Just bought this and this review is friggin AMAZING!! Thank you!!!! So sick of paying $7+ dollars for a small latte at Starbucks to only wait 25 min for a watered down or burnt tasting drink!!! Used FRESH grounds (roasted within 30 days) and followed some tips here and just made a drink better than any latte from Starbucks. Crazy!!!
Just a couple tips for whoever bought this machine and is getting into espresso: DOSE > YIELD > TIME 1) Grind finer until you extract 2x your dry coffee dose in 25-30 seconds. Now, this is not a hard and fast rule, but most coffees below 25s or over 30s will taste under and over extracted. The darker the roast, the more soluble it is, therefore needing less time to extract. Conversely, light roasted espresso needs prolonged water contact to make its acidity pleasant and not just plain aggressive. 2) When adjusting grind size, bear in mind the grinder will still have some coffee ground at the previous setting. So it might take a couple shots to fully assess grinder adjustments. 3) Generally speaking, the type of coffee you get can help you choose a starting point in terms of grind settings. Dark Roast = Courser --- Light Roast = Finer /// Washed coffees = Finer --- Naturals = Coarser /// High grown = Finer --- Low grown = Coarser. 4) Keep your portafilter engaged to the brew-group. This is very important. It must be hot come extraction time to aid in temperature stability. 5) If you are a beginner, avoid using filter roasts for espresso. These require a whole different level of technique, recipes and knowledge to pull right. Otherwise you'll end up with an acid bomb. 6) When tamping, make sure it's as level as possible. Don't go Superman on your tamp. Sometimes trying to tamp very hard makes it easy to end up with uneven coffee beds. 7) Use cold milk for steaming. Preferably whole milk, if you're after latte art. If you're trying to pour latte art, swirl the milk vigorously to integrate the foam until it looks shiny, sort of like wet paint. 8) Make sure you use a brush to clean your brew group everyday. Coffee sitting there will impart horrible taste to your future extractions. 9) If using light roast espresso beans, you might want to up the temperature and increase pre-infusion time. 10) When you hit a sweet extraction, write down the parameters used. Might sound dumb but it'll save you time (and beans) in the future. Happy brewing!
Hi maybe you can help me? The coffee seems to come out too fast and not the right consistency for me when I use this machine. I have the grinder set to the finest setting but cant seem to get it right at all.. is there a temperature adjustment I should make or something like that? I am no barista by any stretch so any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
@@darraghfagan4150 hi , I facing same your problem (fast extraction 'before 8 sec.) so, I still trying to solve it , try to extract with frish roasted cooffe ( one week ago or less) and medium roast ... you will get better results... have a good cooffe 🤗
Thanks I am glad its not just me having this problem! exact same issue you are having. I will try with the freshly roasted coffee and see how it works thanks!
@@darraghfagan4150 Hey mate! Sounds like you're using stale coffee to me. Stale coffee will produce super fast and watery extractions with awful taste. Avoid buying anything sold on Amazon, Kroger, Wal-Mart and the likes. Use Google to track down a local speciality roaster in your area and go pick up a fresh bag of beans, roasted for espresso (read my initial tip on why to avoid filter roasts if you're a newbie). You should be able to extract a 1:2 coffee to beverage ratio in 25-30 seconds, with the liquid coming out like warm honey. Then adjust grind size to suit that particular bean. Good luck!
You SAVED me! We got one for Christmas so my husband wouldn't have to go to Peet's every morning to get his latte and start his day. However, nothing came out tasting right. It was all... watery (like yours in the video). My husband ended up still making his morning trek to the coffee house. Well, using your effort tips, the espresso is coming out much better! Your video is very well done. You are thorough and easy to follow. I was taking notes! I look forward to your above on cleaning the machine. Bravo!
Thank so much for your detailed review and instructional material. I knew nothing about these machines and you got me up and going. I purchased the same model and so far I'm very impressed. You might want to do an additional video on the frothing. I'm into organic foods, and tried to do Almond vs. Milk. The frothing worked fine for milk, but when I tried the organic Almond beverage, I had a LOT of bubbles. My brother-in-law said he uses 1/2 and 1/2, which I'll try next. I desire a thick foam with no bubbles that can support a spoon without sinking. Update- I tried 1/2 and 1/2 and no joy. I had some left over so just popped the metal container with the 1/2 and 1/2 in the fridge over night. The next morning I added some almond milk, up to the top line, then dropped the frothing temp down to 140 and frothed with the cold container. Wow! that did it! Thick froth like fine foam all the way up cup, and yes, it supported a teaspoon with no problem! I'm also learning that all almond milks don't froth the same. The second time I used an organic almond milk vs. the non organic. That seems to make a big difference. Maybe that almond milk will work without the 1/2 and 1/2, but that was perfection. Then as you suggested, i dropped to a finer grind (11) and my expresso had that nice warm brown top, which it didn't have before. And no more bitter taste, it was wonderful. Best cappachino I've ever had! I was also getting way too many grounds spilling all over the place, so dropped the grind time down to 12. It packs perfectly with no waste now. I guess I've learned that all beans are different and require different settings. The default cappachino settings just don't provide good results for the organic beans I'm using. Thank you again for ALL of your explaination and experimentation because it helped me to find the absolute outstanding settings for my beans.
Nice job working through all that and getting delicious results. One thing I'll just quickly say about milk ... the thickness of foam is really all about the fat content of the milk. Almond milks do tend to bubble because they are much more watery than other milks. I've found decent success with Oat milk (one of the reasons i think it's done so well in coffee is it's frothing capabilities)
Brother that had to be the most comprehensive RUclips video I've ever watched. I just purchased the Breville Touch. I can't wait to get started. Thank you.
I was looking for a quick review of this machine, and what I got was not only a good review, but also one of the best, most thorough tutorials I've seen on RUclips! I have no idea whether I'll ever buy this for myself, but I still watched the full hour and had a great time, learning about the Sage and espresso making in general. Thank you! :D
I just got mine for our anniversary. Had the same issue with the factory defaults on grind and brew time. I had to dial it so much lower for espresso and cappuccino that I was thinking the machine was bad or coffee or me. This video was spot on for my experience. Made me feel better about the machine. Thanks! Exactly what I needed to see/hear. I have wanted a machine to do some things(frothing) automatically and let me do the fun parts. see 53:27. Barista Touch is perfect for me. Hoping it lasts for years.
I have had the Breville barista express for 12 years and it was used when I got it. It just finally died today after averaging 3 cups a day. I'm going to get this one. Just wanted to tell you about the longevity of my Breville.
I had 3 in home units before getting this. Expensive, bought them used. Got this, 1st time getting new. $$$-Yikes!! Worth it, I've never had it so good.
This is an awesome tutorial and review. I live in the UK where this machine is branded SAGE. your tutorial has taken my coffee from WOW to OMG!!! the only thing i struggle to so is get the correct consistency in the milk to do latte art of which i am trying to teach myself...
So me and my gf bought one today having no idea 🤷♂️ what we were getting into lol 😂 I couldn’t tell you the difference between a coffee and a cappuccino 🤣🤣🤣 I have a lot to learn but I can tell you this! Tomorrow morning will be the best cup of expresso and the last k cup I’ll ever drink lol 😂
Great deep dive Joe! Looking to see you grow with this machine and would love to see a follow up done when you feel like you have everything really dialed in. A couple of suggestions. 1) That espresso flow rate still looks really high. If it were me I would keep cranking down grind size until I got into the 15in/30out in 30sec range. I think it should be possible on this machine and will almost certainly produce a higher quality shot. If not, work with your dosing/tamping until you get there. 2) For latte art you will of course need to set the froth level much lower (you were pouring cap foam and that's almost impossible!). 3) In order to calibrate your manual steaming next time you steam to 130ish make sure you pick up the pitcher and feel it and try to remember that sensation (eg how long you can hold your hand to it). This will allow you to aim at the same when manually steaming.
Yea it can definitely get dialed in a lot more - i'll be setting up a much better brewing station in the new place (moving in a couple days) and getting into all that. I wanted to have an account of getting into the machine the way I think most people would likely use/experience it. Pretty sure you're right on that froth level bit, though I thought Jesse had poured some decent art at that level. I'll try it out soon at a lower froth level and see where I get (though i do loooove that level 8 froth on this machine...so silky, so delicious).
Thanks for the video. Had my machine for a week now and it’s taken hundreds of grams of beans to find my right brew! Interesting to see the 15/30 espresso, will be trying that myself! Thank you from the UK!
Yea be prepared to spend a lot of time adjusting whenever you try a new coffee (or just accept that sometimes you won't get it quite exactly right). Some standard measuring can make this process faster and easier though
All coffees go good with milk. But besides that it’s your grind tamp that makes the difference and extraction time. Milk goes good with everything except if your going to straight espresso with Sambuca. Dig it. I know you would!
Thanks for such a detailed and passionate review. That is probably the longest review video I have ever watched. Just ordered and look forward to trying many of your tips. You went far and beyond. I know you gave the machine to your designer. What machine do you personally use? I hear you, there are so many variables - but would be great if you could publish : what beans you use & settings
I use the breville bambino these days, but I dont really make espresso much ... maybe once or twice a month. ITs the same broiler tech as the touch, just no automation or grinder (I use the breville smart pro grinder)
I’d love to see how you clean it. I’m really interested in buying this but I want to know everything about it before I spend the money to make sure Breville Barista Touch Coffee Machine it’s exactly what I want. I really appreciate your video! Thank you for taking the time to do it! New subscriber from Australia and we are coffee snobs in Melbourne 😎
Hey there, another Melbournian here, thanks so much for the video, I purchased one last week and love it! The link to your cleaning video doesn't seem to work :(
Just received mine today, having this instructional video sure made the difference in helping me understand how the machine works. I did like your start settings of the grinder at 9, with a grinder time of 22 seconds, with brew time for 22 seconds, and a milk at 150 degrees F, with a froth of three. These settings seem good. Would you recommend changing any of these? !!!!!Note to self, or anybody, don’t forget to put the basket in...🤣. I forgot on my second try, hit the brew button, it took the pressure for a moment and exploded the grinds out the shoots all over the walls of the kitchen. ☹️. Dang, what a mess. After the fourth attempt I was sitting down enjoying my first drink of espresso with a little bit of milk which I call a Quartata Thanks for the video, looking forward to more instructional videos with this machine.
