# newbie from surrey



## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

Hello everyone!

I've joined the forum a couple of years but has never been active so I thought I'd reintroduce myself.

I'm Sarah and very much a beginner in gourmet coffee. I started my passion for coffee making couple years back when my wonderful partner gave me a delonghi ec330s. I started using Lavazza's pre ground coffee then moved on to whole beans(hasbean, londinium and just recently, trialled pact coffee). Using just simple low level entry machines, I've slowly educated myself in coffee making. I tried my best by modifying the delonghi to produce a much better espresso as well as the grinder.

Working for a company that sells high end retail kitchen and home appliances, i became spoiled in having gadgets that are high end and within reach. A year ago, the company formed partnership with Sage and I've managed to use the Sage Barista Express on loan. I am gutted that it has to go back within the month. Unfortunately, the company i work for only sells automatic coffee machines. I could buy Sage Barista Express but feel that it is more of a "quickie". I would love to be able to control my coffee so I am now looking to upgrade to another entry (?) level machine which is Gaggia Classic and a better doser or doserless grinder. When I have the funds, I would love to own an expobar brewtus.

Thanks for your time in reading this.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Welcome to the forum Sarah

Hope you get your machine sorted soon


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

Welcome to the Forum Sarah. I've been noticing you active around the For Sale area so its nice to have you introduce yourself.

Good intro & I hope you enjoy it on here. Plenty to learn & talk about if you love coffee


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## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

Yes I'm currently active on the for sale/wanted forum as I am looking for a coffee machine and grinder. I've just figured out how to get notifications through subscribing! Hopefully this time, I'll avoid confusing people and missing out on important posts.


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## Tiny tamper (May 23, 2014)

Hi Sarah, nice intro, interesting you mentioned sage and expobar one of our members did a very good comparison of the two so you might take a look at that









Welcome and enjoy


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Tiny op mentions sage Batista not sage dB. Barista has a built in grinder and is a single boiler.


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## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

I actually did a sage barista express review on my blog (not here) and have gotten quite positive comments about it. Sage Appliance have just emailed me and said that the oracle is now out for sale and it's currently priced at £1,599.99 (why is everyone obsessed with the pennies!). Fingers crossed that they allow me to try and review their product.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Tiny op mentions sage Batista not sage dB. Barista has a built in grinder and is a single boiler.


Glenn and funincaup have used these ( Batista express and gotten good coffee from them )


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## Tiny tamper (May 23, 2014)

Sarah0817 said:


> When I have the funds, I would love to own an expobar brewtus.


This is why I mentioned the comparison, if someone likes/uses sage already might be worth a look


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## aFiercePancake (Dec 8, 2013)

Welcome to the forum! More espressoisti in Surrey is a good thing!


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

Sarah0817 said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> When I have the funds, I would love to own an expobar brewtus.


Hi Sarah, welcome to the forum what's your budget? I'm sure I could do you a great deal on a machine and grinder....

Andy


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## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

Hi andy, I'm just starting out and I'm waiting to hear from someone about his gaggia classic in my wanted post. I've only set aside 250 for grinder and machine. I think I'll start with gaggia first while I improve on my shots then maybe in a few years I'll upgrade to expobar or similar. Beautiful machines on your website!


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

No problem - I'll keep my eyes open! Remember that pretty much all the prices on my website are negotiable for forum members.....


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