Sage Bambino SES450: 54 mm portafilter, both basket types

Why this is the machine to pair with a grinder

Four manufacturers make the espresso machines in our UK database. One of them publishes a portafilter diameter: Sage, with 54 mm for the Bambino. The same maker is the only one to name both basket types and say what each is for.

That is less dry than it sounds. Tampers and spare baskets are sold by diameter, so a stated figure is the difference between ordering and guessing. And the basket type decides what you can ask of a grinder: with the De’Longhi Dedica, the Stilosa or the Krups Virtuoso, nobody has put in writing whether the baskets are pressurised. With the Bambino you know before you pay.

Day one without a grinder, month three with one

The box holds two sets of baskets, each in one-cup and two-cup sizes:

• Dual wall is Sage’s name for a pressurised basket. Its guide assigns these to pre-ground coffee and older beans.
• Single wall is non-pressurised. Sage assigns these to freshly ground beans, where grind, dose and tamp shape the shot.

So the machine does not force the grinder on you at the till. You can begin on pre-ground coffee, then switch baskets when a grinder arrives. Which grinder is the next question, and two candidates share our entry-level bracket in the UK:

• the Baratza Encore ESP, which its maker positions as an espresso grinder, with manual dosing;
• the Sage Smart Grinder Pro, with 60 settings, a timer and a cradle that takes a 54 mm portafilter.

Our machine-and-grinder pairings weigh both against an all-in-one. Sage’s own reference timings for dialling in the Bambino are set out in the grind size guide.

Three seconds, according to Sage

Sage calls the heating system ThermoJet and gives a heat-up time of 3 s. Read it for what it is: the maker’s figure for the heater. It has not been measured by us, and it does not cover the time it takes to warm a cold portafilter and cups. Time to the first cup is on our measurement plan.

PID temperature control is listed as well, meaning the brew temperature is regulated electronically; Sage publishes no stability figure to go with it. Power is 1,600 W, the top of a rating plate that reads 1,300 to 1,600 W. The pump has the same 15 bar rating as almost every machine in our espresso machine comparison, so it settles nothing.

In the box, and at the wand

Besides the baskets, Sage supplies a 480 ml milk jug and a plastic tamper; the portafilter is aluminium. You steam the milk yourself, and a hot water function serves for an americano or for warming cups.

Water comes from a 1.4 l tank: some 23 double shots, counting 60 ml each, if you did nothing else; fewer once steam and hot water are drawn from it.

Sage’s dimensions do not add up

Two practical notes. The button leads to an Amazon search, because no listing in our study could be tied to this model. And the UK quick guide for the Bambino carries Sage’s 2-year limited guarantee.

Bambino, or one of its neighbours?

• You want the wand to texture the milk: the Bambino Plus, with a 1.9 l tank, one bracket up.
• You need a width you can rely on, or want to spend less: the De’Longhi Dedica EC685 is 14.9 cm wide and one bracket lower, without a stated portafilter size or basket type. See Dedica vs Bambino.
• You want the grinder inside: the Barista Express, at 31.8 cm wide. The Sage range comparison puts the three machines in one table.