Sage Barista Express Espresso Machine – Espresso and Coffee Maker, Bean to Cup Coffee Machine, BES875UK , Brushed Stainless Steel

Great purchase
Looks great, Makes a great coffee and is easy to use.

Great coffee machine for someone who wants coffee shop quality drinks
Great coffee machine for someone who wants coffee shop quality drinks and doesn’t mind putting a bit of work in.

Great machine
I’ve had a few machines previously, from a simple pod type to a slightly more expensive DeLonghi, but this SAGE machine wipes the floor with them.
Yes, it costs more but it’s worth the extra if you’re serious about the quality of your coffee.
As someone else mentioned, it does require a bit more effort to get the best from it, but there are so many guides and reviews around for the SAGE that you soon pick it up.
I’m still learning every time I use it but even after one week I’m getting really nice coffee from it.

Best work from home purchase eve
Could not have survived working from home without this machine. The first one started to leak after about 2 months and Amazon replaced it in 48 hours. This second one has had no problems and works a dream with all my localyl purchased fresh beans from Well Roasted Coffee, a gold mine of a one man band with the most fantastic freshly roasted beans.

Incredible flavour, easy to clean. Adjust grind to 3.
Amazing machine, took a while to get the grind right. The pressure gauge only started functioning when the grind was set at 3, which is quite fine. Since then it has worked perfectly.

Great coffee at home
Best lockdown purchase. Really enjoying the coffee from this machine. It takes a little bit of getting used to but once you get the hang of it it’s really easy to make lovely coffee. We mostly drink Americanos and lattes.

No regrets buying this machine
I and my wife are regular coffee shop drinkers but what we made at home was a poor relation so I decided to take the plunge and buy this machine. I am pleased with the overall quality of the machine. It is robust where it needs to be and after a few experiments I have now got into a routine that produces excellent cappuccinos. I watched some You tube videos on frothing which helped. I found that the settings change if you change coffee beans so we have found a bean we really like and stick to it. It is not slow to make a drink but clearly a bit of time and effort is needed and you must clean as you use it. Its an event and enjoyable making coffee with it and have no regrets buying it or recommending it. I have had it a mnth , so early days but its had a lot of use so far .

Get it!
This is the best coffee machine in terms of value for money. Not overly cheap, but for the features included it should cost more. The quality of the brew matches the really expensive machines.

Coffee shop quality at home
If I’m honest I was trying to decide between this and a Delonghi bean to cup machine for a while.
I decided on this mostly due to appearances (those bean to cup machines look like little train station vending machines to me) and didn’t realise how much effort is involved.

If you want another hobby buy this machine. It has loads of variables that you need to master such as grind size, grind amount and tamp pressure. That’s not to mention freshness of beans (I buy only from Rave and 200 degrees). I’m still working on latte art, but can generally get out 2 cortados or cappuccinos within 4-5 minutes each morning. The coffees are superb, but it took a couple of weeks of YouTube tips and tinkering to really work out how to dial in the perfect coffee.

It’s a fantastic bit of kit and is fun to use, but if you don’t want to feel like a professional and would rather just push a button and get a coffee this machine might not be for you.

So far - awesome
Just arrived – set up – coffee in – double made – frother used and i have just drunk an awesome tasty cappuccino. Hat’s off to Sage so far, so brilliant!

Amazing machine
It may take a while to get a hold of it but then it’s just amazing. Only down side is the tamper is not the best for such a good machine.

Get yourself a hobby
Along with amazing quality of esspreso, cappuchino and latte, you are getting a hobby for youself. It is a great product that can get you into lateart world, where you can enjoy it with your family and friends.
If you do have time for becoming a homemade barista, you can easily buy it and it will be a good choice.

It takes a bit of time to learn how to operate it in the best way but it is worthy!
After 4 months I am happy to have it and would recomend it to everybody.

Great machine but requires work
This machine is all you need to produce a coffee as good as the one you’d get at an italian bar. However, making coffee is not easy and this is not an automated machine in the sense that you grind some coffee and you get something amazing. Using this machine requires a lot of experimentation, practice and good quality coffee beans. It all comes down to the technique. If you’re not willing to experiment and practice a lot don’t buy it. On the other hand, If you are into learning then this machine will give you great satisfaction. It is also relatively expensive to maintain in terms of coffee beans which go down quite fast and also water filter and cleaning products.

