# Barista touch newbie



## GreggyG (Feb 18, 2019)

Hi all

I've just purchased my first automatic coffee machine, Barista Touch .. I've been doing plenty of research however I'm having a few 'teething' problems.

I'm a little unsure of starting figures for an espresso, dose for a single or double basket and grind size.

If anyone could advise of a rough starting point I'd be grateful

Thanks

Greg


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Page 14 of the manual tells you all you need to do to find a good starting dose of grinds. The razor tool. Unique to Sage so few take any notice of it however it will put that aspect to bed which ever bean is used. It's also probably there as it isn't that easy to set a grind timer for a certain dose if grinds and even harder when the grinder settings are being changed.

Unlike the Barista Express they don't suggest a number for initial grinder settings or the range of numbers. I'd start at the middle of what ever that is. If you don't know run the grinder completely empty before finding out - remove hopper, vac off any beans / bits, replace hopper a but leave it shut off, then run the grinder until nothing comes out. The find out what the minium number is - best to pulse the grinder each time the number is changed by say 2. Visually the machine looks the same as the Barista Express as far as the grinder is concerned. On that one they suggest starting at 8.

Then comes the section of the manual on over and under extraction. When you are in the region they suggest in terms of the weight of shot that comes out then is the time to start tasting. Your best tasting double might be either smaller or larger than they suggest. Just adjust the grinder one step at a time and really you should manually generate a couple of grams of grinds and throw them away each time you change the setting.. If you need to set coarser go too coarse and then set it - takes out play in the mechanism.

Using the single basket isn't easy and it's likely to be only suitable for stronger tasting beans. Few people use it but use is much the same as the double.

Nobody can tell you exactly what to do. We all have to find settings that suite as taste is what matters.

Later having established a dose of grinds with the razor tool you can set the grind time to get that dose but you will need to check weigh it often. What happens probably depends on the bean. What I found was that over say a week the timer would need changing several times then the rate would drop down to maybe once a week. Unlike other grinders I have used the actual setting didn't need changing. That all goes to pot when the bean that is being used is changed. Personally I would suggest not cleaning the grinder out when the bean is changed.

One other aspect - strain a bit when you tamp.It will help keep it consistent.







Then when you read about light tamping you'll find a certain amount of pressure is needed.

John

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## Twin (Feb 9, 2019)

Hi,

If I should dare to comment after John's excellent advices, it would be my own experience with the same machine.

As a newbie myself, I started of by being humble to those who have a lot to teach. First thing I learned was to get fresh beans, ideally used 2-6 weeks from roasted date. I understood this was important. My first attempts was (with factory presets) very good. I also learned the match (or mismatch..) with grind size and tamping - use the Razer! It is very good help in the beginning, then experiment. Also look out for how the coffee drips, or more correct flows like warm honey, with nice light brown colour and texture. If it's not, something is wrong (Remember fresh beans). Studying these factors has helped me a lot. Old beans now only used for the drip coffee maker...

Milk frothing with the Barista Touch is a joy, in automatic. Play with presets there, and try manual frothing when you want and have the time. I did the best latte I've ever had (including specialised quality coffee shops) with the BT.

- Many attempts later, I'm still hunting that one with my now Dual Boiler :-D. But that is up to me and the coffee, not the machine. As for the grinder settings, all I can say is that fresh beans require much coarser grind than "old" beans.

On my Smart Grinder Pro with fresh beans, I'm 5-7 steps coarser than with old beans. As far as I remember the grinders are similar, only the SGP goes coarser for other than espresso use. (On the Smart Grinder I am on setting 13 on fresh beans, rather than about 7 on old beans)

And, please excuse my English, as I'm not English


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