The upgrades that improve a Sage Barista Express the most cost almost nothing: switching to the single wall basket, weighing your coffee, stirring the grounds before tamping, and grinding finer if you run out of settings. After those, a bottomless portafilter and then a puck screen are the two parts worth buying. Most other upgrades can wait.
Here they are in the order we would do them, with what each one fixes. The same list applies to the Barista Express Impress, Barista Pro and Barista Touch, which take the same 54mm portafilter.
The list, in order
| # | Upgrade | Cost | What it fixes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Use the single wall basket | Free, it came in the box | Lets the grind and the coffee control the shot, instead of a pressure valve |
| 2 | Weigh the dose and the shot | A small scale reading to 0.1 gram | Turns guessing into numbers you can repeat and adjust |
| 3 | Stir the grounds before tamping | Free, a thin needle or a paperclip | Most channelling, the sideways spray and the sour and bitter shot at once |
| 4 | Grind finer, including the inner burr if needed | Free | Shots that still run fast on the finest setting |
| 5 | A bottomless portafilter | £37.99 here | Shows you what the puck is doing, so every fix above can be checked on the next shot |
| 6 | A puck screen | £11.99 here | The dry crater in the middle of the puck, and a dirty shower screen |
1. Use the single wall basket
The Barista Express ships with four baskets, and many machines are still running on the dual wall one fitted at the factory. A dual wall basket creates the pressure itself through one small hole, which is forgiving but caps how good the shot can get. If you grind fresh beans with the built in grinder, switch to the two cup single wall basket. Expect the first few shots to run fast and taste thin: that is the basket telling you the grind needs to be finer. Our basket guide shows how to tell them apart.
2. Weigh the dose and the shot
The Barista Express doses by time and the cup shows volume, and neither tells you much. A scale that reads to 0.1 gram does. A good starting point in the two cup single wall basket is about 18 grams of coffee in and about 36 grams of espresso out, in roughly 25 to 30 seconds from the moment the pump starts. Change one thing per shot.
3. Stir the grounds before tamping
Ground coffee lands in the basket in clumps with air gaps between them, and tamping does not remove them. Stir the dry grounds with a thin needle, right to the bottom, until the bed looks even. Baristas call it WDT. It fixes more shots than any part you can buy. Then tamp level rather than hard: a tilted bed sends the water down the shallow side.
4. Grind finer, including the inner burr
If your shots still run fast with the grind dial on its finest setting, the grinder has a second, internal adjustment. On the Barista Express, the upper burr under the bean hopper can be moved to a finer position. It leaves the factory on 6, and lower numbers grind finer. Empty the hopper and run the grinder until it is clear, lift the burr out, move it one or two steps finer, and refit it until it clicks into place. Then go back to the outer dial and dial in again. The same adjustment exists on other Sage grinders; check your manual for your model.
5. A bottomless portafilter
Once you are on a single wall basket and roughly dialled in, a bottomless portafilter is the most useful part you can add. It does not make coffee better on its own. It shows you, while the shot is running, whether the water is going through the whole puck or escaping through one channel, so you can see whether step 3 worked. What each spray pattern means is in our channelling guide.
6. A puck screen
A 53.5mm screen laid on top of the tamped coffee spreads the water from the shower screen and keeps the group head cleaner. It takes up a little room above the coffee, so drop the dose by about half a gram. Our puck screen guide covers the adjustment and what it does and does not fix.
What can wait
- A heavier or calibrated tamper. Pressure matters far less than a level tamp and an even bed.
- Precision or upgraded baskets. They can help once everything above is done, not before.
- A new machine. Most disappointing shots on a Barista Express come from the basket, the grind and the distribution, all of which you can fix on the machine you have.
Does all this fit my machine?
Everything above applies to the whole 54mm Sage and Breville range: Barista Express, Barista Express Impress, Barista Pro, Barista Touch, Bambino, Bambino Plus, Infuser and Duo Temp Pro. It does not apply to the Dual Boiler or the Oracle range, which are 58mm. The size guide lists every model code.
Free delivery in the United Kingdom. If a part does not fit the machine listed on its page, the return is free and we pay the postage. How returns work. Questions? Email contact@cremalab.co.uk and we will answer the same working day.