Sage has used PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controllers for its boilers, which ensure that they deliver at a consistent temperature. The Dual Boiler relies on an OPV valve to release excess pressure, and this will keep you from hitting too high a pressure, resulting in a bitter or astringent espresso shot.

Designed to show all important details clearly and accurately, the interface makes it easy to customise temperature, dosage and grind size precisely while clearly showing the stages of the extraction process with animations.

Any espresso machine can develop bigger issues requiring major repair jobs, but from looking through the huge thread on the Home Barista forums and from speaking to engineers, I don't believe you're any more likely to encounter such an issue with a Sage Dual Boiler than any other dual boiler espresso machine. Whilst I am comfortable with daily cleaning, back flushing and descaling, I strongly believe in preventative maintenance and would want an annual service (general checkout and seal replacement when deemed good practice etc. The Sage dual boiler, for me, is one of the most capable yet one of the most underrated espresso machines currently available in the UK.

The single wall filters are designed to be used with coffee that your grind yourself, as you can adjust the grind to suit the machine; the dual wall filters are designed to be used with pre-ground coffee, evening out pressure and flow to create excellent espresso where you have no control over the grind. Once we’d got The Dual Boiler set up properly, we got, hands-down, the best results we’ve had with any espresso machine so far. The 54mm porta-filter with 19-22 grams is the key for full flavour and third wave speciality coffee.

Pre Infusion Function: Gradually increases water pressure to gently expand grinds for an even extraction.

Even though the average dirt cheap coffee maker offers this option, it’s unaccountably absent from nearly every high-end espresso maker, forcing the purchase of extra gadgets like smart plugs. Even my wife loves what was originally “if you think I’m ever going to use that then……” And now uses it daily. What they ended up with was not just something unique to domestic espresso machines, but something I think which is fairly unique even to commercial machines, and the long and short of it is that you end up with ridiculous temperature stability at a much lower cost than would usually be required to achieve that. This commercial feature limits the maximum pressure throughout the extraction, preventing bitter flavours in the shot.In addition to this, the solenoid valves can start to get a bit noisy, or “buzzy” after 5 years or so (making a loud metallic sounding buzz) but again this is a fairly cheap and easy part to replace. If you’re new to frothing milk, it’s nice to start at a lower pressure, which gives you a little more time to make sure you’ve got the milk texture just right. Read the troubleshooting

By the way, just to add at this point, in case you weren't aware and/or if you didn't read this earlier in this post, what we know as Sage Appliances in the UK is known as Breville in most other countries, they sold the brand name in Europe in the 80s which is why we know of a different Breville here.the Dual Boiler uses digital temperature control (PID) technology which detects and minimises any fluctuation during extraction, ensuring the temperature is kept at its optimum range, every time.