Descaling is not the cleaning cycle. The back-flush with a tablet clears coffee oils from the group head; descaling clears mineral scale out of the water path, and on these four machines it runs from a different menu with a different button sequence.
Outside the UK the same machines carry the Breville name, so a Breville BES500, BES870, BES878 or BES880 manual covers the machine sold here as a Sage. Where your own manual differs from anything here, your manual wins.
What differs between the four
| Model | What prompts it | Where the solution goes | Remove the water filter first? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bambino Plus | 1 CUP, STEAM and 2 CUP flash alternately for 15 seconds | Tank filled to the DESCALE line | Not mentioned |
| Barista Express | Nothing on the machine; a calendar interval | One sachet dissolved in one litre of hot tap water | Not mentioned |
| Barista Pro | DESCALE alert on the LCD | Tank filled to the DESCALE line | Yes, stated |
| Barista Touch | Nothing stated; run it when you see scale | Follow the screen | Not mentioned |
How often
Only one of the four manuals prints an interval. Sage’s manual for the Barista Express says to descale every 90 days at water hardness level 4, and every 60 days at level 6.
The Bambino Plus and the Barista Pro leave the timing to the machine, which raises an alert. On the Barista Pro that alert is the word DESCALE on the LCD. On the Bambino Plus it is the 1 CUP, STEAM and 2 CUP buttons flashing alternately for 15 seconds, and pressing any of them clears the alert and returns the machine to ready mode, so it is easy to dismiss by accident.
Sage’s Barista Touch manual gives no interval and describes no alert. It says that even with the supplied water filter fitted, Sage recommends descaling if there is scale build-up in the water tank. On that model the tank is the gauge.
Fitting and changing the water filter reduces how often you need to do this on all four, which is the reason the manuals tie the two jobs together.
Before you start on any model
Empty the drip tray and put it back in. The Barista Express manual makes this a safety instruction rather than a housekeeping one, because hot steam may be released during descaling.
Have somewhere for the waste. The Bambino Plus needs a 2 litre container under the group head and the steam wand. The others use the drip tray and a container under the spouts.
Two of the manuals carry the same warning, that the water tank should never be removed or completely emptied during descaling. Take it as applying to all four.
Barista Pro
The Barista Pro is the only one of the four whose manual tells you to take the filter out of the tank before the powder goes in. Sage’s Barista Pro manual states it as a note ahead of the procedure. The other three manuals say nothing either way, so you are on your own judgement there.
- Empty the drip tray and refit it. Take the tank off and remove the filter from it.
- Fill to the DESCALE line, add the descaling agent, refit the tank.
- Press MENU, turn the GRIND AMOUNT dial to DESCALE, press to select, then press 1 CUP.
- The cycle runs in three stages: coffee, hot water and steam. The machine beeps after each one, and you turn the steam dial to the hot water and steam positions by hand when the LCD asks.
- A rinse cycle follows, in the same three stages, after you have emptied the tank and refilled it to MAX.
- Rinse and dry the drip tray and tank at the end.
Barista Express
The Barista Express is the only one with a mixing instruction: dissolve one Sage descaling powder sachet in one litre of hot tap water, then fill the tank with it.
- Hold the 2 CUP button and the POWER button together to enter descale mode. The POWER button flashes while it heats. It is ready when POWER, 1 CUP, CLEAN ME and the hot water and steam indicator are all lit steadily.
- Press 1 CUP for the coffee side. That stage takes about 25 seconds.
- Turn the steam dial left for the steam side, about 13 seconds, then right for hot water, about 8 seconds.
- Around half a litre of solution should still be in the tank at that point. Repeat until the tank is empty.
- Rinse the tank, refill with fresh cold water to the full 2 litres, and run the same sequence again to flush the solution out.
- Press POWER to quit.
Do not wander off mid-cycle. The machine turns itself off after 5 minutes of no action in descale mode, and you then restart from the coffee stage.
Bambino Plus
- Empty the drip tray and refit it. Fill the tank to the DESCALE line and add the descaling agent.
- Put a 2 litre container under the group head and the steam wand.
- Switch the machine off with 1 CUP and STEAM together, and let it cool completely before you start.
- With it off, hold 1 CUP and STEAM for 5 seconds to enter descale mode. Both buttons light when it is ready.
- Press either to start. They flash alternately throughout.
- When the solution runs out the cycle pauses. Refill the tank to MAX, empty the waste container, and press 1 CUP or STEAM to carry on.
- The two buttons flash alternately at the end, then the machine drops into standby. Empty the waste container and rinse and dry the tank and drip tray.
Sage’s Bambino Plus manual is the only one of the four that tells you to let the machine cool first.
Barista Touch
Everything happens on the screen. Go to Settings, select Descale cycle, and follow the instructions. The manual gives no button sequence and no stage timings, because the machine supplies them as you go.
The Barista Touch is also the only one of the four that ships with a water hardness test strip in the box, and its manual adds advice the others do not: if your water tests at hardness 4 or 5, Sage strongly recommends changing to a different water source. That is worth doing before you buy descaling powder in bulk.
