Sage Barista Express

raytaxi · 23-11-2020 2:20pm

Java republic have the express down here's link, others down as well
https://www.javarepublic.com/shop/barista-express/

ExMachina1000 · 23-11-2020 2:21pm

5500 wrote: »

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

At least it will rule out the milk.

alec76 · 23-11-2020 2:22pm

5500 wrote: »

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

Try Avonmore milk
make sure it is FRESH and very cold.

Damo 2k9 · 23-11-2020 3:28pm

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?

My head was wrecked about 2-3 weeks ago, I was experiencing the exact same as yourself. But as the lads have said above, it is milk related. I think it was just bad milk we were getting.

JustJoe7240 · 23-11-2020 4:15pm

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

My head was wrecked about 2-3 weeks ago, I was experiencing the exact same as yourself. But as the lads have said above, it is milk related. I think it was just bad milk we were getting.

It's not that you got "bad milk", It's more than likely to do with the cows diet, Cows go from a fresh grass based diet to a preserved grass diet from the first week of November to around the middle of February

dubstepper · 23-11-2020 4:26pm

I use low fat super milk for the last year with a consistent taste and texture.

DaveyDave · 23-11-2020 4:28pm

This is driving me nuts. Recently posted about changing the internal burr back to 5, to restart the dialing in process. Now I'm back at 1 internal, 4 on the dial, 19g coffee (that's just what came out on the second lowest grind amount) and it pulled for 10 seconds including perfusion. If I drop it to 1, the absolute lowest setting and I'm not getting 25 second pulls what can I do?

Coffee is 3 weeks old stored air tight. New subscription will be sent this week.

FileNotFound · 23-11-2020 4:51pm

DaveyDave wrote: »

This is driving me nuts. Recently posted about changing the internal burr back to 5, to restart the dialing in process. Now I'm back at 1 internal, 4 on the dial, 19g coffee (that's just what came out on the second lowest grind amount) and it pulled for 10 seconds including perfusion. If I drop it to 1, the absolute lowest setting and I'm not getting 25 second pulls what can I do?

Coffee is 3 weeks old stored air tight. New subscription will be sent this week.

If you have tried adjusting the inner Burr to all its options and still not grinding fine enough it may be broken. Maybe the plastic parts have worn down - assuming you've used it a lot.

Have any other beans you know have worked to check?

ExMachina1000 · 23-11-2020 6:42pm

DaveyDave wrote: »

This is driving me nuts. Recently posted about changing the internal burr back to 5, to restart the dialing in process. Now I'm back at 1 internal, 4 on the dial, 19g coffee (that's just what came out on the second lowest grind amount) and it pulled for 10 seconds including perfusion. If I drop it to 1, the absolute lowest setting and I'm not getting 25 second pulls what can I do?

Coffee is 3 weeks old stored air tight. New subscription will be sent this week.

Buy a bag of pre ground for espresso coffee and try pouring a shot. If it is still no good then it's the machine. If its better than it was then it's the grinder

alec76 · 23-11-2020 8:42pm

DaveyDave wrote: »

This is driving me nuts. Recently posted about changing the internal burr back to 5, to restart the dialing in process. Now I'm back at 1 internal, 4 on the dial, 19g coffee (that's just what came out on the second lowest grind amount) and it pulled for 10 seconds including perfusion. If I drop it to 1, the absolute lowest setting and I'm not getting 25 second pulls what can I do?

Coffee is 3 weeks old stored air tight. New subscription will be sent this week.

Contact them
https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/support/sage-support.html
it might be easily fixed .
They might sent you a shim kit( set of washers) to fix this

https://coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/35781-shim-kit-advice/

CWF · 24-11-2020 2:07pm

https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/products/espresso/bes875.html

Picked up the Stainless Steel version for €510 including delivery to Parcel Wizard. Use code GlobalCoffeeFestival-KWNRtm5u for discount.

Came across the deal on https://www.hotukdeals.com/tag/sage

FileNotFound · 24-11-2020 6:16pm

CWF wrote: »

https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/products/espresso/bes875.html

Picked up the Stainless Steel version l for €510 including delivery to Parcel Wizard. Use code GlobalCoffeeFestival-KWNRtm5u for discount.

