The Sage Barista Touch is a combination espresso machine with an integrated grinder. Very practical for beginners if both work. However, if one of the components fails, replacing or upgrading is not that easy.
First of all: the espresso machine's grinder is solid and similar in design to the Sage Smart Grinder Pro. We have already tested this grinder. It is a good recommendation for starting out in the world of espresso preparation.
On the other hand, we struggle with the espresso quality of the Sage Barista Touch. Conversely, frothing milk for cappuccinos and other milk-based drinks is where the Sage Barista Touch truly shines.
In this review, we’ll explore how everything works together and where we position the machine in the category of thermoblock espresso machines.
Semiautomatic with a bean-to-cup aesthetic
We can only interpret what the company Sage, which operates as Breville in the English-speaking world, had in mind when putting this machine together. The machine moves a few steps towards fully automatic coffee machines and uses a touch display to replace most of the physical buttons found on the Pro model. Only the grind size has to be adjusted using a dial. All other control units are integrated into the display.
A comprehensive menu then offers numerous drinks, from espresso to flat white, cappuccino, and americano. If you look closer, however, the same settings hide behind most drinks. No wonder, as the basis for most espresso machine drinks is an espresso.
So, for each, coffee must be ground for espresso. In the touch display, the amount per grind can be adjusted. First disappointment: the setting here is only possible in one-second increments. While the €200 Smart Grinder can be adjusted in two-tenths of a second and the Sage Barista Pro at least allows for 0.5-second steps, the Sage Barista Touch only adjusts in one-second increments. One second corresponds to more than one gram of ground coffee. Anyone wanting to grind 18 grams of coffee will, in extreme cases, end up with 17.5 or 18.5 grams. It is inexplicable why the more expensive model delivers less precision here.
How Sage recommends espresso extraction. And that is simply and plainly wrong!
The portafilter is pressed against the grinder by hand, then tamped and locked in by hand. Now follows the shot – everything just like on the Sage Barista Pro. Only this time guided by the display. Additionally, it provides all sorts of tips and adjustment features, much like a digital recipe book. Unfortunately, some of the information in this recipe book is completely wrong or causes more confusion than it provides guidance. For example, an ideal extraction time is given as 10 – 12 seconds, whereas 25 seconds would be correct. A 10 – 12 second espresso tastes sourer than a fresh lemon.
A display with touch and not much more
The ability to set milk foam levels and milk temperature is practical. Overall, Sage has really delivered on milk foam, just as they did with the Sage Bambino Plus. But this display is not really essential for the machine's function. In addition, in this global smartphone age, we expect sensitive reactions from displays. The Touch's display reacts as if we had applied three screen protectors to a mobile phone.
The Sage Barista Touch leaves us with the impression of being a patchwork between the Sage Barista Pro and the Sage Oracle Touch. Except for the auto-steam, the machine functions like the Sage Barista Pro. However, it has the display from the Oracle Touch, only it lacks the automatic tamper, and the Oracle Touch’s boiler would likely have done a better job than the thick film heater of the Barista Touch.
Temperature excesses – how far above 100 does it go?
This chapter is a bit painful. With its built-in thick film heater, the Sage Barista Touch essentially uses future technology for its instant water heater. The espresso machine gets hot super fast. In just 3!! seconds, the machine is at operating temperature. Gigantically good energy transfer makes the power efficiency of the Sage Barista Touch unbeatable. We measured 0.09 kWh. This is not only very efficient, but it is an absolute sustainable indicator for all other machine developers.
The heater transfers energy to the brewing water almost immediately via heating elements pressed onto a metal plate. Depending on the energy input, the water gets very hot very quickly. The temperature can be brought down just as quickly by reducing the energy. Unlike a thermoblock, which is much slower due to the mass of the aluminum block, one could even run temperature profiles with this thick film heater. Only one thing would be needed for that: equally precise control of the unit and monitoring of the temperature. Unfortunately, that fails completely on the Sage Barista Touch according to our measurements. The target temperature for good espresso is around 93 degrees Celsius.
9 temperature levels from Low 4 to High 4 and a medium “ideal” temperature don’t help when the lowest one starts its swing through the highs at 98 degrees. The temperature curves show how far we are moving away from an ideal temperature.
Temperature fluctuations in the Sage Barista Touch
How does espresso brewed this hot taste? Unpleasantly bitter, very, very bitter. It tastes dry and harsh. You can brew espresso with it, but darker, more classic espresso roasts in particular almost call for a decent amount of sugar or milk after such a hot extraction to compensate for the bitterness.
That the thick film heater can be used well is shown, for example, by Tone Swiss as well as a manufacturer of higher-priced capsule machines, which we will not name here.
