# Sage/Breville Barista Touch - too watery espresso



## AndreasBLarsen (Dec 9, 2021)

Hey guys,

I got the machine yesterday and I've spent way to much time and coffee trying to get it right.

My #1 issue is that the brewing is way to fast and watery (which indicates a finer grinding) but also, after the brewing, the puck is still very moist and wet. For me, this two issues contradict each other. Or what? I am currently grinding at 2-3 or which is very fine but the water still pours through like a waterfall.

Tomorrow, I will try to get the grind even finer and maybe get some real nice freshly roasted ones (as I've read might make a difference) but any other suggestions is *extremely *appreciated.


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## dutchy101 (Jun 12, 2020)

It's very early days for you and there's a learning curve with these machines - it takes a while to find your feet so don't be too downhearted. I suspect your biggest issue is the beans you are using.

What coffee beans are you using?

How old / fresh are the beans?

Do you know the roast date?

Ideally you want to be using beans which have rested for about 7 days after the roast date and stored in an airtight container thereafter.


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## AndreasBLarsen (Dec 9, 2021)

Hey @dutchy101, thanks for the reply! I really needed to hear that it's a progress. I got fairly heated during my "battle" to the point where our laundry basket had to die. I am not proud. There was some progression after the warfare with the basket ended. I could get to a point where the portion of the drink was about right but no where near perfect.



dutchy101 said:


> What coffee beans are you using?


 I am currently using a regular grocery store bean which only has a best-before-date on it. It's a dark roast i think.



dutchy101 said:


> How old / fresh are the beans?


 The pack was brand new, but as mentioned, it's not freshly roasted.


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## damo6925 (Jul 26, 2020)

The other thing to do with these machines (I have the same one) is adjust the top burrs manually. There is a video here showing how... It was revolutionary for me and completely changed the parameters in a good way... You'll be able to grind much finer again and slow the shot time down...






As said above buy fresh beans too with a roasted date on them. The old saying of you get out what you put in very much applies!

Hope that helps!


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## AndreasBLarsen (Dec 9, 2021)

Hey @damo6925, thanks for the reply as well! Yeah, I actually did that before heading to bed yesterday and I got the extraction time to get around 7-8 seconds and managed to get close to a normal size portion for 1 shot. It was on "6" from the factory and I put it on "4".

I don't know if I put to much focus in it, but shouldn't the puck be nice a dry afterwards? It is almost soaked in water - regardless of what I do - after the brewing.

Just bought new beans, roasted 3/12/2021 which I will experiment with later.


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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

AndreasBLarsen said:


> Hey @damo6925, thanks for the reply as well! Yeah, I actually did that before heading to bed yesterday and I got the extraction time to get around 7-8 seconds and managed to get close to a normal size portion for 1 shot. It was on "6" from the factory and I put it on "4".
> 
> I don't know if I put to much focus in it, but shouldn't the puck be nice a dry afterwards? It is almost soaked in water - regardless of what I do - after the brewing.
> 
> Just bought new beans, roasted 3/12/2021 which I will experiment with later.


 Have a read here and implement the recommendations.

https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/51039-sage-beprodtp-etc-read-this-first/?do=embed#comments

Pull the shots manually (check manual if unsure how), don't just press button and stand back. Weigh input (beans) and output (liquid).


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## dutchy101 (Jun 12, 2020)

Fresh beans will be a big help. You won't learn much from trying to pull shots with stale beans.


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## General-S-1 (Jul 27, 2015)

+1 fresh beans


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## soymilk (Aug 22, 2021)

try grind setting at 12 and 18g of beans.

I do not fill the grinding chamber. I weigh 18-20g each time and leave the bean chamber empty.


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## Fatima (12 d ago)

AndreasBLarsen said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I got the machine yesterday and I've spent way to much time and coffee trying to get it right...


Hi. did you manage to solve the problem, I have the same problem with my Sage Barsita pro. I used to have a Barista express before and was very happy with it, not much to learn nad experience with this new Baristat pro but the results are quite different! no matter how much I tried with different grinding sizes and diferent types of coffees, it dosn't improve!


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Some none fresh roasted beans have this characteristic. This was the worst one I came across. Someone bought me a pack for Xmas


https://www.bettys.co.uk/jamaica-blue-mountain-coffee-beans


Curiously even though water flooded through it did taste like blue mountain. I should have tried it with a dual wall basket really handled the usual way via grinder setting and dose.of grinds. Sage's razor tool gives a good idea of the dose of grinds needed and can be use but people may have problems with the puck turning. It's intended to take out the variations that a timed grind has. Maybe a gram unless the setting is changed. Sage's tamper also indicates max fill height. A bit more can be used. A light vague impression of the shower screen fixing screw is likely to be ok but the grinds will be being compressed a bit more when they expand.

Tamping to light can cause problems. If people think they can't reach the pressure suggested lean on the tamper. Consistency is the important aspect.

An easy to get bean that should grind well. When I visit Starbucks I asked for an americano using their blond roast. It has an interesting balance with a BIT of milk, maybe 2 of the little tubs some outlets use, I bought a pack to see if I could get the same taste as they do at home. My machine broke just after buying the last pack. Still sealed and 2 to 3 months later still ok when I replaced the machine, Only beans I had, The taste - still work in progress, Normal ratios I use haven't worked out. Maybe ultralow needed or a different time.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

soymilk said:


> I do not fill the grinding chamber. I weigh 18-20g each time and leave the bean chamber empty.


If you do that there will be a loss in what comes out when the grinder is clean, After a number of shots and maybe some days as well what comes out will be close to what went in. The variation then seems to be down to broken beans on top of the burrs. Fraction of a gram. If beans are changed these can be hoovered off. If the grind chamber is also cleaned the whole thing starts again. What I found is that if that was left as is there may be a carry over in taste for 1 or 2 shots after the bean is changed, IMHO easier to put up with than a total clean and going through the above again. Other grinders - well most trap some. Total cleans needn't be done that often if the grinder is in regular use.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Fatima said:


> I have the same problem with my Sage Barsita pro. I used to have a Barista express before and was very happy with it,


Some of Sage's machines now say 9bar brewing. On the BE that will be around where the pressure gauge needle is at 12 o'clock. I'd suspect many just like me brewed at higher pressure readings. What does that do. From the beans I used a tendency for more crema and less coffee needed than brewing at 9bar. Taste changes, A bit tricky, I don't use the same ratio on my DB as I did on my BE, On the DB I don't have to worry about the thermocoil being heated up. I had my way of doing that before pulling a shot. Some ran a bit of steam first, I've no idea what the thermojet does, The best check really is taste - make 2 on the trot, If prep is NVG taste may change anyway. Initially I always made 3 on the trot. Shots were pretty consistent eventually. One day I tasted each one, First was a lot different to 2nd so found a solution.

The brew pressure change probably explains your problems. If you had a gagia you'd be lusting to increase it to 9bar. You now using what many vibe pump machines use.


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