BARISTA EXPRESS IMPRESS REVIEW: Best Budget Beginner Espresso Machine (Breville/Sage)

Hope you enjoy!

For the bottomless PF-

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TIMES CUES:
0:00- Intro/Disclosure
1:38- Basic Overview
2:55- Thermocoil vs Thermojet
3:58- The Impress(ive) Tamper
6:28- Grinder Stuff
7:06- Hot Water and Steam Wand
8:50- Impress(ive) Quirk
9:38- Squarespace
10:33- Who Is It For?
11:35- Grinch Stole Distribution
15:00- Weird Pressure Gauge
16:48- Thermal Testing
23:15- Variable Preinfusion
24:19- Fixing Impress(ive) Quirk
26:42- Final Thoughts
28:52- Hugo Wraps Up

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Music track: Little Voices by Amine Maxwell
No Copyright Vlog Music for Videos
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"Rock This Party" by Infraction
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Clips taken from Breville Web Page

[LanceHedrick]

EDIT!
The unit has some light temperature control using a combination of button presses to raise and lower the temp by both 2 and 4 degrees F. That is awesome!

[FOXCHASE]

I applaud you for being the first creator/reviewer I’ve seen that comes off as someone with a much more realistic mindset when it comes to entry level espresso. I love watching stuff from James Hoffmann for example, but I also recognize that he’s got WAY higher standards than someone like me who just wants to not spend $8 per drink for a Starbucks flat white on the daily. It’s hard to find this balance of “I don’t need top of the line, but I want my investment to be well spent” and I think you’ve done that really well here. Definitely gonna look more into this!

[LanceHedrick]

I hope you enjoy! Hit that like button if you appreciated the video! Looking forward to chatting below!

[aflac]

This. The Sage Barista Express is very unique in the espresso field, as no other brand offer such quality and comfort thats actually capable of making good espresso. Its a good start (and stay) for anyone wanting to try espresso as a hobby without spending thousands.
I started on the Barista Express, but I stayed so far, because its so convinient, that I can use it day-to day as routine more than a hobby that takes hours.

[justinbouchard]

I think the tamping volume thing is great for people that don't wanna mess around but want consistency. I feel like consistency matters more than anything once you get where you are happy.

[erikmichelet]

As someone who just bought this machine, this video was SUPER helpful and exactly what I needed to see to make sure I’m getting the most out of this breville unit. You addressed all of the questions I had on how to use and tweak the machine for optimal results. Much appreciated! Keep up the great work!

[ericw]

I don't feel there's enough appreciation for that Grinch analogy! That was funny!

[dumelisdumelis]

Lance, the pressure gage is 15 bar pressure gage. The 5th tick is around 8-9 bars or so.

[TheSirjull]

First review I've seen of the Impress version that shows a solution for WDT. Thank you!!

[bradenb]

For those like myself that have hard water but don't want to have to constantly play alchemist to make your own water: I use a water filter called "aarke water purifier" and the "Pure" filter pellets pull my hard water down from ~225ppm to ~25ppm. Excellent for coffee!

[josiahwall]

I’m just happy there’s an espresso machine with a smiley face..

[abbyorfa]

I watched a lot of videos and I really can’t focus with most of them
But you made me listen very carefully and clearly I like that, you did great job thank you so much❤

[SteebMo]

You're right about the pressure gauge using a 'weird counting system'. It's acutally roughly 2bar per 'tick' of the gauge if it's the same one used in the Barista Express machines. Home-barista has an old post showing this test result.

[OrionRox]

I've been using my BES870XL for over 3 years now, absolutely love this machine! I never understood Breville's pressure gauge though, but I found out that when my pressure gauge hit the end of that gray area I would get some great shots until recently I purchased a naked portafilter, I did everything I could to prevent disaster spray but nothing helped.
So I started looking for some answers from forums, turned out the "end of the gray area" in Breville's pressure gauge was 14 bars, and 9 bars were at 4.5 ticks position which was around 9 o'clock, however, if I adjust my grind size to make the pressure stays at 9 bar I would get under-extracted espresso (turbo shots?), simply because flow rate was too high, so I took off the backplates and top panel and adjusted the OPV from the default setting (15 bars) to 9 bars. What a big difference, my shots became a lot more balanced, I'm not sure if they tuned their new machine to 9 bars in OPV as default, but If you are using the old machine I highly suggest the OPV mod.

[KanielD]

Going to let this play while I get ready for the day. I’ll watch it again when I have time.

[alessandroalmeida]

Great, I just bought one today and I'm totally beginner on this world

[philOKC]

The dosing technology and press are game changers for me. The main reason I bought this unit. No mess no fuss.

[Snailfast]

I love this machine. I use mine literally almost every day. Sure it’s not the greatest espresso machine but when I can whip out a halfway decent shot of espresso when I’m running late to work this gets the job done. I can literally fire this machine up, grind while the water is heating up, quickly tamp the grounds and pull a shot in under 3 minutes. And if I’m not frothing milk and just making a quick ice latte during the summer, 100% worth it.

[keco]

Just got this yesterday! Wanted something that didn't require a lot of prep and a lot of money. This seemed to fit the bill

[deestupi]

The like is for the shirt. Feeling that bright yellow pocket