Sage Barista Express

Damo 2k9 · 19-10-2020 2:56pm

Your doing well there then!

I have had to go as low as 1 on my Barista Express to get decent extraction.

skerry · 19-10-2020 3:07pm

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

Your doing well there then!

I have had to go as low as 1 on my Barista Express to get decent extraction.

I find the same. Have beans in there from a local roaster so only a couple of weeks old and have it dialed to 2 to get a decent shot. Needle just past espresso range with a decent tamp and about 24 seconds shot. I've tried tinkering to get longer extraction but I end up with too high a pressure and a bitter shot

Damo 2k9 · 19-10-2020 4:09pm

skerry wrote: »

I find the same. Have beans in there from a local roaster so only a couple of weeks old and have it dialed to 2 to get a decent shot. Needle just past espresso range with a decent tamp and about 24 seconds shot. I've tried tinkering to get longer extraction but I end up with too high a pressure and a bitter shot

Using 3fe beans roasted on the 13th, only opened yesterday. 18g in, grind dial @ 3, decent tamp and getting about 27 seconds for 36/37g which is not bad.

The Hound Gone Wild · 19-10-2020 9:09pm

keith_d99 wrote: »

15 is Coarser yep ... 16 is the highest!

Have it up to 15 now ... get getting an extraction time of just over 25 seconds.
The dose seems just right also. Used that skimming tool to ensure I wasn't overfilling the portafilter.

Tasting ok ... just a rather bland bean I think. :rolleyes:

I found that bean to be hyper dense. The grounds took up a massive volume in the portafilter. I think I had the dose down around 15g and a grind of 3-4 before I had anything drinkable.

ED E · 20-10-2020 7:12pm

Fair few comments online saying the grind volume(time) setting is wildly inaccurate. Do we agree?

The problem with coffee is its hard to tell good advice from the zeal of the coffee nazis that would piss on the grave of anyone who doesnt meet their standards.

Damo 2k9 · 20-10-2020 9:23pm

ED E wrote: »

Fair few comments online saying the grind volume(time) setting is wildly inaccurate. Do we agree?

The problem with coffee is its hard to tell good advice from the zeal of the coffee nazis that would piss on the grave of anyone who doesnt meet their standards.

I don't leave the hopper full, I single dose so that I know each shot I pull I have 18/18.5g in (- a tiny bit of retention). One of the reasons being (bean?.. :pac: ) that I have also heard the same

Jnealon · 06-11-2020 9:19am

On offer for £399, here

ExMachina1000 · 06-11-2020 10:39am

ED E wrote: »

Fair few comments online saying the grind volume(time) setting is wildly inaccurate. Do we agree?

The problem with coffee is its hard to tell good advice from the zeal of the coffee nazis that would piss on the grave of anyone who doesnt meet their standards.

Could always leave the hopper empty, place a cup on a weighing scale, pour in beans into cup until desired weight achieved and then pour into hopper and use manual grind function until hopper empties.

Colonel Claptrap · 06-11-2020 10:45am

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

Could always leave the hopper empty, place a cup on a weighing scale, pour in beans into cup until desired weight achieved and then pour into hopper and use manual grind function until hopper empties.

That's what I do. 18g in. 18g out.

dubstepper · 06-11-2020 12:19pm

I have found no major issues with grind volume. At finer settings the double shot is correct however at courser settings the standard double shot produces too much to fit. Not sure of the physics, but perhaps the coarse grind just takes more space. If I need a courser grind then I just changed the setting to one less on the amount. Works fine for me. I'm not pissing about with scales

Curious Geroge · 06-11-2020 12:25pm

Any issues with the water filters that are mentioned on the amazon reviews ? Hard to find, £14 a pop every 3 months etc.. would be good to hear from someone who's actively using one of these.

fits · 06-11-2020 12:58pm

Jnealon wrote: »

On offer for £399, here

Thanks. I made the leap

Damo 2k9 · 06-11-2020 1:06pm

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

Could always leave the hopper empty, place a cup on a weighing scale, pour in beans into cup until desired weight achieved and then pour into hopper and use manual grind function until hopper empties.

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

That's what I do. 18g in. 18g out.

I use these and place 18/18.5g in them. When im making a coffee, I just empty one of these into the hopper and grind until empty. There is better jars such as these that may work too.

keith_d99 · 06-11-2020 1:20pm

I haven't used scales cause I haven't got one!

