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Reviews & Guides · Kitchen & Dining

Breville 876 / Sage Barista Express Impress: less mess, a steam wait

My Breville 876 makes coffee with far less mess than my old setup. The trade-off comes when I switch to milk: I still have to wait for steam.

The owner’s 876 and home coffee setup.

My favourite purchase of the year

This really is my favourite purchase this year. It suits someone who wants decent coffee without a lot of trouble. There isn’t enormous room to play, and the heating design means waiting to froth milk, but it’s convenient, quick and clean, with no grounds flying everywhere.

I’d previously bought an inexpensive espresso machine. It was actually quite good, but grinding, weighing and tamping were a hassle and left the counter very dirty. This is so much simpler and cleaner. I don’t need to overthink it; I adjust the grind according to the pressure.

In my trials, fresh beans made it easy to get a beautiful coffee, with settings around 5–9 working similarly. With beans that weren’t very fresh, even when I set the grind very high, the pressure didn’t rise. There was little crema, and the wet puck was difficult to knock into the bin. I also felt that pushing harder and tamping several times worked better.

Switching from brewing to the steam wand takes a little while, and I felt there was no temperature control. If you have no patience for that wait, I’d look at a boiler machine.

Anyway, I haven’t been back to Starbucks! I’ve spent my own money to give myself another job.

Source: TTTT猫ye · Xiaohongshu · 13 November 2025 · 铂富Breville 876 咖啡机 今年最满意的消费. Search this Chinese title in Xiaohongshu to find the original post.

Before You Buy

Models in your region

The owner identifies the machine as Breville 876. The related US BES876 and UK Sage SES876 are named Barista Express Impress and have an assisted tamp lever and integrated grinder.

Model in this review Related regional model What to know
Breville 876 Barista Express Impress BES876 (US) The regional 876 family has assisted dosing and tamping, with manual milk steaming.
Breville 876 Barista Express Impress SES876 (UK) Sage’s regional family.
Model in this review
Breville 876
Related regional model
Barista Express Impress BES876 (US)
What to know
The regional 876 family has assisted dosing and tamping, with manual milk steaming.
Model in this review
Breville 876
Related regional model
Barista Express Impress SES876 (UK)
What to know
Sage’s regional family.

The owner’s exact electrical version is not established by the shortened model name.

Choosing for everyday use

A tidier counter was this Breville 876 owner’s main gain. The BES876 (US) and Sage SES876 (UK) offer the same family’s assisted dosing and tamping, with manual milk steaming. The owner particularly disliked the separate grinding, weighing and tamping of the earlier setup.

The statement about no temperature control needs a distinction: the Barista Express Impress has PID temperature control, which regulates brewing temperature. The UK SES876 manual also documents an adjustable brewing-temperature offset of ±2°C in 1°C steps. A wait when changing from brewing to steam does not establish an absence of temperature control. The owner’s waiting experience remains relevant if you make several milk drinks in a row.

Their extra tamping is a personal experiment, not the standard specification: Sage describes the assisted lever as applying a controlled 10 kg tamp. Follow the supplied dose-level and tamp instructions before adding force. The post supplies no controlled comparison that isolates old beans as the sole cause of the wet puck or low pressure.

A useful demonstration before buying is your complete drink sequence: dose, tamp, brew, wait for steam, texture milk and clean up.

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