# Sage By Heston Blumenthal - The Oracle



## Mrboots2u

If you have any questions about this machine please ask here

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?19214-Safe-Oracle-Questions&p=218924#post218924

This is newish machine from Sage pitched on their website thus

"first automatic manual espresso machine that brings true café quality to your home without the barista. The Oracle™ has automatic grinding, dosing, tamping and milk texturing, automating the two most difficult parts of manual espresso. It's like there's a barista inside"

Its a bold claim to make , so was interested to get my hands on one . The plan was to have a play with this machine at home, experience the white gloves service provided for all purchasers and then send it to work and see it I could get my staff ( 20 plus people ) to use it over the course of a few weeks rather than go to Starbucks and Costa nearby....

Sage have provided this machine for review , i have not purchased this machine

OPENING THE BOX

It came very well packaged and delivered , tons of styrofoam around inside the box , was secure and nothing wrong with it .....

Its a sizeable box and alot bigger than I expected , mainly due to the packaging inside .

























In the first box Milk jug, knock box, double spout PF and basket, spare O rings and bit for the milk frother, brushes and cleaning tablets for the rest of the machine..


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## Mrboots2u

The behind some substantial packaging the machine itself .....









Here it is ready to go...


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## Mrboots2u

The Espresso machine has the same components as the Sage Dual Boiler

There is no pstat on the front ( as there is on the Sae DB ) being the only real cosmetic difference

So it is a double boiler machine ( you can steam and make drinks at the same time )

The brew boiler has a PID so you can alter the brew temperature , you can alter the pre infusion time and pressure of pre infusion if you wish to do so .

The machine can be set to run for single and double timed shots of your choice , or there is a volumetric system in the advance menu....

There is a wealth of features in the menu , but given that , the machine is in my opinion is aimed , as providing coffee simply then these may not be off interest to the average purchaser, but for those that get more into making their coffee then there are more features to keep them occupied ...









More info for the machine can be found on the sage website

http://www.sageappliances.co.uk/the-oracle.html


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## Mrboots2u

The machine comes with a good quick start guide with simple instructions and pictures to get you going

Advising washing the water tank , inserting a filter and a test for water hardness ( this then allows a feature in the menu to be set for when to descale, for the less technically minded the White gloves service covers this , more later )

The machines takes 7 minutes ish to get to temp and then you can start pulling shots ( in the menus there is the ability to set a timer for it to come on and off as you wish , if so required )


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## Mrboots2u

White Gloves Service

The company the provides this, rang me up to organise , booked an a.m visit for Monday

Steve turned up at 10 am , smartly dressed ( no white gloves ) in company t shirt , introduced himself and off we set looking through the machine.

Steve has been involved with coffee way or another for over twenty years and was confident and polite.

we set about dialling in a coffee i was used to ( archetype blend from J Atkinson Roasters )

It was in some ways a slightly artificial situation as Steve knew , that i had some experience with coffee and machines ( the big lever sitting next to the Sage was hard to hide ) , I asked him to go through the process he would with a new purchaser with no experience.

He set about , showing me how to maintain and clean the machine with the accesories provided . So this included how to backflush the machine , look after and change parts on the steam arm, descale and set the water hardness.

We then went through the menu functions for setting shot times , how to turn the machine on and other functions

I then asked Steve to dial in the coffee i had provided . He pulled a couple of shots , eyeballing the pours and tasting as he went , always asking me to taste and asking me how i thought it tasted . He asked me what coffee i was using , and for the tasting notes , to get a better idea of what the coffee was capable off .

Steve said his approach was to aim for a taste than both he and the customer liked in these visits , making shots and drinks, tasting for balance , and adjusting til both him and the customer were happy..

First shot was a bit fast and lacking in body and sweetness , Steve then adjusted the grind based on a 25 second shot and pulled another , third shot in , he had reached a espresso we both liked that was balanced with a decent crema . He had ended up where i had the coffee dialled in previous to his visit ( this was working to a 1:1.6 brew ratio with scales that i know tastes good with this blend )

He made some milk drinks , am americano, asked me what my favourite drink was ( to get an idea of what we should be concentrating on )

The hour flew by and Steve was good company , clearly loved good coffee , and was quick to dial in the coffee i had provided .

He showed me a few advanced functions that I enquired about ( volumetrics , changing dose etc )

We filled in the warranty details, Steve said if there were any problems he would talk customers through on the phone and if needed would come out .

If there was any issues with the machine then one of his team would visit to repair or take the machine away ( as opposed to sending it back to base )

All in all its a good service for people who have bought their first machine and have no real experience of dialling in a coffee or bean , Steve has the skills to help those people on the their way and leave them with a machine making drinks to the best of its capabilities and leave them with the right skills to make the machine work and get the best from its simple functions .


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## Mrboots2u

So what Does this machine do that others dont ?

Dosing and Tamping

Ok so the new part on this machine is that is grinds , tamps and doses for the user. The grinder is the the as the Sage Smart Grinder , with a 38mm conical burr set , this sits in the top of the machine....the grind has 30 settings from coarse to fine , adjusted by a simple knob on the side and the setting displayed by a clear LCD screen. Its got a removable hopper, the grinder wont work unless the hopper is locked in place. .....

