This is me now 😅 When I bought the express impress in November I thought it would be perfect for lazy/stressed me. Well... It escalated quickly and now I have a new hobby. Thanks for all the tips and tricks!
This is a great video as usual and I really enjoy the content and production quality. One thing that does come to mind is that you didn't taste test any of the coffee which is something that is not uncommon these days in coffee content. Let's all try and remember that if one of the shots produced glitter rainbow streaks it doesn't mean that it's any better or worse than another (at least in my opinion). Keep up the good work and as always looking forward to the next!
Thanks 😀. I've done quite a bit of experimenting, and personally, I can detect virtually no difference at all in between shots pulled fully auto, fully manual or semi auto.
I am a beginner in the coffee making barista style and was wondering where I can find the tampering tool you use to at 3:39. Always the same pressure and evenly distributed looks like some of the main factors to make a perfect coffee.
One of the great video’s from Kev!!! Thankful for lots of info. This was very helpful. Manual Kev is the best! I see you’re using a singe dose valve, is it useful? What’s the retention? Keep up the good work and looking forward to your next video.
@Coffee_Kev May I ask, I have just purchased the Sage Barista Impress after watching your videos, (great vids btw thanks so thanks!, I’ve also bought your beans this weekend) In auto dose mode my machine grinds 15 grams of coffee into the single walled double shot basket, I’ve done a manual dose of 18grams but there is simply no way 18g will fit and still maintain any gap between the puck and the shower screen. Your videos suggest this machine use an 18gram double shot but mine no matter how hard I try only grinds 15g. Can you please advise, am I doing something wrong?
Are your extraction times and ratios ok? 25-30s 1-2 to 1-3 ratio by weight ? If not try grinding finer . If yes then maybe the tamper has a lighter tamping force leaving the puck decompressed. I am using paper filters cut at 54mm diameter to mitigate the puck screen mess and for a more even water jetting of the puck.
Well Kev, love the videos.do you have a video on how to set the volume of the double shot on automatic atm when I click double shot I wouldn't say it would even fill a sí glé shot glass
How does their system discern how much coffee has actually been ground in the basket without weighting it? The amount of compression force depends on the grind. As we go finer more coffee will be needed to be compressed equally to a coarser grind.
Hi Kev. Love your videos. Am calling from Australia. Will your Geek Mode + Naked portafilter work on the Breville Barista Express Touch Impress? I have to get the Touch Impress for ease of use for my wife to do her latte before she goes to work but I'd prefer to go the geek mode + naked PF :-) thank you
It's the Ikape portafilter, ikapestore.com. The scale is the acacia lunar, which is mega, but requires a mortgage and a possible divorce... 🤣. I've been using the new Ikape V2 scales recently, I think they're the best I've used so far for the price.
nice, recently purchased impress. in dialing 1:2 ratio, what is ideal time. and when to start the timer, after you press the button or the moment it start to hit the cup. thank you
Kev, you may have answered elsewhere but I couldn't find it. How hard do *you* tamp? In this vid it doesn't look very hard, where I've read others talking about 20lbs or more pressure. Cheers.
Hi Kevin, the reason for that is that with the semi auto I'm letting the machine do the dosing for me, and for that to work it has to be in the cradle as normal, not with the dosing ring on, with the dosing ring on the auto dosing won't work. Cheers :-)
@@Coffee_Kev does this mean that you have to use the stock portafilter basket in order to auto dose? Or will the auto dosing also work with, for example a slightly deeper after-market basket, like the 18-22g IMS one? Is it just the dosing funnel it doesn't like?
@@fallsbrookvideo it's a good question, I really like the stock baskets actually, I don't think there's a massive incentive to switch them out, if you do then you'd have to experiment with the razor tool to see if you end up being under dosed.
One thing I’ve noticed is that I can’t get the same shot or yield time or taste with just 18g. I have to go to 20. When I use 18g the basket looks too empty. I’m not sure if I have the correct grind size as maybe that’s it? It’s a medium roast but I have it set to 5 burr and 5 internally. Maybe I should set it to 8-10 burr to possibly have bigger pieces to fill the basket? It’s just I see all these baristas with the sage express impression getting my results but with only 18g and I can help feeling that I could possibly get BETTER coffee. I’m using fresh beans an all that
I drink a long black with milk and my coffee is best when I’m at a grind that takes abt 42 seconds to pull. From what I see, that’s much longer than desired. But at a larger grind, more consistent with a 32 sec pull, the coffee isn’t as flavorful. Is this because of the beans I’m using or is it that I use milk and dilute it so much?
