Sage Precision Brewer Filter Coffee Machine Review

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The Sage precision brewer coffee machine is a top of the range coffee maker that uses the filter brewing method.

You can pick up a filter coffee machine for as little as £25 (or less) if you want to and it will pour water over your coffee and it will drip through into a pot just like this Sage machine will but this one costs 10 times more than the really cheap filter coffee machines.

How on earth do you justify spending that kind of money on a machine that essentially just pours water on top of ground coffee and lets it naturally pass through the grounds and into your pot?

The Sage precision brewer does a LOT more than the vast majority of coffee machines out there and the result is a fantastic tasting cup of coffee.

If you value a delicious cup of coffee and see it as something to savour and enjoy every day rather than just a drink you guzzle down to get a daily caffeine fix then using a machine like this will make a massive difference to your overall coffee drinking experience.

Apologies to the vegetarians out there but a good analogy would be a rump steak compared to a 30 day aged sirloin or a nice fillet steak.

The rump is perfectly edible and ok but when you bite into the sirloin or the fillet steak the taste and texture is worlds apart.

It’s a similar thing with coffee produced in a cheap filter coffee machine compared to one that has been precision engineered like this Sage machine has been.

Ground coffee brewed the right way is totally different to the same ground coffee made the wrong way in a cheap machine.

Using the steak analogy again, if you cook even the best fillet steak for too long you will end up with a tough piece of leather so you need to make it just right to get the benefit from the quality product you are using.

Making coffee is exactly the same. There are many different variables that determine whether your coffee will taste good or bad and the coffee machine you use plays a big part in that process.

So what exactly is it that separates the Sage precision brewer from other cheaper coffee machines and why would you pay so much for it?

Overall Score 10/10

Design 10/10

This is a really tasteful and elegant coffee machine. A lot of thought has gone into making this look as good as the coffee it produces.

It is mostly brushed stainless steel with some cleverly added black plastic on the handles of both filter basket and the jug along with a later on the base of the machine that produces a well-coordinated very pleasing on the eye kitchen appliance.

It does have a modern feel to it but it will look good in all but the most traditional of settings.

You’ll want this to be prominently displayed on the work surface as something to be admired and whilst not huge it is bigger than most filter coffee machines measuring 36cm wide, 17cm deep and 39.5cm tall.

Functionality 10/10

With most filter machines you add some coffee and water, press a button and you let the machine do its thing. You don’t have any control over the strength of the coffee it will deliver or the temperature of the water being used.

What the Sage offers that others don’t is personalisation to suit your specific taste and consistency of coffee delivery every time.

There are some great pre-sets that will deliver a great cup of coffee straight out of the box with no intervention required.

For example the “Gold” setting will set the brew time and water temperature in line with the standards set by the speciality coffee association to deliver a delicious tasting cup of coffee.

That setting will work for most people but you can drill right down into all the things that create a cup of coffee that is tailored to your exact requirements.

Choose “my brew” from the menu and you can select the exact temperature that you want the water to be delivered at.

You can change the speed that you want the water delivered at for a milder or stronger coffee.

Even the bloom time can be altered to reflect how long the water stays in contact with the coffee for.

It really does offer unparalleled customisation for the coffee connoisseur or if you just want a great cup of coffee without any messing about then select “gold” to choose the default that Sage have created for you.

It also has great versatility in terms of the amount of coffee it will produce and has a clever two baskets integrated into one.

The standard cone shape basket fits into a bigger one with a maximum of 1.2 litres of coffee produced by the cone shaped filter and if you want more (unlikely) then you just remove the cone filter and a larger basket beneath will make up to 1.8 litres of coffee in 7 minutes.

On the flip side you can make as little as 200ml if you wish which is enough for 1 to 2 cups depending on the size of your cups.

The point is that you can make as much or as little as you want and the thermal jug that the coffee is delivered into will keep your coffee hot for a good 1 to 1.5 hours.

If you like cold brew it will also do that for you and it even adapts to a V60 or your own pour over method if that’s what you want.

It’s so good that established coffee aficionado and World Barista champion James Hoffman uses this very coffee machine in his own home as his choice of coffee machine on a daily basis.

In this video he explains why:

This video from Sage shows the level of detail that they go into when designing a coffee machine of this quality:

Ease Of Use 10/10

This is incredibly easy to use as you would expect from a product of this quality.

Add the coffee and water and press go. Your coffee is delivered in just a few minutes.

Quality Of Coffee 10/10

This is as good as it gets. Sage have paid an incredible amount of attention to all the things that matter to ensuring the perfect coffee customised to your exact requirements.

Value For Money 10/10

The precision brewer from Sage is a cut above the competition.

It’s a lot more expensive than most others but once you taste the coffee it produces and you understand the level of personalisation that it offers then it’s not hard to give this top marks for value for money.

It may be one of the most expensive filter coffee machine for home use but if you drink coffee every day then expect this to last for years and deliver outstanding coffee every day for many years.

Last update on 2024-03-22 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API