Sage Barista Express Black Truffle + Knock Box

After using Dolce Gusto systems for years, the taste started to bother me more and more. In short: time for an espresso machine. But isn't that very difficult, especially as a beginner?

Well, not with this machine. The built-in tamper ensures that your ground coffee is always properly tamped, and the system immediately indicates whether you have too little, just enough, or too much coffee. If you have too little, it helps you top it up until you have exactly enough; if you have too much, a handy included tool ensures that you can easily scrape away the excess coffee. Moreover, the manual contains all the information you need to play around with this even more: e.g., how to adjust the grind size and what effect this has on your coffee. Incidentally, you can also determine everything yourself if you wanted to, but I haven't reached that point in my learning curve yet, so I do appreciate some smart help every now and then.

Using the milk frother naturally requires a bit more practice, but to my surprise, my third attempt was already a success. In short: this is a top-notch device that invites you to play around with it. Unlike with a fully automatic machine, you are in control yourself, so you determine exactly how your coffee tastes. However, the machine offers enough tools so that, as a beginner, you don't feel completely lost but become an increasingly better home barista step by step.

Apart from the fact that you will never want any other coffee (such as Nespresso or Dolce Gusto) again, the only downside I notice is that the various parts must be cleaned by hand and cannot go in the dishwasher (or at least, I don't dare). But secretly, that manual cleaning is actually quite a therapeutic moment of relaxation.

Great device