That all sounds pretty good, especially if you like the result. I think if you want to tweak things you'll need to get out a scale and start measuring exactly how much coffee is going into the basket and exactly how much espresso is coming out on the other end. You might make it a goal of trying to make a great espresso at 1:2 (coffee in : espresso out) and then 1:3, and then change up the total amount going in the basket. The biggest variable is going to be in the coffee itself. What is it, how was it roasted, how fresh is it, etc. Espresso is really a constant experiment. As for your milk, I'd suggest trying out a lower temp. I think you'll find the milk is sweeter that way (I usually go for 130...wishing I could do 135, as 140 is just a tad too hot I think).
Great video.. thanks for the in-depth explanation and unbiased review. I bought one of these Touch models today off of Amazon after doing a little research into good quality espresso machines, and my final 2 were this one.. and the 920 Dual Boiler unit. I went with the Touch because of the touch screen and simplicity of use. The Dual Boiler 920 lacked the touch screen, and was a little more hands on than what I was looking for. The super-duper James Bond 990 came in at $2440.. which is way over the top for an espresso machine.. so although it had some interesting bells and whistles, there was no way to justify that amount of cash.. so the 880 it was. HOWEVER... I purchased this Touch BEFORE I saw this video and, more importantly, read the reviews.. especially those concerned with the temperature of the espresso. What is even more disconcerting to me is the apparent lack of empathy and support by Breville.. especially in light of the way one of the posters had to use a separate phone number to get a call back, as if the company was downright ignoring his calls. Is this any way to support your customers, Breville?... Suffice it to say, when my unit arrives in a few days from Amazon, if I find the espresso temperatures to be a ridiculously low 120-130F, this $900 brick is going back in the box to Amazon for a refund. For what it is worth, I own a chemical company, and I personally make sure all of the concerns that my customers are fully addressed.. even to the point of actually asking them. That is how real customer service is done.. because if customer concerns are not met.. or even worse if a customer perceives that you are lying to them or knowingly have provided them with a defective product, they will not only stop purchasing from your company, but will also tell everyone else in their industry not to do business with your company as well... a sure-fire recipe to bankruptcy. Capitalism is a wonderful thing.. it's Darwin at his finest, in my opinion. And.. by the way.. the videos I watched before this one were from some woman named Gail (Gale?) from "Seattle Coffee Gear".. Something seemed strange to me when watching her videos.. the fact she was in love with Breville was odd to me.. then I just saw another video of her with one of the executives from Breville at a conference called the "specialty coffee expo"... the guy's name was Phil McKnight... just a pathetic video of her sucking up to him.. and vice versa. This goofball is on several of the Breville RUclips videos pushing his machines. I wonder why Gail didn't ask him about the low temperature problem on these units. Needless to say, I am disappointed at what several people have said about the temperature of the espresso. If it's not hot.. IT'S GOING BACK. Hey Phil, buddy... you actually read these comments?.. I doubt it, since you apparently don't concern yourself with returning the phone calls from customers that have shelled out a grand for these things.
Yea it's strange. I definitely did not have the temp problem at the beginning. But now I seem to be experiencing what others are observing. I haven't dug up a clear answer yet. I also haven't yet done my thorough cleaning walk through (going to be making this video soon), and it's possible this will have an effect.
@@Coffeeloversmag hei, do you have update on the temp situation? Just got my machine yesterday, seem like the temp is low, around 150 - 160 without coffee and direct take the temp from portafilter using digital thermometer.
It's a tough thing to verify without the proper tools - there are an incredible amount of variables. I haven't received any official communication on this. As far as my own machine, I'm thinking what I've observed here is a matter of needing to do a deep cleaning (I'm waiting on a couple parts for the video before I get to that).
Update: My unit is pulling the shots at 150F, which is just fine. There is a temperature adjustment on the settings menu. The default setting is in the middle of the temperature range (arbitrary range, no units).. so if you're getting 120-130F, I'd check out the setting and go up a bit. I've noticed that it's important to properly tamp before pulling the shot. The force applied is not as critical as is the leveling of the tamp in the portafilter. Also, since the quality of the beans is critical when it comes to the actual quality of the shot, I've found that it makes a huge difference to go out of your way to buy good, fresh quality beans.. and absolutely avoid the garbage at the grocery store.. and especially avoid the overpriced "Pikes Place" beans at Starbucks. If you notice on their bags, it has a date that indicates "best if used by"... they purposely leave off the date which the beans were roasted. Beans are best if purchased as close to the roasted date, and used within 1 - 2 weekis.. and contrary to popular belief, do not store them in the freezer or the fridge. Couple of other items of note.. the frothing wand should be disassembled and cleaned every couple of days. Even though the wand is automatically purged by the unit each time it is used, the 4 small holes in the bottom of the wand head will eventually begin to plug which will impede the flow of the water/steam into the milk. Not to mention that this situation will result in bacteria forming in the tip as well. It takes about 1 minute to unscrew the tip of the wand and clean it out with soap and water. After cleaning the tip, hold it up to a light source and confirm that the 4 holes are nice and clean before screwing it back in.... bottom line so far so good.. use it on a daily basis, and no problems.
@@joekratochvil2515 It's a strange thing. I'm still having temperature problems and haven't been able to get anywhere as far as fixing the issue. It's not a tamp, or level problem. It's not a cleaning issue. It's just failing to heat the water properly.
To be able to tap the portafilter to get that side wall coffee, tamp, tap, then tamp a little harder to make sure the puck didnt break like you were saying. It seems very ok but what do i know im a noob still.
Loved this video, I feel i now have a greater understanding. You expressed that the espresso brand that you use was a middle of the road espresso, what is your list of high end coffee brands
The pressurized baskets. (The other ones) are used if you want to use anything but the perfect grind , so essentially for those people who are ametuers/lazy/don't have beans. It will make the shot well regardless.
Great review!! One thing what i not understand is, for an Americano normally first goes the espresso and then the water, the sage barista touch gives water first, that is then a long black? Why is that so?
In the video you express puzzlement as to why there are two types of filter baskets - the dual wall and the regular. This is because you are using fresh coffee beans which work fine in either basket. I have the BES920 which shows the pressure level, and it becomes obvious why the dual wall basket is necessary. For pre-ground coffee and for freshly ground coffee using old beans, you will be very unlikely to get espresso out of them using the regular basket. The pressure only goes up to 3 or 5 bars using the regular basket, and the coffee that comes out has little or no crema - it tastes more like coffee from a stove top Moka machine. But when using the dual wall basket, the pressure for both goes up to 8 or 9 bars, and plenty of crema comes out. Regards.
Thanks for this comment. I was wondering why my espresso shots always seemed watery, lukewarm, and had pathetic crema no matter the settings I changed. Switched from the regular to the dual wall basket, and now the drinks I make actually taste decent haha.
Hey mate, congrats on the machine. I'm a Barista / roaster myself and would like to give you some tips on dialing in the machine as well as espresso brewing, Latte art pouring, etc etc. I left you a message on the chat feature of your website. Looking forward to seeing you getting the best out of this great piece of equipment. Regards
Thank you for sharing this very great review of this machine. I am debating myself upgrading my Breville Barista Express to this Barista Touch. Now, after watching your video I am convinced myself to get this machine. Thank you so much. Btw. your art latte is better than mine😄eventho it looks like a ghost👻 but definitely the taste so great for sure!👌🏼I can relate that for trying to make art latte but I am not good at it. I need to practice more. LOL.
Seems like a very nice machine in theory but won’t give you a true espresso with it’s own settings.. I noticed myself that the coffee poured too quickly and was watery. You’ve got to work with grind, grams and time and save those settings. Not much different than any manual. Once you have the grind set for the type of coffee on the grinder, you’re all set. You just tamp, use a small dosing cup and ready to brew. Of course then it’s important that you have s powerful milk frother. Still on the fence about this machine but I’ll say that it is s beauty. I’ve asked below about the Touch Impress and how it compares. Have you tested it?
I couldn’t edit the above but suspect based on your comment about a small cup not fitting the space well for brewing that a small shot glass for espresso may not sit well either. Either way, would love to see a demo on the Touch Impress. Thanks for all the effort you put into this.
Thanks for your thoughts and feedback. I haven't been in a position to produce coffee videos in a long time, so I don't think i'll be able to do anything with the Touch Impress, unfortunately.
Amazing video with tons of good information. One question can you go from one cup of brew and froth milk to a second cup right away? Or is there a time between brewing?I make coffee for my husband and I and I’d really hate to wait long periods of time in between cups… thanks.
Thank you for the great video! I was about to buy this machine and after your unbiased video and the comments made me decide not to buy it. I would still love to buy an espresso machine (currently have a Baratza Virtuoso+ for coffee grinding to use with a French Press or Bialetti, and a Nespresso for Espresso) but really don’t know should I get. I tend to be a perfectionist and really would like to get a quality machine that also doesn’t take way too much space in my kitchen
Yea espresso can be a challenge to get into on a level of quality because it requires a different level of equipment than standard coffee brewing needs. If you try to get a setup which will allow you to hand brew AND make espresso, you'll be challenged to do things perfectly. The Encore pretty much won't be getting you the grind size and variation you want for espresso. The best setup I've found for getting into espresso while still brewing most other things has actually been the breville grinder... I use the smart grinder pro, which has been surprisingly consistent and provides a good uniform grind for the price. It sacrifices on the coarseness level - best you can get is somewhere between medium and coarse, but i've made french presses with it. And then on the other end its got a good range of espresso option. I've been able to explore espresso a bit using this plus the breville bambino. If you check out some of my more recent videos, you can see the setup in the background - it doesn't take up much space. If you want to get really serious about making espresso, there's another comment on this video I just responded to with some ideas in that regard.
Hi there, Wondered if you can help! I've just got this machine and am playing around with the settings out of the box to see what I can get to. So far, the coffee output seems to be really high compared to the guide from you guys.. Using the single wall. double filter basket On Espresso drink choice, using Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast Beans [I will buy some better, fresher local beans but wanted something to at least get close to the settings being better before wasting a whole pack!] With a grind size of 8, grinding for 15 seconds I get about 10g of ground coffee. Grind size of 10 for same time period gives me more like 16/17g so that feels closer to what I need If I then run the brew as a double for 30 seconds [the auto time] I get about 170g of coffee out. It's very watery as you would expect and the puck is really watery too. Ideally, I want to be able to get a good double shot out, hence the double brew but feels like it is way too watery at the moment. It was marginally better on the size 10 grind but still pretty much the same volume of coffee out. I assume I am making a very rookie error here! My last machine was the Sage Creatista Plus which took Nespresso Pods so definitely new to this. Any help appreciated!
