Sage Barista Touch Test: Good milk foam, espresso too hot
Benjamin Hohlmann
The Sage Barista Touch is a combo machine. It combines a grinder and an espresso machine. This is practical and has some advantages, such as taking up little space. On the other hand, it's difficult to upgrade.
We tested the grinder and machine thoroughly and reveal in the following test report how the Barista Touch performed.
Semi-automatic with superautomatic appeal
This machine tries to bridge the gap between a classical portafilter machine and a superautomatic. Almost all settings are operated via the display, except for the grind size. This is adjusted using a dial.
In the menu, you can then select many different coffee drinks, such as Flat White, Cappuccino, or Americano. However, when you look more closely, you'll 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-long intervals on the Barista Touch. This is unfortunate. The Smart Grinder Pro grinder from the same manufacturer can do this to a tenth of a second, and the Barista Pro, also a combo machine, can do it to half a second. One second, as with the Barista Touch here, makes a world of difference. If you want 18 grams of coffee, one second too short might only give you 17.5 grams, but one second too long then gives you 18.5 grams. That's 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 at around 10-12 seconds, but a time of 25 seconds should actually be aimed for. With the suggested 10 seconds, the espresso tastes as sour as hot lemon.
The machine suggests 10 to 12 seconds of extraction time. Instead, focus on around 25 seconds – only then is the espresso no longer underextracted and sour. How to get there is explained in our article on extraction time for espresso and on the right grind size.
A touch display and little else
Some settings on the Barista Touch are very helpful. For example, you can adjust the milk temperature and 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 necessary for the machine to function. Moreover, it responds rather poorly compared to a smartphone display.
Unfortunately, the Barista Touch feels a bit like a patchwork of the Sage Barista Pro and the Oracle Touch. But that's not really convincing.
Temperature excess – how far above 100 does it go?
The Barista Touch uses a thin-film heater, which Sage sells under the marketing name ThermoJet. There's no thermoblock in this one. This is supposed to be a further development of the flow heater. The advantage is that the machine is hot after just 3 seconds. The heat transfer is gigantic and the machine's power consumption is extremely low.
The heat is transferred to the brewing water via a heating plate. This is faster than with a thermoblock, whose interposed aluminum block is sluggish at heating. With the thin-film heater, it would even be possible to run different temperature profiles. Unfortunately, the Barista Touch doesn't have a precise temperature control unit installed. There are 8 adjustable temperature levels, but even the lowest level reaches 98 degrees Celsius and is far too hot. We aimed for a temperature of 93 degrees, but we couldn't achieve it in any setting.
But what does the temperature that's too hot do to the espresso? An espresso brewed too hot tastes very bitter, dry, and harsh. This is simply no fun. You basically can't brew a delicious espresso with the Barista Touch.
Milk foam of dual-boiler class
Another chapter is the milk frothing performance. You can froth milk automatically or manually. The steam wand is ready to froth immediately after pulling the espresso, almost like on a dual-boiler machine. Simultaneous frothing during the 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 precisely. The automatic function works well, and you can also produce great milk foam manually. However, we recommend switching to the manual method to really create fine-pored latte art foam.
Package contents, size, and expansion
The package includes two single-wall sieves and one double-wall sieve. Also included are a milk pitcher and a tamper. The included Sage Razor is supposed to allow you to remove coffee grounds from the portafilter if too much has been ground. With a properly adjusted grinder, this shouldn't happen.
The Sage Barista Touch is 34 cm wide, 41 cm deep, and 40.6 cm tall. The two-liter water tank is easy to remove, and the machine's brushed stainless steel construction feels high-quality.
| Feature | Sage Barista Touch |
|---|---|
| Type | Combo machine with integrated grinder |
| Heating system | Thin-film heater (ThermoJet), ready to operate after 3 seconds |
| Temperature levels | 8 levels, lowest at 98 °C |
| Water dosing | Time control, no volumetrics |
| Grind dosing | Only in full-second intervals |
| Milk foam | Automatic and manual, temperature adjustable |
| Dimensions (W × D × H) | 34 × 41 × 40.6 cm |
| Water tank | 2 liters, removable |
| Package contents | 2 single-wall sieves, 1 double-wall sieve, milk pitcher, tamper, Sage Razor |
"Volumetric control" for espresso
Although Sage's website states that the Touch has volumetric control, we can't confirm that. The water quantity is not dosed via volumetrics but via time control.
Volumetric control always delivers the same amount of water through the coffee grounds. If you set, for example, 45 grams of water, that amount will always be delivered. The resistance of the coffee doesn't matter at all. The flow time will increase or decrease depending on how fine the ground coffee is, but you'll always end up with 45 grams of water.
With the Barista Touch, you can set the brewing time. If the ground coffee is too fine, you might end up with only a few milliliters in the cup; with too coarse a grind, 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) remains unchanged. You only adjust the flow rate through the grind size. With time control, however, you have to tinker with your brewing ratio every time you adjust the water amount. This is more complicated and makes using a scale essential. That's not beginner-friendly.
Conclusion on the Sage Barista Touch
As a pure milk frother, the Barista Touch would really be great. It froths reliably and well and makes any barista happy.
But unfortunately, the espresso shots don't taste good. The brewing temperature is inconsistent and far too hot.
Therefore, you should seriously consider whether the price premium for the Barista Touch makes sense. Other Sage models, such as the Bambino Plus or the Barista Pro, are little different from 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 to make.
In this price range, 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. There are also some dual-boiler machines available at this price point.
