. I noticed a big difference right away. The steam wand is strong and makes nice foam for lattes and cappuccinos. After a few tries, I could make pretty good milk drinks. There is a small learning curve. You need to adjust the grind size and amount, and it helps a lot to use good fresh beans. Once you find the right settings, the coffee turns out very good and consistent. The machine looks great on the counter, especially in the Black Truffle color. It feels solid and well made. Cleaning takes a bit of time because the drip tray fills up fast and the parts need regular wiping, but that seems normal for this type of machine. Overall, I am very happy with it. If you want real espresso at home and do not mind learning a little at the start, this is a very good choice.

This coffee machine really is les testicules de chien. The build quality is a joy to behold. Everything feels so well designed and well constructed; lovely and solid. It feels like a piece of engineering from a bygone age, compared with so much of the flimsy machinery you get nowadays. The instructions are comprehensive, it's easy to care for and clean, and it looks darn smashing on your workshop (while you want to hide ugly machines like microwaves). It's like a nice vintage car or something! Certainly, it takes a bit of faffing and experimentation to get your coffee right and achieve the desired crema, but it's all the more satisfying when you do. Personally, I enjoy the process, the steps, the theatre of it. I enjoy the sound and smell of the grinder, the grumbling of the machine when you switch it on and the deafening hiss of the milk frother. You can of course get machines that do everything for you at the press of a button, but I find this more satisfying that's it's not an instantaneous thing. A little effort (not much) is required. I couldn't justify all those little plastic pods on my conscience, so this machine felt like the right one. Definitely feel we made the right choice with this, and manual tamping is fine and part of the process for me, so I don't consider that a drawback. I also think the digital display of some of the more expensive models ruins the timeless aesthetic, for me anyway. And this from someone who doesn't really love coffee unless it's really nice coffee! Bloody great and very bonnie piece of kit. Definitely good value.

This isn't a one push button instant coffee machine. If that's what you're looking for, click away now. This coffee machine does most of the hard work for you. It will allow you to pour a bag of freshly roasted beans into the grinder and have it dispensed into a cup within a few minutes. There is some manual attention to detail required for best results. This can make awful coffee. This can also make some fabulous coffee. I'm not here to tell you the exact answer, because it's something you will learn through using it. I'm here to tell you that it's entirely possible to learn how to make great coffee within just a few weeks of using it and what I personally discovered. So, what did I learn? 1. Buy fresh beans - no supermarket shelf stuff, not even M&S. It isn't fresh enough and your coffee will taste flat. Waitrose do a few types that have the roast date printed on the bag, if it's within a month, that'll do. 2. The included levelling tool isn't all that precise - I always find that slightly above that mark is actually better 3. The amount of pressure you tamp with has a huge impact on the pressure dial - you have to press quite hard, and ensure the level of coffee still sits high enough, yes you can add more and re-tamp. 4. The best shot comes from the double filter with single skin - the biggest one with the most holes. Learn on this one as the single skin ones cheat a bit. They have a single hole which artificially maintains a set pressure so you can't really mess up. The trick is to learn from the start. The single one is very fiddly and easy to get wrong. 5. Milk frothing is still quite hard for me, I think the best thing to do is get the wand deep in the milk to start with, then froth it when it's hot. Latte art is not as easy as the spotty weekend barista makes it look. Since using this, I don't buy coffee from shops anymore. I prefer my own. You can make whatever drink you want from it, single or double shot cappuccino, latte, frapawhatever. Be as pretentious as you want in the comfort of your own home. It also has a hot water dispenser for the green tea drinkers. Cleaning is a bit of a faff. Tray comes out in three pieces laced with coffee dust and water, but that's the price of fine art I guess. Keep it clean and it will keep making nice drinks. Also run the group head with nothing in it from time to time to clear it out. Changing the filter is absolutely vital if you live in a hard water area. Put it in your phone calendar or something. It's a nice product to have, changing beans keeps things fresh for me. I recommend an online subscription of some sort. I look forward to seeing your results on Instagram.