Quick progress update - getting there I think but still not perfect so any advice welcome! With a grind size of 6 and an 18 second grind time I'm getting about 16g or so of ground coffee. Reducing brew time to 20 seconds, gives me a much better drink, although it's still about 76g coming out - so a fair way off the 1:2 ratio. Although it actually seems like a decent amount for me - I think 36g or so wouldn't feel like much coffee. It tastes 'decent' and I've made a latte with the above settings and it is perfectly drinkable. BUT, I bought this machine to make excellent drinks not just decent ones. The Creatista did that. So, I think I need to get a little less out of the brew but conscious lots of people have said 25 seconds is the time to aim for? That would give me way too much at the moment. Should I reduce grind size further?
Well on the surface it sounds like your grind is too coarse. Having less fresh coffee doesn't help either. One thing I will say is, instead of relying on the grind timer, try to figure out how to get about 18 grams of coffee into the portafilter. And it sounds like you want to at least use grind size of 8. Make sure you tamp down solid. Then use the trimmer after tamping to remove excess. Then try to achieve 36-54 grams of espresso out the other end.
@@Coffeeloversmag thanks. I've adjusted the internal burr a little bit and am now going to get some better beans and concentrate on getting 18g into the PF at a finer grind. Then I'll brew for 30 seconds and see where I am at - go finer if it's too watery and too much volume and then I'll report back!
I own black truffle version of this and even when I’m using super carefully I can see black color powder coating comes off Silver version way better I think
Awesome video!! It helped lead me to make the purchase!! After going through the setup on the Breville, it indicated the brew should start at 8 seconds. I have tamped it fairly hard and softer with same results. I have tried going down to ground / time of 7 / 14 but it starts at 6-7 seconds. I can’t seem to get it to start after 8 seconds. I have also tried a different type of espresso.... Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!!
One factor that can have a huge impact is freshness of your coffee. If you are using coffee that is older than a few weeks since roast, the shots will start pulling sooner. As a quick rec to make sure you aren't having freshness issues, I'd recommend ordering some coffee online - www.conduitcoffee.com/collections/coffee Conduit's blends are a great place to start. Ship Canal if you like a dark roast. Westlake if you want something chocolaty and accessible (but not dark roast, it's a medium, so no roastiness in there). Locofocos for a more lighter style espresso. Conduit will roast your coffee only after you order.
Coffee Lovers TV yes my coffee has a roast date of May 27 so it’s pretty fresh. Going try and fit 18g and see if I can get it to start after 8 seconds. I know it’s probably trivial but I should be able to make it go way longer than 7 seconds....
Coffee Lovers TV the brand was by Victrola “Triborough” and tasted pretty good. After spending time with Breville support, they deemed it possibly be a defective unit and are sending me a new one I tried changing the grind all the way down to 2 and up to 20 weighing 18g with no noticeable difference on start extraction time past 7sec.
Temps may be low because your portafilter is cold. Keep portafilter locked into the brew head to heat up the portafilter before you grind. The portafilter should be very hot so that brew temps don’t drop. Also for the purge, perhaps you are supposed to place the portafilter in the brew head before the purge during setup?
Yea turned out my low temps had to do with the electrical setup of the place I have it - for me here this machine requires it's own outlet...having something else plugged in also drawing power caused a 10-20 degree drop in final espresso temp (all other things being equal)
@@Coffeeloversmag Interesting. Where we live the mains voltage is 124 VAC. Electrical heaters get quite hot! I wonder if this would solve the many "low temperature" complaints on this forum... but I'm not so sure. If the temperature is set by feedback from an internal sensor (likely), then higher or lower AC voltage would only affect the time to achieve the set-point. If it is too low, then the problem is likely the sensor calibration or the stored set-point from the data entry (firmware.)
On the manual, there is information that the coffee should flow after 8s and if you have it before 8s it's under brew. Unfortunately, I can't adjust mine to for perfect option :( Can you make a video about it? :)
@@marynguyen2223 Mine always starts @ 8 seconds - not sure why, but I can't use the low grind settings. Next to nothing comes out. I have to use a grind size 14 and I can't figure out why.
@@Coffeeloversmag hi my friend,,, I tried more times to get an ideal extraction (( should beginning after 8 seconds)) but all attempts of extraction are fast ( before 8 seconds) 😟 I adjusted grinder at finer but this problem still there 🙄
This is a challenging spot to troubleshoot from a distance. My guess from what you are saying about finer grind not affecting this is that maybe your tamp technique needs a little work. How much do you push down on the grounds with the tamper? How close to the top of the portafilter are the grounds after you tamp?
Very old video I know, and wonderful review, but quick question: The Barista Pro I believe is volumetric in terms of amount of water dispensed when pulling a shot- so time will vary naturally to match the correct one shot or double shot volume. But on this machine-the controls for adjusting a drink seem to imply it is time based rather than volumetric. Is the Barista touch volumetric or time based?
Dude you look just like that actor Pilou Asbæk who played Euron Greyjoy in Game of Thrones thru seasons 7-8. Back to your review, I too own a Breville espresso machine. They are good at scaling down commercialized espresso machines for home users.
Does this Breville Barista Touch have a Conical or Flat Burr Coffee Grinder? Does this machine come with the utensils to level up your ground coffee? Could you tell us exactly what comes with this machine? Thanks.
The grinder in it is a conical burr grinder. As far as I can tell it's pretty comparable to their pro grinder you can get separately, which does a pretty good job with espresso, as far as most would be concerned. If you want to get super into espresso, I'd suggest investing separately into grinder/espresso machine so you can step them up individually as you progress.
Great video, fun and informative, superbly done. Do you still use and enjoy the Barista Touch? If so is it easy to maintain and been reliable? Thank you
Michael actually has it (he was designer for the magazine for a long time). I haven't been using it personally, but he uses it regularly and has been quite pleased. I was intending on doing a few more things with it, but then covid happened. It sounds like it's been reliable and easy to maintain though, and that was my experience with it for the couple years I had it myself.
Ah yes that's the Mentor scale - amzn.to/2uytdLV - you HAVE to pair it with an app for use (there's no display on the scale). However if you don't mind needing to pull out an app every time you use it, its a really fantastic value ($30 i think) for a scale.
Great coverage! I ordered a BT, but I recently read about heating issues with this unit. Are you having any problems like this? Would turning the unit on 10-15m before use help?
i've never been able to find a clear answer to this. My best guess has been that it's a power issue. Make sure it's getting all the power it needs (dont plug anything else into the same outlet at the very least)
You might have the temp problem many people seem to be having. To be honest I've never received a solid answer on this, so I don't really know. For my own experience, i did find the machine can run into power issues, so make sure its the only thing plugged into the outlet it's using at the very least. Also do all the preheating stuff. Run through an empty portafilter (and then dry it quickly before adding coffee), also heat up your mug with hot water ... these will help.
You need to go into your settings. Go to brew temp. Your machine is set by default to like middle. When you get to brew temp I believe you can move it up high 1-4
perfect video! Thank you! I just got this machine and would like to know what is the ideal grind size-grind time and brew time? I know there are lots of elements that affecting it but what could you suggest to me about it? My coffee is coming before 8 sec(around 5-6 sec) Thanks again
Well as you noted it depends on the specific situation. To extend your time before the coffee starts to come out, you'd either make your grind size finer or use more coffee/tamp harder. Breville makes using the amount of coffee easy, because you can just fill the portafilter, tamp, then use the trimmer to get the max amount. For tamping, you can use your bodyweight to press down on it, and then DONT tap the side of the portafilter (this breaks up the compaction, creates channeling during the brew, and probably also contributes to coffee coming out much faster than it should)
I am shopping for an espresso machine and leaning toward the Breville Barista Pro or this one. What is your updated review after this video 2+ years ago? Do you still enjoy using the machine or does one grow out of it in time? I roast coffee and do manual brews (pourovers). I'd like to up my game and get into the art of espresso, pulling shots, dialing in the flavors, having more coffee drink options. I am just worried that I may grow out of this machine and want to move up to the Pro version but I don't want to waste $800 and a few months later be like, omg. My #2 concern/question: How is this machine holding up after 2 years? Is everything still working? I have heard the heat sensor on the frothing panel stops working and the display panel eventually stops working. Would really appreciate your input. Thank you!
If you're really wanting to get into the art of espresso, I'd point you to a different machine. Actually what I'd recommend is investing more in the grinder right now, and start with a lower priced espresso machine - the Breville Bambino may be a good option for that (you can find the bambino pro for about 400). It has the same boiler tech as the pro and the touch, just in a tiny package. But were I in your shoes (and certain about digging into espresso for the long term), I'd spend 500+ on the grinder out the gate, then another 300-500 on the machine for now. When you master that, you can upgrade your machine to something much more manual and sophisticated, like a Rancilio or a Rocket in the ~1200 range. There's no one size option that will be perfect if you're wanting a lower price at the start. When you get into it, you'll see that a lot of your adjustment, tuning, and exploring will come down to the grind quality, and ability to adjust very fine amounts. I'm not confident you can find a satisfying level of sophistication for your desired path from the all in one breville machines. Some starting options I'd look at: Grinders - Rancilio Rocky Baratza Vario Eureka Mignon Compak K3 Mazzer Mini Machines - Breville Bambino Pro Rancilio Silvia If I was going deep into it, had about 1k budget now, and could upgrade in a year, I'd probably pick up a Mazzer Mini + Bambino, then replace the espresso machine in a year with maybe a Rocket or Rancilio Silvia PID. Anyhow, the point of all that is to say that I think for you the grinder is the most important piece of gear. You can make amazing shots on the $400 bambino (and it will steam your milk really well with no effort), if you have a good grind. But if you spend less on the grinder (or get an all-in-one machine), your ceiling of capability and exploration is going to be lower I think.
