Sage Smart Grinder Pro: 60 settings and timed dosing

Sixty steps, and a timer in fifths of a second

Two figures explain this grinder. The first is the number of settings: 60, on steel conical burrs.

• De'Longhi KG79 Electric Burr Coffee Grinder16
• Sage the Barista Express (SES875)16
• Ninja Luxe Café Premier (ES601UK)25
• Sage the Smart Grinder Pro (SCG820)60

The De’Longhi KG79 has 16, and so does the grinder built into the Sage Barista Express. For espresso the count matters because you correct a shot by moving the grind one notch, and with more notches each move is smaller. It is a measure of adjustability only: whether the grind is uniform is not something a step count shows, and Sage does not publish the burr diameter either.

The second figure is the timer: 0.2 s per step, shown on an LCD display. You choose between a shots mode, for espresso, and a cups mode, for filter or cafetière, set a duration, and every press then grinds for exactly that long.

Time is not weight

A timed dose is repeatable, which is what you want on a weekday morning. It is not the same thing as a weighed dose. Change the beans, or move the grind setting, and the same number of seconds delivers a different number of grams. Keep a small set of scales for the day you open a new bag; after that the timer does the work.

Among the grinders and machines we list, only the Ninja Luxe Café Premier weighs the dose for you. The Baratza Encore ESP does neither: you stop it by hand.

Made to sit beside a Bambino

Sage packs two cradles, one for portafilters of 50 to 54 mm and one for 58 mm, plus a grounds container with a lid. With a cradle fitted, the coffee falls straight into the basket.

The first cradle suits Sage’s own machines: the Bambino and Bambino Plus both have a 54 mm portafilter and come with single-wall baskets, the kind that depend on fine adjustment. The 58 mm cradle covers a size used on many other pump machines. For the De’Longhi Dedica and Stilosa we cannot confirm a fit, because De’Longhi publishes no portafilter diameter.

Our machine-and-grinder pairings and the Sage range comparison set a Bambino with this grinder against an all-in-one.

38.9 cm tall, with 450 g on top

It is the taller of the two electric grinders whose dimensions we could verify: 38.9 cm, against 34 cm for the Encore ESP. Width is 21.5 cm and depth 16 cm. Check the gap under your wall cupboards and add a margin for refilling.

The hopper takes 450 g, the largest of the grinders we list, and the motor is rated at 165 W.

Same UK bracket as the Encore ESP: which one?

• Pressurised baskets, or no espresso at all: sixty steps bring you little. A simpler grinder from the coffee grinder comparison will do.
• Single-wall baskets, espresso every day: this is the case the settings, the timer and the cradles are made for.
• Single-wall baskets, and you would rather weigh each dose yourself: the Encore ESP, whose maker positions it for espresso, with manual dosing and no stated step count.

A word on the bracket. In the UK the Smart Grinder Pro falls at the top of our entry-level bracket; on Sage’s euro-zone list prices it would be one bracket higher. Use the button for today’s price. The grind size guide shows how to work through the settings once it is on your worktop.

Not on Sage’s page

The UK quick guide for this grinder carries Sage’s limited guarantee of two years. Grinder noise and grind consistency are unpublished; both are things we plan to measure.