Sage and Breville Barista machines: an owner's guide

I have just bought one. What do I do first?

1. Unpack it and find the accessories. Besides the machine there are four baskets, a portafilter with one basket already in it, a tamper that lives in the machine, a trimming tool, a milk jug, a water filter and its holder, a cleaning disc and tablets, and small tools. Keep the booklet.
2. Wash the parts that touch water, coffee and milk. The maker's instruction is warm water and a gentle washing-up liquid for the water tank, portafilter, baskets, milk jug and drip tray, rinsed and dried. None of the parts go in a dishwasher.
3. Fit the water filter and fill the tank. Soak the filter in cold water for five minutes, fit it in its holder and the holder in the tank, and set the reminder dial. Fill the tank with cold tap water. The maker says not to use distilled, demineralised or highly filtered water.
4. Lock the hopper on and run the first-use flush. The machine will not grind unless the hopper is locked. Then flush it as the booklet describes: water through the group head, steam through the wand and water through the hot-water outlet. On the Pro and the two Touch models the screen walks you through it.
5. Choose a basket: the single-wall double, for fresh beans. It is the one that comes fitted. The maker's rule is single wall for freshly roasted whole beans, dual wall for pre-ground coffee or beans of no known roast date. The reason is explained below.
6. Tell the machine which basket is in. The filter-size control, set to single or double, tells the grinder how long to run. It does not tell the machine how much espresso to make.
7. Grind, tamp and weigh the dose. Start at the grind setting the booklet suggests for your model. Grind into the portafilter, tamp level, and put the whole portafilter on a scale so you know what is in it. Adjust the grind amount until the dose is the same each time.
8. Pull a shot onto a scale and write down three numbers. Put a cup on a scale under the spouts and note the dose, the weight of espresso in the cup and how long it took. Then taste it.
9. Change one thing. Almost always the grind size, by one step, keeping the dose and the weight in the cup the same. Run a little coffee through the grinder after a change so the next shot is all at the new setting.

The controls of a Barista Express, one by one

These are the names the Barista Express booklet uses. The other models have the same functions behind a display, a lever or a touch screen, as described model by model below.

Bean hopper

Holds the beans above the grinder and locks in place with a turn. If it is not locked, the filter-size lights flash and the grinder will not run. The maker says the grinder is for roasted whole beans only.

Grind size selector

Sets how far apart the burrs are, which sets how fine the coffee is. A lower number is finer. This is the main control for how fast a shot runs.The dial has 16 settings. The UK booklet for the Barista Express suggests starting at 8 and the Australian booklet for the same machine at 5. Other models have more settings and a different starting number.

Grind amount dial

Sets how long the grinder runs, and so how much coffee lands in the basket. It is a timer, not a scale: the weight it gives changes when the grind size, the beans or their age change.

Filter size button

Switches the grinder between its single and double running times, to match the basket in the portafilter. It has no effect on the shot.

Grinding cradle and switch

Push the portafilter in and release to grind a timed dose; push again to stop early. Push and hold to grind for as long as you hold it.

Portafilter and baskets

The handle that carries the basket of coffee and locks into the group head. Four baskets are supplied: single wall and dual wall, each in a one-cup and a two-cup size.

Tamper and trimming tool

The tamper presses the coffee into a level puck. The trimming tool, which the maker calls the Razor, scrapes the tamped surface down to a set height, so a basket that was over-filled ends up at the maker's level.

1 CUP and 2 CUP buttons

Each starts a shot and stops it by itself once a preset volume of water has gone through: about 30 ml and about 60 ml as the machine leaves the factory. Both can be reprogrammed, and both can be used manually.

Programme button

Puts the machine into the mode in which the next shot you run, and stop, becomes the new preset for that button.

Pressure gauge

Shows the pressure of the water against the coffee during a shot. It is a reading of how much the puck is resisting, as explained below.

Steam and hot water dial

Turned one way it sends steam through the wand for milk; turned the other it sends hot water through a separate outlet. The light beside it flashes while the machine heats for steam.

