In October, we introduced the superlative Sage by Heston Blumenthal the Oracle coffee machine, and, in November, we spent an afternoon with it. Here’s what we learned from our meeting with the Oracle.
The Oracle in person
Photo source: IWOOT
The Oracle is an automated, all-in-one, commercial standard coffee machine designed for the domestic market. Sage’s aim, they said, was to enable everyone to craft commercial quality coffee in the comfort of their kitchen. In order to do this, they automated the four key stages of the coffee making process: grinding, tamping, extracting and milk frothing. We covered the technical aspects of this last month, and you can find a recap in the video below.
Video source: YouTube
We knew its key features inside and out when we came to meet it, but we were all surprised when we saw it. The Oracle is more compact in person than you might expect. And with its in-built retractable wheel, pleasingly easy to manouvere over worktops.
Photo source: IWOOT
Once the Oracle was in position, everything else slotted perfectly into place, from the grind and tamp initiated by pushing the basket handle into the grinder to the extraction once the basket was turned into and robustly gripped by the grouphead. And, as you would expect at this price, the Oracle left minimal grind dust on the basket handle.
Photo source: IWOOT
Sage Wisdom
The Oracle coffee machine images a smiley face on its LCD screen when you select temperatures within its suggested parameters. Our perfectly-foamed-for-cappucini milk was ready to go just as the Oracle had fully extracted the espresso. In total, guided by the smiley, we spent around three seconds deciding how hot our milk should be. All of the temperatures the Oracle suggests are industry standards, based on decades of crafting quality coffee.
Photo source: IWOOT
It should be noted here, uncommonly for a domestic coffee maker, that the Oracle utilises a dual boiler system to enable you to brew coffee and steam milk at the same time. Other than quickly flicking through the settings for grind coarseness and milk frothiness, there really is very little for an arabica acolyte to do.
Everybody loves the taste of good coffee, but maybe they don’t want the complexity of learning to be a barista.
Phil McKnight, Sage Coffee Guru
Phil McKnight’s comment perfectly sums up our meeting with the Oracle coffee machine: all you have to do is push, press and go. The Oracle will still lend a guiding hand should you choose to froth the milk yourself – gauging the temperature you’ve heated your milk to in real time on its rightmost screen – but, ultimately, you bring the Oracle into your home if you want café-quality coffee crafted for you in your kitchen.