Instead of slightly tamping and pulling out, could you not just attach the dosing funnel and then place that inside the holder ? I have seen people do that to grind into the portafilter and take it out without the grains flying ever where., You then wdt it, distribute it and then put it back in without the dosing funnel to tamp it
Nice video explains everything in good detail. The one thing that is missing from lots of you geeks who do these reviews are you miss a few things out. For instance how do you put the water in this machine? Is it from the side from the top? Is there a water gauge? You can see how much water is left in the machine? For some people, this is quite important, as not everybody has got a big open space to sit the machine on. Most people will have the machine under kitchen wall cupboards. I would love that machine but I have a feeling you fill the water up from the back which would not be possible because of the height of my wall mounted cupboards. My main suggestion to any of you geeks doing these reviews, do the basics first. How the machine works. How are you fill it with water, how do you put the beans in, what are the best type of beans, then get onto the geeky stuff. In your last general email showing discounts from Sage, there were no discounts available for the dynamic duo, are there any discounts available?
Hi Graham, I have actually filmed a whole series on the Impress: th-cam.com/video/DQiRzgV-3gc/w-d-xo.html&pp=gAQBiAQB There is loads of information for you in these videos I do have a sage discount code please email me at kev@coffeeblog.co.uk if you would like on. The Dynamic duo isn't on sale at present, Cheers Kev
Hi Kev, does the Ikape 54mm PF fits well in the Express Impress? What about the Breville dosing funnel? If the PF and dosing funnel both fits well in the machine, I can safely conclude that I would have no issues on the Touch Impress? Only reason I ask I think I saw a video where it was mentioned that the Breville dosing funnel does not fit the Ikape 54mm naked PF well, a little loose I read. What is your opinion since you are using that combination? Thank you
I have noticed an error of marking on the grinder of the sage espresso impress machine, really confusing. It is marked slower extraction when going to gride size to 25 which is coarse (left side) and marked faster extraction to the other side of the wheel where it goes to no 1 fin (right size). It is on your machine also? Or I got a bad lot? Also I saw this on a Sage commercial it was the same. What do you mean by grider size internal and external? I can set de grind size 1 to 25 and the outler cuttin crown - on which I use 5 size in stead of factory preset of 6. Thanks!
Hi Alex, it should say coarse on the right hand side of the wheel and fine on the left, when you turn the wheel to the right, you go to a greater number on the grind wheel so you are taking the grind more coarse and when you turn the wheel to the left towards fine you are reducing the number making the grind finer, with regard to the internal burr adjustment, I'm referring to the adjustment on the outer burr, if you remove the hopper, lift up the metal wire and remove the outer burr, you will see an arrow pointing from 1-10, the factory pre set is 6. Cheers Kev
@@Coffee_Kev Hi Kev, I got it in the meanwhile with the direction of the grinder wheel you are right. I have set the outter burr to 5 after removing iyt and I am playing with the machine. I really like your videos. Also the extraction time should be counted after pressing the cup button (including the preinfusion time which is between 8-10 sec) or only after the first drop of the coffee? It is not mentioned in the instruction. I get good taste at 28 sec extraction including the preinfusion time. Thank you very much!
@@Coffee_Kev I just got my sage ses876 about 1H ago and you are right it does remember the pre-infusion. Many thanks and thanks for the videos. Liked and subscribed. Cheers
Love the video kev great work. I’m using this machine with the portafilter it came with. When I grind 18g into the portafilter manually and use my wdt, it overflows notably over the top as if it’s just too much coffee for the portafilter. I see yours is not doing that. 18g even after wdt isn’t overflowing over the top. Is this something to do with the beans? Or a deeper portafilter?
I'm really upset. I waste 500gr coffe freshly roasted and other speciality and my coffee do not taste good. I tried different settings Grinds. I really need help. Taste acid. Sawer
Hey Kev, this is a great video, really enjoying the content. Thanks! I have had this machine for about a month and have yet to produce a shot that isn’t either too sour or too bitter. I’m losing the will to live! I feel like I’m doing everything right, fresh beans, good shot times & not bad volume etc. But can’t quite find the sweet spot with any of the beans I’ve tried (several!) It’s fine if I’m having milk, but when it’s just an espresso there is nowhere to hide. Is this the sort of puck prep that I need to get into?!
