# low pressure, horrible coffee... what's the problem here?



## fredphoesh (Sep 7, 2013)

Hello peeps. After about 17 months, my Sage Barista is suddenly making really crap coffee. I have recently cleaned the system via the tank (with vinegar) and via the portafilter (with pills) and cleaned out the grinder completely. I am using the finest grind, (below 1, dial turned fully) and 18.4g. I usually use 17g. Even with all this, the pressure on the gauge is very low and the coffee takes about 15 or so seconds to complete, and tastes horrid. These beans I usually grind at about 6, and the pressure is usually at the top end of "normal"... so this is completely abnormal. Here is a video I made, excuse my pre-coffee fog









I don't have a separate grinder, but my son does, but will only see him in a week or so, but as I say, the grind size looks fine to me by feel and sight. What do you think the problem is?

https://videoblurb.com/mp/sage.mp4


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## Blue_Cafe (Jun 22, 2020)

Congrats on the best "i have a problem plz help" post i have ever seen on this forum.

This should be stickied for new users who post "help my machine is broken you must plz help" and that's about as much info as you get :classic_laugh: :classic_wacko:

I don't know, but your comment about cleaning the grinder recently is interesting. Are you sure you put it back together correctly? The burrs mounts can be sensitive

Edit: Illy beans?

I noticed that when i have used them, they age very quickly once opened. Over the space of a week, they went from really nice (yes i do like them) to really quite flat.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

There is no weight of beans in th hopper which means there is no uniformity as to how they are fed into the burrs. This in turn creates a pop corning effect which again in turns means you will not have a unifrity in particle size. If you have bigger particles mixed in with smaller ones the tamp, when you pull the shot the water will not detract evenly across the puck, causing channelling and a poor extraction. Stick more beans in the hopper and keep it topped up!


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

There is not enough resistance for the water. I take it you are tamping with the plastic sage tamper? You need something that is a better fit. The puck needs to be flat across its surface and sealed right to the sides. You might think these small changes but making coffee is a craft


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

dfk41 said:


> There is not enough resistance for the water. I take it you are tamping with the plastic sage tamper? You need something that is a better fit. The puck needs to be flat across its surface and sealed right to the sides. You might think these small changes but making coffee is a craft


 The sage tampers are actually pretty good to be fair.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Mrboots2u said:


> The sage tampers are actually pretty good to be fair.


 Well, watch the video then comment bootsy baby


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## Blue_Cafe (Jun 22, 2020)

dfk41 said:


> Well, watch the video then comment bootsy baby


 The ding in the puck is quite noticeable but i thought nothing of it because this gentleman seemingly had no issues previous, hence my suspicions that the beans have died or the grinder not reassembled properly


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)




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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

Mrboots2u said:


> The sage tampers are actually pretty good to be fair.


 Agree, it's definitely the best stock tamper I've come across!


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

I'm going to say, as others have said. It's a combo of using crappy stale beans (If you are going to use an espresso machine at least give the thing decent beans), single dosing a grinder which shouldn't be single dosed, doing a bad job of tamping.

I would

1. Get decent beans

2. Half fill the hopper.

3. Grind into a cup and distribute properly.

4. Tamp carefully, that puck looked terrible before you put it in, no wonder you were getting huge channelling.


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## Blue_Cafe (Jun 22, 2020)

dfk41 said:


> View attachment 43976


 looks a bit rough (Course) to me but it may be ok for the sage. I dunno,

And, if i may say, clean it, the machine, the seals, the filters, baskets thoroughly


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

If you wanted to be really anal (try it once and see f it makes a difference), grind into a cup, then using a tea spoon addict into the pf, shaking as you go. The idea is to end up with well distributed grinds across the pf. If you have too much on one side and not enough on the other, when you compress it down you will have an uneven puck so the water will pass though at different rates. What beans are you using? If they are supermarket specials then that may well be your problem. If you ask why folks will explain, but if you are happy with the taste........


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