# Sage Oracle Drop Time Help



## TheGreatestSmith (8 mo ago)

Hi all, 

I have had the Sage Oracle for a while now but I am now stuck. I use good quality coffee beans from Crosby Coffee, I only use double shots, I have my grind size right so it will produce 50-60ml in total, but despite all of this my drop time is usually around 7s. If I lower the grind, it'll poor too poorly so I know it isn't that. 

The setting for the pre-infusion is 12 seconds but still can not get it to the recommended setting. I have also tried other beans from other independent roasters and still the same. Any idea what I may be doing wrong? 

Thanks!


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

How much coffee are you using ? A double pulled from 18 gms would be about 36 ml / gms in 25 - 30 sec.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

TheGreatestSmith said:


> The setting for the pre-infusion is 12 seconds but still can not get it to the recommended setting. I have also tried other beans from other independent roasters and still the same. Any idea what I may be doing wrong?
> 
> Thanks!


Can you give us a clue as to what is the problem, with respect as to the taste of the coffee produced?


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## Jonathon White (Dec 7, 2021)

TheGreatestSmith said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I have had the Sage Oracle for a while now but I am now stuck. I use good quality coffee beans from Crosby Coffee, I only use double shots, I have my grind size right so it will produce 50-60ml in total, but despite all of this my drop time is usually around 7s. If I lower the grind, it'll poor too poorly so I know it isn't that.
> 
> ...


Not so sure I understand your dosing. A single espresso tends to be around 9g and a double around 18g. Brewing at a 1:1.5 or 1:2 your looking at 27-36g espresso. Aprox grinding for a 25 second brew time. Pre infusion I would have around 6-8 seconds then around 20 seconds brew. If I was getting it faster for the weight I would grind finer. Then taste and very small adjustment is bitter or sour. Also temp is to be part of the equation for type of roast.


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## TheGreatestSmith (8 mo ago)

so the taste is good but I don’t get as much flavour from the oracle than I have done when using the same beans on another machine (family member has another sage but not the oracle), so wondered whether this could be why given the videos online say a drop of 10-12 seconds. 
temp is set at 92 degrees.
I’ve never actually weighed the result so I’ll do that and get back to you all, thanks so much already!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

TheGreatestSmith said:


> I’ve never actually weighed the result so I’ll do that and get back to you all, thanks so much already!


There's nothing wrong with pulling a 50-60g shot from 18g (1:3 shot) of dose (though I thought the Oracle could hold more like 20g?). A 1:2 shot, if extracted well, will be stronger, more intense at a good flavour (if not extracted well, it can become tart/sharp). Concentrate on getting a good flavour, then if you need to up the intensity see if grinding finer with less shot weight can do that without ruining the taste.

Steer the flavour balance with grind size, don't fret over time too much.


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## TheGreatestSmith (8 mo ago)

So the weight of the grind was 25g, with a 50g shot. Is that a lot for the sage basket?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

TheGreatestSmith said:


> So the weight of the grind was 25g, with a 50g shot. Is that a lot for the sage basket?


Seems a little on the high side, how do the shots taste?

Is the machine delivering preset doses? (e.g. you are not weighing them into the PF).


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