# A Noob's Journey with the Sage Barista Express



## Coffer (Sep 2, 2021)

We picked up a Sage BE for £479 on offer recently. Likely not the best price it has been available for but considering the crazy times we're living in I am happy with it.

*Background - *before purchasing the Sage BE, we owned a DeLonghi Caffe Corso bean to cup machine that did everything for us for around 7 years so we were pretty happy. We were using Lavazza beans or any Costco bean on offer. That was the extent of our coffee knowledge.

*Now - *we own a Barista Express machine, I've started to get more and more interested in the art of making a decent cup of coffee. I bought a bottomless portafilter, dosing funnel that clips over the portafilter, tamping mat and some other bits and pieces.

Maybe I have jumped in at the deep end but my goal is to get the perfect bottomless portafilter video. So far I must have made over 50 coffees with the new machine, the majority of those with the bottomless portafilter. It has been very messy. Channelling is currently my worst enemy.

I have read the sticky on this forum - *extremely helpful, thank you!*

I have done the following:



Run a few cycles of hot water through an empty portafilter. I use the hot water to warm up my espresso cups and the big cup I use to catch all the spraying


Purchased Rave coffee beans so I am using fresh rather than supermarket


Bought the dosing funnel to make things less messy


Weighed my beans prior to grinding (18-20g) before changing my method over to weighing the grounds afterward (also testing things out in the 18-20g range)


Distributed the ground coffee in the portafilter by tapping the side then using a cocktail stick to move them all around, tap again and tamp.

I have read that the 15kg/30lbs force tamp "rule" may not be necessary. I have no way of gauging my tamp but I put a fair bit of pressure in. Possibly too much.



Adjusted the grind coarseness (the sticky seems to suggest the grind range is 1-5 however my range is 1-16, with 1 being the finer end). I have been sitting in the 3-6 range and unsure whether to increase coarseness somewhat.


I have made my adjustments one at a time so I can try to fine-tune this, however due to running out of one particular Rave bean I have had to switch to another. I'm not sure what relevance it may have but I also fill the tank from our BRITA jug, rather than from the tap. Hopefully filtering the water twice is a good thing.

The pressure gauge would go right to the top end when I used supermarket beans. Now it sits around 4/5 in the "espresso range" with Rave beans.

I am still getting channeling. I have read the sticky a few times. I think I might need to explore the higher range of the grind coarseness. I am also suspicious of the standard Sage portafilter but probably only using that as an excuse for my own shortcomings.

I think that's about it. Open to hints and tips on the matter. I'll try to keep this thread updated with my progress. Really hoping for that perfect bottomless portafilter video/shot.

C


----------



## HVL87 (Dec 17, 2019)

Seems like you have done your research/reading which is a good starting point!

Are you weighing and timing your shots? A good way to determine grind size is aiming for a 2:1 ratio of espresso weight to starting dose i.e. 18g ground coffee in, 36g espresso out in 30 seconds. Then you can adjust grind size and ratio to suit your preference. On the Barista Express you can manually pull shots if that helps.

Personally I wouldn't recommend using a cocktail stick to stir grinds - it can actually make channeling worse. You can make your own WDT (weiss distribution technique) tool with a cork and some 0.4mm acupuncture or printer nozzle cleaning needles. There are threads on this forum which you can research for more info.

I don't believe you can tamp too much as such. Just try to make sure you tamp is level and consistent.

I had a Barista Express and Barista Pro for a little while but I never used a bottomless portafilter with them. You may be fighting an uphill battle as I believe the Barista Express runs at higher pressures which means channeling may be inevitable.


----------



## Little_tipple (Apr 2, 2019)

I've had a Barista express for about 4 years now, and still going strong - 2 weeks ago I switched to a VST basket (14-18 i think, off the top of my head) - it needs a little adjusting, i've seen talk of filing the edges down, but i found an anvil and some gentle persuation with a copper mallet worked a treat. I have seen a massive difference in the channeling and "neatness" of the shot - it looks much more like I think it should, and it doesn't do the "spurty" nonsense you get with the stock basket. Otherwise, it sounds like you're doing all the right things!


----------



## soymilk (Aug 22, 2021)

I know I will get channeling so I didn't buy a bottomless portafilter. lol.

Are there bottomed portafilter with pretty wooden handle? I might be interested in those.


----------



## -Mac (Aug 22, 2019)

Coffer, how long are you resting the Rave beans after the roast date. I wait at least a week.

Look at these videos:


----------



## Coffer (Sep 2, 2021)

Bit of an update on this.