The information on the thick film heater comes from Patrizio Frigeri, a coffee engineer who has also reported extensively on capsules here.
Milk foam of the dual-boiler class
What the Sage Barista Touch delivers in terms of milk foam is well worth the credit. The machine supports manual and automatic frothing of milk. Manually, the Sage Barista Touch plays in the premier league of dual-boiler espresso machines when it comes to milk foam. While it cannot froth simultaneously with the espresso shot, it can do so immediately after the extraction. Here again, the potential of the thick film heater shows: energy in, temperature up.
The auto-steam function of the Sage Barista Touch is similar to fully automatic machines, only better than most systems. A small sensor on the drip tray measures the temperature of the included Sage pitcher or any standard commercial pitcher from Rhinoware or other manufacturers. The target temperature can be set via the display.
Setting the milk temperature on the Sage Barista Touch.
When frothing is activated, the auto-steam brings the temperature to the target with an accuracy of 1.5 degrees variance. That is really good. The milk foam naturally has an occasional bubble or two, but it is even suitable for latte art.
However, the manual frothing function of the Sage Barista Touch is so good that we advise everyone to learn to froth manually. You will have a lot of fun with the Sage Barista Touch this way.
Scope of delivery, size, and components
Like the Sage Barista Pro, the Sage Barista Touch is delivered with two single-wall baskets, one double-wall basket, as well as a milk pitcher and a tamper. Also included is a coffee powder scraper, the Sage Razor™ precision dosing tool. If too much powder is ground into the portafilter, it can be removed with the scraper. With careful adjustment of the grinder, however, this should not happen.
The Sage Barista Touch is 34 cm wide, 41 cm deep with the portafilter, and 40.6 cm high with the bean hopper. The 2-liter water tank is easy to remove and fill. The machine has a front and side panel made of brushed stainless steel. The cup warming tray, as well as the bean hopper and water tank, are made of plastic.
“Volumetric control” of espresso
Yes and no. We did not find a volumetric control of the water, contrary to what Sage writes on its website. Instead of volumetrics, the amount of water is controlled by time. What is the difference?
Volumetric control delivers a certain amount of water, ignoring the resistance of the coffee puck, and presses, for example, 65 grams of water onto the coffee puck. A portion of the water always remains in the coffee. The remaining amount ends up in the cup as espresso. This means the home barista always has the chosen amount, e.g., 40 or 45 grams with a double basket, in the cup. This is practical, as you can now concentrate entirely on the grind size and use it to adjust the resistance and extraction time. The barista's question then is: how long does my espresso machine take to deliver exactly those 40 grams of espresso into the cup? We advise beginner baristas to aim for an extraction time of 25 seconds.
It’s different with the Sage Barista Touch. Here, the output time can be set and fixed, for example, to 25 or 30 seconds. Now, however, 25 seconds no longer automatically mean a nearly good result. If the grind size was chosen too fine, too few milliliters will run through in these 25 seconds. If the grind size was chosen too coarse, the cup will be filled to the brim after 25 seconds.
Adjusting the grinder and monitoring the extraction now takes place by weighing the espresso amount. This is of course possible, but it requires a greater rethink and, above all, the consistent use of a scale. Almost all instructions available online assume volumetric control or explain espresso adjustment using a Faema E61 brew group without control.
Why does a volumetric system make more sense, especially for espresso beginners? A few seconds more or less extraction make less of a taste difference than a completely different brew ratio, i.e., the amount of coffee powder used in relation to water.
Conclusion on the Sage Barista Touch
We can recommend the Sage Barista Touch without reservation for frothing milk. It is truly classy what the Touch achieves there. It powerfully froths good foam for cappuccino and latte macchiato both manually and automatically.
Unfortunately, the temperature on the Sage Barista Touch is too fluctuating and too high to brew good espresso. Anyone who is an espresso purist will therefore likely not be happy with this machine.
Compared to other Sage models, the Sage Bambino Plus performs no worse in terms of espresso extraction than the Sage Barista Touch or Sage Barista Pro. With the auto-steam, the machine is even further developed compared to the Sage Barista Pro. However, the grinder of the Sage Barista Pro is more finely adjustable. You have to decide for yourselves whether the extra price for the Touch really makes sense. There aren't too many arguments in its favor.
Perhaps even the Bambino with the Smart Grinder is the best choice, as a simple upgrade is possible one day. Just saying…
Anyone looking for an entry-level espresso machine under 1000 euros should take a look at our thermoblock series and check out the Quick Mill Orione 3000 or the Gaggia New Classic (single-boiler). The Ascaso Steel Duo PID as well as some dual-boilers also make a good impression for just over 1000 euros.
