Sage

If you have watched a review of a Breville Barista Express and then found a Sage Barista Express in a shop in London or Lyon, you have found the same machine. Breville was founded in Sydney in 1932 and designs its coffee machines for a worldwide market, but in Britain the Breville name belongs to an unrelated appliance company, so in the UK and most of Europe the range is sold as Sage. The model names, the parts and the manuals are the same; the badge and the plug change. Every review, video and forum thread written under either name applies to both, which is worth knowing when you are researching one of them.

What Sage builds is the espresso machine that takes part of the job off your hands. The Bambino line is small and fast, because its ThermoJet heater is a thermoblock-style element that is ready in seconds rather than minutes. The Barista Express puts a grinder inside the machine. The Dual Boiler is the enthusiast end, with two boilers and a PID. Across the range, the feature that matters most to a milk drinker is the automatic steam wand, which senses the temperature of the milk, textures it and stops on its own.

Two things to know before buying. The Bambino and Barista lines use Sage’s own 54 mm portafilter, so baskets and tampers come from a smaller pool than the 58 mm commercial standard (the Dual Boiler is 58 mm). And these are machines built around electronics and proprietary parts, so a repair goes through the brand or a specialist more often than through a home toolkit. A built-in grinder is convenient, and it is also the first component a keen owner outgrows: choosing an espresso grinder explains why.

The group also owns Baratza, the grinder company.

The Bambino Plus is the pick for milk drinks in your first espresso machine under $500, and it answers the “milk, little fuss” profile in choosing an espresso machine.