Introduction
Welcome to my Sage the Barista Touch Review. The sister company of Breville, Sage, offers us an award winning automatic espresso machine that delivers beans to coffee in under one minute. With integrated precision grinder, adjustable auto milk frother, optimal espresso extraction and water pressure the Barista touch possesses state of the art functions. But does the performance match the tech and price tag? Read on to find out all, including the good and bad.
Specifications – sage the barista touch
| Brand | Sage(aka Breville in US) Sage is the sister company to Breville. Machines are identical. |
| Color | Brushed Steel |
| Product dimensions D/W/H | 12.7″ x 15.5″ x 16″ |
| Special Feature | Programmable, Jug, Integrated Coffee Grinder, Water Filter |
| Coffee maker type | Espresso machine |
| Bean Hopper capacity | 250g |
| Material | Stainless Steel |
| Item weight | 12.2 kg |
| Wattage | 1680 watts |
| Included accessories | 54mm Full Stainless Steel Portafilter Single and Double Wall Filter Baskets, 480ml Stainless Steel Jug, ClaroSwiss Water Filter, Razor Precision Dose Trimming Tool, Cleaning Kit and Water Hardness Test Strip |
| Warranty | 2 year repair and replacement or refund guarantee |
| Best Place to Buy | Buy on Amazon (US) Buy on Amazon (UK) |
Build Quality – sage the barista touch
When you view the Barista touch you immediately notice its stainless steel look. This resembles commercial machines but downscale for domestic use. The build is solid and virtually to pro standards. The 2 liter water tank is robust. The coffee tamper magnetically connects to the grinding cradle. The boiler is state of the art especially with the thermojet element. Even the 480ml milk jug included is high grade stainless steel as is the thick stainless steel portafilter. The grinder is solid and the stainless steel burrs cope with anything you put to it. Interface has a well thought out design.
Performance and Features – sage the barista touch
Easy to use Interface
It’s very easy to use interface. The icons dedicate to certain functions such as grind, brew and milk. Then you can customize any of these to any preference you desire. A single touch of the grind icon activates the grinder to deliver your fresh grind. Press the Milk icon to activate the milk foam process. The actual interface icons are nice to touch and are spaced enough for large fingers to handle comfortably without pressing another by mistake.
programme own drink (above)
Pre-programmed Drinks
There are 5 pre-programmed drinks. Cappuccino, Latte, Flat White, Espresso and Americano.
Dosing funnel attachment
The funnel comes with this machine and prevents coffee grinds from spilling out. You can wash the funnel in your dish washer too.
Post-grind action
After grinding process is complete you compress the grind in portafilter with your tamper(included) and place the razor(included) into the portafilter and twist to take out surplus grind. This action will leave the perfect amount of grind for ideal extraction.
grind (above)
Grinder
The grinder is the conical burr type. The teeth are high grade stainless steel. You can set the exact dose you prefer. This helps to help achieve maximum flavor for your brew. Using quality beans always matters. Keeping beans fresh is also imperative. You will need to spend time on how to dial-in your grinder. At the machine’s side, you can set specific grind-size and grind duration. This setting is not adjustable from the interface, by the way. You can control the grinding process manually. Do this by pressing the portafilter in. This activates grinding. Stop grinding by pressing in again.
Micro-foam system
The auto-steam wand is adjustable. This means you can set the milk temperature and the texture for each of drink. User reports state that in terms of froth quality, it is as good as some high end cafes. With this high quality foam it allows for you to create wonderful Latte art creations in your kitchen.
You will have near perfect micro foam every time. This is unusual quality for an auto-froth system. The users of the Barista Touch report mostly positively on the froth system’s auto performance.
The milk temperature is manually adjustable to your liking. You can finely tune your froth too. This system just gets it right every time and this will be a huge attraction for many auto-froth system fans. The popular milk froth setting for a Cappuccino seems to be level 7. The milk foam should resemble smooth shiny white paint! Before you pout the milk froth, bang the carafe down to burst any left over bubbles, then bang it again and swirl. Just like the Baristas do! You can manually operate the foam wand. This may well offer more pro-level results.
Pre-infusion
The optimum water pressure delivers low pressure for the pre-infusion process and increases pressure in increments. This results in the maximum possible extraction of flavor from your grind. Expect espresso with complex and pleasing flavors. Crema is excellent quality according to general public reaction.
Thermojet heating
The extraction process is ready to start in just 3 seconds with the Thermojet heating system. The P.I.D function also helps the extraction of espresso by offering the ideal temperature control.
Accessories
There are a range of accessories that come with the unit(see image below)
Pros and Cons – sage the barista touch
Pros
- Top level brew quality
- Consistently top end milk foam quality
- Complete ‘bean to cup’ auto machine
- User friendly operation
- Small learning curve(compared to manuals)
- Interface is easy to use
- Durable build
- Clever design
Cons
- Maybe pricey for some
Who is the sage the barista touch best for?
If you wish to have full manual then Sage does offer those options. They produce fantastic brews too. But this machine won’t be for you. If you are after a full auto machine with auto froth function, a touch of manual such as milk steaming and dialing in, then the Barista Touch will tick all.
If you want amazing quality brews without the need to input extensive work this is an ideal choice. You wish very near pro build quality and state of the art spec, this machine delivers.
Final Verdict – is the sage the barista touch worth it?
The Barista Touch offers Barista quality coffee from your kitchen. The brews are simply wonderful from the espresso crema to the intense aroma and full flavoring. The auto-milk froth system is sensational and consistently delivers cafe quality micro-foam that’s ideal for Latte art.
Even with the automation of this coffee machine, the Barista Touch inspires you to tinker with coffee grind settings and with the dial-in process.
When it comes to price, this machine is not an entry level model. The cost is fairly dear but looking at performance and those features, they certainly justify the price tag. Altogether you get an extremely capable machine which has to be one of the top three in its class.
Thanks for Reading my sage the barista touch Review. I hope it helped.
(All images courtesy of Sage/Breville)
Specifications – sage the barista touch
| Brand | Sage(aka Breville in US) Sage is the sister company to Breville. Machines are identical. |
| Color | Brushed Steel |
| Product dimensions D/W/H | 12.7″ x 15.5″ x 16″ |
| Special Feature | Programmable, Jug, Integrated Coffee Grinder, Water Filter |
| Coffee maker type | Espresso machine |
| Bean Hopper capacity | 250g |
| Material | Stainless Steel |
| Item weight | 12.2 kg |
| Wattage | 1680 watts |
| Included accessories | 54mm Full Stainless Steel Portafilter Single and Double Wall Filter Baskets, 480ml Stainless Steel Jug, ClaroSwiss Water Filter, Razor Precision Dose Trimming Tool, Cleaning Kit and Water Hardness Test Strip |
| Warranty | 2 year repair and replacement or refund guarantee |
| Best Place to Buy | Buy on Amazon (US) Buy on Amazon (UK) |