Sage - The Barista Express Impress, Brushed Stainless Steel

Product Information

Which machine would I prefer to use on a daily basis if I had to choose from the Breville Barista Max Vs. Barista Express? Barista Express, all day long, without a shadow of a doubt, but having said that, the Barista Express really are cheap, so if you just don't have the budget for the Barista Express, I can see the appeal. I would look at the available extended warranty available on the Barista Max range from Currys though, if I was thinking of going for that machine. I do have a definite answer to this, by the way, and I'll explain why I've come to this conclusion, and you'll see it's based on experience, not opinion. There's no pressure gauge with the Barista Pro, but in my humble opinion, you really don't need a pressure gauge. The pressure needle really doesn't tell you anything you don't know from the look of the espresso, the shot time, and the taste of the shot.

This is the touch screen version of the oracle touch. It's about five hundred quid more, so it does seem quite a lot more cash to stump up just for the touch screen, although it is a bit more than that. change out my 3 beans, and know exactly what grind size I need to get the same result consistently.The Oracle machines aren't assisted, they're automated, so if you invest in the Oracle the dosing and tamping is done automatically, but the Express Impress assists the user in these areas, rather than doing these things automatically. I say that the Barista Express hits 3 out of Sage's “4 Keys” formula, because it doesn't have a 9 bar OPV, and if I'm talking gobbledygook, don't worry, I'll translate ;-). Am I saying that there's nobody these days who the Barista Express is a good match for? Absolutely not! Sage are smart, if they thought this was the case they wouldn't bother continuing to manufacture it. It’ll happily swallow 250g of beans, which is more than the typical 225g bags you’ll find in most shops, but unless you have a serious drinking habit you might want to avoid filling it to the brim. Beans can go stale if you don’t get through them fast enough, and are best stored somewhere airtight. Sage owns the US-based grinder manufacturer Baratza, Baratza use European Etzinger burrs in their grinders, and Sage now use the same Etzinger burr set in all their integrated grinder espresso machines, except the Barista Express.

If you ask me, the portafilter size is of little consequence to shot quality, all things considered – but, where I'd be more concerned is the availability of aftermarket accessories. This may have been an issue initially with the 54mm portafilters, but it's really not these days. Due to the massive popularity of the Sage machines, there is a huge array of 54mm accessories on the market. The Warranty I know from speaking to my fellow coffee botherers, AKA coffeeblog readers, that this assumption has prompted many people to make the decision that the pro isn't worth the extra hundred money, and they've opted for the cheaper Express. As well as the external grind adjustment, the grinder on these espresso machines (and on the smart grinder pro) has 10 internal grind settings on the top burr. They come from the factory at 6, which I think is a bit on the coarse side for espresso with standard baskets, from experience – so all you need to do is really simply move the internal grind setting a notch or two finer.The added complication of integrated grinder machines as I mentioned earlier, is that you have the potential grinder issues and espresso machine issues in one unit, and the chances of suffering an issue with either your grinder or the espresso machine part of the unit within 3-5 years I'd say is fairly high.