CLEAN ME light

Comes on when the machine wants its cleaning cycle run with the disc and a tablet. The UK booklet says this is separate from descaling and that the machine will not remind you to descale. The Australian booklet for the same model describes a CLEAN / DESCALE light that flashes for cleaning and stays lit for descaling, so check which yours has.

Water tank and filter

The tank lifts out at the back. The filter inside it is there to reduce scale in the machine, and has a dial to remind you when to change it.

Drip tray

Catches spills and the water the machine releases by itself after steaming, which the booklet describes as normal. A float rises to tell you it is full.

The basket and the button are two different things

This is the idea most new owners are missing, and the names on the machine do not help. There is a one-cup basket and a two-cup basket. There is a 1 CUP button and a 2 CUP button. They sound like pairs. They are not connected to each other in any way.

The basket is about coffee. A two-cup basket is deeper and holds roughly twice the coffee of a one-cup basket. That is all it decides: how much ground coffee the shot starts with.

The button is about water. Pressing 2 CUP tells the pump to push a preset volume of water through whatever is in the portafilter and then stop. As the machine leaves the factory that is about 60 ml, against about 30 ml for 1 CUP. The machine does not know which basket is fitted, how much coffee is in it or how fine it is.

So pressing 2 CUP does not make a correct double espresso. It makes whatever about 60 ml of water makes with the coffee you gave it. A light dose ground coarse will give a thin, fast 60 ml; a heavy dose ground fine may choke before it gets there. And because the preset counts water going in, the weight that lands in the cup changes with the dose and the grind.

What does decide a shot is the pair of numbers baristas actually work with: the dose, which is the weight of dry coffee in the basket, and the yield, which is the weight of espresso in the cup. Put a scale under the cup and stop the shot at the weight you want, or reprogram a button so that it stops there for you. Then the buttons become a convenience and the recipe is yours.

Single-wall and dual-wall baskets, and why they behave differently

Turn the baskets over. A single-wall basket has holes all across its base. A dual-wall basket has a second skin underneath with one small exit hole. They are also called non-pressurised and pressurised.

In a single-wall basket the coffee itself is what holds the water back. Grind finer and the shot slows; grind coarser and it speeds up. Everything in a dial-in guide assumes this basket, because it is the one in which your changes do something.

In a dual-wall basket the small exit hole does most of the holding back. The maker's own description is that these baskets regulate the pressure and help the extraction along regardless of the grind, the dose, the tamp or how fresh the coffee is. That is the point of them: they make a passable shot from pre-ground or stale coffee, which cannot build resistance in a single-wall basket. It is also why the grind and the gauge barely respond when one is fitted.

The maker's rule is single wall when you are grinding fresh whole beans and dual wall for pre-ground coffee, with the newer booklets adding beans more than about thirty days past roasting. If you are trying to learn to dial in, make sure it is a single-wall basket in the handle. If nothing you change seems to do anything, check which basket you are using before anything else.

On size, the booklets say to use the one-cup basket for a single cup and the two-cup basket for two cups or one stronger cup, and that the grind size and amount need adjusting when you switch between them. Most people learning espresso stay with the two-cup basket, because a deeper bed is easier to prepare evenly. That last part is common practice, not the maker's instruction.

How much coffee goes in each basket: the maker's figures, which disagree

The Barista Express booklet gives 8 to 11 g for the one-cup basket and 16 to 19 g for the two-cup basket, and the Express Impress and Touch Impress booklets give the same. The Barista Pro booklet gives about 8 to 10 g and 19 to 22 g. The Barista Touch booklet gives about 8 to 10 g and 15 to 18 g.

Those are three different ranges for a double from one maker. Treat any of them as the maker's guide to what the basket is built for, not as a law of espresso. What matters in practice is that the dose fits: after tamping there should be a little room between the coffee and the shower screen. A spent puck with the screen's pattern pressed into it was over-filled. A soupy one with a lot of water on top was under-filled or ground too coarse.

Choose a dose inside the range for your basket, weigh it, and keep it the same while you adjust the grind. A dose that changes from shot to shot makes every other reading meaningless.