Hey, i oredered a bottomless aswell, i use the barista impress aswell, do i need the wdt tool 100% aswell as a scale n stuff or can i use the bottomless the way as i use the standart portafilter?
This is me now 😅 When I bought the express impress in November I thought it would be perfect for lazy/stressed me. Well... It escalated quickly and now I have a new hobby. Thanks for all the tips and tricks!
Great video! Thanks for all your information and wisdom!! ☕️ ❤❤❤
This is a great video as usual and I really enjoy the content and production quality. One thing that does come to mind is that you didn't taste test any of the coffee which is something that is not uncommon these days in coffee content. Let's all try and remember that if one of the shots produced glitter rainbow streaks it doesn't mean that it's any better or worse than another (at least in my opinion). Keep up the good work and as always looking forward to the next!
Thanks 😀. I've done quite a bit of experimenting, and personally, I can detect virtually no difference at all in between shots pulled fully auto, fully manual or semi auto.
Hi, I love your videos. Could you tell me what fraction of time the notches of the manual dispenser knob correspond to?
Thanks
Giorgio
I am a beginner in the coffee making barista style and was wondering where I can find the tampering tool you use to at 3:39. Always the same pressure and evenly distributed looks like some of the main factors to make a perfect coffee.
Hey Kev, can you do a video on how to use bottomless portafilter with barista express?
One of the great video’s from Kev!!! Thankful for lots of info. This was very helpful. Manual Kev is the best!
I see you’re using a singe dose valve, is it useful? What’s the retention?
Keep up the good work and looking forward to your next video.
another great video!
@Coffee_Kev May I ask, I have just purchased the Sage Barista Impress after watching your videos, (great vids btw thanks so thanks!, I’ve also bought your beans this weekend) In auto dose mode my machine grinds 15 grams of coffee into the single walled double shot basket, I’ve done a manual dose of 18grams but there is simply no way 18g will fit and still maintain any gap between the puck and the shower screen. Your videos suggest this machine use an 18gram double shot but mine no matter how hard I try only grinds 15g. Can you please advise, am I doing something wrong?
Are your extraction times and ratios ok? 25-30s 1-2 to 1-3 ratio by weight ? If not try grinding finer . If yes then maybe the tamper has a lighter tamping force leaving the puck decompressed. I am using paper filters cut at 54mm diameter to mitigate the puck screen mess and for a more even water jetting of the puck.
Thanks Kev, enjoyed your informative vid ❤
Please can you link the accessories used in this video? Thanks for the great content!
Thanks :-). Most of the stuff in the video is Ikape amzn.to/3PoE4ix ikapestore.com/
Could you try fitting your sage dosing funnel bottomless portafilter and see if it fits ?
Hi Kev, what size IMS basket should I get with bottomless portafilter? That will still work impress system as they are a larger. Thanks
Well Kev, love the videos.do you have a video on how to set the volume of the double shot on automatic atm when I click double shot I wouldn't say it would even fill a sí glé shot glass
How does their system discern how much coffee has actually been ground in the basket without weighting it? The amount of compression force depends on the grind. As we go finer more coffee will be needed to be compressed equally to a coarser grind.
Yeah what’s the make of the bottless porta please?
Ikape amzn.to/3PoE4ix ikapestore.com/
Hi do i need scales with a timer on manual mode? How do i manually do the shot? Press and hold and stop pressing at the desired seconds? Thank you
Could you recommend what wooden handled portafilter system you are using there, also the tamping devices and storage box they all look great
Hi Kev. Love your videos. Am calling from Australia. Will your Geek Mode + Naked portafilter work on the Breville Barista Express Touch Impress? I have to get the Touch Impress for ease of use for my wife to do her latte before she goes to work but I'd prefer to go the geek mode + naked PF :-) thank you
Hi Patrick, yep you can pull the shot manually and dose manually if you prefer.
Cheers
Kev
What Porta filter and scales are you using please?
It's the Ikape portafilter, ikapestore.com. The scale is the acacia lunar, which is mega, but requires a mortgage and a possible divorce... 🤣. I've been using the new Ikape V2 scales recently, I think they're the best I've used so far for the price.
What is the bottomless Port filters you are using?
