The steam is started and stopped by a lever instead of a rotary valve. This isn't something Sage invented, it's something you'll find on some commercial machines and some high-end espresso machines, but the vast majority of espresso machines have a rotary valve, and having a lever just makes so much sense. The little “Empty Me” paddle that pops up when the drip tray is full, it just makes sense, and you'd think drip tray full indicators would be a standard thing, but they're definitely not. Something more along the lines of a retro-looking Italian made machine, despite the fact that actually, ECM machines are German made ;-). As I mentioned in the nutshell review, you'll find a few people complaining about this if you dig through Google results. As well as being able to set the preinfusion time via the LCD (by pressing and holding the up and down arrows) within a huge range of zero to 90 seconds, you can also set the preinfusion power, and you can also determine the preinfusion manually by pressing and holding the “manual” button.

Heat exchanger machines, as the name implies, have a heat exchanger system – meaning that heat is borrowed from the steam boiler to heat the brew water. There's just one boiler, which is used for steam & hot water, and there's a copper pipe running through this boiler. Coldwater is pulled through this pipe & heated up to the desired temp for espresso. Heat Exchanger ProsRecently though I've decided it's really daft that even though I know the Sage Dual Boiler is one of the best home barista espresso machines on the market, I still haven't used it and reviewed it, so rather than waiting for Sage to send me a demo unit, I decided to buy one, so I can use it and review it over a long period of time as I did with the Bambino Plus review. It’s reasonably fast, too. For a full ten-cup jug of coffee, you’ll only have to wait a respectable six minutes. Once the 1.25L water tank is empty, the hot water element turns off automatically, while the hot plate remains on for 40 minutes. The hot-plate maintains the coffee at around 80 to 85°C and doesn’t impact the flavour as noticeably as the hot plates on some other filter coffee machines. If you want consistently great coffee without the hassle, the Moccamaster is a sensible and stylish choice. The standard approach to designing a new domestic espresso machine would be to try the best domestic machines on the market, reverse engineer them and look at making them slightly better. But for this project, the goal was “cafe quality espresso at home” and they did their research based on commercial equipment, not domestic. This small feature ensures the exact temperature and pressure are achieved during extraction of espresso. Dual boiler machines tend to take longer to warm up than HX machines. So which is the best type of espresso machine for me?

Who are they for? People who want to get more involved when they have the time, but want assistance when they're rushed, and for homes where there are people who want a more “one touch” type experience and also people who want to explore the home barista hobby. So with that said, let's get on with the review in a bit more depth. Sage Dual Boiler Review in More Depth Pro steam wand on a ball joint | Gives you great access to the wand with the jug, and gives you various wand position options

Where is the best place to buy a cheap refurbished Sage Coffee machines?

Either that, or you just really enjoy reading my stuff and you can't close this post ;-), and if that's the case, excellent. Small things

Many metals can be used for boilers, but stainless steel and copper are the most common at the prosumer espresso machine level. You may also see brass in the lower-cost options. Crucially, though, it produces a tasty espresso with a minimum of faff, and Sage’s helpful user manual makes it really easy for users to learn how to get better results or troubleshoot any issues they might be having. Theoretically the Oracle Touch has the edge (quite a big edge, to be fair) over the Touch Impress where potential shot quality is concerned too, due to the superior temperature precision and stability of the dual boiler with heated group and dual pids, but in practice what allows an espresso machine to reach its full potential, is the grinder, and the Oracle Touch and the Barista Touch Impress have the same grinder. Just having PID control doesn't give you this level of accuracy. You can fit a PID to a Gaggia Classic or Rancilio Silvia, for example, but having a PID alone doesn't give you the temperature stability or accuracy that this combination of technology and engineering inside the Dual Boiler provides. Also, the entry-level Sage machines including the bambino plus, duo temp pro, barista express and barista pro all have a PID, but they won't provide this level of precision.It's unlikely you'll use a Sage machine and think “hmm, It would have been better if they'd done this…” because if there was any better way of doing something, they'd probably have done it. Bigger things