What the shot buttons do, and three ways to use them

Preset. Press 1 CUP or 2 CUP once. The machine wets the coffee at low pressure first, then runs at full pressure and stops when its preset volume has gone through. Pressing the button again during the shot stops it at once.

Reprogrammed. On the Barista Express, press the Programme button, then press the cup button to start a shot and press it again when there is as much espresso as you want. The machine beeps to confirm and uses that volume from then on. Holding the Programme button until it beeps three times restores the factory volumes. The other models do the same through their own menus or button combinations.

Manual. Press and hold a cup button and the machine stays in its low-pressure wetting stage for as long as you hold. Release it and the shot continues at full pressure. Press the button again to stop. The booklet does not describe this as changing the preset.

CoffeeHQ's suggestion when you are learning is to use the manual way, or the preset with a finger ready, and to stop by the weight in the cup. A volume preset is repeatable only while the dose and the grind stay the same, which is exactly what you are changing when you dial in. Once a recipe is settled, program it and let the machine stop for you.

The grinder: size, amount, and the loop that dials in a shot

Two controls, two jobs. Grind size sets how fine the coffee is, which sets how much the puck resists the water. Grind amount sets how long the grinder runs, which sets the dose. They affect each other: the booklets say that with a finer grind the grind amount may need increasing to fill the basket. Whenever you change the size, weigh the dose again.

The automatic dose is a timer. It is a convenience, not proof that the dose is right. Beans of a different roast, or the same beans a fortnight older, come through at a different rate.

The loop is short. Keep the dose and the weight in the cup fixed. If the shot runs clearly too fast and tastes thin and sharp, make a small move finer and try again. If it barely flows or stalls, go coarser, and also check that the basket is not over-filled and that the coffee was tamped level. Move one step at a time; on these grinders a single step is a real change.

After a change of setting the grinder still holds some coffee ground at the old one. Run it briefly and throw that away, so the next shot is all at the new setting. The Express Impress booklet also recommends clearing the grinder before the first coffee of the day.

The top burr can be reset to shift the whole range finer or coarser, for a coffee the dial cannot reach. The booklets show how, and ask for one step at a time.

What the loop does not say is that a sour shot should be ground finer and a bitter one coarser, or that a slow shot is a good one and a fast shot a bad one. A shot can be sour and slow, or bitter and fast, and those are different problems with different answers. Time and flow tell you whether a change landed. Taste tells you whether it helped.

The pressure gauge: what it can show and what it cannot

The gauge shows the pressure of the water against the coffee. That pressure exists only because the puck is resisting. A coarse grind or a light dose resists little and the needle stays low. A fine grind or an over-filled basket resists a lot and the needle climbs. So the gauge is a second way of seeing what the flow already shows you.

It is useful for three things. It shows the gentle low-pressure wetting at the start of a shot. It shows at a glance whether a change of grind moved the resistance. And it shows a shot that is far out: a needle that hardly rises, or one pinned at the top with nothing coming out.

The maker's booklet marks a middle zone as the ideal pressure and reads the zones either side as under-extracted and over-extracted. That is the maker's guide for its own machine. CoffeeHQ does not teach the needle as a target, for the reason that it cannot taste. A shot in the middle of the band can be sour, bitter or uneven, and a shot outside it can be exactly what you like. With a dual-wall basket the needle tells you about the basket, not the coffee.

If the needle does not move at all, the booklet's own first answers are an under-filled basket, old coffee and a grind that is too coarse. Use the gauge to notice change, the scale to control the recipe, and your mouth to judge the result.

Steaming milk on these machines

On the Barista Express, Pro and Express Impress the wand is manual: you turn the dial, hold the jug and decide when to stop. The booklets describe starting with the tip just under the surface near the side of the jug, letting air in at the start, then sinking the tip to spin the milk until the jug is hot to hold, which they put at about 60 to 65 °C. The two Touch models can do this for you with a temperature sensor under the jug.

The machine heats further for steam and afterwards releases water into the drip tray to bring its heating coil back to coffee temperature, which the booklet describes as normal. Wipe the wand with a damp cloth the moment the jug comes away, and run steam through it for a second to clear the milk inside.

