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Price: currently £529.95 at Sage, £529 at AO and £529 at Amazon
Our rating: 7/10
We like:
- Professional look and feel
- Compact size
- True barista experience
We don’t like:
- Quite complicated to operate
- Makes a limited range of coffees
- Milk frothing takes a while longer than fully-automated machines
What is the Sage The Barista Express?
Sage’s The Barista Express is designed to give you the true barista experience at home. That means it takes longer and requires a lot more input on your part to produce what is no question a great cup of coffee. All the processes you watch the barista do in the coffee shop, grinding the coffee into the correct dose, using a tamper to press the coffee into the portafilter and moving this under the hot water dispenser, you do yourself.
It’s main competitors in this price range are the De Longhi Specialista Prestigio, which doesn’t quite match The Barista Express on authentic barista machine looks, and the SMEG EGF03 Espresso Machine, which comes with that unique retro SMEG design.
Aware that The Barista Express requires more hands-on effort than the fully-automated bean-to-cup coffee machines, we wanted to see how quickly we could learn the ropes and whether it delivers café-quality coffee.
Why you can trust Telegraph Recommended
Our thorough, real-world tests will always help you find the best product at the best price. No manufacturer ever sees copy before publication and we do not accept payment in exchange for favourable reviews. Visit our Who We Are page to learn more.
How we test coffee machines
We spend several days with each machine, working out exactly what it can do. We assess everything from how easy it is to set up out of the box, to how quickly we can learn how to use it and make the most of everything it offers. We rate coffee machines on design, ease of operation, speed, quietness and most importantly, the quality of the coffee.
