Sage The Barista Touch Espresso Machine - Review 🏆

The Sage Barista Touch is an innovative semi-automatic espresso machine designed for home use. Manufactured by Breville and sold under their premium Sage brand, this espresso maker aims to bring café-quality coffee into the comfort of your kitchen.

With its integrated conical burr grinder, digital temperature control, and intuitive touch screen, the Barista Touch gives you precise control over every aspect of the espresso-making process. This allows you to pull consistent shots and create latte art worthy milk foam, rivaling the skills of professional baristas.

The machine features a compact footprint to save counter space but does not compromise on features or power. With the Barista Touch, Sage set out to create an espresso machine that makes it easy for anyone to craft barista-level espresso drinks at home.

Design and Build Quality

The Sage Barista Touch has a sleek and modern design that will look great on any kitchen countertop. It has a durable stainless steel exterior and a black plastic casing on the sides. The machine itself has a relatively compact footprint, measuring 14.8 x 37.1 x 35.5 cm. Despite its smaller size, it still has a 1.8L removable water tank so you won't have to refill it too often.

The materials used in the construction are high-quality and made to last. The stainless steel not only gives it a premium look, but also makes it easy to keep clean and fingerprint-resistant. The plastic sides also feel solidly built with no creaks. Overall, the build quality is excellent with precise construction and sturdy components that give the impression this machine is built to last for years of daily use.

In comparison, the Melitta F85/0-102 features a user-friendly design with intuitive controls and a compact build that easily fits into small spaces. Its robust construction is complemented by a stylish finish, making it an attractive addition to any kitchen. The Melitta machine also boasts advanced brewing technology, allowing for customizable coffee strength and temperature settings, ensuring every cup is tailored to your preference. With its reliable performance and elegant design, it's a strong contender for coffee enthusiasts looking for both style and functionality.

Ease of Use

The Barista Touch makes it easy for anyone to make cafe-quality espresso drinks at home. The intuitive touchscreen interface walks you through the entire process from grinding to extracting to steaming milk.

The control panel features preset recipes for common drinks like espresso, cappuccino, and latte that you simply select and it will program the right amount of coffee and milk automatically. You can also customize and save your own recipes.

The touchscreen displays helpful guides and videos to assist you. Programming options allow you to adjust the grind size, shot volume, milk temperature and more to dial in the parameters just how you like. The machine even gives you notifications when it needs cleaning or other maintenance.

Overall, the Barista Touch takes the guesswork out of making specialty coffee drinks. With its guided touchscreen and customizable options, anyone can make consistent espresso-based beverages like a professional barista.

Similarly, the Philips EP2220/10 is designed for ease of use, featuring a user-friendly interface and automatic settings that simplify brewing. It offers a variety of coffee options with customizable strength and temperature settings, allowing users to tailor their beverages to their taste. The built-in grinder and milk frother ensure fresh, creamy espresso drinks without the need for additional equipment. With its compact design and straightforward controls, the Philips EP2220/10 brings café-quality coffee to your kitchen effortlessly.

Grinder

The Barista Touch comes equipped with a built-in burr grinder, allowing you to freshly grind coffee beans right before brewing your espresso. The grinder uses stainless steel conical burrs and has 30 different grind settings to choose from. This allows you to dial in the perfect grind size for the coffee you are using. The steps between settings are small enough that you can really fine tune the grind to optimize flavor extraction.

The grinder is very consistent and produces an even grind without too many fines or boulders. The grind consistency contributes to a balanced flavor profile in the cup. The grinder has a hopper that holds about 8oz of whole beans, which is enough to make several drinks before needing a refill. It is also fitted with a trap door so you can switch between beans easily. Overall, the built-in grinder performs very well and is a major convenience over using a separate grinder.

Milk Frothing

The Barista Touch comes with a stainless steel steam wand that makes frothing milk easy. The steam power is strong and consistent, allowing you to texture milk to the microfoam consistency ideal for latte art.

The wand is easy to position, thanks to the 360 degree swivel. It can be lowered close to the drip tray for frothing milk in small jugs or raised up for larger pitchers. The tip design creates a vortex effect that integrates air smoothly into the milk.