When the milk will not foam, foams too much or comes out thin, the cause is nearly always when the air went in or a partly blocked tip, and that has its own tool.

Cleaning: six different jobs that are easy to confuse

Every use. Knock out the puck, rinse the basket and portafilter under hot water, wipe the shower screen, and run a little water through the group head with nothing in it. Wipe and clear the steam wand after every jug of milk.

The cleaning cycle. A back-flush of the group head with the supplied disc and a cleaning tablet in the portafilter, which removes coffee oil. The machine asks for it with a light or a message. It is not descaling and does not replace it.

Descaling. A separate cycle that runs a descaling solution through the inside of the machine to remove mineral scale. Whether the machine reminds you depends on the model and the edition: the UK Barista Express booklet says its machine does not, the Australian booklet for the same model describes a light that stays lit when descaling is due, and the Pro, the Express Impress and the Touch models show a light or an alert. The booklets say to take the water filter out first and never to remove or empty the tank during the cycle, and they warn that hot steam may be released while descaling. The Barista Touch booklet also says to switch the machine off and let it cool for at least an hour first.

The water filter. It sits in the tank and is replaced on a schedule. The booklets give different schedules: every three months or 40 litres in the UK Barista Express booklet, every two months in the Australian booklet for the same machine and in the Barista Pro booklet. Harder water shortens it.

The grinder. Emptying the hopper, running the grinder until it is clear, lifting out the top burr and brushing both burrs and the chute. The booklets describe a deeper clean, with tools, only for a blockage, and warn that the burrs are very sharp.

The group seal. The silicone ring around the shower screen wears, and the booklet's sign of it is coffee escaping round the edge of the portafilter. It is replaced with the supplied key, with the machine off, unplugged and cool.

What to clean or descale with, and how often, is the part to take from your own booklet and not from here. The maker's instructions have changed between editions: an older Barista Express booklet specifies a vinegar mixture for descaling where the current one specifies the maker's own powder. The booklets also say not to use alkaline or abrasive cleaners on the machine and not to descale with bottled water.

Model by model: what changes and what does not

The grinder, the 54 mm portafilter, the four baskets and everything above about baskets, buttons, dose and dialling in are the same across the family. What differs is how you talk to the machine, how fast it heats, and how much of the routine it does for you.

• Barista Express
• Barista Pro
• Barista Express Impress
• Barista Touch
• Barista Touch Impress

What changes what on these machines

For a single-wall basket. With a dual-wall basket fitted, the first three lines do very little, which is what that basket is for.

Grind sizefiner or coarser

Finer makes the puck resist more, so the same weight of espresso takes longer and usually carries more from the coffee. Coarser does the reverse.

But it also depends on: The coffee and its age. Beans lose resistance as they age, so a setting that worked last week runs faster this week. A change of size also changes the timed dose.

Dosemore coffee or less

More coffee in the same basket resists more and gives a stronger shot at the same yield. Too much presses against the shower screen; too little leaves a soupy puck.

But it also depends on: The basket. Each has a range it is built for, and the maker's own booklets give different ranges.

Yieldstop the shot earlier or later

A longer shot for the same dose is weaker and has taken a little more from the coffee. A shorter one is stronger and heavier.

But it also depends on: Stopping by weight. The buttons stop by volume of water, which is not the same thing and drifts as the grind changes.

Puck preparationlevel and even, or not

An even bed lets water through all of the coffee. An uneven one lets most of it through one part, which is called channelling and tends to taste sharp and harsh at once.

But it also depends on: Doing it the same way each time. The booklets say consistent tamping matters more than a particular force.

Basket typesingle wall or dual wall

Single wall makes the coffee responsible for the resistance, so your changes show. Dual wall makes the basket responsible, so they mostly do not.

But it also depends on: The coffee. Fresh whole beans suit single wall; pre-ground suits dual wall.

Brew temperaturea degree or two up or down

Hotter water generally takes more from the coffee. It is a small control on these machines.