Coffee Lovers TV thank you for the recommendation. I do have a Baratza Encore, I know it’s the low end but I’ve only been into making manual coffees (pourovers) and cupping my own roasts (I didn’t mention I have a small roasting business. Kind of a big side note now but I see where you’re going with machine choices). So now I am stepping up my coffee game yes, and thought of starting with a low budget machine but after all my research I am realizing the depth of it all. I ordered a Delonghi ecp3420 and returned it immediately realizing I can’t scrimp on an espresso machine. That’s where I’m at now, going from $130 machine to one a little under $1k. I saw a video showing the Silvia and didn’t like it (the heating system is slow and looks). I don’t need a work horse, just a home machine for my husband and I. I would like to learn some barista skills and latte art, and I’m sure a good model will help me tune in my roasts for sure. I’m shy at going with any Breville machine that can’t produce a hot cup, I’m learning that their new integrated thermojet only heats to 140F and that just won’t do for any espresso. I’d be interested in knowing your experience on the Bambino and heating issues. My initial interest in upping my budget from $100 to $800 was that the Breville series has a beautiful look, and I seriously considered the Pro but then saw the Touch and loved the pre-set drink recipes as I am not well versed in barista experience. Thanks again, your advice is well accepted through my journey and very much appreciated!
I've had no problems with Bambino. usually dont even have to preheat tbh. There isn't a way to control the temp coming from the grouphead, you can only control milk temp. But you can completely manually run it, and reprogram the two brew buttons. Does a low pressure pre-infusion by default and you can manually adjust this as you see fit. Seems like a pretty impressive machine for the price and size of it all. Your coffee-at-home experience does sound like the perfect situation to get one of their all-in-one machines. Your Encore isn't going to cut it for espresso, so you'll need to get a grinder one way or another. I'd definitely try the pro over the touch. But I haven't used the pro myself. The Touch I gave to my designer, because he uses it daily (i make espresso really just a couple times a month these days) - after a couple years of doing so he's still in love with the machine, but he's also not delving too far into the craft.
Awesome review! Since this machine is over my budget, is the Breville Express 870xl gonna give me the same taste in coffee as your machine (of course if I’d use the same beans)? Are there any significant differences except the modern display? Thanks for sharing!
The express uses a different set of technology, so it doesn't have the same heating element or steaming components. If you want the same core tech as the barista touch, check out Breville's new Bambino Plus (it's like the barista touch minus the grinder and the touch screen). I'll be making a video on this one soon
Update on my machine. I couldn’t figure out why my brew temperatures were so low. Lower than advertised on their support page. I called support for help on this matter. They asked me for my serial number and told me that my firmware needed an update to address the low brew temperatures. Remember, I just purchase this machine from Amazon one week ago. I was bummed at the least. I had two choices, return to Amazon for an exchange or allow Breville to send me a new machine. I decided to let Breville send me the new machine. If Breville didn’t make things right I could always return the unit back to Amazon. Look, if I’m going to pay $1100 for something it should work correctly. I’ll keep you updated.
Mike Thomas, this is my second machine already. Breville sent me a new one to address the same issue. The problem is the same with the new machine, I get very low temperature espressos. There must be a software problem with all machines of this model. The lady I just talk to at Breville told me that “this is how it is” and did not admit there’s a problem with the machine but will get back to me after she talks to her manager. This is clearly not right. I’m disappointed.
Mike Thomas, Breville doesn’t think there is any problem with the machine. I seriously question this. According to them it’s normal. The guy I talked to said there is about a 15 degrees drop in temperature from drip to cup, so mathematically my shots should be at about 180 degrees. That doesn’t explain why my espressos end up at about 130 degrees. I will continue my discussion with them on Monday. What is your experience with your replacement machine?
ChidoOne505 Here’s my update, received the new machine today. Everything worked identical to the first machine except the grind has dramatically changed. The same bean now has to be set to 13 vs eight to get the same exact 15 g in the basket. Brew temperatures are still low, however I did discover that if I ran the steam wand first then the brew temperatures went up, but still low at 140 Fahrenheit. I have the brew extraction in settings set to high 2. I have a call into customer service waiting for their reply
Mike Thomas, let me know what they say. In my experience, they refuse to acknowledge there is a problem. I made a video ( ruclips.net/video/m1aIlc0Rz1w/видео.html ) where I measure the temperature directly into the fortafilter. It only reaches 155 degrees. For comparison, check this video from WholeLatteLove (at minute 5:58) where the temperature reaches 199 degrees. ruclips.net/video/XBipT1698V0/видео.html . Clearly there’s something wrong with our machines.
It's worth noting that at the end of the setup, you don't have to make that americano since you can just keep hitting the right arrow until the tutorial goes away. I hate water in my coffee.
I wanted to buy this machine but saw a lot of negative comments about the brew temperature being too low even when adjusting it to the maximum. Have you also noticed this problem?
I had a problem like that and determined it was electrical. Basically I had this machine and another plugged into the same 2-plug outlet (not sharing the same plug, but you know how wall outlets are). Anyway, I saw a temp problem, unplugged the other machine (which was a brewer just sitting idle), and the end espresso temp shot up 20 degrees. I'd say most people experiencing a temp problem are also probably experiencing some form of electrical issue with the machine not getting enough power.
Hi, great review, honestly that hour past so quickly. At the end of the video, you mentioned that you would do a follow up on the cleaning of the Barista touch, just looked on your channel and can’t seem to find it ? None the less, very detailed review. Roy
@@jagged74795 Nope! I didn't even notice this but it looks like i'd copied in the back-end edit link to the video instead of the watch link to the video. thanks for the heads up and here's the right link - ruclips.net/video/_ibh5-YLjBs/видео.html
I own this machine. Should be 17 grams of coffee, run 28 seconds of water and output 34 grams of espresso. When you get that it’s the perfect double shot. Also always hear your portafilter. A cold portafilter yields sour coffeeGood luck😉 PS buy a mini scale and i suggest a leveler before you tamp
Ed Fireman great question. The goal still remains the same with every shot (17grams in to 34 grams out in around 28 seconds) but you will have to adjust your grind setting with every bean if that makes sense.
I'm all new to coffee... Why don't you mix the coffee after pouring the steamed milk? Or is this how you drink it? Won't it be all milky at the top as the coffee hasn't mixed?
you can mix! there's really no wrong way to do it. Pouring the steamed milk into the espresso does do a fair job of mixing, but notably it gives you the opportunity to pour latte art and make something pretty. Mixing is good regardless of how you do it. When I order a milk based drink in a cafe I always stir to fully incorporate everything
I am trying to find a replacement tank for this. Any guesses if the Barista Express tank would work? I can see that the Touch has a magnet in it, but assumption would be without the magnet the Touch would think the tank is full. Likely a bad assumption.
For anyone watching this video, it’s a great tutorial on the machine but I suspect his grind size is not fine enough as his shots are pulling way too fast. I would try a finer grind and it may require manual adjustment of the internal burrs (there are videos on RUclips on how to do this).
I’m having trouble with finding the right grind size for an espresso and flat white, you didn’t specify in your video what grind size works for you for optimal brew and taste. Can you advise please?
Hi how are you ? I have a breville touch, normally I with 11 seconds of the mill would fill my cup to make my coffee, now it takes 20 seconds to do it since little coffee comes out of the mill, I have already cleaned the mill and the same problem continues, you will know the reason ?
Just bought this and this review is friggin AMAZING!! Thank you!!!! So sick of paying $7+ dollars for a small latte at Starbucks to only wait 25 min for a watered down or burnt tasting drink!!! Used FRESH grounds (roasted within 30 days) and followed some tips here and just made a drink better than any latte from Starbucks. Crazy!!!
glad you're enjoying it :)
Just a couple tips for whoever bought this machine and is getting into espresso:
DOSE > YIELD > TIME
1) Grind finer until you extract 2x your dry coffee dose in 25-30 seconds. Now, this is not a hard and fast rule, but most coffees below 25s or over 30s will taste under and over extracted. The darker the roast, the more soluble it is, therefore needing less time to extract. Conversely, light roasted espresso needs prolonged water contact to make its acidity pleasant and not just plain aggressive.
2) When adjusting grind size, bear in mind the grinder will still have some coffee ground at the previous setting. So it might take a couple shots to fully assess grinder adjustments.
3) Generally speaking, the type of coffee you get can help you choose a starting point in terms of grind settings. Dark Roast = Courser --- Light Roast = Finer /// Washed coffees = Finer --- Naturals = Coarser /// High grown = Finer --- Low grown = Coarser.
4) Keep your portafilter engaged to the brew-group. This is very important. It must be hot come extraction time to aid in temperature stability.
5) If you are a beginner, avoid using filter roasts for espresso. These require a whole different level of technique, recipes and knowledge to pull right. Otherwise you'll end up with an acid bomb.
6) When tamping, make sure it's as level as possible. Don't go Superman on your tamp. Sometimes trying to tamp very hard makes it easy to end up with uneven coffee beds.
7) Use cold milk for steaming. Preferably whole milk, if you're after latte art. If you're trying to pour latte art, swirl the milk vigorously to integrate the foam until it looks shiny, sort of like wet paint.
8) Make sure you use a brush to clean your brew group everyday. Coffee sitting there will impart horrible taste to your future extractions.
9) If using light roast espresso beans, you might want to up the temperature and increase pre-infusion time.
10) When you hit a sweet extraction, write down the parameters used. Might sound dumb but it'll save you time (and beans) in the future.
Happy brewing!
great tips!
Hi maybe you can help me? The coffee seems to come out too fast and not the right consistency for me when I use this machine. I have the grinder set to the finest setting but cant seem to get it right at all.. is there a temperature adjustment I should make or something like that? I am no barista by any stretch so any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
@@darraghfagan4150 hi , I facing same your problem (fast extraction 'before 8 sec.) so, I still trying to solve it , try to extract with frish roasted cooffe ( one week ago or less) and medium roast ... you will get better results... have a good cooffe 🤗
Thanks I am glad its not just me having this problem! exact same issue you are having. I will try with the freshly roasted coffee and see how it works thanks!
@@darraghfagan4150 Hey mate! Sounds like you're using stale coffee to me. Stale coffee will produce super fast and watery extractions with awful taste. Avoid buying anything sold on Amazon, Kroger, Wal-Mart and the likes. Use Google to track down a local speciality roaster in your area and go pick up a fresh bag of beans, roasted for espresso (read my initial tip on why to avoid filter roasts if you're a newbie). You should be able to extract a 1:2 coffee to beverage ratio in 25-30 seconds, with the liquid coming out like warm honey. Then adjust grind size to suit that particular bean. Good luck!
