Sage SDC450BSS the Precision Brewer Coffee Maker, 1.8L

Product Information

In a coffee shop, the coffee gets ground from whole beans just before your coffee is made. The coffee is ground into a portafilter and is then compressed in a certain way to ensure the best possible coffee extraction. The portafilter with the ground coffee is then manually inserted into the espresso machine and a double shot of espresso is extracted ready to be served as it is or have milk added for a cappuccino or a latte. There is a choice of 3 products when you step up from the entry-level to the mid-range and Sage have named them all “Barista” When extracting we did find that the Sage Bambino rattles slightly, so it's not the quietest coffee machine on the market. Cleaning is easy though, with a drip tray that simply pulls out for a rinse, and an easily flushed steam wand. It performs in the same way as a professional machine in a coffee shop. As the name suggests it has two boilers so you can steam your milk at the same time as you deliver your espresso and with two separate high-quality pumps you will be delivering café quality coffee for years to come with this machine.

We really like this mid-range model from Russell Hobbs. It produces 1.25l of really, really hot, quite strong coffee on demand – via the 24 hour programmable timer should you wish – in far less time than it takes to boil a kettle. The hotplate also stays warm for 40 minutes to preserve the temperature and having the choice of dishwasher safe reusable filter, or paper is great. But, personally, we found the fine mesh of the filter provided was perfect for filtering our grinds.

The verdict: Filter coffee machines

For example the “Gold” setting will set the brew time and water temperature in line with the standards set by the speciality coffee association to deliver a delicious tasting cup of coffee. You can achieve the same thing from all three of them, it just depends how much you care about the extra things one comes with over the other and whether you are prepared to pay for it. Sage Barista Express Coffee Machine During our tester Millie's months of testing, she was consistently impressed by how well this machine steamed my milk and turned out some seriously tasty espresso. The Oracle Touch sits at the very top of the range but we have not included it in our recommendations because in our opinion it is just too expensive for what you get. Firstly the bambino plus has an option for you to choose the milk temperature and essentially lets you automatically texture the milk.

If you want to go one step further with your coffee and grind your beans before you brew, this could be the machine for you. The Melitta Aroma Fresh has a built-in grinder making it your one stop shop for bean to cup coffee at home. Nespresso take convenience to a whole new level that allows you to get a coffee without even touching any coffee! Just pop in the pod and press a button and in less than a minute you have a double espresso delivered into your cup. Zero hassle. But in our opinion, you make a further compromise in quality because the coffee has already been pre-ground before being added to the pod and coffee definitely tastes best if you grind it just before brewing. It’s a similar thing with coffee produced in a cheap filter coffee machine compared to one that has been precision engineered like this Sage machine has been.

In our opinion, it has the perfect balance between quality and value. This is the minimum if you want to properly control all of the variables that make up a true comparison to a coffee shop coffee. Using grounds, you can easily tamp and twist to secure your filter with the included scoop and tamper. There is no jug included, but it will be easy to buy one for cheap online. Just press the steam milk button and wait for it to stop flashing before twisting the dial to the right and clearing out the wand. Then, it's easy to create that high-pressure whirlpool to achieve that perfectly hot milk with a creamy latte finish. The Oracle will even perfectly tamp your coffee for you so all you have to do is insert it into the coffee outlet and press a button. You get to control all of the variables that make up the perfect coffee with the absolute minimum human intervention. The Moccamaster coffee maker is perfect for those who rely on caffeine to see them through their workdays at home. Capable of making up to ten cups of coffee at one time, it can also keep your brew warm on a hot plate for when you finish the first mug off. The design is also a show-stopper, obviously with a retro feel that will complete the look of your quirky kitchen. These are the all-singing, all-dancing ultimate indulgence home coffee machines. These coffee machines do everything that the mid-range machines do and then some.