But it also depends on: Whether the group and portafilter are warm. A cold portafilter cools the water more than the setting changes it.

Pre-infusionthe default, or held longer by hand

A longer low-pressure wetting gives the puck more time to soak before full pressure arrives, which the maker describes as helping an even extraction.

But it also depends on: The coffee and the grind. Try it only once the basic recipe is settled.

The coffeefresher or older, lighter or darker

The largest change of all. A fresh, lighter roast needs a finer setting and gives a brighter shot; an old or dark one runs fast and tastes flat or bitter.

But it also depends on: Nothing on the machine. No setting makes stale coffee fresh.

When a shot goes wrong

For each thing you might notice: what to consider, since there is rarely one cause, and the first thing to try. One change, then brew again.

The espresso runs too fast

Consider

• A grind that is coarse for this coffee
• A light dose: the timed grind gave less than you think
• Coffee that has aged since you set the grinder
• An uneven puck, with water finding one path
• A dual-wall basket in use, which hides all of the above

Try first: Weigh the dose. If it is what you intended, grind one step finer, keep the dose and the yield the same, and pull another. The booklet's own answers are a finer grind, more coffee and a firmer tamp.

Work through a fast shot

The espresso runs too slowly, drips or does not come at all

Consider

• A grind that is too fine
• Too much coffee in the basket
• A blocked basket
• An empty or badly seated water tank
• A machine that needs descaling

Try first: Stop the shot; do not leave the pump straining. Check the tank, then look at the spent puck for the shower screen's imprint. If it is there, lower the dose. If not, grind one step coarser.

Work through a slow shot

The coffee tastes sour

Consider

• A fast shot that took little from the coffee
• A short yield, so the shot is very strong as well as sharp
• A light roast, or a cold portafilter and cup
• Uneven flow, if it is harsh as well

Try first: Look at how the shot ran before touching the grinder. Fast and sour: grind finer. Sour at an ordinary pace: let the shot run a little longer. Sour and slow: the grinder is not the answer; look at puck preparation.

Read a sour shot, with flow and strength taken into account

The coffee tastes bitter

Consider

• A very strong shot: the bitterness fades when a little hot water is added
• A slow shot that took a great deal from the coffee
• A dark roast or old beans
• Coffee oil built up in the group and basket

Try first: Add a little hot water to the cup. If the bitterness fades, the shot was strong for your taste: let it run longer or add water. If it stays, and the shot was slow, grind one step coarser.

Read a bitter shot, with the check first

The pressure gauge is low, or does not move

Consider

• Too little coffee in the basket
• A grind that is too coarse
• Old coffee
• A dual-wall basket, where the needle reflects the basket

Try first: These are the booklet's own answers, in its order: check the dose, then the freshness of the coffee, then grind finer. Judge the result by flow and taste, not by where the needle ends up.

What a gauge reading does and does not mean

The same button gives a different amount each time

Consider

• The preset counts water, so the weight in the cup moves with grind and dose
• The preset was reprogrammed by accident
• The dose is changing from shot to shot

Try first: Weigh the dose and the yield for three shots. If the dose varies, fix that first. If you want a set amount, reprogram the button at your grind and dose, or reset to the factory volumes as the booklet describes.

Changing the grind does nothing

Consider

• A dual-wall basket is fitted
• The grinder is still clearing coffee from the old setting
• The coffee is too old to build resistance at any setting
• The dial's range does not reach this coffee, and the top burr needs resetting

Try first: Turn the basket over and check it is single wall. Then run the grinder briefly after each change and judge the second shot, not the first.

When espresso will not dial in

Too much or too little coffee comes out of the grinder

Consider

• The grind amount is set for a different grind size
• The filter size is set to single with a double basket, or the reverse
• New beans, which grind at a different rate

Try first: Check the filter size setting matches the basket, then adjust the grind amount and weigh the result.

An inconsistent dose from the grinder

No coffee comes out of the grinder, or it is very noisy

Consider

• An empty hopper, or a hopper that is not locked
• A blocked chute or grinding chamber
• Moisture in the chamber
• A foreign object among the beans

Try first: Switch off and unplug before putting anything near the burrs. Remove the hopper and check for a blockage, then follow the booklet's grinder cleaning steps for your model.