You SAVED me! We got one for Christmas so my husband wouldn't have to go to Peet's every morning to get his latte and start his day. However, nothing came out tasting right. It was all... watery (like yours in the video). My husband ended up still making his morning trek to the coffee house. Well, using your effort tips, the espresso is coming out much better!
Your video is very well done. You are thorough and easy to follow. I was taking notes!
I look forward to your above on cleaning the machine.
Bravo!
Thank so much for your detailed review and instructional material. I knew nothing about these machines and you got me up and going. I purchased the same model and so far I'm very impressed. You might want to do an additional video on the frothing. I'm into organic foods, and tried to do Almond vs. Milk. The frothing worked fine for milk, but when I tried the organic Almond beverage, I had a LOT of bubbles. My brother-in-law said he uses 1/2 and 1/2, which I'll try next. I desire a thick foam with no bubbles that can support a spoon without sinking.
Update- I tried 1/2 and 1/2 and no joy. I had some left over so just popped the metal container with the 1/2 and 1/2 in the fridge over night. The next morning I added some almond milk, up to the top line, then dropped the frothing temp down to 140 and frothed with the cold container. Wow! that did it! Thick froth like fine foam all the way up cup, and yes, it supported a teaspoon with no problem! I'm also learning that all almond milks don't froth the same. The second time I used an organic almond milk vs. the non organic. That seems to make a big difference. Maybe that almond milk will work without the 1/2 and 1/2, but that was perfection.
Then as you suggested, i dropped to a finer grind (11) and my expresso had that nice warm brown top, which it didn't have before. And no more bitter taste, it was wonderful. Best cappachino I've ever had! I was also getting way too many grounds spilling all over the place, so dropped the grind time down to 12. It packs perfectly with no waste now.
I guess I've learned that all beans are different and require different settings. The default cappachino settings just don't provide good results for the organic beans I'm using.
Thank you again for ALL of your explaination and experimentation because it helped me to find the absolute outstanding settings for my beans.
Nice job working through all that and getting delicious results. One thing I'll just quickly say about milk ... the thickness of foam is really all about the fat content of the milk. Almond milks do tend to bubble because they are much more watery than other milks. I've found decent success with Oat milk (one of the reasons i think it's done so well in coffee is it's frothing capabilities)
Brother that had to be the most comprehensive RUclips video I've ever watched. I just purchased the Breville Touch. I can't wait to get started. Thank you.
Me too, that is the longest review video that i have ever watched. I did watch it in few parts though. :)
I was looking for a quick review of this machine, and what I got was not only a good review, but also one of the best, most thorough tutorials I've seen on RUclips!
I have no idea whether I'll ever buy this for myself, but I still watched the full hour and had a great time, learning about the Sage and espresso making in general.
Thank you! :D
Glad to hear! I appreciate the feedback :)
I just got mine for our anniversary. Had the same issue with the factory defaults on grind and brew time. I had to dial it so much lower for espresso and cappuccino that I was thinking the machine was bad or coffee or me. This video was spot on for my experience. Made me feel better about the machine. Thanks! Exactly what I needed to see/hear. I have wanted a machine to do some things(frothing) automatically and let me do the fun parts. see 53:27. Barista Touch is perfect for me. Hoping it lasts for years.
glad it's working out well for you!
Are you having any problems with your drink not being hot enough with this machine, Jeff? Thanx! Any feedback would be awesome.
I have had the Breville barista express for 12 years and it was used when I got it. It just finally died today after averaging 3 cups a day. I'm going to get this one. Just wanted to tell you about the longevity of my Breville.
I had 3 in home units before getting this. Expensive, bought them used. Got this, 1st time getting new. $$$-Yikes!! Worth it, I've never had it so good.
Finally found someone with better guidance 🎉 thank you for all your time! 👏
P.s: none of us like to read instructions, that’s why we are here😂
Thanks so much for this video!!! You helped me so much !! I bought the machine in 2023 November but still it helped me out!! Thank you!
Thank you for being so generous with your time. Great review.
Thank you, I really appreciate you ❤️
This is an awesome tutorial and review. I live in the UK where this machine is branded SAGE. your tutorial has taken my coffee from WOW to OMG!!! the only thing i struggle to so is get the correct consistency in the milk to do latte art of which i am trying to teach myself...
Ah yea latte art a challenge. not my forté 😄
So me and my gf bought one today having no idea 🤷♂️ what we were getting into lol 😂 I couldn’t tell you the difference between a coffee and a cappuccino 🤣🤣🤣 I have a lot to learn but I can tell you this! Tomorrow morning will be the best cup of expresso and the last k cup I’ll ever drink lol 😂
Great deep dive Joe! Looking to see you grow with this machine and would love to see a follow up done when you feel like you have everything really dialed in. A couple of suggestions. 1) That espresso flow rate still looks really high. If it were me I would keep cranking down grind size until I got into the 15in/30out in 30sec range. I think it should be possible on this machine and will almost certainly produce a higher quality shot. If not, work with your dosing/tamping until you get there. 2) For latte art you will of course need to set the froth level much lower (you were pouring cap foam and that's almost impossible!). 3) In order to calibrate your manual steaming next time you steam to 130ish make sure you pick up the pitcher and feel it and try to remember that sensation (eg how long you can hold your hand to it). This will allow you to aim at the same when manually steaming.
Yea it can definitely get dialed in a lot more - i'll be setting up a much better brewing station in the new place (moving in a couple days) and getting into all that. I wanted to have an account of getting into the machine the way I think most people would likely use/experience it.
Pretty sure you're right on that froth level bit, though I thought Jesse had poured some decent art at that level. I'll try it out soon at a lower froth level and see where I get (though i do loooove that level 8 froth on this machine...so silky, so delicious).
Thanks for the video. Had my machine for a week now and it’s taken hundreds of grams of beans to find my right brew! Interesting to see the 15/30 espresso, will be trying that myself! Thank you from the UK!
Yea be prepared to spend a lot of time adjusting whenever you try a new coffee (or just accept that sometimes you won't get it quite exactly right). Some standard measuring can make this process faster and easier though
All coffees go good with milk. But besides that it’s your grind tamp that makes the difference and extraction time. Milk goes good with everything except if your going to straight espresso with Sambuca. Dig it. I know you would!
Good educational video and thank you to my wife for spontaneously buying one.
glad to be helpful!
Thanks for such a detailed and passionate review. That is probably the longest review video I have ever watched.
Just ordered and look forward to trying many of your tips. You went far and beyond.
I know you gave the machine to your designer. What machine do you personally use?
I hear you, there are so many variables - but would be great if you could publish : what beans you use & settings
I use the breville bambino these days, but I dont really make espresso much ... maybe once or twice a month. ITs the same broiler tech as the touch, just no automation or grinder (I use the breville smart pro grinder)
We love our coffee maker easy to use and make a great cappuccino
Thank you for the index below the video... nice job!
Getting really technical on brewing coffee. I do like how you are changing the features to get what you want for taste.
it is fun to get into it like that sometimes :D
I’d love to see how you clean it. I’m really interested in buying this but I want to know everything about it before I spend the money to make sure Breville Barista Touch Coffee Machine
it’s exactly what I want.
I really appreciate your video! Thank you for taking the time to do it!
New subscriber from Australia and we are coffee snobs in Melbourne 😎
This went up awhile ago, but just in case, here's the cleaning video :D studio.ruclips.net/user/video_ibh5-YLjBs/edit
Hey there, another Melbournian here, thanks so much for the video, I purchased one last week and love it! The link to your cleaning video doesn't seem to work :(
I tried to watch the video as I have purchased this machine and i can’t get the video to work.
Beautiful explanation LOve ❤️ it!!
Just received mine today, having this instructional video sure made the difference in helping me understand how the machine works. I did like your start settings of the grinder at 9, with a grinder time of 22 seconds, with brew time for 22 seconds, and a milk at 150 degrees F, with a froth of three. These settings seem good.
Would you recommend changing any of these?
!!!!!Note to self, or anybody, don’t forget to put the basket in...🤣. I forgot on my second try, hit the brew button, it took the pressure for a moment and exploded the grinds out the shoots all over the walls of the kitchen. ☹️. Dang, what a mess. After the fourth attempt I was sitting down enjoying my first drink of espresso with a little bit of milk which I call a Quartata
Thanks for the video, looking forward to more instructional videos with this machine.
That all sounds pretty good, especially if you like the result. I think if you want to tweak things you'll need to get out a scale and start measuring exactly how much coffee is going into the basket and exactly how much espresso is coming out on the other end. You might make it a goal of trying to make a great espresso at 1:2 (coffee in : espresso out) and then 1:3, and then change up the total amount going in the basket.
The biggest variable is going to be in the coffee itself. What is it, how was it roasted, how fresh is it, etc. Espresso is really a constant experiment.
As for your milk, I'd suggest trying out a lower temp. I think you'll find the milk is sweeter that way (I usually go for 130...wishing I could do 135, as 140 is just a tad too hot I think).
Coffee Lovers TV thanks. I’ll work on that. Ordered a scale and will work this experiment.
Great video.. thanks for the in-depth explanation and unbiased review. I bought one of these Touch models today off of Amazon after doing a little research into good quality espresso machines, and my final 2 were this one.. and the 920 Dual Boiler unit. I went with the Touch because of the touch screen and simplicity of use. The Dual Boiler 920 lacked the touch screen, and was a little more hands on than what I was looking for. The super-duper James Bond 990 came in at $2440.. which is way over the top for an espresso machine.. so although it had some interesting bells and whistles, there was no way to justify that amount of cash.. so the 880 it was. HOWEVER... I purchased this Touch BEFORE I saw this video and, more importantly, read the reviews.. especially those concerned with the temperature of the espresso. What is even more disconcerting to me is the apparent lack of empathy and support by Breville.. especially in light of the way one of the posters had to use a separate phone number to get a call back, as if the company was downright ignoring his calls. Is this any way to support your customers, Breville?... Suffice it to say, when my unit arrives in a few days from Amazon, if I find the espresso temperatures to be a ridiculously low 120-130F, this $900 brick is going back in the box to Amazon for a refund. For what it is worth, I own a chemical company, and I personally make sure all of the concerns that my customers are fully addressed.. even to the point of actually asking them. That is how real customer service is done.. because if customer concerns are not met.. or even worse if a customer perceives that you are lying to them or knowingly have provided them with a defective product, they will not only stop purchasing from your company, but will also tell everyone else in their industry not to do business with your company as well... a sure-fire recipe to bankruptcy. Capitalism is a wonderful thing.. it's Darwin at his finest, in my opinion. And.. by the way.. the videos I watched before this one were from some woman named Gail (Gale?) from "Seattle Coffee Gear".. Something seemed strange to me when watching her videos.. the fact she was in love with Breville was odd to me.. then I just saw another video of her with one of the executives from Breville at a conference called the "specialty coffee expo"... the guy's name was Phil McKnight... just a pathetic video of her sucking up to him.. and vice versa. This goofball is on several of the Breville RUclips videos pushing his machines. I wonder why Gail didn't ask him about the low temperature problem on these units. Needless to say, I am disappointed at what several people have said about the temperature of the espresso. If it's not hot.. IT'S GOING BACK. Hey Phil, buddy... you actually read these comments?.. I doubt it, since you apparently don't concern yourself with returning the phone calls from customers that have shelled out a grand for these things.
