Sage Smart Grinder Pro – the best entry-level espresso grinder?

Reading time 5 minutes: This is a short blog. You can find the more detailed version here on our Swiss website.

A good grinder for getting started in the world of espresso. There's a lot to suggest that we've found it with the Sage Smart Grinder Pro. We're responding to many inquiries we've received via email with this review. Our community is looking for an affordable entry-level grinder that's easy to use and provides the joy of freshly and correctly ground espresso. We already tested the Sage Smart Grinder Pro in April 2020 and included it in our major espresso grinder comparison in 2022.

And in both tests, the Smart Grinder Pro was convincing. For us, it remains one of the most interesting grinders for beginners.

What criteria are important for assessing the quality of an espresso grinder?

• Does the grinder grind fine enough for espresso? This is important so that sufficient resistance can be built up for the water and the desired flow time of approx. 25 seconds is achieved.
• Is the ground coffee homogeneous? Ideally, the majority of the ground coffee is within the set range with few outliers upwards or downwards. Too many outliers make the espresso too bitter or too sour.
• Ease of use: Is the grind size easy to adjust and, if possible, steplessly?
• Consistency: Does the machine produce consistent grinding results or is each grinding process a game of chance?
• Retention: How much ground coffee remains in the machine after grinding? Too much, and the next espresso will taste stale after just a few minutes.
• Heating with regular use? If the burrs heat up, this can impair the taste.
• Does the grinder grind fine enough for espresso? This is important so that sufficient resistance can be built up for the water and the desired flow time of approx. 25 seconds is achieved.

Espresso-fine!

The machine achieves this without any problems. An espresso can be brewed within 25 or 30 seconds. The grind size is adjusted via a dial located on the front of the grinder. The digital display shows the grind size and what it is suitable for (filter, espresso, etc.). This is very clear and well-designed.

However, it's a bit irritating that the tactile clicks of the dial don't directly correlate with the display. For example, we might adjust the dial three steps, but only two steps are shown on the display. So, one shouldn't rely too much on the large display. However, since coffee, as a natural product, is never exactly the same, it's normal that the grinder will need to be readjusted from time to time.

The issue of consistency in espresso grinders

We pulled 40 espresso shots in a row. Yes, 40 of them. And the machine's consistency was impressive. We set the target quantity to 18 grams, which is achieved on the Sage Smart Grinder Pro via grinding time. For us, it was 16 seconds. In these 40 shots, the coffee quantity deviated by a maximum of 0.4 grams from the target value. That's really good!

How did the espresso taste and how consistent was it?

Thanks to the easily adjustable grind size, we were able to quickly and reliably set a good flow time for our espresso. The espressos tasted balanced and delicious. Curiously, the flow time changed from shot to shot. We started with 29 seconds, but the tenth shot ran significantly faster at only 22 seconds. The ground coffee also noticeably warmed up during the rapid shots. In defense of the grinder: It is a home barista machine and not a commercial machine. It is rare to pull 30 or more espressos consecutively in a home. If the flow time is too short, you should simply readjust the grinder briefly.

The view of the particle distribution of the Sage Smart Grinder Pro pleases us. The main peak of the ground material in our diagram is high and narrow. This means that the vast majority of the ejected ground material is of the same size, namely as large as you have set it. Only a small proportion is larger or smaller. This way you can be sure that the majority of your coffee puck in the portafilter is extracted to the correct degree and does not become too sour (under-extracted) or bitter (over-extracted). You can taste that in the cup!

Operating the Sage Smart Espresso Grinder Pro

As described above, the machine is easy to set up and use. The side dial and the feedback on the display give you the feeling of knowing exactly what the grinder is doing. Compared to its smaller sibling, the Sage Dose Control, the display proves to be a very helpful tool, especially for beginners, which they can rely on when approaching the correct grind size.

The factory default settings of the Sage are good. Most espresso beans can be ground well with it. However, it can happen that particularly light roasts fall outside the adjustable range of the grinder. In this case, it is necessary to pre-adjust the grind size coarsely. For this, you have to pre-set the grinding burrs from above. We will show you how to do this in a separate video.

Retention is the ground coffee residue in the grinder

After each grind, a little coffee grounds remain in your grinder. It sits in the chute, in small screw openings, or cracks. Since ground coffee loses aroma very quickly, this so-called retention negatively affects your espresso. The smaller this retention is, the better it is. Our test also includes determining this retention as accurately as possible by disassembling the machine and weighing every tiny particle.

According to our measurements, the Sage Smart Grinder Pro has a retention of 2.7 grams of coffee. While a grinder like the Niche Zero achieves almost zero grams, a Graef CM800 can have up to 8 grams of coffee grounds in retention. Since the Smart Grinder Pro is priced more in the Graef league, you can see that the size of the retention is acceptable. Nevertheless, we recommend grinding a few grams of coffee and not using them if the grinder has been idle for more than 15 minutes before starting a new shot.

Features and Conclusion on the Sage Smart Grinder Pro

With its 22 cm width, 38 cm height, and 15 cm depth, the grinder fits almost anywhere. The housing is made of a combination of stainless steel and plastic and is of high quality. Everything feels pleasant to the touch and appears solid. In the price segment in which the Sage Smart Grinder Pro is positioned, we have not yet tested a better grinder. Therefore, we can recommend it for beginners.

Finally, we would like to state that we do not sell Sage products in our shop and are not paid by Sage for our test reports. We provide our honest and as unbiased as possible opinion. If we say that the grinder is good, it's because we tested it that way.