Cleaning a grinder safely

The milk will not foam

Consider

• A partly blocked steam tip
• Air going in too late, or not at all
• Milk that is not cold and fresh
• On the automatic models, a jug that is not sitting on the sensor or milk that does not cover the ring on the tip

Try first: Check the holes in the tip are clear, using the pin on the supplied tool with the machine off and cool. Then work through the milk tool.

Milk frothing troubleshooter

Coffee leaks round the edge of the portafilter

Consider

• The portafilter is not turned fully into place
• Grounds on the rim of the basket
• Too much coffee in the basket
• A worn group seal

Try first: Wipe the rim and lock the handle until it resists. If it still leaks with a sensible dose, the booklet's answer is the silicone seal around the shower screen.

Change one thing, observe, learn

Each of these changes one thing and holds the rest. Brew the two side by side where you can, and write down what you notice before deciding which you prefer.

• One grind step, everything else fixed

  Change

  Pull a shot, move the grind size one step finer, clear the grinder and pull another.

  Keep the same

  The dose and the weight of espresso in the cup, both weighed.

  What to notice

  How much longer the second takes and what that does to the taste. This is the most useful thing to know about your own machine.

• The same dose at two yields

  Change

  Stop one shot at twice the weight of the dose and the next at two and a half times.

  Keep the same

  The dose and the grind.

  What to notice

  Strength and balance moving together. The longer shot is weaker and usually less sharp.

• Single wall against dual wall

  Change

  Pull the same coffee through the single-wall double basket and the dual-wall one.

  Keep the same

  The dose, the grind and the yield.

  What to notice

  The crema, the gauge and the taste. Then change the grind by two steps in the dual-wall basket and see how little moves.

• The 2 CUP button against a scale

  Change

  Press 2 CUP and let it stop itself, three times, weighing the cup each time.

  Keep the same

  The dose and the grind.

  What to notice

  What the preset gives in grams, and how far it wanders. Then change the grind one step and weigh it again.

What to avoid

• Removing the portafilter while a shot is running. The booklet warns that the machine is under pressure and that hot coffee or steam can scald.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Cleaning or descaling with anything other than what your booklet names for your model, or guessing at the steps. Follow it exactly, including removing the water filter before descaling and never emptying the tank during the cycle. The booklet also asks for caution because hot steam may be released while descaling.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Taking the machine apart beyond what the booklet shows. It says any maintenance other than cleaning belongs with the maker's service centre.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Reaching into the grinder with the machine plugged in, or running it without the hopper lid. The booklet says the burrs are extremely sharp and to keep fingers and utensils away from the hopper in use.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Grinding anything but roasted whole beans. The booklet says green and under-roasted beans will damage or break the burrs and can be a safety risk.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Filling the tank with distilled, demineralised or heavily filtered water. The maker says it may affect the taste and how the machine is designed to work.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Steaming milk in anything but the supplied steel jug where your booklet says so. The Barista Pro booklet says other containers may lead to dangerous conditions, and the two Touch booklets say the same of glass and plastic ones.Maker's instructions: Breville
• Turning the steam on with the wand pointing towards anyone. The Express Impress booklet says the wand must be over the drip tray and away from people first, and warns that pressurised steam can still be released after the machine is switched off.Maker's instructions: Breville
• Putting fingers into the tamping chute while pushing the lever down, on the two Impress models. Both booklets warn against it.Maker's instructions: Breville
• Locking the portafilter in with the dosing funnel still on it, on machines supplied with one.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Chasing the gauge needle to a mark. It reports resistance and cannot taste.CoffeeHQ reasoning
• Changing the grind, the dose and the yield in the same shot. If it improves you will not know why, and if it gets worse you will not know what to undo.CoffeeHQ reasoning
• Trusting the 2 CUP button to make a double. It delivers a volume of water. The dose and the yield are yours to set.CoffeeHQ reasoning