Yea it's strange. I definitely did not have the temp problem at the beginning. But now I seem to be experiencing what others are observing. I haven't dug up a clear answer yet. I also haven't yet done my thorough cleaning walk through (going to be making this video soon), and it's possible this will have an effect.
@@Coffeeloversmag hei, do you have update on the temp situation? Just got my machine yesterday, seem like the temp is low, around 150 - 160 without coffee and direct take the temp from portafilter using digital thermometer.
It's a tough thing to verify without the proper tools - there are an incredible amount of variables. I haven't received any official communication on this. As far as my own machine, I'm thinking what I've observed here is a matter of needing to do a deep cleaning (I'm waiting on a couple parts for the video before I get to that).
Update: My unit is pulling the shots at 150F, which is just fine. There is a temperature adjustment on the settings menu. The default setting is in the middle of the temperature range (arbitrary range, no units).. so if you're getting 120-130F, I'd check out the setting and go up a bit. I've noticed that it's important to properly tamp before pulling the shot. The force applied is not as critical as is the leveling of the tamp in the portafilter. Also, since the quality of the beans is critical when it comes to the actual quality of the shot, I've found that it makes a huge difference to go out of your way to buy good, fresh quality beans.. and absolutely avoid the garbage at the grocery store.. and especially avoid the overpriced "Pikes Place" beans at Starbucks. If you notice on their bags, it has a date that indicates "best if used by"... they purposely leave off the date which the beans were roasted. Beans are best if purchased as close to the roasted date, and used within 1 - 2 weekis.. and contrary to popular belief, do not store them in the freezer or the fridge. Couple of other items of note.. the frothing wand should be disassembled and cleaned every couple of days. Even though the wand is automatically purged by the unit each time it is used, the 4 small holes in the bottom of the wand head will eventually begin to plug which will impede the flow of the water/steam into the milk. Not to mention that this situation will result in bacteria forming in the tip as well. It takes about 1 minute to unscrew the tip of the wand and clean it out with soap and water. After cleaning the tip, hold it up to a light source and confirm that the 4 holes are nice and clean before screwing it back in.... bottom line so far so good.. use it on a daily basis, and no problems.
@@joekratochvil2515 It's a strange thing. I'm still having temperature problems and haven't been able to get anywhere as far as fixing the issue. It's not a tamp, or level problem. It's not a cleaning issue. It's just failing to heat the water properly.
Thank you! Very comprehensive and informative. I'm waiting for mine to be delivered, so learning as much as I can beforehand.
I've the Barista Touch personally wanted to get the Oracle Touch
What a fantastic review, thank you so much. I just got one for Christmas, your review was an awesome second gift❣️
Thanks so much for a great detailed review 😊 you are a truly coffee lover!
thank you! 😁
To be able to tap the portafilter to get that side wall coffee, tamp, tap, then tamp a little harder to make sure the puck didnt break like you were saying. It seems very ok but what do i know im a noob still.
Loved this video, I feel i now have a greater understanding. You expressed that the espresso brand that you use was a middle of the road espresso, what is your list of high end coffee brands
too many good ones to list. my regulars I order from include:
www.conduitcoffee.com
anchorheadcoffee.com/
www.boonboonacoffee.com/
Am fairly new to this machine and this is all great information thank you.
The pressurized baskets. (The other ones) are used if you want to use anything but the perfect grind , so essentially for those people who are ametuers/lazy/don't have beans. It will make the shot well regardless.
Yea makes sense. It does say for 'preground' in the packaging.
@@Coffeeloversmag good detailed video btw. You taught me some stuff I didn't know myself. Be well!
Great review!! One thing what i not understand is, for an Americano normally first goes the espresso and then the water, the sage barista touch gives water first, that is then a long black? Why is that so?
I appreciate all of the details you captured. I feel like I already own the machine!
glad you enjoyed!
We loved your passionate review
thanks!
GREAT INFO, this is actually my second Breville machine and love it. Will never go back to another like kerug. lol
what a cracking review ! I've just ordered one :)
Thanks for the info Michael Shannon!
Thanks for the video. New recent purchase of this machine and your video is helping me get it calibrated well.
Glad to hear!
A very educational video. Now it's time to try out our new machine. Greetings from Down Under
congrats on the machine! hopefully its been treating you well
Such an Awesome review! Now I need to get that machine home
In the video you express puzzlement as to why there are two types of filter baskets - the dual wall and the regular. This is because you are using fresh coffee beans which work fine in either basket.
I have the BES920 which shows the pressure level, and it becomes obvious why the dual wall basket is necessary.
For pre-ground coffee and for freshly ground coffee using old beans, you will be very unlikely to get espresso out of them using the regular basket. The pressure only goes up to 3 or 5 bars using the regular basket, and the coffee that comes out has little or no crema - it tastes more like coffee from a stove top Moka machine.
But when using the dual wall basket, the pressure for both goes up to 8 or 9 bars, and plenty of crema comes out.
Regards.
Thanks for this comment. I was wondering why my espresso shots always seemed watery, lukewarm, and had pathetic crema no matter the settings I changed. Switched from the regular to the dual wall basket, and now the drinks I make actually taste decent haha.
I think that the Oracle Touch has got a dualboiler system! There are 2 separate boilers in it - so you CAN make espresso and steam at the same time.
Yea that's true. These machines steam so fast though that i don't think it matters much for most people.
Hey mate, congrats on the machine. I'm a Barista / roaster myself and would like to give you some tips on dialing in the machine as well as espresso brewing, Latte art pouring, etc etc. I left you a message on the chat feature of your website. Looking forward to seeing you getting the best out of this great piece of equipment. Regards
I know this is an old video, hopefully you still see this. How come you are only putting in 15g of coffee, everywhere else says 18g?
Thank you for sharing this very great review of this machine. I am debating myself upgrading my Breville Barista Express to this Barista Touch. Now, after watching your video I am convinced myself to get this machine. Thank you so much. Btw. your art latte is better than mine😄eventho it looks like a ghost👻 but definitely the taste so great for sure!👌🏼I can relate that for trying to make art latte but I am not good at it. I need to practice more. LOL.
Seems like a very nice machine in theory but won’t give you a true espresso with it’s own settings.. I noticed myself that the coffee poured too quickly and was watery. You’ve got to work with grind, grams and time and save those settings. Not much different than any manual. Once you have the grind set for the type of coffee on the grinder, you’re all set. You just tamp, use a small dosing cup and ready to brew. Of course then it’s important that you have s powerful milk frother. Still on the fence about this machine but I’ll say that it is s beauty. I’ve asked below about the Touch Impress and how it compares. Have you tested it?
I couldn’t edit the above but suspect based on your comment about a small cup not fitting the space well for brewing that a small shot glass for espresso may not sit well either. Either way, would love to see a demo on the Touch Impress. Thanks for all the effort you put into this.
Thanks for your thoughts and feedback. I haven't been in a position to produce coffee videos in a long time, so I don't think i'll be able to do anything with the Touch Impress, unfortunately.
Amazing video with tons of good information. One question can you go from one cup of brew and froth milk to a second cup right away? Or is there a time between brewing?I make coffee for my husband and I and I’d really hate to wait long periods of time in between cups… thanks.
Thank you for the great video! I was about to buy this machine and after your unbiased video and the comments made me decide not to buy it. I would still love to buy an espresso machine (currently have a Baratza Virtuoso+ for coffee grinding to use with a French Press or Bialetti, and a Nespresso for Espresso) but really don’t know should I get. I tend to be a perfectionist and really would like to get a quality machine that also doesn’t take way too much space in my kitchen
Yea espresso can be a challenge to get into on a level of quality because it requires a different level of equipment than standard coffee brewing needs. If you try to get a setup which will allow you to hand brew AND make espresso, you'll be challenged to do things perfectly. The Encore pretty much won't be getting you the grind size and variation you want for espresso. The best setup I've found for getting into espresso while still brewing most other things has actually been the breville grinder... I use the smart grinder pro, which has been surprisingly consistent and provides a good uniform grind for the price. It sacrifices on the coarseness level - best you can get is somewhere between medium and coarse, but i've made french presses with it. And then on the other end its got a good range of espresso option. I've been able to explore espresso a bit using this plus the breville bambino. If you check out some of my more recent videos, you can see the setup in the background - it doesn't take up much space. If you want to get really serious about making espresso, there's another comment on this video I just responded to with some ideas in that regard.
Excellent video! Thank you!
Thank you for the detailed review. One question, does it have a cup warmer on top?
No it doesn't. It's got an indented space so you could hold cups up there, but it's not heated.
Well I keep watching this 😂😂. Hubby has gone to buy me one now!! 👍 video.
hope y'all enjoy it!
Hi there,
Wondered if you can help! I've just got this machine and am playing around with the settings out of the box to see what I can get to.
So far, the coffee output seems to be really high compared to the guide from you guys..
Using the single wall. double filter basket
On Espresso drink choice, using Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast Beans [I will buy some better, fresher local beans but wanted something to at least get close to the settings being better before wasting a whole pack!]
With a grind size of 8, grinding for 15 seconds I get about 10g of ground coffee. Grind size of 10 for same time period gives me more like 16/17g so that feels closer to what I need
If I then run the brew as a double for 30 seconds [the auto time] I get about 170g of coffee out. It's very watery as you would expect and the puck is really watery too.
Ideally, I want to be able to get a good double shot out, hence the double brew but feels like it is way too watery at the moment. It was marginally better on the size 10 grind but still pretty much the same volume of coffee out. I assume I am making a very rookie error here! My last machine was the Sage Creatista Plus which took Nespresso Pods so definitely new to this.
