Breville Oracle Touch Review: Top-of-the-Line Espresso Machine
Having a super-automatic espresso machine with less control can be annoying for some people. Though a semi-automatic gives control over the coffee-making process, it may be daunting to make manual efforts. Moreover, it required barista skills to pull a perfect shot.
So what’s the solution?
Here comes Breville Oracle Touch espresso machine, filling the gap between a semi and super-automatic espresso machine. Oracle Touch is the right combo for a coffee lover who wants control like a manual machine but the ease of use like a super-automatic espresso machine.
Keep reading Breville Oracle Touch Review to know how everything is Thought Through in it.
An Overview of Breville Oracle Touch
Breville Oracle Touch
Enjoy third-wave specialty coffee at home with its 4 keys formula:
Summary
Oracle Touch is Breville’s most premium offering in its lineup of espresso machines, with more control and better results. This third unit Oracle comes with a touchscreen which makes it user-friendly. Everything is a touch screen, down to the grind size, temp, and cleaning.
Further, with a gorgeous design, Oracle looks proudly on the kitchen counter space. It’s fully automated except for moving the Portafilter from the tamper to the brewing unit. And amazingly, after grinding fresh whole beans, it tamps the grinds automatically.
Moreover, it comes with a large water tank that holds enough water for brewing regularly without refilling it after every use. For further ease, the machine demands zero cleaning because it performs automated rinsing, and it’s super-easy to initiate the cleaning cycle.
For one thing– Oracle Touch is genius, and that is its auto-tamp grinder. It produces a consistent grind like a pro without wasting a single grain and tamps smooth and precise, giving you better than a Starbucks drink.
Believe it or not, Oracle pays for itself in time, so be assured you have a well-built, sturdy, and solid machine with an excellent long black, flat white latte and cappuccino.
Drinks that Oracle Touch offers:
It gives you 5 pre-selected
If you love Ristretto or Macchiato Espresso, Jura S8 offers these trendy drinks.
Next, you can Create, save, and name 8 customizable coffee settings.
Breville is an Australian-based brand, and the new hybrid Oracle Touch is being marketed under the Sage brand in Europe. But both machines are damn the same.
Pros
Cons
Breville Oracle Touch Review
The Breville Oracle Touch is a top-of-the-line espresso machine that boasts a range of innovative features, making it a standout choice for both experts and everyday coffee drinkers.
Several unique features of the Breville Oracle Touch set it apart from other espresso machines on the market:
So what are you waiting for? An honest and detailed review? Let’s do it.
Design and Build of Oracle Touch
Unlike other super-automatic espresso machines, Oracle Touch uses less plastic and more stainless steel. Oracle is bulky enough with this stainless steel casing, measures 14.7 x 14.5 x 17.6 inches, and weighs 37.3 pounds.
Is it heavy? Yes, it’s. But worry not; the machine has three wheels to move or shift smoothly and easily without lifting it.
Furthermore, most of the build is stainless steel, as the commercial portafilter is also made of steel with a handle of premium plastic. The use of plastic is less in its manufacturing except for the front and rear panels, but it’s high quilty plastic.
Again, a colorful touch screen enhances the clean and minimalistic design philosophy of Breville Oracle Touch among its competitors. To enjoy the variety of looks, it comes in four different aesthetic colors: Black truffle, Damson blue, black stainless steel, and brushed stainless steel.
In essence, Oracle Touch is high-end, with good quality specialty coffee and easy to operate, super-automatic espresso machine. All you need to know about counter space as it’s a fairly large machine.
Touch Screen / Breville Oracle Touch Review
The Breville Oracle Touch super-automatic espresso machine comes with all bells and whistles. Oracle uses a colorful gee-whiz LCD touchscreen to perform all actions by simply swiping and selecting your favorite drinks.
Furthermore, all drinks and instructions are on the screen, so there’s no need to push any button to perform the action. All your menu is there; you can adjust the volume and temperature of drinks with the touch of your fingertip.
In addition, you can customize your drinks as per your preference and save them with your name for next time use. So, the advantages of the touchscreen make the Oracle Touch more convenient and simple to use. You can create and save up to 8 personalized coffees.
Water Reservoir
A large water tank with a capacity of 84 oz less the effort of refilling it after repeated brew. To beautify the water tank, built-in lights shine down on the lower side and illuminate the indicator of the tank level.
Bean Hopper/Grinder
The Breville Oracle Touch comes with a large bean hopper with a capacity of 8 oz beans. Further, you can lock and unlock it after filling the beans in it, and it’s removable so that you can wash it separately; that’s why I called it a lock hopper.