Did you find that in the automatic there is a lot of splashing/sputtering?
nice, recently purchased impress. in dialing 1:2 ratio, what is ideal time. and when to start the timer, after you press the button or the moment it start to hit the cup. thank you
Kev, you may have answered elsewhere but I couldn't find it. How hard do *you* tamp? In this vid it doesn't look very hard, where I've read others talking about 20lbs or more pressure. Cheers.
Why tamp 2x in semi auto instead of dosing with the ring on, wdt, distribute and put back in the cradle?
Hi Kevin, the reason for that is that with the semi auto I'm letting the machine do the dosing for me, and for that to work it has to be in the cradle as normal, not with the dosing ring on, with the dosing ring on the auto dosing won't work. Cheers :-)
@@Coffee_Kev does this mean that you have to use the stock portafilter basket in order to auto dose? Or will the auto dosing also work with, for example a slightly deeper after-market basket, like the 18-22g IMS one? Is it just the dosing funnel it doesn't like?
@@fallsbrookvideo it's a good question, I really like the stock baskets actually, I don't think there's a massive incentive to switch them out, if you do then you'd have to experiment with the razor tool to see if you end up being under dosed.
I think the bottomless portafilter and basket I bought is causing channeling and under extraction. Any thought on this?
One thing I’ve noticed is that I can’t get the same shot or yield time or taste with just 18g. I have to go to 20. When I use 18g the basket looks too empty. I’m not sure if I have the correct grind size as maybe that’s it? It’s a medium roast but I have it set to 5 burr and 5 internally. Maybe I should set it to 8-10 burr to possibly have bigger pieces to fill the basket? It’s just I see all these baristas with the sage express impression getting my results but with only 18g and I can help feeling that I could possibly get BETTER coffee. I’m using fresh beans an all that
I drink a long black with milk and my coffee is best when I’m at a grind that takes abt 42 seconds to pull. From what I see, that’s much longer than desired. But at a larger grind, more consistent with a 32 sec pull, the coffee isn’t as flavorful. Is this because of the beans I’m using or is it that I use milk and dilute it so much?
"Faffery" 😂
Which bottomless portafilter are you using?
Instead of slightly tamping and pulling out, could you not just attach the dosing funnel and then place that inside the holder ? I have seen people do that to grind into the portafilter and take it out without the grains flying ever where., You then wdt it, distribute it and then put it back in without the dosing funnel to tamp it
That's exactly what I'm doing and it works great.
Nice video explains everything in good detail. The one thing that is missing from lots of you geeks who do these reviews are you miss a few things out. For instance how do you put the water in this machine? Is it from the side from the top? Is there a water gauge? You can see how much water is left in the machine? For some people, this is quite important, as not everybody has got a big open space to sit the machine on. Most people will have the machine under kitchen wall cupboards. I would love that machine but I have a feeling you fill the water up from the back which would not be possible because of the height of my wall mounted cupboards. My main suggestion to any of you geeks doing these reviews, do the basics first. How the machine works. How are you fill it with water, how do you put the beans in, what are the best type of beans, then get onto the geeky stuff.
In your last general email showing discounts from Sage, there were no discounts available for the dynamic duo, are there any discounts available?
Hi Graham,
I have actually filmed a whole series on the Impress:
th-cam.com/video/DQiRzgV-3gc/w-d-xo.html&pp=gAQBiAQB
There is loads of information for you in these videos
I do have a sage discount code please email me at kev@coffeeblog.co.uk if you would like on.
The Dynamic duo isn't on sale at present,
Cheers
Kev
Semi auto looks good. This is practically my process as well. Which portafilter are you using?
It's the Ikape one, all the gear in the video including the box, is Ikape, and the wood colour matches the handle which is nice.
Just visited the coffee works website and sorry to see that there’s no nesspresso pod options for the coffee?
coming soon! 😀
@@Coffee_Kev champion. 🙏
Hi Kev, does the Ikape 54mm PF fits well in the Express Impress? What about the Breville dosing funnel? If the PF and dosing funnel both fits well in the machine, I can safely conclude that I would have no issues on the Touch Impress? Only reason I ask I think I saw a video where it was mentioned that the Breville dosing funnel does not fit the Ikape 54mm naked PF well, a little loose I read. What is your opinion since you are using that combination? Thank you
Hi Partick,
Yep, it fits fine, in fact it is better on the Ikape than the sage!, I've just tried it :-)
Hello, can I perform this on Sage Barista TOUCH Impress to? Thanks.
