Used for a couple of weeks now and can confirm this is pretty good. Just a couple of niggles such as no warning light for water getting low and its tricky to change default settings but thankfully settings out of the box seem perfect for standard coffee such as latte. The jug having thermometer on the side is useful for warming/frothing milk and machine comes with an offer to get free packs of coffee which arrived quite quickly. If, like me you are a newby deciding on the beans to get is a nightmare. All in all though a good buy.

First impressions of this machines are very good, within 20 minutes of opening the box I was enjoying the best espresso I have had at home.

BUILD QUALITY:
Overall this feels very solid and has a nice weight to it, the dials have a reassuring resistance to them, and all the parts lock in together very nicely. My only issue is that the buttons feel just a little loose.

FEATURES:
It is very easy to start making coffee, with all the main functions being very intuitive. I appreciate being able to adjust some aspects of this machine with great precision – adjusting the grind size directly with the burrs, and adjusting the water temperature. One very nice piece of design is that a useful storage space is brought out behind the drip tray. The provided milk jug has a built in temperature scale, which is definitely a fun addition. The steam wand has some nice power to it from such a small form, and the hot water spout again has a decent enough flow rate from such a small machine.

EASE OF USE:
As previously mentioned, it is very easy to get a perfectly acceptable shot of espresso out of here. The manual also has a brief but intuitive guide to “dialing in” the grind size and amount to get the most out of your coffee beans. Access to the cleaning functions are not obvious at all, but I can forgive this as they are not needed to be used too often. One issue is that there is not much space to work in, and the grinder and brew head are a little to close to make it truly comfortable, however, it already takes up enough counter space so I can forgive this too.

VALUE FOR MONEY:
This is an expensive purchase, and for some people it will simply not be worth it. If you not only enjoy drinking coffee, but also enjoy the process of making coffee, you would need to spend a lot more money to get any significant improvement.

OVERALL OPINION:
At this moment, I don’t think there is a better option for the home enthusiast. As long as there are no major mechanical issues within a couple of years of use, then I view the high price tag as completely worth it – fingers crossed!

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!