The wife convinced me to buy this machine because it would be beneficial for all of us :) I never was a big coffee person, but this machine quickly turned me into a coffee enthusiast and I can finally see and taste the difference. I'd like to say first that we bought the black one the first time but upon opening the box we realized the paint was already chipped in a few places so we sent it back. Not what you'd expect from a £600 machine. It might have been a one off, I can't tell because the next time we ordered the silver one. This one has brushed metal part all around unlike the black one with polished metal parts. They both look great and it's hard to say which I like better, but the silver does look a bit more durable when it comes to the paint. As I mentioned the machine is beautiful even to me and luckily it doesn't actually take that much countertop space. Putting it together was easy enough. This machine is pretty much complete and you should feel like you need to spend extra on gadgets. There is the coffee grinder, the steam wand, and of course the handle with 4 different portafilters. There are 2 single and 2 double sizes one for freshly ground coffee and one for ground coffee. I didn't think there was a difference but there is. There is the tamper which magnetically attaches to the machine. That's super handy. And there is the razor, which is a leveller, once you tamped your coffee you can use this to get any excess coffee out of the portafilter before brewing. But after we got the hang of it we rarely use it but it was helpful the first few times to help as learn just how much force to use when tamping. Oh and also the milk jug! It's got a thermometer on it's outside. It's quite accurate too. Of course you can always buy a nice analogue one that will be better, but it's more than enough to start you off! I really like the controls, everything is well placed and straightforward to use. The buttons are all lit with a nice white light which gives it a very upmarket look. The dial in the middle is a proper pressure gauge no digital screen anywhere to be seen, it actually looks so much better than the more expensive digital ones. Using it is easy. As I said before I never was much into coffees but my mrs used to work in a few coffee shops and learned the trade so she is quite picky when it comes to coffee. Of course it's not going to be as good as the ones used in coffee shops but if you want a mean espresso and don't want to leave the house this does a great job. Even though it's a single boiler one (meaning you can't steam and pull a shot at the same time) it's quite fast anyway and it takes me about 8 minutes to make two coffees in the morning. Things we didn't like that much are the steam wand...it first seemed a bit on the short side, but that seems to be the case with all the machines available to the public and only the real professional ones have longer ones. However we got used to this pretty quickly. Another issue we have and this is a bit concerning is the knob on the right side, this is to control the steamer. It can be turned left or right or kept in the middle. The middle option is off. Turn it right and you can draw hot water. Turn it left and it starts the steamer. Turning this knob is quite the job though. It feels very hard and sometimes it's a real struggle to turn the thing off and it's only 2 months old. It was fine only for a few days after it's like that. However it doesn't seem to get any worse so fingers crossed. We were so impressed with the machine we decided to buy another one for the office, this time went for the black one again as it was on sale. No problem with the chipped paint this time around. The steamer knob however seems to be a lot better though so again...a bit concerned for the silver one in this regard as it's quite hard to turn. All in all great machine which is quite easy to learn even for a complete starter like myself. QC is a bit so so with the chipped paint and dodgy knob though.

The Sage Barista Express promises café-quality coffee from the comfort of your own kitchen, and for the most part, it delivers. This machine simplifies the bean-to-cup experience, with an integrated grinder and milk frother that allow you to create barista-style beverages with ease. The built-in grinder is a good one. It grinds beans directly into the portafilter, ensuring maximum freshness and flavor. I was impressed by the difference in taste compared to pre-ground coffee. However, it's crucial to use high-quality, freshly roasted beans to achieve optimal results. Dialing in the settings can be tricky with stale or low-quality beans. The control is surprisingly user-friendly. The buttons are logically arranged. The steam wand produces good microfoam, perfect for creating latte art and cappuccinos. Drip Tray Capacity: The drip tray is quite small and fills up quickly, requiring frequent emptying. Clarity of Instructions: While the machine itself is relatively intuitive, the provided instructions could be more detailed, especially when it comes to adjusting the settings for water temperature, cleaning and descaling. The Sage Barista Express is a good investment for coffee enthusiasts who want to elevate their home brewing experience. It delivers good coffee with the convenience of an all-in-one machine. While there's a slight learning curve, especially when it comes to dialing in the settings and mastering the milk frother, the results are rewarding. Just remember to invest in quality beans and be prepared to experiment with the settings to achieve your perfect cup.

I work as a barista, so I am familiar with all sorts of coffee machines professionally and at-home. I had been saving up for a Sage machine for a while, and after purchasing this one, I can say it was definitely worth the price paid. Functionality is excellent, easy to follow, and if you're very keen you can find some videos online to help dial in the grind function as best as possible. I would recommend a separate grinder, however the one built into this machine works great if you fiddle with it a bit and aren't fussed about super-specific grinding. Steam wand is decent for a home machine, although it has only one hole, you can still get some good milk texturing out of it if you take some time to work with this specific machine. As someone who enjoys both milk-based drinks and simple espresso, I've had no issue with extraction and getting great-tasting drinks. I purchased the black version, and I have to say I prefer it to the silver one. It's quite easy to keep clean and splattering isn't as visible. The only thing I would say that is a downside of this machine, is that the instructions are a bit too basic. If you're not experienced at using either more complex home machines or professional-grade machines, you may want to look online for more in-depth guides to put together and use the machine. Otherwise, the product itself is excellent and well worth the money.

The perfect coffee out of the box. I've got one and now my dad has one. I'm a regular coffee drinker and when my dad had one of my coffees he was blown away and this guy loves a dozen cups a day so he was well pleased he had to get one too. I have the black gloss edition and he has the truffle edition now. I gave him a pack of my beans and straight away brewing coffee like a batista. For a 78 year old it was easy as 1...2...3. Fits perfect in his kitchen with his colour scheme. I did adjust his temperature for a coffee from the default to the max so he gets the most out of a brew. No doubt now I'll be getting him a leveler/tamper and metal screen for Christmas and maybe a gram scale for his machine. # update. Some of the paint at the front of the machine has came off and exposed the metal after just 1 week of use. I don't know if it's a known issue or the fact that my dad uses glass mugs under his portafilter or the fact that he always has hold of a coffee. We have hard water and kettles don't last long at all but having the filter in the machine would eradicate lime scale or lime deposits on the machine or in the coffee.