Sage - The Smart Grinder Pro - Conical Burr Coffee Grinder - Programmable, Automatic - 450g Coffee Bean Capacity, 60 Precise Grind Settings - Brushed Stainless Steel

A lot of people hate on this grinder in the home barista scene, but don't be put off. I've been using this same grinder now for 6.5 years, it has served me well and is still in use today. I use it solely for Espresso, but it is ranked very highly for pour over, French press and percolator by many; i cannot comment on this however. I have paired this with both my Sage Barista Express, and my Sage Dual Boiler. When it comes to the Dual Boiler, it is at the very limit of what it can do, due to the 58mm, flatter wider puck; you may want more oomph from your grinder BUT, this WILL still put out amazing coffee in a 58mm machine. Today for the first time, i have adjusted the internal setting from the stock 6, to 5 as the burrs have worn enough to warrant this action (remember, over 6 years...). For those who don't know what I'm talking about, the sage grinder has 2 great additional features... 1. Clutch, many don't have this. This will stop the grinder from eating its-self if it gets jammed up, think of it like an electric screwdriver when there is too much resistance. 2. You can very easily take out the top burr, change the factory setting of "6" to "5" or even "4" to put the burrs closer together thus, increasing fine grind-ability. I do however not recommend this until the burrs start to wear (this is what the feature is for, if you change this too early expect to hear the above clutch working early on to save your burrs). This grinder like many of the cheaper more budget options, WILL struggle with light roasts; however most people do not drink these. Bare in mind, if you buy this for espresso you are going to want to stay in its lane in the medium/dark roast area to maintain that 1:2 ratio in 25-30 second margin. I am a single dose user, so the hopper does not see any use however, i have to say i am extremely impressed with the retention on this grinder. If i put 21g of beans in, i get 21g out, or 20.9 sometimes, but a little love-tap on the lid and that quickly adds back up. The retention for a grinder of this price point is extremely good. One thing many say, and IS true; is that this does grind a bit clumpy. Now to remedy this you can pay several hundred more on a new grinder, or; you can drop £10 on an EDT needle tool. I recommend buying a dosing jug and an EDT, single dose grind in to the jug, EDT briskly in there to remove clumps then move it to your porta basket, and EDT Finley again; this makes clumps a none issue. If you are new to the wonderful world of home barista, this is the perfect grinder. If you like french press, pour over or filter coffee, this is the perfect grinder. If you like light roasted coffee, put the money toward a better grinder. Have the Barista Express? Or other in-built grinder machine? Many say this is the same grinder that is in the Barista Express, and...Well it is BUT, it has a lot more settings and fine adjustment. It also means when you outgrow your built in grinder machine and want to upgrade, you have a separate grinder. For the right people this is a fantastic grinder :).

I was a little hesitant, buying this machine as a replacement to my Ascaso i_Steel grinder (which finally died after 6 years). I feared that perhaps the Sage brand was all style over substance; but in fact this is a brilliant machine. It looks gorgeous, it is designed very well, and it has very useful features. I love it. The grind size is wide and varied and easy to adjust. The dose amount is also easy to change and also to programme. Grinding is either automatic (hands free) or fully manual. The hopper holds loads of beans but doesn't look overly large from design point of view. Day to day use it has been consistent and reliable. It also looks gorgeous -it is actually stainless steel rather than (like its cheaper brother) silver-coloured plastic. So far, extremely pleased with it.

This grinder really is the one to buy for under £200. The consistency of my espresso has increased immensely. I upgraded from the Krups GVX231 and a hario hand grinder. The hario didn't have enough levels once you got down to espresso fineness, either clogging the machine or producing coffee with no body. The gbx231 suffered similarly, was noisy, fast and plasticy. Luckily I sold it second hand for as much as I bought it for. This Sage (sold as Breville in America for those of you looking for more reviews) really is incredible bang for the buck. And perfect if you're interested in espresso where minute grind differences have more of an effect. It's easy to use, with pre programmed settings to get you started, it even knows you're doing espresso based on the filter holder being fitted. To start you just push the filter handle into the machine and it starts, if you need to pause to level the coffee off, you press again to stop and again to restart, it then runs for the specified time and stops automatically. Refilling is easy with the airtight lid being operable one handed, and the grind tray at the bottom collects any errant grinds well, then removes easily to be emptied. All the attachments fit with a satisfying magnetic click and the grind tin (if you're not doing espresso) looks great quality too. It grinds fine enough to easily clog my De Longhi Dedica (ec685) with plenty of room to go finer. It's relatively quite (far nicer sound than the Krups I had) and doesn't ache my arm like the hario!

This super easy to use and ‘dial in’. Has memory of your preferred setting. No mess when grinding into dosing cup but I do find (as with all grinders) that when filling directly to the portafilter it heaps up and spills so I prefer dosing cup and very happy with that. Nice digital display.

It doe's what claimed to do , very nice machine , I ordered different brands returned some and kept some although not grinding suitable for espresso but this machine doing a good job.

When combined with bambino plus you will get the ultimate home coffee setting. Recommends the black color as it will not leave stains nor fingerprints.

The grind size its not good at all for espresso unfortunately