# New Barista Express - pressure jumps to too high half way through extraction



## rsfcoffee (Oct 16, 2020)

Hi,

I've recently purchased a Sage Barista Express and I'm trying to dial it in. I've gone down to 5 on the grind size scale with a single non-pressurised filter. The beans are reasonably good quality (Gran Fondo from Pact).

What I'm finding is that when the shot starts pouring after ~5 seconds, the pressure gauge moves to espresso range for a few seconds but then jumps to being too high - just past the outskirts of the espresso range on the gauge. All in all, the process from pressing the button takes about 15-20 seconds.

I've tried tamping harder, and moving to a finer grind, although I haven't gone all the way to 1. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Or is there something wrong with the machine?

Thanks in advance for any help!


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## MarkHB (Jun 12, 2020)

I don't know much about pressure guages or how they work so I can't really comment on whether there is a fault with it or not. I've heard the pressure guages on these machines can be inconsistent. Though I would have thought a shot running out in 15-20 secs would be showing up a lower pressure reading.

My advice for now would be to forget about the pressure guage and try to get your shot coming out in a time between 28-35 seconds. You'll want to have around 15-17g of ground beans in the portafilter and you'll be aiming for around 30-34g of espresso in the cup (these are only approximations and won't guarantee a good tasting coffee, you'll have to use taste as your guide). Grind as fine as you think you'll need to achieve this. If you're already at grind size 1 and you're still not able to achieve this then there is a dial on the upper burr of the grinder that can be changed for a finer grind size.

Also you don't want to tamp too hard. Just keep your tamping consistent. I've found putting my hand over the basket and shaking gently helps to distribute the grounds before tamping.

Hopefully this will be of some help.


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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

rsfcoffee said:


> just past the outskirts of the espresso range on the gauge.


 That's fine, mine does that too, but don't worry about the pressure gauge. It's use is very limited past determining you have pressure for pre infusion then more pressure for the extraction.

As to what you are doing wrong could be a number of things. I suggest reading the sticky in the Sage forum, ticking off all those boxes and then seeing where you are. The things that could be wrong after that are then greatly reduced.

Be advised using the single basket is notoriously more difficult. Most people just use the double unpressurised. You may need to (probably will need to in fact) adjust the inner/top burr, the video for that is also in the sticky. Check out the thread, implement those changes if need be, see how you go, then come back with questions would be my advice. Don't get too caught up in ratios and weights, they're ballparks but see how the coffee you have tastes, that's the key. I didn't do this, but while learning it's good to always use the same coffee. Only change one thing at a time too.

https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/51039-sage-beprodtp-etc-read-this-first/?do=embed


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## MarkHB (Jun 12, 2020)

Sorry I didn't see that you were using the single basket! As CocoLoco said it is best to use the double basket.


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## rsfcoffee (Oct 16, 2020)

Thanks for the advice - I'll give it a go with the double basket this morning. Tbh I think I wrongly assumed that a single shot would be fine for making an americano, but I imagine most places I go for coffee are making their americanos with a double.


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## N0rmanski (Oct 15, 2020)

I have wondered if the pre-infusion is too long for the single basket, I was going to experiment with reducing the pre-infusion by pulling a manual shot but instead I too gave up with the single basket and just use the double now.


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## rsfcoffee (Oct 16, 2020)

Thanks for your help, moving to double basket instantly made things better! The puck seemed a little bit soggy afterwards, but the shot tasted much better.


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