Really happy with my purchase
Really pleased with it. It took me about 1 week to really perfect how to use it. You need to make sure you are using freshly roasted coffee beans and the correct amount of coffee grind. Once you have those two points correct you will get a perfect espresso every time.

Fabulous!
A fabulous coffee machine. I have absolutely no regrets buying it and recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone looking for amazing home brewed coffee. Make sure you buy good coffee to warrant this super machine!

Stunning machine, super recommended
This is a stunning bean to cup machine that I have ever bought. The blending power is very good and coffee powder is meshed to a very fine level, this would give a positive effect on the powder loading and pressing, hence the optimum pressure the machine would achieve. Very easy to clean, I can clean the machine less than 20s in the busy morning after having a coffee, but a coffee powder bin is recommended as you need to keep those waste powder and you don’t want them spread anywhere. A Starbucks bean was used and the flavor is exactly the same to the coffee you could buy in the Starbucks shop. I will try some more kinds of beans and maybe later I can bake my own bean. The beauty of this machine is to give you the flexibility of making your own coffee from different setting that you can play with. You can develop to find your best coffee for yourself. The design and manufacturing quality are classic and stunning. If you put this machine into your kitchen, that would be an attraction to your guest.

Works well when you get the hang of all the settings
I bought this on Amazon Prime Day when it had a substantial discount and have been very happy with its overall performance. You can adjust the grind of your beans and the amount of coffee per cup and when you get it right the quality of the coffee is excellent.

You have a choice of 4 different baskets to take account of whether you are using the grinder or pre-ground coffee and for single or double sizes. I struggled getting the pressure right but after I spoke to Sage they suggested using a double basket and this sorted the issue.

The frother works extremely well and I can now produce a cappuccino that is as good as any you get from a coffee chain.

Overall very happy so far with product.

Update, one year on and 1500+ coffees, this is a very good machine and once you get the grind size right, the coffee is superb. I have had no problems with reliability and strongly recommend for people who don’t want to spend an absolute fortune but do want quality coffee.

Excellent Espresso Machine - Buy It! 2 Years On...
I’ve had mine for over 2 years now, it’s worked flawlessly every time. I make up to 12 cups of coffee a day. It’s a hardy wee machine, nice build quality, I forgot to put water in it a few times but it’s recovered no problem. It’s way better than my previous machine (Delonghi prima donna fully automatic bean-to-cup) which cost a grand. It’s thinner stainless steel, not thick chunky stainless steel (not at this price!) but it’s durable and tough. A bit human interaction is needed for the perfect coffee – so forget the fully automatics, they’re OK.

I’ve played with the Programmable settings but the default ones are fine. I just need to get the right Grind Size by altering the dial on the side, sometimes different for each type of beans – Fine for slower extraction to Coarse for faster extraction. I keep the Grind Amount dial set to minimum as that usually fills the single filter basket.

It’s easy, I had fun with it, never produced a bad coffee yet. The pressure guage will help you make the perfect coffee, you’ll get used to it and you’ll get it right yourself in time. I could make you a hot espresso within 2 minutes, way less if the machine is warm/primed. This machine makes hot or very hot espresso. If the hot water/coffee isn’t hot enough, it can go hotter. I tried it hotter but put it back to default! So that’s an excellent feature.

You don’t need to remove the water tank to fill it up, which is excellent, just pour water in (keeping away from the grinder). The grinder works great too, never had a problem with it, easy to remove and clean. The steam wand is easy to use once you get the hang of it. I just heat up the cups using that or the water pump, (and sometimes I partially heat milk in a microwave to speed things up). I don’t use the temp.controlled jug often.

It’s versatile and good quality – It’s had a few bangs here and there but no issues. It’s really easy to keep clean. The drip tray needs cleaned the most or the waste water absolutely stinks (like rotten eggs). But usually a quick wipe with soapy cloth then quick dry and it still looks as good as new except for the 100s of fine scratches on the stainless steel drip tray! I don’t clean the machine when it tells me to, I’ve got good water here so limescale isn’t a problem for me. I’ve run some warm water and vinegar through the machine a few times to clean it, but I don’t stress over it. The ‘Clean Me’ light has been flashing for 2 months now (bad, i know!) I’ll clean it soon – that’s easy too – just takes 5 minutes.

I did take out the extended warranty, expecting the boiler or a pump to die (they do eventually), but I’ve not needed it so far! You could say the machine has paid for itself, because I’ve not been to a coffee shop in 2 years. I can now make my own Great Coffee!

Buy It! You’ll love it.

