The Sage Barista Touch is a combination machine. It combines a grinder and an espresso machine. This is practical and has some advantages, such as its small footprint. On the other hand, it is difficult to upgrade.
We have tested the grinder and machine thoroughly and reveal in the following review how the Barista Touch performed.
Semi-automatic with automatic appeal
This thermoblock machine attempts a balancing act between a classic portafilter machine and a fully automatic espresso maker. Almost all settings are controlled via the display, except for the grind size. This is adjusted with a dial.
In the menu, you can select many different coffee drinks, such as Flat White, Cappuccino, or Americano. However, upon closer inspection, you quickly notice that most drinks are made with the same settings. This is simply because espresso is used as the base for most mixed drinks.
The amount of coffee that is ground can only be adjusted in second intervals on the Barista Touch. This is a shame. The Smart Grinder Pro grinder from the same company can do this to a tenth of a second precisely, and the Barista Pro, also a combination machine, to half a second precisely. One second, however, as with the Barista Touch here, makes a world of difference. If you want 18 grams of coffee, with one second too little you might only get 17.5 grams, but with one second more then 18.5 grams. That is annoying.
During the brewing process, the Sage Barista Touch supports the user with tips on the display. However, some of these tips are simply wrong. The ideal extraction time for an espresso is stated as around 10-12 seconds, whereas a time of about 25 seconds should really be aimed for. With the suggested 10 seconds, the espresso tastes as sour as hot lemon.
A touch display and little else
Some settings on the Barista Touch are very helpful. For example, you can adjust the milk temperature and also the milk foam level. The milk frothing performance is excellent overall. However, the display, which is actually the core of this machine, is not really required for the machine to function. Besides, it responds rather poorly compared to a smartphone display.
Unfortunately, the Barista Touch seems a bit like a mashup of the Sage Barista Pro and the Oracle Touch. But it doesn't really come across convincingly.
Temperature extremes – how far above 100 does it go?
The Barista Touch works with a so-called thin-film heating element. This is supposed to be a further development of the flow heater. The advantage is that the machine heats up in just 3 seconds. The heat transfer is enormous and the machine's power consumption is extremely low.
The heat is transferred to the brew water via a heating plate. This is faster than with a thermoblock, whose intermediate aluminum block acts sluggishly when heating. It would theoretically be possible to run different temperature profiles with the thin-film heater. However, the Barista Touch does not have a precise temperature control unit. While there are a total of 8 adjustable temperature levels, even the lowest level reaches 98 degrees Celsius and is thus way too hot. We aimed for a temperature of 93 degrees, but were unable to achieve this with any setting.
But what does the excessively hot temperature do to the espresso? An espresso brewed too hot tastes very bitter, dry, and harsh. That's simply no fun. You can't really brew a good espresso with the Barista Touch.
Milk foam of dual-boiler class
Another aspect is the milk frothing performance. You can froth milk automatically or manually. The steam wand is ready for frothing immediately after the espresso shot, almost like a dual-boiler machine. Simultaneous frothing while pulling a shot is not possible. With the automatic function, the temperature of the pitcher is measured via a sensor near the drip tray. The milk temperature can be adjusted and runs very accurately. The automatic function works well and you can also produce excellent milk foam manually. However, we recommend switching to the manual method to create truly fine-pored latte art foam.
Included accessories, size, and upgradability
The package includes two single-wall baskets and one double-wall basket. Also a milk pitcher and a tamper. The included Sage Razor is supposed to allow you to remove ground coffee from the portafilter if too much has been ground in. However, with a properly adjusted grinder, this should not happen.
The Sage Barista Touch is 34 cm wide, 41 cm deep, and 40.6 cm high. The two-liter water tank is easy to remove and the machine's construction looks high-quality with its brushed stainless steel.
"Volumetric control" with espresso
While the Sage website states that the Touch has volumetric control, we cannot confirm this. The water volume is metered not by volumetrics but by a timer.
Volumetric control always delivers the same amount of water through the coffee puck. If you set, for example, 45 grams of water, this amount is always delivered. The resistance of the coffee is irrelevant here. The flow time may increase or decrease depending on the fineness of the ground coffee, but it always ends with 45 grams of water.
With the Barista Touch, you can adjust the brewing time. If the ground coffee is too fine, you might only have a few milliliters in the cup; with a grind size that is too coarse, the cup almost overflows.
For beginners, volumetric control makes much more sense. The brewing recipe (e.g., 1 part coffee to 2.5 parts water) does not change. You only adjust the flow rate through the grind size. With a timer, on the other hand, you have to adjust your brewing ratio every time you change the water volume. This is more complicated and makes using a scale essential. This is not beginner-friendly.
Conclusion on the Sage Barista Touch
As a pure milk frother, the Barista Touch would be really great. It froths well and reliably and is a pleasure for any barista.
However, unfortunately the pulled espressos don't taste good. The brewing temperature is inconsistent and far too hot.
Therefore, you should seriously consider whether the premium price for the Barista Touch makes sense. Other Sage models, such as the Bambino Plus or the Barista Pro, are hardly inferior to the Barista Touch. Whether you're willing to pay the premium for the Barista Touch just for the automatic milk frothing function is your decision.
For 1000€, however, there are also alternatives from other manufacturers that you should look at, such as the Quick Mill Orione 3000 or the Gaggia New Classic. Some dual-boiler machines are also available at this price point.