Any help appreciated!
Quick progress update - getting there I think but still not perfect so any advice welcome!
With a grind size of 6 and an 18 second grind time I'm getting about 16g or so of ground coffee.
Reducing brew time to 20 seconds, gives me a much better drink, although it's still about 76g coming out - so a fair way off the 1:2 ratio. Although it actually seems like a decent amount for me - I think 36g or so wouldn't feel like much coffee.
It tastes 'decent' and I've made a latte with the above settings and it is perfectly drinkable. BUT, I bought this machine to make excellent drinks not just decent ones. The Creatista did that.
So, I think I need to get a little less out of the brew but conscious lots of people have said 25 seconds is the time to aim for? That would give me way too much at the moment. Should I reduce grind size further?
Well on the surface it sounds like your grind is too coarse. Having less fresh coffee doesn't help either. One thing I will say is, instead of relying on the grind timer, try to figure out how to get about 18 grams of coffee into the portafilter. And it sounds like you want to at least use grind size of 8. Make sure you tamp down solid. Then use the trimmer after tamping to remove excess. Then try to achieve 36-54 grams of espresso out the other end.
@@Coffeeloversmag thanks. I've adjusted the internal burr a little bit and am now going to get some better beans and concentrate on getting 18g into the PF at a finer grind. Then I'll brew for 30 seconds and see where I am at - go finer if it's too watery and too much volume and then I'll report back!
Thank you. Impressive review.
Great video, superbly done, lots of great information, I always looked forward to your reviews. Looks fun and easy to use with great results.
thanks! looking to get a 'how to clean this beast' video done soon
Great vid. I'm loving my new machine. The podcast is great too. Thanks for both.
thank you for watching and listening :)
How do you program the pre-infusion time & save it, so it does the same time automatically? Great review by the way.
Great video. Did you use the double of the single basket for the 30 gram espresso?
I'm on the Bambino now, but I always use the double basket.
I’m torn between these two, I only drink long black & normally buy pre ground coffee, would this not be advisable for the bambino? TY
Can you tell me what the difference is between the Touch and the Touch Impress?
I own black truffle version of this and even when I’m using super carefully I can see black color powder coating comes off
Silver version way better I think
Awesome video!! It helped lead me to make the purchase!!
After going through the setup on the Breville, it indicated the brew should start at 8 seconds.
I have tamped it fairly hard and softer with same results.
I have tried going down to ground / time of 7 / 14 but it starts at 6-7 seconds. I can’t seem to get it to start after 8 seconds.
I have also tried a different type of espresso....
Any other suggestions?
Thanks in advance!!
One factor that can have a huge impact is freshness of your coffee. If you are using coffee that is older than a few weeks since roast, the shots will start pulling sooner.
As a quick rec to make sure you aren't having freshness issues, I'd recommend ordering some coffee online - www.conduitcoffee.com/collections/coffee
Conduit's blends are a great place to start. Ship Canal if you like a dark roast. Westlake if you want something chocolaty and accessible (but not dark roast, it's a medium, so no roastiness in there). Locofocos for a more lighter style espresso.
Conduit will roast your coffee only after you order.
Coffee Lovers TV yes my coffee has a roast date of May 27 so it’s pretty fresh. Going try and fit 18g and see if I can get it to start after 8 seconds.
I know it’s probably trivial but I should be able to make it go way longer than 7 seconds....
How's the taste and feel? What kind of coffee is it, origin? blend? style of roast?
Coffee Lovers TV the brand was by Victrola “Triborough” and tasted pretty good. After spending time with Breville support, they deemed it possibly be a defective unit and are sending me a new one
I tried changing the grind all the way down to 2 and up to 20 weighing 18g with no noticeable difference on start extraction time past 7sec.
wow yea that's pretty crazy. I wonder what's defective which is causing that. Hopefully your new machine works smoothly!
Temps may be low because your portafilter is cold. Keep portafilter locked into the brew head to heat up the portafilter before you grind. The portafilter should be very hot so that brew temps don’t drop. Also for the purge, perhaps you are supposed to place the portafilter in the brew head before the purge during setup?
Yea turned out my low temps had to do with the electrical setup of the place I have it - for me here this machine requires it's own outlet...having something else plugged in also drawing power caused a 10-20 degree drop in final espresso temp (all other things being equal)
@@Coffeeloversmag Interesting. Where we live the mains voltage is 124 VAC. Electrical heaters get quite hot! I wonder if this would solve the many "low temperature" complaints on this forum... but I'm not so sure. If the temperature is set by feedback from an internal sensor (likely), then higher or lower AC voltage would only affect the time to achieve the set-point. If it is too low, then the problem is likely the sensor calibration or the stored set-point from the data entry (firmware.)
On the manual, there is information that the coffee should flow after 8s and if you have it before 8s it's under brew. Unfortunately, I can't adjust mine to for perfect option :( Can you make a video about it? :)
I'll tinker around with it. I tend to ignore manuals :P
yes mine starts at 6 seconds and idk how to dial it to get it to start after 8 secs.
@@marynguyen2223 Mine always starts @ 8 seconds - not sure why, but I can't use the low grind settings. Next to nothing comes out. I have to use a grind size 14 and I can't figure out why.
very pretty vedio , thank you for long time you spending to help us 👍🏻💖 I bought this machine yesterday and I am very enthusiastic to try it 🤗
lovely! have a good time with it :)
@@Coffeeloversmag hi my friend,,, I tried more times to get an ideal extraction (( should beginning after 8 seconds)) but all attempts of extraction are fast ( before 8 seconds) 😟 I adjusted grinder at finer but this problem still there 🙄
This is a challenging spot to troubleshoot from a distance. My guess from what you are saying about finer grind not affecting this is that maybe your tamp technique needs a little work. How much do you push down on the grounds with the tamper? How close to the top of the portafilter are the grounds after you tamp?
Thanks for such detail explanation
Hi , i love your video, everything makes sense. Just wondering what is the setting you have for the burr grinder? Is this the default 6? Thanks!
Very old video I know, and wonderful review, but quick question:
The Barista Pro I believe is volumetric in terms of amount of water dispensed when pulling a shot- so time will vary naturally to match the correct one shot or double shot volume.
But on this machine-the controls for adjusting a drink seem to imply it is time based rather than volumetric.
Is the Barista touch volumetric or time based?
late reply :) it's all time based. nothing fancy here
Dude you look just like that actor Pilou Asbæk who played Euron Greyjoy in Game of Thrones thru seasons 7-8. Back to your review, I too own a Breville espresso machine. They are good at scaling down commercialized espresso machines for home users.
The frothing cup is purposely made larger so it does not overflow that's the reason they recommend to fill it half way that says MAX line.
Does this Breville Barista Touch have a Conical or Flat Burr Coffee Grinder? Does this machine come with the utensils to level up your ground coffee? Could you tell us exactly what comes with this machine? Thanks.
The grinder in it is a conical burr grinder. As far as I can tell it's pretty comparable to their pro grinder you can get separately, which does a pretty good job with espresso, as far as most would be concerned. If you want to get super into espresso, I'd suggest investing separately into grinder/espresso machine so you can step them up individually as you progress.
how often do you cleanup if you don’t mind. I have been cleaning every month 😅 bc mine won’t grind if I don’t clean each month 😂
depends on how often you use it. I make espresso maybe once a week these days, so I do a cleaning a couple times a year.
Great video, fun and informative, superbly done. Do you still use and enjoy the Barista Touch? If so is it easy to maintain and been reliable? Thank you
Michael actually has it (he was designer for the magazine for a long time). I haven't been using it personally, but he uses it regularly and has been quite pleased. I was intending on doing a few more things with it, but then covid happened. It sounds like it's been reliable and easy to maintain though, and that was my experience with it for the couple years I had it myself.
Coffee Lovers TV ~ thank you for the quick response, your video was so wonderfully done I’m thinking of buying one based on your review of it.
Great video for beginners ... much appreciated. I like your weighing scale, can you share the name of this scale?
Ah yes that's the Mentor scale - amzn.to/2uytdLV - you HAVE to pair it with an app for use (there's no display on the scale). However if you don't mind needing to pull out an app every time you use it, its a really fantastic value ($30 i think) for a scale.
Really helpful review, thanks!
I enjoyed your review and I was interested in this machine. I was wondering if you use whole milk or if 2% works just as well.
It really depends on your end goals and what you like in a milk drink. As a generalization, more milk fat will perform better.
Great coverage! I ordered a BT, but I recently read about heating issues with this unit. Are you having any problems like this? Would turning the unit on 10-15m before use help?
i've never been able to find a clear answer to this. My best guess has been that it's a power issue. Make sure it's getting all the power it needs (dont plug anything else into the same outlet at the very least)
Thank you for this tutorial! I have this machine but my espresso always comes out cold. Any suggestions?
You might have the temp problem many people seem to be having. To be honest I've never received a solid answer on this, so I don't really know. For my own experience, i did find the machine can run into power issues, so make sure its the only thing plugged into the outlet it's using at the very least.
Also do all the preheating stuff. Run through an empty portafilter (and then dry it quickly before adding coffee), also heat up your mug with hot water ... these will help.
You need to go into your settings. Go to brew temp. Your machine is set by default to like middle. When you get to brew temp I believe you can move it up high 1-4
@@BigPoppa-t3z I have it at the highest setting already but thank you!
perfect video! Thank you! I just got this machine and would like to know what is the ideal grind size-grind time and brew time? I know there are lots of elements that affecting it but what could you suggest to me about it? My coffee is coming before 8 sec(around 5-6 sec) Thanks again
Well as you noted it depends on the specific situation. To extend your time before the coffee starts to come out, you'd either make your grind size finer or use more coffee/tamp harder. Breville makes using the amount of coffee easy, because you can just fill the portafilter, tamp, then use the trimmer to get the max amount.
For tamping, you can use your bodyweight to press down on it, and then DONT tap the side of the portafilter (this breaks up the compaction, creates channeling during the brew, and probably also contributes to coffee coming out much faster than it should)
Coffee Lovers TV thank you so much!!!