Quality Money Saver!
Purchased during Black Friday sales in 2019, having never owned a bean to cup before I followed all the sage barista YouTube videos and it’s just brilliant. I’d go as far as saying it’s been the best purchase I’ve made for a long time. Used every day and the coffee is so good it’s stopped me purchasing my morning coffee from the costa machine on the way to work. So it’s saved me money and everyone loves a coffee when they come to the house now.

This little gem really helped us get through lockdown!

Makes greay coffee
Looks good and makes excellent coffee. Takes a bit to adjust the grinding level and amount of coffee to personal preference but well worth it.
Had a ” no pressure problem” and contacted Sage.
Did all they advised to correct this to no avail. They arrange uplift and replacement. Job done.
Great service from Sage.
Fast efficient ordering and delivery from the seller.

Versitile, and easy to use, not happy with the increased price.
With my previous cheapo espresso machine finally giving up developing any pressure at all after nearly 3 years of intense use, and after trying everything to fix it, including changing the pump, i decided to finally trade up to a Sage Barista Express…. a machine i had been eyeing even when i bought the previous machine. However, I was astounded by the price. I remember only a few months ago this was on sale for around 400 – 420, however recent events have causes nearly ALL coffee machiens to shoot up in price, and I had to pay significantly more!

Nevertheless, price aside, it is a very good device that probably suits most kitchens, and fits well on a worktop under most kitchen wall cupboards.

Note this is not a fully automated Bean to cup machine, where you just select a drink and press a button, despite some third party sellers labelling it as such. It does require involvement, and experimentation to get right. If you are not willign to learn some of the intrecacies of creating an espresso or other coffee drinks, but enjoy consuming them, then i reccomend you get a casule, or a fully automated bean to cup machine. However, if you are willing to learn this can potentially create far better and more satisying coffee drinks.

PROS:
– I like the fact it is easy to clean, and maintain. My old machine and grinder did leave a lot of mess, this is more contained.
– Its thermocoil is relatively more efficient in electricity than a more “professional” boiler/dual boiler type, as it does not need to heat much more more water than whats being used, and its ready to start within about 30 seconds from cold. its perfect for where there is one or two people living in a household, who drinks coffee 2 or 3 times a day.
It has a nice storage area for the spare baskets/cleaing tools.
– It also comes with both pressurised and unpressurised baskets on both sizes (4 total) which is very handy. Many machines only include either pressurised, or unpressurised, and whilst some home “baristas” dismiss the pressurised ones, they do have a use in certain situations (preground or old or dry beans), and also helps beginners to get a decent enough shot at first, before learning all the intricacies of an expresso machine to be able to successfully use the non pressurised baskets.
– It has a proper 3 way solenoid valve to release pressure.
– You can manually chose the dosage aount as well as automatic (some machines only give either manual or automatic, not both)
– likewise you can also manually do the preinfuse, and extract, or simply set up for 1 or 2 shot to let the machine automatically stop when a certain amount of water as flowed through. You can also problemthe automatic amounts.
– It has a hot water dispenser for americans and other long coffees.
– It has a professional steam wand (not a panarello one) which gives you more control over the steam creating process, however, does require some skill, as opposed to the panarello types, usually found on cheaper machines.
– There is enough clearance to fit a mug underneeth the spout.
– water temp seems very consistant (though see con below)
– pressure guage! the more expensive versions of the barista range (professional and touch) do not include this very usefull tool.

CONS:
– When you switch on from cold, you do need to run at least one or two shots through the machine with the portafilter empty to heat up the pipes and portafilter to a satisfatory. Whilst you may see some on people suggesting that you leave it on for 10 minuites before pullign the first shot, in my experiementation I have done, I find running one or two shots is better at stabilising the temp from the inital cold start, as well as heating the portafilter better, as well as heating the cup/mug.
– the baskets do fit quite snugly into the portafilter, and need a bit of work to take out. I carefully use a teaspoon to lever it out.
– Although more than capable of creating good steamed milk with great microfoam, the steam power is a bit low on this machine (similar to other thermocoil machines) and does take a while to build up. This does mean it takes a bit longer to steam/froth milk compared to more powerfull machines, however, it is also an advantage for newbies, as the slower steaming gives you time to adjust the wand accordingly during steaming, rather than messing up the milk because you were not able to react quick enough,, important considering it is a professional wand, as opposed to a panarello one , which does require a bit of technique. If you need more powerfull steam, look at the Sage Barista Professional.
– Being a single boiler, You cannot steam milk and brew coffee at the same time, as the boiler needs to adjust to the different tasks, which can take a few seconds. Not a big issue for a household makign coupel of drinks at a time, but probably more annoying when making many more, espeically waiting for the temp to change.
– like ANY proper espresso machines it does take time to master!