The dose is fixed at 22g , and is pretty consistent, tested across 10 doses it was within 0.2/3g irrespective of whether the grinder was on its coarsest setting 30 or its finer settings. Pretty impressive. The tamp was level ( tamp pressure and time applied can be changed in the user menu ) there were a few stray grinds on top but nothing significant ...

Sage Oracle Grinding and tamping


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## Mrboots2u

What does it do that other machines don't? ( part two )

Milk Steaming

so its other new feature , is the milk steaming arm . My experience of these , has bean on bean to cups or panerillo arms on semi auto machines, these tend to produce burning hot milk with the micro foam consistency of a bottle of well shaken Mr Matey. You can adjust the temperature of the milk and the level of micro foam it produces by clicking and turning the button ( I like how a happy face appear between the temps of ...... )

The arm also auto purges after steaming when put back into the vertical position .....

Here it is steaming 4 oz of milk






Latte ( least foam )









Cappuccino ( most foam )









Compare









Gotta say this function is really impressive, have shown it to a UKBC contestant who commented on the quality it produced...It makes sweet lovely microfoam at the touch of a button

Good enough to try bad latte art with..


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## Mrboots2u

Dosing tamping and steaming clips and posts now added above ...


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## The Systemic Kid

Milk steaming function is pretty darn good for an automatic - bit slowish but does a good job. The auto steam purge shows good attention to detail too.


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## Mrboots2u

Ok some stuff on maintenance and cleaning today ....

Accessing and cleaning the grinder is really simple as is cleaning the part that tamps


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## Mrboots2u

Ok making drinks time .....how long for two single shot milk drinks .....

These were both very tasty , sweet milk and the chocolate punched through from the Atkinsons blend like it should

Scales on to test the extraction also 22g in 36g out


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## Mrboots2u

Ok, timer function has been working proper , set 10 minutes before I wake up each morning, machine is ready to go.

First time last might LIz made me a drink ( and herself a long black ) ....10 seconds quick instruction on which buttons to press and off she went .....

Once dialled in , it's easy enough for her to use.


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## Mrboots2u

Ok bit more info

Grind need adjusting slight during the day if the machine I'd left on

Function of it warming and the integrated grinder I think

Only need 2-3 notches on the grinder tho

Used the pre programmed long black function today

Really simple stuff.

Gonna do some back flushing tomorrow on clips

Then it's going to a house where Nespresso is king for a couple of days


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## Mrboots2u

Ok using the "long black " function today . Simple way of making yourself a drink

Can be programmed how you want and has three options S, M , L

Quick and easy






Anyone guess the song ?

Ive opened this thread up sensible comment for any more suggestions


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## Charliej

How have you been getting on with the volumetrics Martin, as I would imagine when you take into work that would be the most used way for them to get the best shots they can.


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## Mrboots2u

Volumetrics are pretty simple to use and set up

As posted before the longer them machine is on l the hotter the beans get , the more adjustment to grind needed during the day to keep the output the same .


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## Dylan

Is there a point when it 'reaches temp' and the beans are at a stable temperature until the end of the day?


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## Mrboots2u

D_Evans said:


> Is there a point when it 'reaches temp' and the beans are at a stable temperature until the end of the day?


Err presume so but no idea of how to test that

I would imagine its a common thing in any machine that has an in built on demand grinder

Or any bean2 cup.


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## Mrboots2u

The auto off cuts in at a minimum an hour so I presume it will cool down and heat up


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## ronsil

What happens if you try to dose the grinder one shot at a time? or is that not possible.

Just thinking would prevent heat build up for beans.


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## Dylan

Mrboots2u said:


> Err presume so but no idea of how to test that
> 
> I would imagine its a common thing in any machine that has an in built on demand grinder
> 
> Or any bean2 cup.


Do you have a thermometer that can sit in with the beans? May be worth casually observing any change in temp.

Also, does a warmer temperature cause a shorter shelf life for the beans?


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## Mrboots2u

I have a thermopen

Depends on how long the beans sit in there I suppose

I haven't noticed anything awful so far

I haven't filled the hopper to the brim either


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## ronsil

Back to my question(s). Is it possible to add beans one dose at a time.?

Would there be much retention.?

Thinking about this as my 'travelling' machine to replace the Classic I've just sold


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## Mrboots2u

ronsil said:


> Back to my question(s). Is it possible to add beans one dose at a time.?
> 
> Would there be much retention.?
> 
> Thinking about this as my 'travelling' machine to replace the Classic I've just sold


It isn't designed to single dose , it's a lot bigger than a classic

I'm not sure I'd want to lug it around

Is has some kind of weighing mech in it , as it doses 22 g each time +\- 03g.

You can alter a mech to make it dose less in the tamper part

If it runs out of beans in the hopper the grinder still runs though

No idea what this would to grind consistency etc

The hooper does come off leaving only beans in the throat


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## ronsil

Thanks for that will really have to go to JL to look & lift one.


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