Sage Barista and Bambino

What you actually have

Sage machines with a 54 mm portafilter (Barista Express, Express Impress, Pro, Touch, Touch Impress, Bambino, Bambino Plus) use 54 mm accessories. Accessories for 58 mm do not fit them. The Dual Boiler and Oracle are another story: they have 58 mm.

1. A 53.3 mm tamper

Sage does not publish the tamper size. Makers of accessories for these machines recommend 53.3 mm.

2. Single-wall basket

Sage baskets come in two kinds. According to the manual, the single-wall basket is for fresh whole beans, and the dual-wall one is for ground coffee and beans older than 30 days from roasting.

3. The built-in grinder

The outer dial is the fine adjustment. The upper burr also has an inner adjustment, described in the machine's manual in the chapter on adjusting the burrs. The grinder doses by time, not by weight, so check the dose on scales.

4. Warm the portafilter

Sage machines are ready in under a minute (the Bambino Plus in a few seconds), but the portafilter is still cold at that point. Sage's manual advises warming the portafilter and basket with hot water and wiping them dry, because a cold portafilter lowers the extraction temperature.

5. Temperature and pre-infusion

On the Barista Express and Express Impress the temperature changes by ±2 °C, in steps of 1 °C. For the other models, check the manual. The machine does the low-pressure pre-infusion by itself.

Impress models

The Express Impress and Touch Impress have assisted dosing and tamping. Normcore states that its dosing cup does not fit those models.

Maintenance

A light tells you when it is time for the cleaning programme with the disc and tablet. According to the manual, the water filter is changed every three months, more often with hard water. Wipe the group shower screen regularly with a damp cloth.