# Dialing in Oracle Touch



## Frog (Sep 13, 2020)

I just got my Oracle Touch (a machine refurbished by the local Sage service center). Currently I've got a problem getting the double espresso dialed in. I went through nearly kilo of good beans (medium dark roast, freshly opened but roasted 14 days ago)

The first shot I did this morning was pretty good, grind setting 22 and 28 seconds achieved 21 gramms in and 47 Gramms out.

Once I started adjusting the settings a little bit (or after the machine warmed up more?) output started to swing wildly. I discard the first grind but even despite that subsequent shots might vary in output. After 15 doubles (with various settings) I was at grind setting 22 again with 54 grams out in 22 (!) seconds - good but not quite enough extraction.

Any tips for dialing in the machine? How can I adjust for the grinder heating up and changing?


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## earthflattener (Jul 27, 2015)

I don't have an Oracle, so probably not the best source of advice, but with my dual boiler 21g might be a little too much for a dark roast. Are you sure that there is no imprint of the screen on the dry puck (it is ok to have a mark when saturated). Presumably you are using the Oracle to distribute and tamp and not changing those settings?


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## Frog (Sep 13, 2020)

Sorry I miss-typed above - the first espresso was 37 not 47 grams.

Yes, I'm using the integrated automatic grinder and tamper - tamp looks okay as far as I can tell.









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## Frog (Sep 13, 2020)

Forgot to add: as far as I know tamp pressure can not be changed with the Oracle Touch. Dosage can only be changed by removing and adjusting the tamper fan which I haven't done.

As far as I understand 20-22 grams ist the optimal fill for the standard basket.

I'm looking for a 1:2.2 ratio to start with and dial in grind size and time before moving on to other settings. My problem seems to be more with the machine changing while I pull shots which makes dialing it in difficult.

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## earthflattener (Jul 27, 2015)

sure...admittedly, it doesn't look to high in the basket. I do remember James Hoffman's video mentioning that the grind drifted a bit as the oracle's grinder got hotter and he needed to go a bit finer, but if he reset the next morning it came back to the same values as the previous morning. I'm afraid I don't know anything about your grinder or how it might misbehave with heat, but the result you have got are certainly large swings. I think I will have to wait for someone with more experience with this machine to look for a better suggestion. Good luck!


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