# Recommended accessories



## callummu (Dec 17, 2019)

New years newbie here. For many years I have looked on at gorgeous coffee machines with the hope of one day purchasing one. I took the plunge before Christmas and bought the Sage Barista Pro. I absolutely love it and the coffee is tasty. During university, I worked for Costa Coffee and loved the barista training they offered. It's stuck with me ever since - one fond memory is the accessories that they would use.

I've just gone and purchased two Bodum espresso cups however when the coffee is extracted the cups don't quite collect all the espresso that comes out. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a lift or elevated piece of metal so the cups are closer to the spout. Also, are there branded Sage accessories like a dump bin, pad for banging cappucino milk and so on. Anything you guys could recommend as well as showcasing your Sage setup would be welcome. (For pure inspiration purposes.) Thanks all.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

LOL Makes a change for someone to come along who can use any Sage machine from day one but have found a problem anyway.

Sage do their own knock box. While my aim is good I found it too small and initially when everyone wanted coffee every 5min that it didn't hold enough.

I use one of these, also serves for tea bags. My wife doesn't like them steaming in the bin. If for some reason a puck is a bit wet these can also catch the splash.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B071NCR6JT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The box is fine but don't knock onto the rubber edging - it'll split. At the time it was cheap on Amazon. They are about carrying various names and probably various prices.

Maybe a smaller silicone tamping mat for settling the milk. I stick with natural rubber for tamping mats. Easier to brush clean and last longer. There is a selection of all sorts on Amazon and elsewhere.

I don't know of anything to lift a cup. The Sage machines are not good cup warmers. I drink americano 10oz and the milk based drinkers use the same so bought some tall 300ml borosilicate mugs by unihom. They have to be tilted a bit to get them in. Single wall as the duals are too fragile. Guess you will have to look around at "stands" and see what crops up.

Some people cut out the base of the portafilter to make it bottomless. Not easy as they are made of stainless. Some one called Joey was doing this for people - for a consideration. I think some people bought a 2nd portafilter and sent it to him. He may have bought in bulk off Sage at one point- they wanted to know what he wanted 1/2 dozen for. This would solve your problem. Sage aught to offer them really. Cost of another can be saved by looking on ebay as the portafilters do crop up now and again but not often.

@joey24dirt

John

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## THR_Crema (May 20, 2019)

Welcome to the Sage ownership and forum.

Ive got the Sage knock box however agree it's too small but looks nice next to the machine.

Over three years I've added a few accessories which are:

53mm Motta Tamper - feels nicer than the included Sage one.

53mm Motta Leveller - purpose to distribute the grinds for better extraction. Although @DavecUKdid a very interesting video showing it might not be that useful.

Rhinoware tamper mat for portafilter and milk jug tapping.

Variety of milk jugs & made a bean doser store.

Scales are a must ?


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Have to watch things a bit on tampers for Sage's 54mm filter baskets. A 54mm can be too big to use. It's not much but ............................ wont fit. I found Sage's 54mm fine. I did change the DB's as I could get a 58.5mm for it. Did I need to for any reason really - no

Levellers can be used to pretamp a little which can help keep the main tamp level. There are 2 stles. 3 wing and 2 wing / chisel types. I found that the 3 wing are far better at giving 3 flows out of a portafilter early on during an extraction even when the are only used lightly. Far better than the 2 wing are at giving 2 which can be fairly common anyway  even DaveC gets them sometimes. as I do.

John

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## callummu (Dec 17, 2019)

Thank you all for your recommendations. I'll take a look to see what's out there. I definately want to buy a bin for coffee grind - I'll see what alternatives there are to the Sage one.

In terms raising the espresso cups so they're closer to the spouts, does anyone have any suggestions. Not to keen altering the machine or tray itself as it may void the warranty.

Thanks again.

C


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## Jony (Sep 8, 2017)

Grindenstein is excellent. Cups wise I have some Loveramics Egg ones


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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

THR_Crema said:


> Welcome to the Sage ownership and forum.
> 
> Ive got the Sage knock box however agree it's too small but looks nice next to the machine.
> 
> ...


