The Sage Dual Boiler is an interesting espresso machine. Although it is clearly recognizable as a Sage machine from the outside, it differs in many ways from its sister models. The Barista Express, the Barista Touch, and the Sage Bambino all use heat exchanger technology. The Dual Boiler, on the other hand, has, as the name suggests, two boilers—one for brewing espresso and one for steaming milk.
With this, the Sage Dual Boiler competes against well-known rivals such as La Marzocco, ECM, and Della Corte. But the price of the Sage machine is a real statement to its competitors. At around €1,000, it's already available. This is significantly cheaper than other dual boiler machines—which really piqued our interest.
To say it upfront: The Sage Dual Boiler proves that dual boilers don't have to be expensive to be technically sophisticated and perform well in everyday use. Let's start with our test.
In this article, we've compiled all our findings on the Sage Dual Boiler. You'll find a very detailed video and a summary video on our YouTube channel. Since we enjoyed working with this machine, we'll continue to use it and share more tips and tricks with you.
In a Nutshell - Test Summary
Strengths:
- Temperature stability: Once the machine is heated up, it's really stable
- Fast heat-up time: It's ready in 8 minutes. Don't forget to purge
- Extensive control options: Automatic start time, pre-infusion, and much more
- Dual PID control: For espresso and milk steaming
- Programmable buttons: Both flow time and volume can be adjusted. The volumetric feature (measuring by volume) is often missing even on much more expensive machines
- Pre-infusion: Both the duration and the amount of water used for pre-infusion can be adjusted. This is an absolute unique selling point of the Sage Dual Boiler
- Dual water tank filling: Possible both from the front and back of the machine
- No integrated grinder: Yes, this is an advantage because you can upgrade better than with many Sage combination machines
- Good milk pitcher included
- Good baskets with 18–20 gram capacity also included
Weaknesses:
- The steam boiler must always be heated, as the heat exchanger principle of the machine won't work otherwise. Even if you only want to drink an espresso.
- Lots of unnecessary accessories
- For Sage machines, the Dual Boiler has high power consumption. Sage usually does this better.
- The tamper doesn't fit flush. That's unfortunate because it stores so well in the machine.
- The machine looks bulky, especially in width.
- At around 72 decibels, it's relatively loud. The rattling noise during the brew process isn't pleasant to listen to either.
Dual Boiler by Sage - Classification
As described above, the other Sage machines use what's called a heat exchanger system. The water for brewing espresso and for steam to froth milk is not brought to temperature in a boiler. It runs cold from the tank and is heated to the correct temperature in a flow heater. Many of the machines also have an integrated grinder on board. This can be convenient, but if the grinder acts up or you want an upgrade, it's hardly possible to realize.
Now, a dual boiler machine. The two boilers have a capacity of 0.45 liters (espresso) and 0.95 liters (steam pressure). One disadvantage of this combination is the slower and longer warm-up phase of the machine. Heat exchanger machines are almost immediately ready to use, boilers need to be heated. This also makes power consumption somewhat higher. However, the great advantage is that the boilers are much more temperature stable once they're warm.
Now that Sage is also venturing into the dual boiler market, some hardcore espresso machine purists might get a bit short of breath. However, we see it as our task to test each machine without prejudice and as neutrally as possible. After all, our goal is to recommend espresso lovers a machine that is as affordable and high-quality as possible and will make you happy for a long time—perhaps even as a beginner.
An Affordable Dual Boiler
Normally, you have to plan for at least €1,800 or more for a dual boiler machine. The Sage Dual Boiler, on the other hand, is offered by Sage for €1,150 and on the major online platforms for around €1,000. In Switzerland, it was even temporarily available for less than 1,000 francs. Nevertheless, we recommend buying the machine preferably from a specialist retailer. Ideally from a dealer who will calibrate your machine and help you with the initial settings.
Size and Appearance
It is 42 cm wide (including the steam wand) and 38 cm tall. With espresso cups on the warming plate, we get to 43.5 cm in height. Speaking of which. Quite a lot of cups fit on top. The Dual Boiler warms the cups nicely, so your drink doesn't cool down as quickly after brewing. The machine is 37 cm deep; the portafilter extends a bit further, so we measure 44.5 cm including the portafilter. At 16 kilos, it stands very solidly and looks high-quality. The water tank can be filled from the top or removed from the back. This is practical and well-designed.
The drip tray holds a maximum of 1 liter, even a bit more if you risk it overflowing when emptying it. If you remove the tray, a small wheel becomes visible, with which the machine can be moved very easily despite its weight. Well thought-out.
Temperature Curves Sage Dual Boiler
Power Consumption
Espresso Preparation with the Sage Dual Boiler
Even if the machine indicates earlier that it's ready to brew, you should give the Dual Boiler a full 8 minutes. This is how we were able to brew good espressos. It's best to do a purge shot after the heat-up time. Then the portafilter is also at operating temperature. If you don't plan your espresso drinking times long in advance, but rather brew spontaneously and quickly after switching on, we recommend setting the machine 1.5 degrees higher via the PID control. This way you can be sure that even after a short heat-up time of the aforementioned 8 minutes, a good brewing temperature is reached. Especially with high-quality, complex, and rather light roasts, you should pay attention to this high brewing temperature. Darker roasts can also tolerate lower temperatures.
We recommend grinding 18–20 grams of espresso powder into the included double basket. Grind fresh and espresso-fine, distribute, tamp, and lock in. We always recommend double shots, as the quality of the drink is better and these are easier to dial in.
In our tests, we always aim for a brewing ratio of 18 grams of espresso powder to approximately 36 to 45 grams of espresso in the cup. The flow time of the espresso should be about 25 seconds. Of course, you can experiment here. Some espressos taste even a bit better with longer times. You can also use pre-infusion to fine-tune further and get a lot more flavor out of the espresso.