Came across the deal on https://www.hotukdeals.com/tag/sage

Good price, now the fun begins. The presets and guage zones are good for milk based but you'll want to leave them behind for espresso. Had mine a while and only now getting espresso right.

Ash_ · 26-11-2020 3:25am

Black Sesame is down to £399 on Amazon UK.

CWF · 26-11-2020 11:42am

FileNotFound wrote: »

Good price, now the fun begins. The presets and guage zones are good for milk based but you'll want to leave them behind for espresso. Had mine a while and only now getting espresso right.

What would your advice be for espresso?

CWF · 26-11-2020 6:06pm

Ash_ wrote: »

Black Sesame is down to £399 on Amazon UK.

Gonzo.

Fall_Guy · 27-11-2020 9:01am

DaveyDave wrote: »

This is driving me nuts. Recently posted about changing the internal burr back to 5, to restart the dialing in process. Now I'm back at 1 internal, 4 on the dial, 19g coffee (that's just what came out on the second lowest grind amount) and it pulled for 10 seconds including perfusion. If I drop it to 1, the absolute lowest setting and I'm not getting 25 second pulls what can I do?

Coffee is 3 weeks old stored air tight. New subscription will be sent this week.

Definitely something wrong there, one of the slightly annoying aspects of the express is the pre-infusion time can't be changed easily, and it's set at 10 seconds, so no way a shot should be out in 10.

For comparison, the current brew I've settled on for the beans I have at the minute (Ponaire columbian) is 17.5g dose for a 30g yield in 27-28 seconds. Grind is set to 3 on the dial and I've never had to go near the internal burr.

rowanh · 27-11-2020 9:54pm

I Just got one of these earlier today, 540 for the stainless one, ships on Dec 8th so have to wait in anticipation for a while! It is an upgrade from a Nespresso so I am expecting good things

Any suggestions on beans to get to use in it? I would love to be able to make espresso like you get in Rome, really thick and strong.

SneakyDoyle · 27-11-2020 10:01pm

rowanh wrote: »

I Just got one of these earlier today, 540 for the stainless one, ships on Dec 8th so have to wait in anticipation for a while! It is an upgrade from a Nespresso so I am expecting good things

Any suggestions on beans to get to use in it? I would love to be able to make espresso like you get in Rome, really thick and strong.

Enjoy!

My advice is be prepared to waste a couple of bags of beans getting the hang of it. If you like the bold, old school Italian style espresso go for dark roasts.

Also ignore the pressure gauge to a degree and focus on extraction time. Pressure was perfect me but shots were sour and under extracted. Getting the extraction time close to 30 seconds yielded much better espresso!

flash84962 · 28-11-2020 8:25am

SneakyDoyle wrote:

Also ignore the pressure gauge to a degree and focus on extraction time. Pressure was perfect me but shots were sour and under extracted. Getting the extraction time close to 30 seconds yielded much better espresso!

Do you include the pre-extraction time in the 30sec? As in start timing when you press the button?

CWF · 30-11-2020 3:14pm

When buying beans am I looking whole bean or Espresso (fine) for this machine?

SneakyDoyle · 30-11-2020 3:17pm

CWF wrote: »

When buying beans am I looking whole bean or Espresso (fine) for this machine?

Whole bean goes into the grinder!

dubstepper · 01-12-2020 10:12am

CWF wrote: »

When buying beans am I looking whole bean or Espresso (fine) for this machine?

Whole beans as said. Also maybe get a bag of cheap beans to do some experiments. If you buy the good stuff you will waste a bunch at the start getting your head around it.

ShadowSA · 02-12-2020 1:42pm

flash84962 wrote: »

Do you include the pre-extraction time in the 30sec? As in start timing when you press the button?

From when you press the button. Should be between 20 - 30 seconds.

Samuel T. Cogley · 02-12-2020 1:52pm

I just press the button and make coffee - clearly I've been missing out! Subscribed for a full read.

Very happy with my (obviously under utilised) machine!

DaveyDave · 02-12-2020 2:32pm

DaveyDave wrote: »

This is driving me nuts. Recently posted about changing the internal burr back to 5, to restart the dialing in process. Now I'm back at 1 internal, 4 on the dial, 19g coffee (that's just what came out on the second lowest grind amount) and it pulled for 10 seconds including perfusion. If I drop it to 1, the absolute lowest setting and I'm not getting 25 second pulls what can I do?