..... But I'd imagine they are handy for dialling in a new bean?

The weight is the one constant that shouldn't change .. oh and tamp pressure

Without the scales I just just go on having enough grind so that after tamping there is slight gap at the top of the portafilter. Before tamping it's piled high with a little spillage.

Have never had the grind settings lower than 8 (?!) .. any lower and the shots take way too long to pull.

At 8 ... shots that take about 25-30 seconds, needle is at 12 O'Clockish and there's a decent flow.

bamayang · 06-11-2020 1:35pm

fits wrote: »

Thanks. I made the leap

Is this only available to prime customers?

fits · 06-11-2020 4:14pm

bamayang wrote: »

Is this only available to prime customers?

Im not a prime customer.

Damo 2k9 · 06-11-2020 5:00pm

Deal seems to have ended now.

DaveyDave · 06-11-2020 6:16pm

keith_d99 wrote: »

I haven't used scales cause I haven't got one! ..... But I'd imagine they are handy for dialling in a new bean?

The weight is the one constant that shouldn't change .. oh and tamp pressure

Without the scales I just just go on having enough grind so that after tamping there is slight gap at the top of the portafilter. Before tamping it's piled high with a little spillage.

Have never had the grind settings lower than 8 (?!) .. any lower and the shots take way too long to pull.

At 8 ... shots that take about 25-30 seconds, needle is at 12 O'Clockish and there's a decent flow.

I got a fresh bag of Badger & Dodo, I'll start all over again with the scales and out 18g in but I was at 1 on the internal burr and 2 on the diall and still bitter. Extraction time was slower but just barely. Going to 1 seems to choke it.

fits · 06-11-2020 9:58pm

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

Deal seems to have ended now.

Glad I grabbed it while I could now.

DaveyDave · 09-11-2020 9:52am

How often should I be descaling the machine if I have hard water? If it's expensive to repair or parts are difficult to get I want to make sure I maintain it for a long lifespan.

Squidgy Black · 09-11-2020 1:17pm

DaveyDave wrote: »

How often should I be descaling the machine if I have hard water? If it's expensive to repair or parts are difficult to get I want to make sure I maintain it for a long lifespan.

Depends on how hard it is, but I know Breville/Sage recommend once a month, which is likely overkill. You could probably get away with once every couple if you're regularly backflushing and cleaning the shower screen.

Believe there's a cleaning light indicator that lights up solid when the machine says it needs to be descaled, but I wouldn't be too reliant on it.

CWF · 17-11-2020 12:06pm

Do people think this will drop to £350 for Black Friday? Looks like that's what it was last year on CamelCamelCamel

dubstepper · 17-11-2020 12:13pm

CWF wrote: »

Do people think this will drop to £350 for Black Friday? Looks like that's what it was last year on CamelCamelCamel

I bought mine around black friday last year. From memory it was around that price a week or so before. Then went back up to around 390 for black friday. I was raging. I waited another week and it went back down. Moral of the story is that black friday will not always be cheapest. If you see the price you, want go for it.

CWF · 17-11-2020 12:35pm

dubstepper wrote: »

I bought mine around black friday last year. From memory it was around that price a week or so before. Then went back up to around 390 for black friday. I was raging. I waited another week and it went back down. Moral of the story is that black friday will not always be cheapest. If you see the price you, want go for it.

Yeah it think it went to £365 on Amazon, couldn't see DID or Harvey Norman. matching that

dubstepper · 17-11-2020 1:51pm

I did a good bit of research and DID or HN never came close.

alec76 · 17-11-2020 3:07pm

This year Black Friday would be different to the last year
IMHO . Huge demand on coffee gear due to COVID 19.

CWF · 17-11-2020 3:17pm

alec76 wrote: »

This year Black Friday would be different to the last year
IMHO . Huge demand on coffee gear due to COVID 19.

Yeah that's true I never thought of that, so you think there could be less sales?

DaveyDave · 17-11-2020 4:21pm

Brought the internal burr back to 5, pulling shots far too quick and the grind was like sand. Going from 6-7 on the dial to 1 made no difference, same with internal burr 4. Think I'll go straight to 2 and see what's what.

I still think something is off that I need to be 1 with the internal burr and 1-2 on the dial. Every video I watch is 4-5 on the internal bur and might need to bring the dial down to 4-5.

