# Sage Barista Express Under Extraction



## andyismilesaway (Jul 24, 2019)

I've a challenge with consistent under extraction - hoping someone can give some pointers...

First off, full disclosure, I am a newbie to this, and the machine is a week old, so bear with me!

I've been playing with dose, grind and tamper and and unable to achieve anywhere near the extraction duration or pressure that it talks of in the book, also espresso (to my taste) is bitter. Here are a few facts:



I've adjusted the dose dial down pretty low, and weighing it's 10.6g


I've measured what I get out and it's 25.g of liquid


This takes a total of 19 seconds to extract (from button push to it stopping). The first 6 seconds of this 19 are the pump running and no liquid coming out (so 13 seconds of actual pour)


Pressure on the build in gauge is in 'Pre-infusion' for the first 6 seconds, then the dial jumps right up to the highest point of the 'espresso range' for the remaining 13 - so I guess a bit high?


I've moved the grind level down bit by but, and it's now at "1" (finest). I have tried grinding 1 and grinding at 18, and I can 'feel' the difference in the grind between my fingers, so the adjustment is doing something


I've had a bash at measuring tamping pressure with some scales, and a good old push is giving 10-15kg of pressure


Initially I had supermarket beans and had even quicker extraction  I've now a batch of freshly roasted (19/7/19) which are giving the above results.


Any steer what I can be doing to to get a more sensible extraction?


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## Cooffe (Mar 7, 2019)

Is this for a single shot, in the single basket, with the pressurised portafilter?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

You're shot time is 19s, don't differentiate between flow & no flow.

Either, consult the manual, see if you can adjust the burr to allow you to grind finer with the pre-programmed button, or better still, don't use a pre-programmed dose - put your cup on scales & kill the shot by weight.

The finer you grind, the higher the pressure you see, but the more drink you extract from the puck, the less likely under-extraction.

Tamp flat & level, watch the steel band on the tamper, you don't need to tamp with exactly 10-15kg, just do what you can to be consistent.


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## andyismilesaway (Jul 24, 2019)

Thank you both, il give that a try, will have a further play with the grind settings.


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