Coffee is 3 weeks old stored air tight. New subscription will be sent this week.

Fresh bag of coffee, slight increase in extraction time and more crema but still not getting 25-30 seconds at the absolute lowest setting. Waiting for Sage customer support to get back to me. Hopefully won't be too long!

ExMachina1000 · 03-12-2020 12:48am

DaveyDave wrote: »

Fresh bag of coffee, slight increase in extraction time and more crema but still not getting 25-30 seconds at the absolute lowest setting. Waiting for Sage customer support to get back to me. Hopefully won't be too long!

Post a picture of the grounds pre brew.

DaveyDave · 03-12-2020 3:09am

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

Post a picture of the grounds pre brew.

I give it a bit of a jiggle when it's grinding to prevent spill. A good force tamp without pushing my body weight into it. This one was 19g in, 67g out. More bitter than a coffee I had earlier though.

alec76 · 03-12-2020 7:36am

Definitely too coarse for the finest settings.

alec76 · 03-12-2020 1:17pm

I don't have Sage Barista ( thankfully ) , but I was silly enough to buy Sage Grinder , i presume they shared similar design.
It was easy job to remove lower burr , 10mm nut , reverse thread , you should turn it clockwise to remove it. I would try to see what going on there first . Maybe it is not sits correctly or something similar. Don't overtighten it after.
ps. I am DIY person, always sticking my nose in places I probably shouldn't,so may be you shouldn't do it too until it on warranty.

mighty magpie · 04-12-2020 1:10pm

would you buy a pre owned model? and for how much?

2 years old but only used a handful of times and has all the accesories, not a mark on it.

CWF · 04-12-2020 1:41pm

mighty magpie wrote: »

would you buy a pre owned model? and for how much?

2 years old but only used a handful of times and has all the accesories, not a mark on it.

I'd pay €250 for it

Samuel T. Cogley · 04-12-2020 1:46pm

CWF wrote: »

I'd pay €250 for it

Not a coffee expert by any means but I do like a secondhand bargain. It's a piece of mechanical equipment, and something of a precision one at that. I'd be looking for at least 50% off the retail price of around the figure quoted above.

mighty magpie · 04-12-2020 2:20pm

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Not a coffee expert by any means but I do like a secondhand bargain. It's a piece of mechanical equipment, and something of a precision one at that. I'd be looking for at least 50% off the retail price of around the figure quoted above.

It sold anyway. My offer of £340 was counteroffered at £370 which i ignored this morning.

I'm assuming it went from somewhere in between those 2 figures which seems a bit high if new models were on sale for £399 recently. I may wait for something better.

FileNotFound · 08-12-2020 4:24pm

mighty magpie wrote: »

It sold anyway. My offer of £340 was counteroffered at £370 which i ignored this morning.

I'm assuming it went from somewhere in between those 2 figures which seems a bit high if new models were on sale for £399 recently. I may wait for something better.

Given the issues that can arise form one of these not being minded well - even sat unused is bad.

I'd say you're as well off buying new unless you get a super bargain or knoiw the person well.

mighty magpie · 08-12-2020 4:29pm

Got sorted for new model on ebay with warranty for £430

Ordered cleaning tablets and have 1kg of coffee on subscription every 4 weeks.

Looking forward to arrival to get stuck in.

FileNotFound · 08-12-2020 4:35pm

mighty magpie wrote: »

Got sorted for new model on ebay with warranty for £430

Ordered cleaning tablets and have 1kg of coffee on subscription every 4 weeks.

Looking forward to arrival to get stuck in.

Sage BE is set up for delivering more than recommended at lower pressure than advised for espresso (Gives less accuracy issues while making ok coffee especially for milk based coffee)
I count pre-infusion in shot time
Throw out those double baskets
Get a britta to prefilter water (heard it helps and mine has been running heavy for a few years so happy to pay a few quid on britta filters)
Takes more like 10 mins to be truly heated up.
For proper espresso just pretend the gauge is not there.
There is a second grinder adjustment in the grinder - may be very important

Have fun - I'd say order an extra kg just to play with the machine

DaveyDave · 08-12-2020 4:49pm

Sage finally got back to me:

Hello David,

If I understood correctly the 10 seconds shot is too fast and you would like to slow the extraction, for the extraction problems it is usually the either the beans or the baskets.
The beans are always marketed fresh, but the filter baskets, especially the single wall ones are particular about the beans.

