Just after Christmas, we finally welcomed a new addition to the family; the Sage Barista Express. And after 3 months of trialling it, I figured a simple and straight forward review was finally needed for all my fellow coffee lovers.
What is the Sage Barista Express?
Designed by Heston Blumenthal, the Sage Barista Express is a semi-automatic espresso machine with a built-in grinder. Some people argue that the machine itself isn’t a straight-forward bean to cup process, but with a fresh cup of coffee served in just under 1 minute, I can’t help but disagree.
As far as coffee production goes, everything is pretty manual from the first touch of a button. As the owner of the machine, you’re in charge of choosing the right portafilter basket, how much ground coffee you wish to have and how fine you want the grind to be – as well as being in charge for tamping and brewing your own coffee! But don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it sounds.
Using either beans or pre-grounded beans, the conical burr grinder allows for efficient grinding at a high speed. With 15 grind settings, you can freely choose how coarse or fine you have your beans. A feature we played around with a lot during our first few weeks of owning the machine.
The bean hopper itself holds up to 250 grams worth of beans – that’s roughly 25 shots – while the water tank can carry 2 litres of water with integrated water filtration. FYI, we find 2 litres of water makes roughly 3 cups of coffee. So yeah, it can be a bit of a nuisance filling the tank if you have 3 or more cups a day but I can think of a worse problem to have.
The design of the Sage Barista Express
Aesthetics wise, the barista express is a beauty to the eye. And although it looks like a pretty hefty bit of machinery, it’s got quite a small footprint for both an espresso machine and grinder.
Measurement wise, the machine comes in at just 32cm wide and just under 41cm tall. Luckily, it fitted in perfectly on our kitchen top. Snug as a bug.
Included with the machine are 4 portafilter baskets – 2 pressurised and 2 non-pressurised. All of the baskets can be neatly stored away under the drip tray for handy storage.
Also included is the stainless steel milk frothing jug. The jug has a built-in temperature guide to help you get the perfect temperature. So if you’re a milky coffee kinda lover, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by this addition.
In my opinion, the Barista Express has been designed with both style and ease in mind. Even down to the small details such as the ‘fill me’ sign that pops up when the drip tray needs emptying to the tamper which slots magnetically in place and out of the way.
It’s clear that Sage has spent a long time going into detail and perfecting the machine itself – which is nice to know when you’ve spent over £300 on a piece of machinery, right? Click here for the current John Lewis price.
Using the Barista Express – 3 months later
It’s been just over 3 months since Doug binned the Dolce Gusto and treated us with the Barista Express (which he snubbed on offer during the New Year sales) and honestly, we’ve loved using it every day. Twice a day, to be specific.
Seeing as we’ve used the machine every day since we’ve had it, I can easily say that it’s a cracking lil’ piece of kit and I can’t believe how quickly it’s changed our love and taste for coffee.
Gone are the days where we’ll opt for instant coffee, that’s for sure.
I think it’s pretty safe to say that Doug did more research on the machine than I did. Come to think of it, I did none. So when we finally got to use the machine in the first few days, I was impressed at how easy it was to understand.
The Barista Express heats up really quickly (you’ve gotta give it a couple of minutes after turning it on) and once it’s ready to go, it’s as easy as ABC.
Simply grind your beans to your preference, tamper, pop the portafilter in the attachment, choose your shot (one or two), then brew your coffee. Which by the way, takes less than 20 seconds.
Once your coffee is brewed you can then personalise it to however you want. I personally like mine black, but you’ve also got the option to steam your choice of milk.
To put it simply, the machine is a really clever piece of kit. It’s well thought out, performs extremely well (just like a barista machine in a coffee shop) and in our opinion, well worth the money.
While the price may seem a little steep for some, we certainly believe that it’s an investment for everyday enjoyment. And actually, for the price, you get to have your personal barista set up in the comfort of your own home – professional coffee snob or not. In our opinion, the price reflects the quality and ease of the machine.
My only criticism
If I had to pick out my one and only hang-up about the Sage Barista Express, then it would be the steamer. Not because I’m a novice and find it frustrating to understand the art of steaming milk (I worked as a Barista during my time at Uni, I’ll have you know), but because of how slow the wand takes to heat up the milk.
Don’t get me wrong, the Barista Express is perfect for people who are learning to properly texture milk and pour latte art, but if you’re a professional when it comes to steaming milk, you’ll probably find this machine a little frustrating.
But hey, if you’ve got the time, then this is the machine to practise with. Truthfully though, Doug and I have only used the steam wand a handful of times because we’re both black coffee drinkers.
Grinding coffee with the Sage Barista Express
While I’m no pro, I’m pretty certain that the Barista Express is the ideal machine for those who are willing to find their perfect bean and then stick with it rather than switching and swapping between various ones.
I say that because when we were taste testing a variety of beans on our mission to pick our favourite match in the first few weeks, we struggled to find a perfect dial for each bean. Meaning we couldn’t get the flow rate slow enough and in turn, had one too many cups of coffee with poor extraction.
To get the right extraction, you need to be able to achieve your desired yield within a certain time and believe me, this takes a bit of practice – even more so when you’re constantly using a variety of different beans.
Note: other users of the Barista Express have mentioned that you may struggle with grinding certain beans, especially lighter roasts.
It took us a couple of taste tests to find our perfect bean (and a couple of poor extractions as mentioned above), but since then, we’ve had pretty perfect extractions and dare I say it, the best cups of coffee.
Speaking of coffee, I can’t not talk about the beans we’ve totally fallen in love with…
Josie’s Bishops Waltham – House Blend
If you’ve read my previous review of Josie’s, then you’ll know that Josie’s is one of our favourite spots for brunch. In fact, when I’m often asked for local brunch recommendations, Josie’s is always top of my list.
So when they announced a couple of months ago that they were launching their own house blend, I jumped for joy. Quite literally.
Their house blend consists of Colombian, Brazilian and El Salvador and boasts a beautifully smooth and silky texture with high notes and complexity and is finished with a slightly strong, but delicate note of cocoa.
While I’m no expert at describing the profiles of certain coffee’s, I do know that out of the 4 bags of beans we tried, Josie’s house blend was and still is our favourite.
Brewing coffee with the Sage Barista Express
Once you’ve grounded your coffee on the left-hand side of the machine, you’ll then move onto the right side to brew it.
You have the option for either a double or single shot and once you’ve hit the button, the machine gets to work with its pre-infusion process. This allows the beans to expand and open up a little before the high-pressure releases all of the flavours.
Once you’ve brewed your coffee (which takes around 20 seconds) and seen how much you’ve nailed the pressure (or not), you’re then ready to finish your coffee with hot boiling water or frothy milk – the choice is yours.
One thing I will say though about the hot water dispenser: it can be a little slow but it’s something we’ve gotten used to.
Overall, we both love how easy the brewing process is thanks to the touch of the button.
And there we have it. A wonderful lil’ machine suitable for any coffee lover who’s doesn’t mind spending just over a minute to brew their perfect cup of coffee (and a couple of hundred too – can’t forget that!).
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