The Oracle knows well how to design the elements smartly. On the top of this hopper comes a Tupperware-Esque cover. The downside is it isn’t a dual hopper, so you can’t make a decaf coffee using your pre-ground coffee.
Conical burr Grinder/ Dose Control
Another amazing feature that makes the Oracle an amazing automatic espresso machine is its integrated conical burr grinder. It automatically grinds, tamps, and doses the grains up to 18 -22 grams.
Additionally, this burr grinder has 45 different grind settings, from finest to coarsest. You can adjust the setting by using the knob on the machine’s side. For further control over your coffee preferences, you can adjust the grind size manually by setting the upper burr.
One point that should be noted is that this grinder is made up of ceramic which may heat up after repeated or regular use. So you need to alter the settings in between pulling the shots repeatedly.
Here’s the secret – this super-automatic machine uses a Portafilter for grinding and tamping. Sounds strange?
Unlike other automatic espresso machines, Oracle uses Portafilter, but no worries it’s not a semi-automatic espresso machine that will require manual grinding and tamping. Yes, it has auto grind and tamps.
The Breville Oracle Touch uses a 58-mm commercial-grade portafilter with 2 baskets having different sizes for single and double-shot doses. Oracle does auto-grinding and tamping, so you only need to move the Portafilter from the tamper to the extractor.
What’s the secret? This commercial Portafilter gives you manual control over brewing, as you can use a separate grinder and do your own tamping and dosing as per your wish; you can make your decaf by grinding separately. Sounds cool?
How to Tamp Espresso in Breville?
Tamping espresso in a Breville machine is a simple process:
Note: It’s important to tamp the coffee evenly and with the correct pressure to produce a high-quality espresso shot. The pressure should be firm enough to create a level surface but not so hard that it damages the machine or the coffee basket. Read all about perfect tamping here.
Brewing Process
This is where Oracle bridges the gap between commercial and consumer grades by focusing on taste and consistency that skips the cafe craving. This premium version of Breville works on 4 key formulas to make the brewing aromatic and delicious.
1. Rich Full Flavor
Oracle uses a dose-control auto grind and tamps grinder that ensures aromatic and consistent coffee. This burr grinder uses the right dose of 18 – 22g fresh beans, giving the coffee an incredible aroma and intense flavor. Anything less than the right dose makes weak and thin coffee.
2. Perfectly Balanced Taste
For further perfection in taste, Oracle uses digital temperature control thanks to PID technology. This PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) water-controlled system precisely regulates the temperature of the water. A dual PID combination ensures a balanced taste.
As you’re likely aware that water temperature is a key factor in pulling a perfect hot espresso shot, so Oracle uses a dual PID system. One PID ensures the right water temperature while working with the boiler, and the second PID regulates the temperature of the brewing unit to keep the brewing temperature maintained to pull the shot.
3. Irresistible Body
The next secret for a perfect shot, Oracle uses Optimal Water Pressure (OPV). It’s a commercial feature that limits the maximum pressure throughout the extraction to prevent the bitter taste.
Additionally, the pre-infusion process of brewing helps create maximum aroma and taste. This low-pressure pre-infusion makes the beans wet gradually as the water passes evenly through these beans.
And after this pre-infusion, a recommended 9-bar pressure is delivered via a 15-bar Italian pressure pump to pull a perfect espresso shot. This whole process ensures a rich, sweet, and hot espresso shot.
4. Silky, Velvety Mouthfeel
Do you crave a delicate balance of espresso base with milk that has a sweet taste and a micro-foam texture? Thanks to Micro-Foam Steam Wand, which works with a dedicated steam boiler to create a creamy texture barista quality milk foam.
Additionally, after making a silky micro-foam to enhance the flavor of your coffee, then the steam wand cleans itself. Further, you can adjust the temperature and texture of milk up to 104 to 167 degrees Fahrenheit via the milk system.
Milk Frothing
Another equally important feature of Oracle Touch is its milk frother which is easy to use. You just need to place the mug of milk under the steam wand, and more interestingly, it’ll adjust the steam pressure automatically after measuring the temperature of your milk.
Further, you can adjust the temperature according to your drinks, i.e., between 131 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit is perfect for dense or latte art; you can adjust the temperature for your rich foam texture to top your cappuccino.
Thinking of trying your barista skills? I can feel the feeling of being one’s own barista–so here you go.
The Breville Oracle Touch allows you to steam your milk manually, but I’m sure you will prefer to trust the magic of the touch of a button.
Maintenance of the Breville Oracle Touch
All super-automatic espresso machines are sensitive to maintenance and cleanliness. Oracle Touch also requires a cleaning cycle after every use, which is good for you; it rinses itself automatically and prompts you when to descale it.