I would like for you to turn the grind size to 7, and the grind amount to 3'Oclock, also please use the 1 or 2 Cup dual wall filter basket and try to make a cupt of coffee and let me know how it went.

My understanding of pressurised baskets is to make up for bad grinds, old beans or preground. I have proper beans and I know the gist of how to make coffee, I just want to get the grind dialled in properly!

alec76 · 08-12-2020 5:14pm

DaveyDave wrote: »

Sage finally got back to me:

My understanding of pressurised baskets is to make up for bad grinds, old beans or preground. I have proper beans and I know the gist of how to make coffee, I just want to get the grind dialled in properly!

Customer care crowds dealing with lots of people with ZERO understanding how espresso preparation works, seems to me pretty standard answer for them.
Keep them writing, try to explain issue bgetter.
My understanding is
1) your Grinder is f*cked
or
2) your burrs not tuned ( calibrated) properly at factory.
ps . Your grinder couldn't grind fine enough, that is your trouble ( not the extraction time which is only the symptom of faulty grinder)
You should return it under the warranty I believe.

FileNotFound · 08-12-2020 10:40pm

DaveyDave wrote: »

Sage finally got back to me:

My understanding of pressurised baskets is to make up for bad grinds, old beans or preground. I have proper beans and I know the gist of how to make coffee, I just want to get the grind dialled in properly!

You can do a quick test on what alec says above - just pop into a decent coffee shop and ask for some ground beans (espresso grind) and give them a run. If they give you decent shot time then clearly nothing wrong with baskets or machine.

That said your pressurized basket should give you pressure even when empty - if its not then you have an issue alright.

ED E · 12-12-2020 3:30pm

ED E wrote: »

Mine arrived via DPD Friday.

So I've not been super impressed with my results, really really erratic and werent dialing in at all. Use fully automated B2C machines in work and was just using my old stock of pods at home after tricking with it for the first week and just getting frustrated.

Background: I've lived in houses with proper espresso machines and also one that had only the fake pressure portafilter. So not a total noob but I'm not looking to go full James Hoffman (never going full Hoffman).

So after procrastinating dealing with it for ages I've finally had time to take another pass. Found the problem.

The

Bloody

INTERNAL

BURR

SETTING.

Seriously, you know some kit arrives with "Do not power on dry//do not run empty//clean before use" stickers. This should really raise that the internal burr default of 6 can be totally wrong and you'll be screwed without changing it. Its a machine targeted at the more newcomer market vs hardcore enthusiasts. Don't hide a game changer setting.

Gone from 6 to 3 and now the grinder is actually useful. Not dialled in yet but we're in the ballpark at least. I did RTFM btw, doesnt mention it! Idiots in Breville.

This video shows how to do it. You really need to give it welly, it feels like itll break.

mighty magpie · 12-12-2020 11:04pm

Machine came today and bought some local beans roasted end of november.

Working with an 18g dose and stopping my machine anywhere between 36-42g output but my issue is that these are all taking less than 15 seconds and the dial is reading is too high.

I've made my grinder finer step by step but I'm not getting brew time around 25-30 seconds.

Any ideas?

Klopp · 15-12-2020 10:38am

mighty magpie wrote: »

Machine came today and bought some local beans roasted end of november.

Working with an 18g dose and stopping my machine anywhere between 36-42g output but my issue is that these are all taking less than 15 seconds and the dial is reading is too high.

I've made my grinder finer step by step but I'm not getting brew time around 25-30 seconds.

Any ideas?

You will need Grind Coarser. I would recommend moving the grind settings from say 6 to 7, only go up one each time until you're happy and ignore the 25-30 second rule, go on taste alone.

mighty magpie · 15-12-2020 10:41am

When i grind coarser, the shot just rushes out and i get to my desired output too early.

Even at the coarser setting, the needle is past the grey area.

I've seen a few times on various forums to ignore the pressure needle. Should i do this or contact sage?

Klopp · 15-12-2020 11:09am

mighty magpie wrote: »

When i grind coarser, the shot just rushes out and i get to my desired output too early.