I am shopping for an espresso machine and leaning toward the Breville Barista Pro or this one. What is your updated review after this video 2+ years ago? Do you still enjoy using the machine or does one grow out of it in time? I roast coffee and do manual brews (pourovers). I'd like to up my game and get into the art of espresso, pulling shots, dialing in the flavors, having more coffee drink options. I am just worried that I may grow out of this machine and want to move up to the Pro version but I don't want to waste $800 and a few months later be like, omg. My #2 concern/question: How is this machine holding up after 2 years? Is everything still working? I have heard the heat sensor on the frothing panel stops working and the display panel eventually stops working. Would really appreciate your input. Thank you!
If you're really wanting to get into the art of espresso, I'd point you to a different machine. Actually what I'd recommend is investing more in the grinder right now, and start with a lower priced espresso machine - the Breville Bambino may be a good option for that (you can find the bambino pro for about 400). It has the same boiler tech as the pro and the touch, just in a tiny package. But were I in your shoes (and certain about digging into espresso for the long term), I'd spend 500+ on the grinder out the gate, then another 300-500 on the machine for now. When you master that, you can upgrade your machine to something much more manual and sophisticated, like a Rancilio or a Rocket in the ~1200 range. There's no one size option that will be perfect if you're wanting a lower price at the start.
When you get into it, you'll see that a lot of your adjustment, tuning, and exploring will come down to the grind quality, and ability to adjust very fine amounts. I'm not confident you can find a satisfying level of sophistication for your desired path from the all in one breville machines.
Some starting options I'd look at:
Grinders -
Rancilio Rocky
Baratza Vario
Eureka Mignon
Compak K3
Mazzer Mini
Machines -
Breville Bambino Pro
Rancilio Silvia
If I was going deep into it, had about 1k budget now, and could upgrade in a year, I'd probably pick up a Mazzer Mini + Bambino, then replace the espresso machine in a year with maybe a Rocket or Rancilio Silvia PID.
Anyhow, the point of all that is to say that I think for you the grinder is the most important piece of gear. You can make amazing shots on the $400 bambino (and it will steam your milk really well with no effort), if you have a good grind. But if you spend less on the grinder (or get an all-in-one machine), your ceiling of capability and exploration is going to be lower I think.
Coffee Lovers TV thank you for the recommendation. I do have a Baratza Encore, I know it’s the low end but I’ve only been into making manual coffees (pourovers) and cupping my own roasts (I didn’t mention I have a small roasting business. Kind of a big side note now but I see where you’re going with machine choices). So now I am stepping up my coffee game yes, and thought of starting with a low budget machine but after all my research I am realizing the depth of it all. I ordered a Delonghi ecp3420 and returned it immediately realizing I can’t scrimp on an espresso machine. That’s where I’m at now, going from $130 machine to one a little under $1k. I saw a video showing the Silvia and didn’t like it (the heating system is slow and looks). I don’t need a work horse, just a home machine for my husband and I. I would like to learn some barista skills and latte art, and I’m sure a good model will help me tune in my roasts for sure. I’m shy at going with any Breville machine that can’t produce a hot cup, I’m learning that their new integrated thermojet only heats to 140F and that just won’t do for any espresso. I’d be interested in knowing your experience on the Bambino and heating issues. My initial interest in upping my budget from $100 to $800 was that the Breville series has a beautiful look, and I seriously considered the Pro but then saw the Touch and loved the pre-set drink recipes as I am not well versed in barista experience. Thanks again, your advice is well accepted through my journey and very much appreciated!
I've had no problems with Bambino. usually dont even have to preheat tbh. There isn't a way to control the temp coming from the grouphead, you can only control milk temp. But you can completely manually run it, and reprogram the two brew buttons. Does a low pressure pre-infusion by default and you can manually adjust this as you see fit. Seems like a pretty impressive machine for the price and size of it all.
Your coffee-at-home experience does sound like the perfect situation to get one of their all-in-one machines. Your Encore isn't going to cut it for espresso, so you'll need to get a grinder one way or another. I'd definitely try the pro over the touch. But I haven't used the pro myself. The Touch I gave to my designer, because he uses it daily (i make espresso really just a couple times a month these days) - after a couple years of doing so he's still in love with the machine, but he's also not delving too far into the craft.
Thanks for the detailed review. I may have missed this, but can you change to pull length to volumetric instead of timed?
Nope, just time based.
Can you share all the grind sizes you use pls?
Awesome review! Since this machine is over my budget, is the Breville Express 870xl gonna give me the same taste in coffee as your machine (of course if I’d use the same beans)? Are there any significant differences except the modern display?
Thanks for sharing!
The express uses a different set of technology, so it doesn't have the same heating element or steaming components. If you want the same core tech as the barista touch, check out Breville's new Bambino Plus (it's like the barista touch minus the grinder and the touch screen). I'll be making a video on this one soon
Do you have the grams for coffee beans and extraction for a single shot? Is it as simple as half?
Update on my machine. I couldn’t figure out why my brew temperatures were so low. Lower than advertised on their support page. I called support for help on this matter. They asked me for my serial number and told me that my firmware needed an update to address the low brew temperatures. Remember, I just purchase this machine from Amazon one week ago. I was bummed at the least. I had two choices, return to Amazon for an exchange or allow Breville to send me a new machine. I decided to let Breville send me the new machine. If Breville didn’t make things right I could always return the unit back to Amazon. Look, if I’m going to pay $1100 for something it should work correctly. I’ll keep you updated.
Mike Thomas, this is my second machine already. Breville sent me a new one to address the same issue. The problem is the same with the new machine, I get very low temperature espressos. There must be a software problem with all machines of this model. The lady I just talk to at Breville told me that “this is how it is” and did not admit there’s a problem with the machine but will get back to me after she talks to her manager. This is clearly not right. I’m disappointed.
ChidoOne505 sorry to hear your also having issues of the same sort. Keep us updated on what they say.
Mike Thomas, Breville doesn’t think there is any problem with the machine. I seriously question this. According to them it’s normal. The guy I talked to said there is about a 15 degrees drop in temperature from drip to cup, so mathematically my shots should be at about 180 degrees. That doesn’t explain why my espressos end up at about 130 degrees. I will continue my discussion with them on Monday. What is your experience with your replacement machine?
ChidoOne505 Here’s my update, received the new machine today. Everything worked identical to the first machine except the grind has dramatically changed. The same bean now has to be set to 13 vs eight to get the same exact 15 g in the basket. Brew temperatures are still low, however I did discover that if I ran the steam wand first then the brew temperatures went up, but still low at 140 Fahrenheit. I have the brew extraction in settings set to high 2. I have a call into customer service waiting for their reply
Mike Thomas, let me know what they say. In my experience, they refuse to acknowledge there is a problem.
I made a video ( ruclips.net/video/m1aIlc0Rz1w/видео.html ) where I measure the temperature directly into the fortafilter. It only reaches 155 degrees. For comparison, check this video from WholeLatteLove (at minute 5:58) where the temperature reaches 199 degrees. ruclips.net/video/XBipT1698V0/видео.html . Clearly there’s something wrong with our machines.
I run the descaling circle but I still receiving the decaling circle warning ‼️ how do I clear or reset that warning?
It's worth noting that at the end of the setup, you don't have to make that americano since you can just keep hitting the right arrow until the tutorial goes away. I hate water in my coffee.
I wanted to buy this machine but saw a lot of negative comments about the brew temperature being too low even when adjusting it to the maximum. Have you also noticed this problem?
I had a problem like that and determined it was electrical. Basically I had this machine and another plugged into the same 2-plug outlet (not sharing the same plug, but you know how wall outlets are). Anyway, I saw a temp problem, unplugged the other machine (which was a brewer just sitting idle), and the end espresso temp shot up 20 degrees. I'd say most people experiencing a temp problem are also probably experiencing some form of electrical issue with the machine not getting enough power.
Hi, great review, honestly that hour past so quickly. At the end of the video, you mentioned that you would do a follow up on the cleaning of the Barista touch, just looked on your channel and can’t seem to find it ?
None the less, very detailed review. Roy
Yes I've been a bit slow in finishing up that video. Glad you enjoyed this one! Hoping to have that other one completed soon
This went up awhile ago, but just in case, here's the cleaning video :D ruclips.net/video/_ibh5-YLjBs/видео.html
@@Coffeeloversmag Looks like that link is dead, has the video been taken down?
@@jagged74795 Nope! I didn't even notice this but it looks like i'd copied in the back-end edit link to the video instead of the watch link to the video. thanks for the heads up and here's the right link - ruclips.net/video/_ibh5-YLjBs/видео.html
I own this machine. Should be 17 grams of coffee, run 28 seconds of water and output 34 grams of espresso. When you get that it’s the perfect double shot. Also always hear your portafilter. A cold portafilter yields sour coffeeGood luck😉
PS buy a mini scale and i suggest a leveler before you tamp
Stroh Development depends on your bean?
Ed Fireman great question. The goal still remains the same with every shot (17grams in to 34 grams out in around 28 seconds) but you will have to adjust your grind setting with every bean if that makes sense.
I’ve been doing 19 grams and 38 grams espresso liquid lately. Even better with the beans I’m using
I'm all new to coffee... Why don't you mix the coffee after pouring the steamed milk? Or is this how you drink it? Won't it be all milky at the top as the coffee hasn't mixed?
you can mix! there's really no wrong way to do it. Pouring the steamed milk into the espresso does do a fair job of mixing, but notably it gives you the opportunity to pour latte art and make something pretty.
Mixing is good regardless of how you do it. When I order a milk based drink in a cafe I always stir to fully incorporate everything
I am trying to find a replacement tank for this. Any guesses if the Barista Express tank would work? I can see that the Touch has a magnet in it, but assumption would be without the magnet the Touch would think the tank is full. Likely a bad assumption.
For anyone watching this video, it’s a great tutorial on the machine but I suspect his grind size is not fine enough as his shots are pulling way too fast. I would try a finer grind and it may require manual adjustment of the internal burrs (there are videos on RUclips on how to do this).
Love it 😍
Thanks for this video.
thanks I'm going to order 1. Is the grinder good enough please?
Yea it works well for espresso with this machine. Don't expect to be grinding for anything else though.
I’m having trouble with finding the right grind size for an espresso and flat white, you didn’t specify in your video what grind size works for you for optimal brew and taste. Can you advise please?
Did you ever change the conical burrs manually?
I have not done this
Hi how are you ? I have a breville touch, normally I with 11 seconds of the mill would fill my cup to make my coffee, now it takes 20 seconds to do it since little coffee comes out of the mill, I have already cleaned the mill and the same problem continues, you will know the reason ?