Descaling Oracle requires releasing the steam pressure by opening the boiler’s valves with Allen keys. Make sure to place the towel to avoid burns. Moreover, the descaling cycle can take 60 minutes to finish and additional 60 minutes for cooling down.
How and why does descaling take place? Read the complete article here.
Although the machine cleans and descales itself with a push of a button, It’s a matter of tasting buds and you won’t like even the mildly sour taste of your coffee. Isn’t it?
So, for deep cleaning, you must clean and wash each part of a machine that involves brewing, thanks to the Breville Oracle Touch’s removable features.
Let’s start with the amazing Portafilter.
A separate Portafilter ensures that no nasty guck will be stuck in any inaccessible area of your machine. So, cleaning Portafilter under fresh tap water after every use is recommended. No worries, it only takes 10 – 15 seconds to wash, but it gives you the original taste each time.
Another important part that can change the taste of your milk beverages is the steam wand, yes, you rightly guess. Though the steam wand bursts out a splash of hot water after every use, for deep cleaning, it’s good practice to clean the tip of the wand, which is easily removable.
Next, an amazing feature that I like most is its removable burr grinder. You can easily unlock and detach the grinder and clean it with provided brushes and tools. Additionally, you can remove the tamping fan using a magnet for deep cleaning.
Now it’s time to clean your drip tray, by-the-way it’s large enough to hold the residues. The machine will let you know by displaying the “empty me” sign on your touchscreen once it gets full. And it’s quite easy to pull it for removal and place it back after washing.
When you pull the drip tray, you’ll find a hidden compartment to store all provided tools in a tool tray. There’s also a dial to lock or unlock the machine’s wheels used for easy shifting.
All in all, this automatic espresso machine requires some additional effort as most of its parts are removable, a good approach, though, for deep cleaning. However, these timely efforts will save you from the potential issues of brewing.
Moreover, the machine comes with a cleaning kit that includes the following tools:
Oracle Touch vs Breville Oracle
Oracle Touch is an upgrade of Breville Oracle. Oracle Touch is more user-friendly with its colorful touchscreen, which is a fantastic addition for a technophile. However, from the aspects of working, both machines do the same work for brewing quality coffee.
Value for Money: Breville Oracle Touch Review
The Breville Oracle Touch comes with thoughtful and handy features. It comes with all bells and whistles, i.e., from the auto grind and tamp to self-rinsing like a super-automatic machine. But the feature that makes this machine a hybrid (semi-plus automatic) espresso machine is its Portafilter.
I know Oracle comes with a hefty price tag that includes it among the most expensive espresso makers. But its use of advanced technology like a dual boiler system, triple heat system, microfoam milk texture, and Optimal water pressure justify its cost.
Let me do some calculations to show you the other side of the coin. Suppose you’re living with a family of 2 or 3 members, and they love a latte or even regular coffee, then you would likely pay $4 per cup.
And if you enjoy 3 cups a day, as the National Coffee Association (NCA) says, the average coffee drinker in America takes 3 cups of coffee per day. Then you’re paying more than the price of Oracle Touch without having different delicious specialty coffees.
Still not convinced?– Well, with all its advantages, this amazing espresso machine can recover the entire cost within a year if you’re in a household of two regular coffee drinkers.
Moreover, it comes with 2 years warranty in case it stops working. Good news– Breville pays for shipping this machine, so no extra bucks from your wallet.
Who’s For? Breville Oracle Touch Review
The Breville Oracle Touch is a happy medium of a semi and super-automatic espresso machine, which is good for an aficionado or a person with basic barista skills. Those who love to play manually will enjoy experimenting with this hybrid machine.
Don’t Buy Breville Oracle Touch
If you’re out of budget, then better to avoid such expensive machines as this machine having advanced technology comes with a high price,
Secondly, if you’re not crazy about specialty coffee like Latte etc., try to go for a basic espresso machine.
Final Thoughts
Let’s rewind and express my honest verdict about Breville Oracle Touch Review.
The Breville Oracle Touch is undoubtedly an amazing espresso machine that will make you feel like a pro barista. Its touchscreen display is super easy to use, and the built-in grinder ensures every espresso shot is made with fresh beans for the best flavor.
The automatic milk frother is a major convenience, and the “Precision Pressure Control” feature lets you get the perfect espresso shot every time. And if you have a lot of people in your household who love coffee, the machine can save multiple user profiles so everyone can customize their own settings.
Overall, the Breville Oracle Touch is a top-of-the-line choice for anyone looking to up their home espresso game.