You can, the only difference is that you turn the auto dosing off in the touch screen menu instead of via the button.
Thanks!@@Coffee_Kev
I have noticed an error of marking on the grinder of the sage espresso impress machine, really confusing. It is marked slower extraction when going to gride size to 25 which is coarse (left side) and marked faster extraction to the other side of the wheel where it goes to no 1 fin (right size). It is on your machine also? Or I got a bad lot? Also I saw this on a Sage commercial it was the same. What do you mean by grider size internal and external?
I can set de grind size 1 to 25 and the outler cuttin crown - on which I use 5 size in stead of factory preset of 6.
Thanks!
Hi Alex, it should say coarse on the right hand side of the wheel and fine on the left, when you turn the wheel to the right, you go to a greater number on the grind wheel so you are taking the grind more coarse and when you turn the wheel to the left towards fine you are reducing the number making the grind finer, with regard to the internal burr adjustment, I'm referring to the adjustment on the outer burr, if you remove the hopper, lift up the metal wire and remove the outer burr, you will see an arrow pointing from 1-10, the factory pre set is 6.
Cheers
Kev
@@Coffee_Kev Hi Kev, I got it in the meanwhile with the direction of the grinder wheel you are right.
I have set the outter burr to 5 after removing iyt and I am playing with the machine. I really like your videos.
Also the extraction time should be counted after pressing the cup button (including the preinfusion time which is between 8-10 sec) or only after the first drop of the coffee? It is not mentioned in the instruction. I get good taste at 28 sec extraction including the preinfusion time.
Thank you very much!
Why does it not remember the pre-infusion time? Seems a bit strange to me that to pre-infuse you have to go to manual mode.
It does, it's just that if you're pulling the shot manually you're also in control of pre-infusion time 👍
@@Coffee_Kev I just got my sage ses876 about 1H ago and you are right it does remember the pre-infusion. Many thanks and thanks for the videos. Liked and subscribed. Cheers
Have yo got a start up Demo. I can't even crack the dosing, its Botton red every time.....
Hi Steve, here is the link to the whole series on the Express Impress:
th-cam.com/video/DQiRzgV-3gc/w-d-xo.html&pp=gAQBiAQB
Ta
Kev
Water leaking from the bottom and the machine is 2 months old , any ideas why ?
I would get on to Sage support Andy.
Ta
Kev
is everyone able to get latte art from this impress machine? i seem to be struggling with this.
Love the video kev great work. I’m using this machine with the portafilter it came with. When I grind 18g into the portafilter manually and use my wdt, it overflows notably over the top as if it’s just too much coffee for the portafilter. I see yours is not doing that. 18g even after wdt isn’t overflowing over the top. Is this something to do with the beans? Or a deeper portafilter?
Thanks 🙂, if it seems you have too much coffee in the basket at 18g, it'll more than likely mean your grind is too coarse. Cheers, Kev.
@@Coffee_Kev thx kev I’ll give it a shot
I'm really upset. I waste 500gr coffe freshly roasted and other speciality and my coffee do not taste good. I tried different settings
Grinds. I really need help. Taste acid. Sawer
What kind botomless do you have?
Hey Kev, this is a great video, really enjoying the content. Thanks!
I have had this machine for about a month and have yet to produce a shot that isn’t either too sour or too bitter. I’m losing the will to live! I feel like I’m doing everything right, fresh beans, good shot times & not bad volume etc. But can’t quite find the sweet spot with any of the beans I’ve tried (several!)
It’s fine if I’m having milk, but when it’s just an espresso there is nowhere to hide.
Is this the sort of puck prep that I need to get into?!
Thanks! 🙂 drop me an email, kev@coffeeblog.co.uk, so I can ask you a few questions to see if I can point you in the right direction. Ta, Kev.
Did you ever look into this?
Nice work!!!!
What portafilter do you use?
Thanks
Hey, i oredered a bottomless aswell, i use the barista impress aswell, do i need the wdt tool 100% aswell as a scale n stuff or can i use the bottomless the way as i use the standart portafilter?
Hi, Have a look at this post:th-cam.com/video/aM_n1lV96js/w-d-xo.html
There are loads of helpful tips and what you may or may not need,
Cheers
Kev