[TobyAnscombe]

You'll be happy - I've had mine since December and its not made a bad cup yet. Grind is set to 25-27 depending on age of beans and a double shot comes out in 30 sec.

 

[AndyGBarton]

My Oracle arrived yesterday & in the interests of a good nights sleep I only had 2 double espressos out of it yesterday I have a black one & the external build quality is impressive. I have not dialed it in 100% yet & a double shot was 6g short but wow. I got a great deal at £1000 new but if you have the money I would at the moment suggest shopping around at full price is ok.

 

[CMax]

My Oracle arrived yesterday & in the interests of a good nights sleep I only had 2 double espressos out of it yesterday I have a black one & the external build quality is impressive. I have not dialed it in 100% yet & a double shot was 6g short but wow. I got a great deal at £1000 new but if you have the money I would at the moment suggest shopping around at full price is ok.

Wow, £1000. That is an amazing price!!

where did you get it from?

 

[GerryM]

@AndyGBarton £1000 for a new Oracle is a great price, where did you buy it at that price please?

 

[AndyGBarton]

They accepted a £1000 offer. I looked at previous history of them to come up with the £1k bid

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sage-BES980BKS-10-Cups-Coffee-Maker-black-sesame-brand-new-unopened/263543676898?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

[AndyGBarton]

I was also looking at XS items LTD on ebay for a while. Beware, they often have expensive items missing, second hand too :-(

 

[AndyGBarton]

Chivalry & good old British fair play would suggest everyone lets CMax place an offer on the last one if he wishes ;-) lol

 

[GerryM]

Is the warranty valid with Sage if purchased through the ebay seller and do you still get the white glove service do you know?

 

[AndyGBarton]

I will register it soon but the white glove is of little interest to me. I'll update soon

 

[ajohn]

I was also looking at XS items LTD on ebay for a while. Beware, they often have expensive items missing, second hand too :-(

They usually state what comes with the machine. They also sell both refurbished and used - distinct difference. The refurbished come with a warrantee, return to base but better than nothing.

I bought a dual boiler of them recently. Refurbished. I think I would avoid used. The machine produced steam the first time it powered up but failed to shortly after. The pumps made a hell of a racket when I first turned it on. May explain why this happened. XS were pretty easy to deal with. The usual instructions - unblock / descale the steam wand. This it seems is what Sage tell them to say. They paid the return costs and offered to try and find me another one. The 2nd one has been fine but when it arrived I opened the tank drain valves and left it for 10 mins like that before powering it up. I suspect that transport had caused some sort of air lock on the first one. There are a reports of a weakness on the steam boiler that can cause a thermal fuse to fail if filling it messes up. I do believe that they really do fully check the machines before sending them out.

Sort of hoisted by their own petard on the first one. Testing needs a fill.

There was a delay before I could make coffee. Just to be sure of where the machine is I gave it a thorough descale and a very thorough flush. That takes over an hour.

Some people buy Sage machines with a 3 year warrantee and sell as soon as that is up. Some may do the same with the 2 year ones. I went refurb on the basis that if it breaks I can fix it myself. Also not sure if the DB is what I want. I was perfectly happy with my Barista Express.

Might even go back to it. Doubt it but .............. I'm still tuning my drinks to suite the DB. The BE is sorted in that respect.

John

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[Dumnorix]

Well here the update.

i went to John Lewis Oxford Street to view the Oracle & Touch.

A Sage Barista was demonstrating the Touch and after 45 mins of discussing both machines I ended up placing an order there and then for a touch. We've had it a few days now and I really like the machine. The steam wand is really great for a beginner but I can see an experienced barista may not love the fact they are not in full control. let the fun begin?

It sounds like you have made a great choice for your circumstances. I have the Sage Dual Boiler as I wanted more control but if my wife and children were making drinks too it would be a different story! I'm lucky I have a very forgiving wife who is happy for half of our kitchen to be devoted to coffee!!

 

[ajohn]

If I wanted an Oracle the touch might appeal if all of the adjustment factors can be stored in a particular drink including infusion settings etc. On the other hand I would feel that I was paying way too much for the cost of the parts used to provide the touch screen especially as the cost of the switches and wiring on the none touch is saved.

If they did a Touch Dual Boiler I would probably find myself missing what the current buttons can do especially when I am tuning a particular drink. None of the Touch machines have a pressure gauge. Maybe no need on Oracles but having got used to using one for various reasons I wouldn't be happy about loosing it.

John

-

 

[nomilknosugar]

As our DeLonghi bean to cup is on its last legs (after 6 years of daily use), it's the perfect opportunity to upgrade. The Oracle +/-Touch looks like the ideal compromise between simplicity (her) and quality and geekery (me).

Looking at the instruction manuals for both machines, I have the impression that the oracle is more customisable than the Oracle Touch, is this correct? The Oracle has "advanced settings" that lets you change everything from pre-infusion pressure and time to tamp strength and time. I can't see this for the Oracle Touch - or is there an advanced manual somewhere?

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1998/4025/files/BES990_UKM_IB_B17_LoRes_low_resolution-rev-1.pdf?7318718693987667660 - Oracle Touch

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1998/4025/files/BES980UK_UK_IB.pdf?8146414421466695250 - Oracle

Any hints and tips very welcome, folks!

 

[Coffee Lover me]

Disappointed in this machine, unlike the previous Sage Oracle you CANNOT adjust the coffee to pour by volume but only by time. This is a major flaw as most baristas will pour with volume not in seconds. I am selling mine because of this and keeping my original Oracle machine. Maybe Sage will upgrade the software once they sense they have messed up big time here. I confirmed this with Sage Appliances customer service before writing this review, they also seamed surprised to learn this as they were not aware of the issue. Hopefully Sage will reply with a solution to this post.

 

[ronsil]

Hi - Doubt that Sage will reply directly to your Post on the Forum.

It was one of the reasons I mentioned early on for not wanting to change my Oracle to a Touch.

Did you join the Forum just to make the comment (hardly a review)

Maybe introduce yourself a little more to enjoy all the benefits & help on offer here.

 

[Mrboots2u]

Disappointed in this machine, unlike the previous Sage Oracle you CANNOT adjust the coffee to pour by volume but only by time. This is a major flaw as most baristas will pour with volume not in seconds. I am selling mine because of this and keeping my original Oracle machine. Maybe Sage will upgrade the software once they sense they have messed up big time here. I confirmed this with Sage Appliances customer service before writing this review, they also seamed surprised to learn this as they were not aware of the issue. Hopefully Sage will reply with a solution to this post.

Not on here mate. Contact them direct . Oh and Most baristas use scales

Coming here to whinge about a company that doesnt post here , especially as a first post, isnt on really.

 

[nomilknosugar]

You have to dial in your shot anyway, adjusting the grind until you get your desired weight (not volume) in the desired time. I use my scales when dialling in, then I know the grind and time to get my shot right for the next couple of days or so. I can't say I've missed a "shot by volume" function.

 

[Jamesmflint]

Hi - we're looking at the touch oracle, but very quick question to any owner. Is the dimension for height on the website 45.4cm including to the top of the bean hopper? We have a limited space, and if it includes the hopper in the height we're ok. If not....

I assume it does, but hoping someone could confirm.