Internal burr on 5, the lowest grind settings was giving me nearly 30g of coffee!

FileNotFound · 19-11-2020 12:06pm

DaveyDave wrote: »

How often should I be descaling the machine if I have hard water? If it's expensive to repair or parts are difficult to get I want to make sure I maintain it for a long lifespan.

I'd say all the time, can just buy the equivalent descaler any time on amazon for cheap so why not.

Having heard the nightmares re fixing these and the fact scale makes your coffee poor - really you should be filtering your water before adding to the tank. Otherwise your machine will be knackered in no time.

On the extraction front - I had loads of issues until i got the right beans - for a cheap test try (Slumber jack from supervalu - look for bags with best expiry - 6.99 for 500g) - they should give decent pressure with a 9 grind, dose set to 2 beyond the half way mark and solid tamp.

FileNotFound · 19-11-2020 12:13pm

Anyone found big improvements on adjusting the volume/weight out.

The BE seems to focus on giving 60ml (well closer to 60g) espresso for about 18g of beans. Yet all over online the 1:2 or 1:3 seems to be the obsession.

Have the grind, tamp etc giving me perfect pressure on a few coffee types. But just wondering what the negative effect is on running too much water through it.

If nobody has any info might just give it a whirl and write off a bag of beans

CWF · 19-11-2020 8:35pm

The Black Sesame version is €499 on Velo.ie
However I have heard that it chips easily when compared to stainless steel? Anyone have the black sesame that can offer their experience?

SneakyDoyle · 19-11-2020 8:53pm

CWF wrote: »

The Black Sesame version is €499 on Velo.ie
However I have heard that it chips easily when compared to stainless steel? Anyone have the black sesame that can offer their experience?

Just pulled the trigger on this. Saw them side by side in HN the other day and preferred the black finish. Quality seemed excellent, hope it holds up well!

mad m · 19-11-2020 10:11pm

Ditto with Cloud Picker.

https://cloudpickercoffee.ie/collections/espresso-at-home/products/sage-barista-express

CWF · 19-11-2020 11:14pm

SneakyDoyle wrote: »

Just pulled the trigger on this. Saw them side by side in HN the other day and preferred the black finish. Quality seemed excellent, hope it holds up well!

Nice one. You don't waste time. I'm hoping it drops to at least 400 pounds on amazon.

SneakyDoyle · 19-11-2020 11:29pm

CWF wrote: »

Nice one. You don't waste time. I'm hoping it drops to at least 400 pounds on amazon.

I thought about waiting until good Friday, but the lowest it's ever been was around £360 I think. I can't imagine it will drop that much given the current demand. If it did I'd be a little bit sick but I'm happy to pay a few extra quid to shop Irish!

Best of luck hope you get your hands on one!

CWF · 19-11-2020 11:53pm

SneakyDoyle wrote: »

I thought about waiting until good Friday, but the lowest it's ever been was around £360 I think. I can't imagine it will drop that much given the current demand. If it did I'd be a little bit sick but I'm happy to pay a few extra quid to shop Irish!

Best of luck hope you get your hands on one!

Yeah I was thinking the same about shopping Irish, good on you. Cheers. Enjoy the machine

Marty Bird · 20-11-2020 12:31am

CWF wrote: »

Nice one. You don't waste time. I'm hoping it drops to at least 400 pounds on amazon.

When do you think that may happen Black Friday ?

ExMachina1000 · 20-11-2020 12:34am

FileNotFound wrote: »

Anyone found big improvements on adjusting the volume/weight out.

The BE seems to focus on giving 60ml (well closer to 60g) espresso for about 18g of beans. Yet all over online the 1:2 or 1:3 seems to be the obsession.

Have the grind, tamp etc giving me perfect pressure on a few coffee types. But just wondering what the negative effect is on running too much water through it.

If nobody has any info might just give it a whirl and write off a bag of beans

Not sure if you know but it is possible to program the shot pour amount and to adjust the boiler temperature in +/- 2 degrees increments.

It's in the manual

CWF · 20-11-2020 8:18am

Marty Bird wrote: »

When do you think that may happen Black Friday ?