Even at the coarser setting, the needle is past the grey area.

I've seen a few times on various forums to ignore the pressure needle. Should i do this or contact sage?

Have you the grind at very Coarser option? It might be the Coffee beans if not fresh and roasted recently. I do the opposite myself, i go by the needle and ignore the shot time and go by the taste and works well for me.

Fall_Guy · 15-12-2020 11:27am

Klopp wrote: »

Have you the grind at very Coarser option? It might be the Coffee beans if not fresh and roasted recently. I do the opposite myself, i go by the needle and ignore the shot time and go by the taste and works well for me.

If it is to your taste then that's all that matters at the end of the day, but the conventional wisdom would be to grind finer if the coffee is under extracted and you are already at the max. dose for your portafilter.

I'd suggest adjusting the internal burr settings if you are finding the shot pouring too quickly when already at the finest setting.

Edit: i just noted that magpie says the pressure gauge is showing too high. It always shows too high for me also so that wouldn't bother me, but I would be surprised if it was showing as too high and you were still getting a yield of around 40g in 15 seconds. Are you including pre-infusion time in your shot time?

Klopp · 15-12-2020 11:32am

mighty magpie wrote: »

Machine came today and bought some local beans roasted end of november.

Where did you buy the beans? Have you tried grinding finer? The last option would be to ajust the internal burr

mighty magpie · 15-12-2020 2:00pm

Beans are from causeway coffee in belfast and were roasted 27th november.

I'm not including the pre-influsion in shot time so my 36-40g is taking around 25 seconds now from first drop and looks like a decent pour compared to videos on youtube.

I just think my issue is the pressure, always high even at under extraction.

My americano was decent this morning but i've a bit of a cold so couldn't taste it too much. Always find my espresso very bitter but possibly don't know what espresso should taste like.

Fall_Guy · 15-12-2020 2:54pm

mighty magpie wrote: »

Beans are from causeway coffee in belfast and were roasted 27th november.

I'm not including the pre-influsion in shot time so my 36-40g is taking around 25 seconds now from first drop and looks like a decent pour compared to videos on youtube.

I just think my issue is the pressure, always high even at under extraction.

My americano was decent this morning but i've a bit of a cold so couldn't taste it too much. Always find my espresso very bitter but possibly don't know what espresso should taste like.

When people talk about their espresso shot time, the usual method is to start measuring from the moment you turn on the pump, so should include the pre-infusion.

If you are now taking 25 seconds from first drop to get your desired yield, it's in reality a 35 seconds brew time given there's 10 seconds pre infusion on the barista express. This would definitely be on the long side so a bitter shot not totally surprising.

If you are finding the coffee bitter you could look at lowering your desired yield (27g would still give a brewing ratio of 1:1.5) and would probably get your shot time to where there's less likelihood of losing balanced flavour from over-extraction.

The pressure gauge on the machine is far from a reliable indicator from my experience.

CWF · 15-12-2020 3:08pm

mighty magpie wrote: »

Beans are from causeway coffee in belfast and were roasted 27th november.

I'm not including the pre-influsion in shot time so my 36-40g is taking around 25 seconds now from first drop and looks like a decent pour compared to videos on youtube.

I just think my issue is the pressure, always high even at under extraction.

My americano was decent this morning but i've a bit of a cold so couldn't taste it too much. Always find my espresso very bitter but possibly don't know what espresso should taste like.

:eek:

DaveyDave · 15-12-2020 4:27pm

Questioned Sage about the dual wall basket and this was the response:

Please note that the dual wall might even work better with your beans, this is why it was suggested. I know the instruction manual mentions that it should be used for pre-ground coffee but at the end of the day, what matters is the beans quality, which changes over time and the 'roasted on' date. Please try this out and let us know how it goes, while we work on having our instruction manual corrected, as it should be.

So I took their advice. Ended up with 26.5g coffee with grind at 3 o clock position. Put 18.5g in but didn't measure the output. Time from pressing the button was 26 seconds. As black coffee, it was surprisingly not bitter for once. Pressure/resistance finally builds up enough to have a slow extraction. Downside is I can't actual knock the puck out of the portafilter.

I'm confused now. Everything I've read and watched says to use the single wall. I have good beans so shouldn't be using the double wall?

Sage Barista Express

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