Sage - The Smart Grinder Pro - Conical Burr Coffee Grinder - Programmable, Automatic, 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 :).

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!

Very good grinder, loads of settings and does everything you need it to

Breville is fantastic, you can't go wrong with this for AeropressI started the journey from freeze dried , instant "Coffee", to real coffee, pre ground, in an aeropress and found what I was missing for decades. Then I read more and realised that I was missing out by using preground coffee. So I bought a Hario, but the one on Amazon was a cheap chinese mini which took 7 minutes to get me a double shot. So I got an original Skerton from Japan, which was much better.Then I realised that I really dont have much time in the morning, even though proponents of hand grinding are enthused about the zen effects of slow hand grindingSo I did m research, and as most know, blade grinders just don't cut it (at least regularly enough). Then I read about Baratza and didn't like the feature to price ratios,Then i read about the Breville, but I needed a 240 v version and that in the UK was sold under the Sage brand (There's a local Breville manufacturer in the UK, hence the Sage rebrand)I had a great experience with another Breville product, one of their juicers and hence was sold, even though many reviewers complain of the number of settings and the unsuitability for espressoI'm glad I bought this. The finish is exceptional, the magnetic holder for the grounds container, the air sealing of the container and the rubber cap for it, the sealed bean hopper, the dials and the LED lighting, all perfectly executed.There's start button for grinding and another button engineered so as to be pressed when you push in a container under the grinder, and it stops when you stop pressing the containerThere are two porta filter holders (53 and 58mm) and and they latch on magneticallyI haven't used another burr grinder, but this one is designed so well, that I can't think of anything extra I would want on this, really, I am so impressed with Breville's attention to detail, I applaud their engineers!The burrs dissemble easily for cleaning and they even incorporated a handle to remove the top burr, a tiny handle that just folds inThey provide a brush to clean said burrs and have a magnetic shelf just below the grounds can to hold itThe grind is great for aeropress, I have to try a real espresso maybe laterThe machine is quite silent, but I don't have any other to compare toI short, the machine grinds well, looks great and Breville engineering's attention to detail rivals Apples.Buy it, you won't regret it!