Sage the Barista Pro Espresso Machine, Bean to Cup Coffee Machine with Milk Frother, SES878BTR - Black Truffle

Product Information

Under the hood, Sage has made a few key changes to differentiate the Pro from its cheaper manual bean-to-cup models. The two biggest are the addition of the firm’s custom Thermojet heating and volumetric pouring.

The Barista Pro feels well built, for the most part. The main body and drip tray’s metal finish feels premium and the included portafilter is noticeably sturdier than the versions you’ll find on Sage’s cheaper machines.

Swipe, select and customize.

Even if you’ve never used a manual espresso machine before, then it’s worth pointing out that the Barista Pro’s manual will have you up and running in no time. It explains the whole process in a clear and uncomplicated manner and lets you know what to look out for – both in visual and taste terms. It’s great to see a manufacturer providing a manual that’s genuinely instructional. The only minor issue is that the drip tray doesn’t feature adjustable heights. The machine is prone to splashing when pouring into espresso cups as a result. This, plus the slightly difficult to gauge manual grinding, means early on you’ll find yourself needing to wipe the Barista Pro down fairly regularly. The Barista Express is a mid-range model, it builds on the entry-level espresso machine - the Bambino - by adding a built-in burr grinder to dispense freshly ground coffee right into the portafilter. But unlike the more automated bean-to-cup style machines from other brands, this one allows you to flex your barista skills. You’ll need to tamp the coffee yourself, use the razor tool to get it to the perfect level, and steam your own milk, all of which might take a bit of practice to perfect, particularly if you’re a novice. You won’t find fancy features such as app support or strength settings here, but the machine’s easy setup process and rapid heating system make it a great choice for coffee fans looking to take their morning caffeine injection to the next level. Buying reconditioned Sage Coffee machines is also a much friendlier environmental option. Refurbished Sage Coffee machines are often second hand or used Sage Coffee machinesthat have been restored and updated to meet the manufacturer's standards, which means you'll be helping to keep old Sage Coffee machines out of our landfills, reduce electronic waste, and minimise your carbon footprint.

Thankfully, this is easily fixed using the machine’s adjustable infuse time controls. These are accessed by pressing the machine’s menu buttons and scrolling across to the pour settings. Here you can select how long the machine keeps hot water in the coffee before pushing it through, and it’s a key way to tweak the flavour of the end result. Milk It isn’t just the grind time that’s adjustable, however. The Barista Pro also allows you to choose how long to infuse the coffee before extraction (this forces water into the ground coffee for a set amount of time to help eke out the most flavour), and you can customise exactly how much hot water you want to push through the coffee for the single-shot and double-shot buttons. Confusing grinder settings and the Barista Pro’s completely manual steamer will be intimidating to first-time manual machine owners, however. The two-cup capacity and single bean tray also make it inappropriate for larger shared houses. Design All that said, there’s something hugely cathartic about the process of making coffee with a manual espresso machine of this quality. The whirr of the grinder, the quiet tap of the portafilter on the scales, the buzz of the pump and the quiet drip of coffee pouring into the cup. What makes it doubly satisfying, however, is that the Barista Pro demands relatively minimal time and effort yet still delivers consistently good results. Is it better to buy a reconditioned Sage Coffee machines instead of a used or second hand Sage Coffee machines?

Is it better to buy a reconditioned Sage Coffee machines instead of a used or second hand Sage Coffee machines?

As an added bonus, I found the system worked great with non-dairy milk including soy, almond and oat. This is great news for vegan users and something I can’t say about all the frothing systems I’ve tested.

Longer-term you’ll need to sporadically run descaling and general cleaning cycles, both of which can be activated in the machine’s settings menu and simply require you to follow a series of on-screen commands. You should buy it if… By comparison, cheaper machines just push out water by time. The benefit is that it means you should always get the same amount of espresso in your cup with each pour, something you can’t guarantee with budget machines.

Grind dose and extract all in one.

Once we’d made those first eight cups and perfected the settings, it was easy to produce consistently great espresso every time. The machine takes around 40 seconds to warm up when first switched on, then for us it took 17 seconds to grind and dispense the coffee, but this’ll vary depending on your settings. As you’d expect, grinding is the loudest part of the process and hit 80dB on our noise meter. A word to the wise, though. Unlike some of Sage’s other machines, such as the Bambino Plus or the pricier Barista Touch and Oracle Touch models, there is no automatic milk texturing facility here. If you want to produce hot milk with a soft, silky microfoam, then you’re only option is to take some time to learn – read Sage’s guidelines, watch some YouTube videos, and keep trying. Once you get the hang of it, however, the Barista Pro is a great companion; the three-second heat-up time is very welcome when you’re trying to make a cappuccino or flat white before dashing out the front door. We liked having the pressure gauge during the initial setup process, the correct pressure range is very clearly marked and it’s a helpful indicator that you can watch as your espresso pours, to see whether it’s being extracted at the correct pressure. The manual then advises what adjustments you’ll need to make to correct an under or over extracted espresso, which is usually either the grind size or the amount of pressure you use when tamping.

With a single touch the dose control delivers the correct amount of coffee from the integrated conical burr grinder. Both grind size and dose are adjustable if required. With a single touch, the integrated conical burr grinder with dose control delivers the right amount of coffee on demand, for maximum flavour. Adjustable grind size and dose. Digital Temperature Control (PID) delivers water at precisely the right temperature, ensuring optimal espresso extraction A cup of coffee made using the out-of-the-box settings has a robust crema and is delivered at around 63 degrees, which is pretty much spot on for espresso. There are also manual controls for those who wish to tweak their drink’s temperature. My only issue is that the flavour on the test beans I used was a little acidic on occasion. Unlike some machines, the Barista Pro isn’t smart, and doesn’t come with any form of app support. As the name suggests, it’s also fully manual. Newbie users won’t find on-screen instructions for lattes or auto settings for specific drinks.Once you do, the system works great, however. The wand is just as snappy as the rest of the machine, generally taking between seven and eight seconds to build pressure and then delivering wonderfully uniform results. Within a few minutes you’ll be able to create frothy cappuccinos, velvety lattes and pretty much any coffee you like with the wand.