With just a little practice, you'll be able to produce silky smooth microfoam with a glossy texture. The fine foam is neither too dry nor too wet. It floats on top of the steamed milk and allows you to create intricate latte art designs like rosettas and tulips.

The steam wand is easy to clean too. Simply wipe it down after use and run a cleansing cycle periodically to flush out any internal buildup. Overall, it delivers excellent milk texturing capabilities for cafe quality foam.

Espresso Quality

The Barista Touch produces high-quality espresso with its 15 bars of pressure and digital temperature control system. The pressure is sufficient to properly extract espresso and infuse flavor from the grounds.

The machine allows you to adjust the temperature in 2-degree increments between 90-96°C to dial in the ideal temperature for the beans you are using. Higher temperatures help extract more flavor from darker roasts, while lighter roasts benefit from slightly lower temperatures.

The espresso shots pull with a nice, thick crema on top when using freshly ground beans. The richness and complexity of flavor is evident, without any harsh bitterness. The amount of coffee dispensed is very consistent from shot to shot. Overall, the espresso quality is excellent for a home machine.

Maintenance

The Barista Touch requires some regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly. Here are a few key maintenance tips:

Cleaning - The machine will need to be cleaned regularly, especially if you make milk-based drinks. The stainless steel exterior can be wiped down with a damp cloth. The drip tray, portafilter, steam wand, and water tank will need more frequent washings. Sage recommends using a mild detergent and warm water for cleaning.

Descaling - Hard water can cause scale buildup in the machine over time. Descaling helps remove this buildup. Sage recommends descaling every 2-3 months depending on water hardness. The machine has a built-in descale mode that guides you through the process. You'll need descaling solution, which Sage sells.

Part Replacement - Some parts will wear out over time and need replacing. The water filter should be changed every 2-3 months. The group head screen and gaskets may need replacing after 1-2 years. If you notice leaks, it's a sign the gasket needs replacing. The burrs on the grinder will dull over time and may need replacing after a few years. Replacement parts are readily available from Sage.

Pros

• Consistent espresso quality: The Barista Touch has a thermocoil heating system and digital temperature control that allows it to pull consistently hot, flavorful shots of espresso. Many reviewers praise the rich, balanced espresso from this machine.

• Easy to use: With its intuitive touchscreen interface and guided step-by-step instructions, the Barista Touch makes it simple for beginners to pull great espresso shots and steam milk. The machine has preset programs that automate much of the process.

• High-quality milk frothing: The built-in stainless steel milk frothing wand incorporates air into milk to create silky, creamy microfoam perfect for latte art. Reviewers say the frother performs as well as more expensive machines.

• Durable construction: Made of stainless steel with metal portafilters and tampers, the Barista Touch feels sturdy and solid. The materials should hold up well to daily home use.

Cons

• The Barista Touch is quite large, measuring 17.5 x 37 x 47cm. This substantial footprint means it takes up a good amount of counter space.

• The machine is also very heavy at over 10kg. While the weight gives it a sturdy, quality feel, it does make the Barista Touch difficult to move around or store away.

• Some users report problems with reliability, including issues with leaks, broken parts, and errors in just 1-2 years of use. This suggests build quality may not be consistent across units.

• The Barista Touch is one of the more expensive home espresso machines available. With a typical retail price around £800, this puts it out of reach for many buyers' budgets.

Conclusion

Overall, the Sage Barista Touch is an excellent espresso machine that produces café-quality espresso drinks at home. It has a sleek and intuitive touch screen interface that makes it very easy to use. The built-in grinder grinds beans right before extraction, ensuring fresh and flavorful espresso. The milk steaming wand creates silky microfoam that makes for delicious cappuccinos and lattes.

The espresso itself is rich, complex, and full of flavor. The pressure profiling allows you to customize the extraction to your taste. Maintenance is also straightforward with reminders from the machine.

On the downside, it is one of the more expensive home espresso machines. But for espresso enthusiasts who want the best, it's worth the investment. The only other downside is the noise from the grinder, but it's a minor issue.

Overall, the Sage Barista Touch delivers exceptional espresso and milk drinks that rival your favorite café. If you're looking for the ultimate home espresso machine, the Barista Touch is highly recommended. Its superb performance and ease of use make it one of the best options for bringing café-quality espresso into your kitchen.