*Overall:*

The Sage BE we bought back in August/September was sent back for an exchange. It was the black unit - paint was flaking off and it was looking awful within weeks. The exchange process with Sage was really good and within no time we had the stainless version. It looks great and works fantastic. I noticed a key difference between the units straight away:

- The grinder on the replacement unit did not require me to adjust the upper burr. All the beans I have used so far have been dialled in simply using the grind adjuster on the side of the machine.

Anyway, a few months and a fair few kilos of coffee later and we're really enjoying it. We have mostly stuck with Rave, however will keep an eye out for forum sponsor deals.

*Things I have learned:*

For my portafilter baskets, I find the following to be best:

- 19-20g of ground coffee in the single shot (18g?) standard SAGE basket

- 21-22g of ground coffee in the double shot (20g?) nondescript Amazon basket

*Things I do that others may/may not do:*

When I start up the coffee machine, I generally try to give it 20 minutes or more to warm up. Whatever the case, I always run hot water from it straight into the cups I am using to heat them up. I tear a sheet of kitchen towel and dry the basket. I have a dosing funnel which clips on to the top of the portafilter, as well as a dosing cup. I do the following:

1 - weigh the beans, grind them and weigh the ground coffee

2 - flip the portafilter with dosing funnel upside down over the cup, then flip them both back upright so the ground coffee enters the basket.

3 - shake the portafilter a bit, then tap with my hand all the way round until it settles. I then bash it off the tamping mat until I can see some of the steel of the basket.

4 - Take off the dosing funnel

5 - Distribute and tamp with one of those 2-in-1 tools

6 - Place the portafilter in the machine and get it going

It's a really good setup for me, however I am looking to reduce the amount of banging that goes on when I make a coffee 😅

*Modifications I'd like to try:*

1. Steam lever upgrade. It is costly to buy a stainless one from the US, so I have drawn a lever to be manufactured by a local machinist. I'm still waiting for it to be made. Once installed I will upload some photos and show it off.

2. Steam wand upgrade. The tip of the wand is shaped so it is difficult to clean. I have seen a more bulbous version online so I am thinking of switching it out. I believe I have seen Lance Hedrick's Barista Pro (or similar) unit with the improved wand tip

*Questions from me:*

A. We generally have one type of bean for our espresso, another for our mid-morning/noon coffee, and a decaf for anything after that. I don't fill the hopper, but instead weigh the beans and grind them per serving. This means the grinder does run beanless for a couple of seconds while the last bean or so come through. Is there any harm in running a grinder without beans?

B. I want to add a Hive smart plug to a schedule so the coffee machine turns on as soon as it receives power. This is so it turns on at the same time every morning and warms up before I head down. I can't find anything that will let me do this. Anyone have any ideas?


----------



## -Mac (Aug 22, 2019)

A) No - as long as the burrs aren't touching.

B) Can't be done unless you play with the circuits too (needs electronics knowledge - I don't have it) because you'd still need to physically hit the on switch otherwise.

Be aware that the steam lever 'upgrade' will only give you a shinier on/off switch. It won't let you change the amount of steam on a sliding scale.

Did you sort out your chanelling?


----------



## Coffer (Sep 2, 2021)

-Mac said:


> A) No - as long as the burrs aren't touching.
> 
> B) Can't be done unless you play with the circuits too (needs electronics knowledge - I don't have it) because you'd still need to physically hit the on switch otherwise.
> 
> ...


 Thanks, I'm glad I can continue with my grinding approach. The power switch thing is annoying. I found a WiFi switch project that someone has used on their machine - I'll think about it for a bit but the warranty issue could put me off.

I don't like the stock steam switch, it's really ugly. I want a decent stainless one as I have seen the Crema levers completely change the look of these machines.

Umm regarding the channeling, I don't suffer from it any more because I resumed spouted portafilter use 🤣 I will eventually go back to bottomless portafilter but at the moment we're really enjoying our coffees and can't be chewed with the mess.


----------



## Coffer (Sep 2, 2021)

Hi all, just an update on my progress. A friend of mine 3D printed a steam lever for me. It was good practice for me to remove the stock steam knob and secure the replacement lever. It's a really easy upgrade too. The 3D printed lever was supposed to be temporary while I had my custom steam lever machined. Unfortunately it looks like I will be waiting a very long time for this one to be machined. Fortunately, though, the Crema lever came back in stock on Amazon and was much cheaper than buying direct.

I don't have photos of my machine with the stock knob, but they can be found online easy enough. First up, the 3D printer lever:











And some photos of the Crema lever when it arrived:










And finally, the installed stainless steel Crema lever:










Personally, I'm very pleased with the new lever. Not only does it look good but it's easier to use.


----------

