Sage Barista Express

Yep same as now for me, just keep it for times when you need to backflush the machine it probably keeps that little insert in place a bit better, but I was shocked at how grimey mine was as I had been cleaning the portafilter after every use.

@DaveyDave good shout on this, I empty mine regularly but always give it a scrub at the weekend, it builds up a nice layer of grounds pretty quick. I may invest in a dosing cup at some point, I think a lot of it is coming from grounds spilling over the side of my portafilter.

I was looking not long ago and didn't think any of the IMS screens fit the Barista Express? Must look again I wouldn't mind picking them up.

Question regarding cleaning, how often do you descale, and how often would you backflush the machine? Only when the light comes on, or more regularly?

You say you've tried everything, but what are your results? That's what really counts.

To start, aim for 18g of coffee in, 36-40g of coffee out. This should take around 30 seconds from the moment you press the shot button, to the last drop into your cup.

You should be using fresh beans, and the double basket (non-pressurised) while ensuring you have a nicely tamped, level puck.

The "espresso dial" should go to around 1-2 o clock, the espresso range on that dial is really vague.

Of course, this is all subjective and comes down to personal preferences and taste. I find the best results with the machine to be 18g in, 40g out in 33-35 seconds total.

If you are struggling to get shots to take their time like this, then you need to grind finer. Adjusting the upper (internal) burr is probably a step you need to take - the default is 6 but I set mine to 3 and found it gave me more flexibility with grind size overall.

Yep, bought them directly from Sage a couple of months ago. I had my machine a few months with no issues, then one day the gasket burst. It appeared it was just unseated but when I actually removed it there was a small tear in the rubber.

I ordered a couple of spares from Sage, replaced the gasket and everything was fine for a couple of weeks before it happened again. Replaced again and it was gone within 2 weeks. At that point I reached out to customer service and they organised a replacement machine.

Just checked their website, I see they're out of stock (and double the price I paid 😮)

Seems to be a lot of people on adverts/done deal selling new boxed unopened Sage's for good prices.

Anyone bought one like this, or have any tips for verifying whether they're legit?!

Possibly cheaper from Amazon.de if you can get over it coming with an EU plug, as it's €390.99 plus shipping from there, whereas the UK price comes out in or around €480 when converted

Has anybody any experience with the impress version of this? I was originally going to go b2c but since the impress helps with tamping, dosing and mess it seems like a better option? Price is high since it’s fairly new but I’m hoping there is a price drop by Black Friday.

There’s no way I’d pay that price for it tbh. My assumption is because it’s new it is priced high so in a few months when they drop the price they can say 200 off or whatever. It’s pretty much the standard for appliances as far as I know, they can’t say there is x amount off unless it was sold at that price for a certain amount of time.

The grinder is the same as the normal express and pro but the amount of adjustments is in between both at 26.

Im really looking for the simplest option here and any extra step may stop my girlfriend from using it I reckon so the impress seems ideal. The above tamper does sound great but again the less steps and mess the better really. It’s why I was initially going towards bean to cup but everything you see says this should be better as all semi autos are?

Going by what I’ve seen it still is grinding by time but when you tamp it knows how much is in there. So if more is needed you hit the button again and if there is too much you need to use the tool.

I'm not quite sure I understand the Impress, if it's to help beginners get into espresso it's very expensive and you still have to play around with grind size, extraction time, yield etc. At that rate just get a regular Barista Express and practice the extra few steps on top of what you're already learning?

Once you know the basics it's not hard to get a half decent coffee once you have fresh beans. You don't have to dial everything in perfectly, I certainly don't!

Newbie post, got tired of drinking filter coffee at home so have plunged for the Sage Barista Express Impress:

https://www.harveynorman.ie/small-appliances/coffee-machines/all-coffee-machines/sage-the-barista-express-impress-stainless-steel.html

Could anyone recommend a decent bean to get me going and one which wont break the bank! - typically like cafe style americanos & maybe the odd cappuccino if that helps!

Im far from an expert on my machine but get pretty consistent results with the Velo beans from Aldi, obviously not as fresh as you can get but i find them nice

Maybe I'm easily pleased but I get very good coffee out of this machine with little fuss. It took me a short while at the start to find my favourite beans and my settings but in the end it turned out to be pretty easy.

I use Lidl Bravo Tango beans which are nice mellow not too strong bean with a good taste and they are always pretty fresh and give good results at a half decent price.

I use doubles and have the grind adjusted 8 clicks back from the coarse end and the grind amount almost halfway between standard and minimum, maybe 1 or 2 mm more towards standard. With that I use the standard brew length and I get good crema and a lovely taste and the pressure gauge is practically always in the perfect zone

I mostly have cappuccinos and they taste easily as good if not better than anything you buy in any of the major chain coffee shops. Anyone else who tasted these agrees with me.

I find all these micro adjustments and weighing your beans and whatnots a bit over the top can't really see how all that would be necessary. For cleaning I bought comparably cheap cafiza tablets and for descaling I bought a big tub of citric acid from the chemist. I do this for well over a year now and it just works.