# Sage Oracle and decaf beans



## Novice (Dec 4, 2020)

Hi, My husband loves coffee and we have just bought a Sage Oracle. We are not coffee experts, we haven't had any other machine, we just like coffee. I only drink decaf and my husband drinks normal. I've read that it's not easy to use the grinder for both as it will contaminate the decaf, have people found that to be the case? If so, how do I get to enjoy a nice decaf coffee from the machine? I've heard about separate grinders, are they expensive and once ground is it the same process as you would use for the regular? Any recommendations for not too expensive ones? Sorry there are so many questions. I am a novice!

Thanks in advance.


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## Crownandcanvas (Sep 16, 2020)

HI @Novice!

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Sage Machine!

So most grinders will typically have some retention (Ground coffee trapped in the shoot that never made it too your portafilter or dosing cup) so when swapping coffees, if you dont purge your grinder (Purging is when you drop some of the new coffee in, grind it through and throw it away to clear out any retention left in the grinder) you will often get some of the old coffee being pushed into your portafilter. Not a huge problem for day to day use, but when swapping coffees often purging can be wasteful and if you're swapping from decaf to regular coffee and back then you may want to purge every time to ensure you're getting rid of all of the other coffee left in the grinder.

It also means when swapping coffee's you're going to want to adjust the grind every time, as each coffee will most likely require a different grind setting to suit it, and its recipe.

Using another grinder in addition to the one in your Sage is actually quite common, alot of people do it for your exact reason. You can dial in the coffees seperatly, and that way avoid any cross contamination between Decaf/regular coffee, and still get delicious brews without any waste (fingers crossed).

Choosing an additional grinder, well the worlds your oyster... but as you're just getting into it all, and you already have a Sage machine, Id reccomend sticking in that eco system and getting yourself another Sage grinder - as both grinders will operate similarly, so once you've got your head around the one, you've got your head around both.

This way you can keep your Decaf in say the grinder, other coffees in the machine, and just dial the recipes in individually and you can both enjoy coffee without having to swap out beans and purge and dial in for every brew.

https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/products/coffee-grinders/bcg820.html

Something like the above will do well, and there's a number of independant roasters and suppliers out there who may have these in stock just in time for Christmas!

Hope this helps, any questions just let me know, happy to help!


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## Novice (Dec 4, 2020)

That is a really helpful post, thank you crown & Canvas


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## Crownandcanvas (Sep 16, 2020)

Novice said:


> That is a really helpful post, thank you crown & Canvas


 Anytime!


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