Care, and the parts that wear

Every time

• Rinse the basket and portafilter under hot water straight after use, wipe the shower screen, and run a short flow of water through the group head.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Wipe the steam wand with a damp cloth after every use and run steam through it briefly to clear the milk inside.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Empty and wash the drip tray when the float rises, and fill the tank with fresh cold water each day.Maker's instructions: Breville

From time to time

• Run the cleaning cycle with the disc and a tablet when the machine asks for it. The booklet describes it as a back-flush and as separate from descaling.Maker's instructions: Breville
• Descale as your booklet directs for your model and your water. The UK Barista Express booklet ties how often to water hardness and says the machine will not remind you; the Australian one describes a light for it.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Replace the water filter on the schedule your booklet gives. The booklets read give different schedules for different models.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances
• Brush out the burrs and the chute. The booklets describe this as removing oil that builds up on the burrs, and keep the deeper strip-down for a blockage.Maker's instructions: Breville
• If a basket's holes block, the booklet's remedy is the pin on the supplied tool, then a soak in a dissolved cleaning tablet for about twenty minutes and a thorough rinse.Maker's instructions: Sage Appliances

Parts that wear

The group seal

Coffee or water escaping round the edge of the portafilter with a sensible dose. The booklet says the silicone seal around the shower screen will need replacing over time and shows how; it gives no interval.Maker's instructions

The water filter

A consumable, replaced by date or by volume of water as the booklet for your model says.Maker's instructions

The steam tip

Weak or lopsided steam from blocked holes. It is cleared with the supplied pin, or unscrewed and soaked, with the machine off and cool.Maker's instructions

The burrs

They wear slowly. A grinder that needs ever finer settings for the same coffee, or cannot go fine enough, is the sign. The booklets give no interval, so none is given here.CoffeeHQ reasoning

What else changes how it is used

Only the things that change the brewing. None of this is a list of things to buy.

A scale that fits under the cup

The one addition that changes what you can do with these machines. It turns the buttons from guesses into a recipe.

The single-wall baskets

Already in the box. They are the baskets a dial-in guide assumes, and the reason the grind control does anything.

Fresh whole beans with a roast date

The built-in grinder can only work with what it is given, and old coffee will not build resistance at any setting.

The maker's water filters, cleaning tablets and descaler

Consumables the booklet's procedures are written around.

A knock box and a cloth

Nothing to do with taste, but they make the routine quick enough to repeat.

From the first brew to knowing it well

1. Learn the routine. Dose, tamp level, lock in, pull, knock out, rinse. Do it the same way until it takes no thought.
2. Put numbers on it. Weigh the dose and the yield and note the time for every shot. Now two shots can be compared.
3. Dial in with one control. Hold the dose and the yield, move only the grind, and learn what one step is worth with this coffee.
4. Separate strength from balance. Change the yield on purpose, and use a little water in the cup to tell a strong shot from an unbalanced one.
5. Read unevenness. Sharp and harsh together, or shots that differ with nothing changed, point at puck preparation and not the grinder.
6. Then the fine controls. Pre-infusion, brew temperature, a reprogrammed button. Each one alone, against a shot you know.

Improve this, from here

• Dialling in espresso — The full loop, with six worked shots and what to change for each.
• Espresso dial-in assistant — Enter the dose, yield, time and taste of one shot and get the change to make.
• Make my coffee better: espresso — Tick what you noticed and get the possibilities, the quickest check and one change.
• Espresso ratio calculator — Turns a dose into a target weight in the cup, which is what to stop the shot at.
• Pressurised or non-pressurised basket? — The two kinds of basket in the box, in more detail.
• Milk frothing troubleshooter — For milk that will not foam, foams too much or comes out thin.
• Grind size guide — What to check when the grinder itself seems to be the problem.
• Water suitability helper — Hardness decides how fast scale builds and how the coffee tastes.
• Maintenance planner — What builds up where, and how you would notice.
• Pressure and flow in espresso — The explanation behind what the gauge is showing.
• Sage and Breville Bambino: an owner's guide — The same maker's machines without a grinder.