How To Make Coffee With The Sage Barista Express.

The complete journey, from bean to cup. Although we have our Polperro coffee shop, prior to this there have been times at home when we have used our Sage Barista Express. Here is an honest road test from one coffee lover to another.

An honest road test of the Sage Barista Express

OK, so the Sage Barista Express may come with a fairly hefty price tag but, for anyone looking to get into coffee at home, I think it’s well worth the money and a great choice for a home espresso machine.

It looks great, it’s fairly small so doesn’t take up too much space. It's also really simple to use (I’ve even previously managed to train the kids to make coffee) and with some good quality beans, the coffee tastes great.

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Setting up your machine

The setup process is easy and takes no time at all. Attach the bean hopper at the top, fit the water filter and fill up the water tank (we suffered from fairly hard water when we were in the Cotswolds and as we didn’t have a water softener at home we used bottled water in our machine). Put the beans in the hopper, let it heat up, and away you go. It really is that simple.

Grinding your coffee

The Sage Barista Express has 18 grind settings and can be a bit fiddly to get right at first as each coffee is different and needs its own settings, but after a few shots and a bit of adjustment each time you’ll get it right. For those that are interested, if you are using the single-cup basket you want to be grinding around 10-12 grams of beans and for the double cup between 18 and 20 grams.

For 10g of beans, you should expect around 20ml of coffee out of the machine and for 18g of beans, 36ml of coffee. The ratio for this is 1:2. The “perfect” shot should take between 25 and 35 seconds to pull through. Over 35 seconds and your coffee might be too fine, under 25 too coarse.

Manual vs automatic grinding

The coffee machine comes with both manual and automatic modes for grinding and dispensing the coffee. We used the automatic mode but if you feel too much coffee is grinding down into the basket you can override this by pushing the portafilter towards the back of the machine slightly and it will stop.

Use a funnel attachment to stop the ground coffee from overflowing out of the basket, you can then tamp it down with less of the coffee spilling. The options you can get from the manual mode are endless but it takes a while to get to grips with. Sometimes you want your coffee ASAP, hence the automatic mode. As I got more familiar with the machine I'm using this more, but be prepared to spend a some time changing the settings until you get that perfect shot.

Sometimes you want your coffee ASAP, hence the automatic mode.

The Barista Express comes with a Razor tool which is a clever little thing that looks like a metal credit card and is used after tamping the coffee to ensure you have the precise dose. Basically, it trims off any excess coffee in the basket of the portafilter so you get a consistent distance between the top of the coffee and the showerhead every time allowing for better extraction.

Steaming your milk

The Sage Barista Express comes with a milk jug that has a temperature gauge on the front which is really useful until you get a feel of the jug temperature. I used semi-skimmed milk but whole milk works just as well (if not better).

I fill my milk jug to the bottom of the groove where the spout begins to form, insert the steam wand just below the surface of the milk and turn the steam on holding the jug on a slight tilt with the steam wand to one side resting on the spout.
I leave it in this position until the milk starts swirling like a whirlpool (if it starts to make a screaming sound the wand is in too far).
After around 15 seconds of the milk swirling I lower the jug a fraction so the tip of the wand is just visible on the surface of the milk and leave it in this position for about 25-30 seconds (count along with the pulsing of the machine)
You should now begin to see bubbles forming in the milk, drop the steam wand back down just a bit so you get that whirlpool spinning again, and leave the wand in this position until your milk hits the right temperature around 65 degrees.
Tap the jug on the worktop a few times to get rid of any large air bubbles. In an ideal world, the milk should look thick and creamy like shiny smooth paint, perfect for that all-important latte art (which is a lot harder than it looks trust me).

Something to point out here is that I feel the knob for switching between steam and water could do with being designed differently, a longer handle rather than the knob might be easier - as with the funnel I mentioned earlier I am fairly sure these are available as an aftermarket product but for now, we have kept our machine standard

Cleaning your machine

Like everything, your Sage Barista Express will need a good clean and some maintenance every now and then for optimal performance.

The drip tray is easy to empty and clean, a yellow float pops up when it's full advising you that it needs emptying. Make sure you give it a good clean, not just a rinse under the tap as you do find leftover coffee grounds can build up in the corners.

I wipe my machine over after every use with a microfibre cloth to keep it looking good. The Barista Express has a pre-programmed cleaning cycle and it will warn you when this needs to be run by flashing the 'clean me' light.

Our top tips:

Use the razor tool
It gives more consistency in your shots.
Flush the machine before pouring your shot
Although the machine heats up quickly I always run a shot of hot water through the machine before the actual coffee. Whilst making the water hotter, it also gets rid of any leftover coffee grounds that might be lurking in the machine from the last coffee.
Clean your steam wand after every use
You’ll be surprised how difficult the milk is to remove once it's dried, just a quick wipe with a damp cloth or sponge will do it and push a little steam through the wand just to make sure it isn't blocked. A cleaning kit and a few tools come with the machine and once a week I take the end of the steam wand off and give it a thorough clean.

Overall verdict

We love the machine and genuinely think that the Sage Barista Express is perfect for those starting out as a home barista and who are looking for an espresso machine in the mid-range price bracket. There are cheaper machines out there and there are certainly more expensive ones but in my opinion, the Sage Barista Express is a good all-rounder for home use.

One of the major plus points is that you grind, tamp and pull the coffee shot yourself as well as steam the milk, it gives a more authentic coffee shop feel than some of the more expensive automated machines and cheaper pod types (plus it's great for learning how to texture milk and practise that all-important latte art).

Yes, it takes a bit of getting used to and yes getting the perfect grind and milk texture can be fiddly (every day is a school day right), there is always room for learning and improvement. Overall, we think it's money well spent!