 Sorry to hijack this thread but can I ask you a question on your 53mm Motta Tamper please? I bought one yesterday but today I see Motta do a 54mm one. Have I got the right one? Do you find your 53mm one to small and it leaves edges un-tamped? Or you think the 54mm will be too big being the size of the basket?

Thanks for any advice, sorry to butt in.


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## THR_Crema (May 20, 2019)

CocoLoco said:


> Sorry to hijack this thread but can I ask you a question on your 53mm Motta Tamper please? I bought one yesterday but today I see Motta do a 54mm one. Have I got the right one? Do you find your 53mm one to small and it leaves edges un-tamped? Or you think the 54mm will be too big being the size of the basket?
> 
> Thanks for any advice, sorry to butt in.


 Evening,

I find it fits very well, slight gap however I use the tamper to give the basket a tap after levelling and it knocks the little amount of coffee off and ready for tamping.

I think I've read somewhere on the forum that the 54mm won't fit however I can't find the comment. Be good for someone to purchase and feedback to the users of 54mm Sage.


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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

THR_Crema said:


> Evening,
> 
> I find it fits very well, slight gap however I use the tamper to give the basket a tap after levelling and it knocks the little amount of coffee off and ready for tamping.
> 
> I think I've read somewhere on the forum that the 54mm won't fit however I can't find the comment. Be good for someone to purchase and feedback to the users of 54mm Sage.


 Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll keep the 53mm for now and use your technique. It's only £20 so if down the line i find out the 54mm is better I guess I could swap, I plan on having this machine for a few years before upgrading. Now to get that 53mm Motta Distribution tool! Was going to get the Crema one as that has a tamper on the other side, I wanted to try that style and it seemed a 2for1 deal, but can't find it for sale in the UK.


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## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

The 54 does not fit


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## THR_Crema (May 20, 2019)

So I thought I'd crack out the digital callipers to see what's happening.

So the Motta 53mm leveller measures up at 52.82mm.

The 54mm Sage Basket measures 53.53mm at the widest and tampers down to 47.55mm.

So it's quite a snug fit and as mentioned above it's the best fit for the Sage 54mm baskets.


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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

THR_Crema said:


> So I thought I'd crack out the digital callipers to see what's happening.
> 
> So the Motta 53mm leveller measures up at 52.82mm.
> 
> ...


 Oh that's great,, thank you for going to that effort! Between you and @TomHughes I know I have the right one, you've put my mind at rest. Sage doesn't do things easy like some of the other brands with 58mm standard does it.


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## kpbtm (Nov 13, 2020)

Old thread this, but seeing as they've just announced a dosing cup to fit the Sage/Breville portafilter, and the other products in their range are wellmade and tailored for the Sage range, I thought I should give these guys a quick plug:

Crema Coffee Products

(Word of warning, they aren't cheap, and when you factor in shipping from the US and possibly import taxes, it gets worse...)


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## kpbtm (Nov 13, 2020)

They've just put it on sale:

https://www.cremacoffeepro.com/collections/tools-for-breville/products/54mm-dosing-cup


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## Kunal (Jan 2, 2021)

Hi guys

I'm pretty new to all this coffee business...but I'm really getting into the hobby. I'm starting to build the accessories already...although some may say it's a bit early etc...

Can anyone recommend a good tamping mat for the 54mm portafilter?

Thank you


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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

Kunal said:


> Can anyone recommend a good tamping mat for the 54mm portafilter?


 I have this one. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yolococa-Tamping-Baristas-Non-Slippery-Silicone/dp/B06XYZ8R4V/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3O4T67674S0TE&dchild=1&keywords=tamping+mat+coffee&qid=1609604647&sprefix=tamping+mat+%2Caps%2C227&sr=8-8

It's not great, the pf slides about on it a bit, like the spout cut out on mat isn't deep enough. I ended up tamping directly on may which sort of defeated the point.

I recommend a decent tamping stand. The one I have is probably a bit expensive new (I got it very cheap on here), but as long as it's sturdy I think a stand is much better. Most people just tamp on a mat or even plain surface though. Horses for courses.


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## Kunal (Jan 2, 2021)

Thanks CocoLoco! Your opinion matters and much appreciated!


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