Sage Barista Express Stainless Steel

Oh how happy I am with this purchase! It's not a bargain, but then you also have something. I've had this machine for a week now and I'm very happy with it so far. Always a small party to go through the coffee ritual, to sniff the smell of freshly ground coffee and to drink the pleasure of a delicious creamy cappuccino. You always imagine yourself in an Italian coffee bar and I have never succeeded with that with previous espresso machines for home (from fully manual to fully automatic).

1. Taste experience First of all, the quality of the coffee - so far only cappuccinos have been made, and they are really top notch. The temperature of the coffee is good, the taste of the coffee is fine (setting takes time, more about that in a moment), and the milk frother gives really fantastic milk foam, of exactly the right substance: creamy milk foam that just flows, therefore slightly mixed with the coffee and therefore does not remain on top of the coffee. Because I consider the latter to be sacrilege and yes, it is very precise :-)
2. Ease of use or better: the pleasure of the daily coffee ritual This is really a machine for people who like to experiment themselves to get the best coffee. This machine makes perfect coffee, provided you give it love and, above all, some attention. Are you used to a fully automatic machine, do you opt for convenience or do you always have too little time, then leave this machine alone. You can determine the quality of the coffee yourself thanks to the accurately adjustable grinding degree (coarse>fine) in combination with the exact amount of coffee to be dosed per portion (which is automatically deposited in the portafilter, works perfectly) and of course the quality of the coffee beans. . Too much and too finely ground coffee: then the extraction pressure is too great and the coffee becomes dark and bitter. Too little, too coarsely ground coffee: then the pressure is too low and the coffee becomes watery and weak. You have to try it per bean type and if you are exactly in between, then the coffee is nice and spicy and tasteful, not bitter and the crema layer is perfect. That really takes some searching and the settings are different for each type of bean. But once you're up and running, you can safely do without the buttons and get a consistently great cup of espresso every time. Frothing milk also requires some practice, but the device builds up a lot of pressure very quickly, making foaming quick and relatively easy. If you enjoy it, that barista ritual is wonderful to do: grind coffee (just the smell), tamp it with the supplied tamper (which can be used separately but can also be clicked into the machine - magnetically! ), slowly froth the milk, make espresso (the amount of coffee is also adjustable), watch the pressure gauge read out, preferably vertically upwards, and finish the whole thing by 'shaking' the milk and with a graceful movement with the espresso to donate. The machine is not super quiet but compared to my previous machine (a beautiful but unreliable Ascaso Dream) it is a very acceptable noise level.
3. Cleaning and Maintenance When grinding, the grinder always deposits some coffee on the edge of the portafilter, which then falls on the drip tray when you remove it from the holder. In addition, the drip tray is quickly full. The construction of the drip tray is solid but somewhat complex with loose parts with nooks and crannies, so taking this entire drip unit out and cleaning it under the tap is a daily job. You have a lot less trouble with a fully automatic machine. Long-term maintenance and descaling has not yet been discussed, but can become a make or break point if it turns out that the quality of the coffee and/or milk foam is not consistent in the long run or requires very regular and extensive cleaning. We'll see, and as said, this is not a machine for people who are always in a hurry.
4. Design and build quality A compact, attractive machine on the counter, which has clearly been well thought out. The solid design in combination with the stainless steel finish gives it a robust character, and the plastic parts such as the drip tray and the water reservoir (contrary to what some reviews say about this) also feel solid. The device is equipped with large push buttons that are lit a bit very bright white in my opinion, that could have been a bit more subtle.

OVERALL: an absolute must for lovers of really tasty Italian coffees, and of the ritual that goes with it. Give this machine some love and attention every day and it will reward you with a fantastic cappuccino, latte machiato or espresso and everything in between.

This is going to be a mixed review. I have been using this type for about 10 years now, this is the second device, the design has changed in points. Those changes are clearly improvements. The first device lasted about 7 years. You can make good coffee with it. An advantage of the manual steps is that you clean all parts properly every time and you notice that in the taste. As far as I'm concerned, this is a step better than most fully automatic machines.

The pressure gauge gives you a good indication of whether the brewing process is proceeding properly. Nothing but praise for the coffee making and general use.

It is a beautiful machine, it is easy to clean, in my opinion that is a lot better than most plastic devices. Not everything that looks metal is stainless steel, by the way. The stainless steel is a sheet of metal bent over plastic.

The device must stop itself when enough water has passed through the brewing head. That works in the beginning, then sometimes, later very sometimes. You can press the button yourself when the right amount of coffee has been made, so that's not really a big issue.

There is a silicone ring in the holder of the incubator. You have to replace it approximately annually, or more often if someone is too rude with the filter holder.

The old version had a cast metal bottom, which oxidized horribly. The current generation no longer suffers from that.

If you open the device (in the event of a malfunction), it is a bit of a shock. The internal structure is chaotic and troubleshooting is therefore time-consuming. Electricity (230V) and open contacts and water pipes are close together. That could be a lot neater. If a pipe leaks now, I can well imagine that it will become critical. It is typically a device that has been assembled in China, where an hour of labor does not matter much. The device is assembled with self-tapping screws.

Now after 2.5 years the second device is broken. Total cost for repair 300 euros.

With some practice you can make delicious coffee or espresso. The device is easy to use, but very loud. Within a year, the device started to leak despite regular cleaning and replacement of rubber gaskets