Yeah that's the hope

DilD · 20-11-2020 2:19pm

SneakyDoyle wrote: »

I thought about waiting until good Friday, but the lowest it's ever been was around £360 I think. I can't imagine it will drop that much given the current demand. If it did I'd be a little bit sick but I'm happy to pay a few extra quid to shop Irish!

Best of luck hope you get your hands on one!

You'll be waiting a while for Good Friday to come around

I was thinking the same though, wonder what deals will be on Black Friday, I'd imagine with shops closed all over the world there should be some very good online offers this year...

SneakyDoyle · 20-11-2020 4:33pm

DilD wrote: »

You'll be waiting a while for Good Friday to come around

I was thinking the same though, wonder what deals will be on Black Friday, I'd imagine with shops closed all over the world there should be some very good online offers this year...

DOH! Good spot. Yeah there might be some good deals to be had! I'm happy to pay a little more to buy Irish like I said. Got a personal email today thanking me for the business, obviously means a lot to them in these times!

Can't see them going any lower than 400 pounds given the demand for them at the minute anyway.

fits · 20-11-2020 4:41pm

Mine arrived today. Stowed until Christmas Day. Can’t wait to use it!

CWF · 20-11-2020 5:11pm

fits wrote: »

Mine arrived today. Stowed until Christmas Day. Can’t wait to use it!

Nice one. Where'd you get it? Stainless version?

fits · 20-11-2020 5:39pm

CWF wrote: »

Nice one. Where'd you get it? Stainless version?

No the black truffle went down to £399 a couple of weeks ago. Offer was posted in this thread but only available a short time. Anyway I went for it. Was 448 euro on Cc.

dubstepper · 20-11-2020 6:16pm

SneakyDoyle wrote: »

I thought about waiting until good Friday, but the lowest it's ever been was around £360 I think. I can't imagine it will drop that much given the current demand. If it did I'd be a little bit sick but I'm happy to pay a few extra quid to shop Irish!

Best of luck hope you get your hands on one!

As I mentioned above, it was a good price week or so out from Black Friday and I waited. It went up by £30 on black friday, but was still cheaper than everywhere else. I waited a couple of weeks and it came back down again.

FileNotFound · 23-11-2020 12:34pm

DilD wrote: »

You'll be waiting a while for Good Friday to come around

I was thinking the same though, wonder what deals will be on Black Friday, I'd imagine with shops closed all over the world there should be some very good online offers this year...

Last few years only seen 30 quid of the Barrista Express - sells too well i suppose

Have seen some of the Breville machines (seems sage name is dead as breville brand showing on same machines now in curries) on sale. As they're the same don't worry about focusing on the sage name.

23-11-2020 1:28pm

Anyone got any tips for me, Im using the express and usually turn it on for bout 10 minutes before using to allow heat up.
All is well untill it comes to steaming the milk. Originally I was placing the wand tip at the top of the milk for about 20/25 seconds and was happy with the microfoam ect, but the past week something seems up with it.

I could leave the wand at the tip for 40/50 seconds before dropping to heat up (which also seems to be taking an age all of a sudden) and I'm still getiing a watery texture on the milk. If you try to make a second latte after the first then it tends to be even worse.

The machine in only a few weeks old, always clean and purge the wand ect and no issue with the actual steam coming out, Im wondering if its something boiler related or if its actually the norm for everyone else?

alec76 · 23-11-2020 1:34pm

I would say it is milk related.
In WINTER time not every milk suitable for frothing.
No difference in summer though.

ExMachina1000 · 23-11-2020 2:03pm

5500 wrote: »

Anyone got any tips for me, Im using the express and usually turn it on for bout 10 minutes before using to allow heat up.
All is well untill it comes to steaming the milk. Originally I was placing the wand tip at the top of the milk for about 20/25 seconds and was happy with the microfoam ect, but the past week something seems up with it.

I could leave the wand at the tip for 40/50 seconds before dropping to heat up (which also seems to be taking an age all of a sudden) and I'm still getiing a watery texture on the milk. If you try to make a second latte after the first then it tends to be even worse.

The machine in only a few weeks old, always clean and purge the wand ect and no issue with the actual steam coming out, Im wondering if its something boiler related or if its actually the norm for everyone else?

Change milk brand and only full fat. See if it makes a difference

23-11-2020 2:17pm

Will try that, i only ever use premier dairys full fat but will try another brand and see how it goes

Sage Barista Express

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