Great taste GooD quality!
I’m very happy that I bought this Barista Express. It has been already more than a year. No regrets at all. I was not sure about after reading some reviews but I wanted to give it a try and I’m glad I did. If you take care of the machine and periodically clean, it works really well. The only star I dropped down just because they only send me one water filter which had to be claimed 4 filters for your first-year usage. Other than that I’m happy with this purchase

Nerdy and delicious
For coffee that’s as good and better than that made from a coffee shop, a nerdy machine for coffee enthusiasts…This is the one. It requires some time to be put into the craft, certainly not a “push button” machine, it’s a Manual and intricate machine which is more of a hobby. Can’t now go back to anything simpler…

Just WOW! Should have got one of these soone
I am a coffee addict! If Coffee Anonymous existed, I’d be a member! 🙂

I had a filter machine with a little espresso one-cup part, and could never be bothered filling up the system for one cup.

This bad boy! Oh wow! Fill it up in the morning with 2l of clean fresh water, and 1.75l later, which is a LOT of cups of coffee, fill up again. There’s a water filter built in, but I live in Birmingham, UK and we get lovely Welsh water (thank Wales!) which is very soft and doesn’t really need filtering (IMO).

It comes with 2 sets of filter baskets. 1 set for ground coffee and newbies. If you use these baskets with the Dual Wall, you’ll almost always get a nice espresso with a good crema, but it can seem a little aerated. So the other filter baskets are better to use, but you have to get the right tamp and coarseness of the bean to get a nice crema, so those baskets take a bit of time to master. But when you do! And it’s only 3 settings! 1. Grind amount, 2. Grid coarseness and 3. good tamp, but not too hard! It makes great coffee! I take a note of the 2 settings, the one on the site (coarseness) and the amount on the front, for each different type of beans I buy, so I can remember which are the best settings for each beans! All beans are different!

So then it comes to the Milk Steamer. It’s good, a bit slow, and I’ve tried to adjust the temperature, but it does the job, and to know the temperate on the jug and start to feel the temp without seeing it, you start to get better and better. But it’s a skill and this I’m no where near mastering yet! Would be nice if the jug was just a little bit bigger, but it makes a good size mug!

The hot water that comes out the pipe not as steam, is reasonably hot. Again I’ve tried increasing it, but I suppose it’s good for Coffee, but not brilliant for a cuppa Tea!

Cleaning the product is a doddle, by running a cleaning programme and buying tablets to use. Clean the steamer after every use and I clean the product every few days!

Emptying the tray is nice and clear with a little Empty Me sign that pops up when its full up.

I use this in combination with a good old fashioned Kettle! 😀 Boil the Kettle to get Half a cup of Hot water, a double espresso from this machine, bit of milk, and that’s what I live on!

Cost wise. I buy 1Kg bags of coffee beans and drink like a fish. compared to the cost of buying Instant this will eventually be cheaper with the savings per week on not buying Instant and buying bulk coffee beans. If you start charging your guests as the coffee is that good 😉 $tarbucks eat your heart out, You’d be quids in before you knew it! 😀

Brilliant machine
Brilliant machine, many options for a perfect coffee, not forgetting fresh beans well within a sell-by date. Quality is great. Nothing much else like it, as good as the best. Hope it lasts long time, before needing maintenance and if so parts available and not too expensive but just started. Had at work before for over a year…

Do it. It's worth every penny.
Doesn’t disappoint – this is a robust machine that’s built to last and produces rock-solid dependable espresso day-in, day-out. We have two of these in work, where they get hammered by a staff of 200, knocking out coffee to queues of people every morning. They’re still going strong after 12 & 6 months. The coffee is so good I bought myself one. Only teeny tiny disappointment is having to refill the water container – it’d be great if you could plumb it in – but that’s a niggle – the coffee is great, the quality of the device is great – really can’t fault it.

Just buy this machine.
Great coffee machine, absolutely love it. Initially found it hard to get up to pressure even on the finest grind setting, but after adjusting the burrs themselves I am using grind setting 3 most of the time and getting a great extraction. A bit more powerful steam wand would be nice, but given the size and price of the machine it is adequate.