Sage Oracle Jet coffee machine review: Auto espresso like no other

The Oracle Jet is Sage’s third addition to its Oracle range and it comes with a few key differences that make it the range’s best coffee machine yet. Unlike the Oracle and Oracle Touch, which utilise dual boilers for brewing and steaming, the Jet has two ThermoJet heaters, and the result is lighting-fast heat up time.

Sage has also added a selection of cold brew and cold espresso options, expanding on the Oracle’s already excellent range of coffee drinks. Improvements have also been made to the grinder, and the new larger 4.5in touchscreen is highly responsive.

Another interesting addition is the Jet’s Wi-Fi connectivity, which allows the machine to automatically download firmware and updates. This means Sage can fix problems, add new features and new preset drink options at any time.

Sage Oracle Jet coffee machine review: What do you get for the money?

The Sage Oracle Jet is a premium espresso machine with built in grinder, automatic dosing, tamping and an integrated steamer. Available in brushed stainless steel or black truffle, it will set you back the princely sum of £1,700. This isn’t the most expensive coffee machine Sage sells, that honour goes to the dual boiler Sage Oracle Touch at £2,100, but it’s a big investment nonetheless.

So what exactly do you get for that? The Oracle Jet has two ThermoJet heaters, rather than the one found in its Barista Touch. There’s one for brewing and steaming and a separate one in the group head, which has been added to improve temperature stability and consistency when pulling multiple shots.

It comes with a single shot (12-13g) and large double shot (19-22g) single-wall non-pressurised basket and 58mm stainless steel portafilter. A 340g removable hopper for your coffee beans sits on top, fitted with a 38mm Etzinger conical steel burr grinder. Sage advertises this grinder as having 45 settings because that’s what you can use as a reference on screen when making adjustments, but as this grinder has stepless adjustment, there technically aren’t any. Like the other Oracle models, the dial to make these adjustments is on the side of the machine.

Design-wise, bears all the hallmarks of a Sage coffee machine. It has a slightly larger 4.5in touchscreen than some of its stablemates, which is very responsive and easy to use, but otherwise it’s pretty familiar fare. The Jet has a broad u-shaped front panel, its bean hopper mounted on top to the left of a warming tray finished in chrome and a chassis built mostly from premium stainless steel. It’s relatively compact at 39.2 x 37.3 x 45.4cm (WDH) and quite heavy at 12kg, but there are wheels on the bottom so you can shift it around on your worktops more easily.

At the time of writing, the Oracle Jet comes with a total of eight preset drink options. These include espresso, cold brew and a number of milk-based classics, as well some interesting recipe additions such as a shakerato and espresso martini. I think that’s enough for most people, but the list has the potential to grow even bigger with the machine’s Wi-Fi connectivity, which can automatically push through updates for new recipes.

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Sage Oracle Jet coffee machine review: What’s it like to use?

From the get go, the Oracle Jet walks you through every step of setup, from calibration shots to cleaning. I didn’t need to glance at the instructions once during setup and found it incredibly easy to get to grips with the basic functions.

The Jet grinds, doses and tamps the coffee beans for you; all you need to do is attach the portafilter to the group head and tap a button to start extraction. It will prompt you to change the grind size if the shot comes through too fast or slow and you can see how long your shot takes in real time, allowing you to make micro adjustments if you want. While both extraction and milk frothing are fully automated, you do have the option to do both of these manually, if you wish.

The touchscreen is glorious, allowing you to directly customise all the drinks on screen and you can save your profiles so you don’t have to readjust your cappuccino settings every time you make it. You can also hide drinks you don’t want to see and move drinks around on the screen to put your favourites at the front for less scrolling. This is a small but notable user improvement over the Barista Touch and it can’t be understated how luxurious it feels to use.

While not perfect, the Oracle Jet has true plant-based milk options, too, with presets for dairy, almond, oat and soya. Automated suggestions for temperature and texture are offered but both are adjustable to suit your preferences. Milk temperatures range from 45°C to 75°C, going up in 1ºC increments and there are eight texture levels. In testing, I saw really good results with full-fat dairy, semi-skimmed and ‘barista’ style plant milks, which tend to have a higher fat content or thickeners.

Sage Oracle Jet coffee machine review: Thermajet vs dual boiler

The Oracle Jet uses a Thermajet thermoblock system, which rapidly heats the water as it passes through the machine, allowing you to make an espresso in as little as a minute. This is more similar to Sage’s Barista Touch than the rest of the Oracle line, which use a dual boiler system. Rather than quickly heating water as it passes through the machine, a boiler-based machine heats the water first before passing it through the system, with one boiler used for brewing and the other for steaming.

The main benefit of the Thermajet system is that the machine will only heat up as much water is needed for your coffee. On the downside, it also means you can’t brew espresso and steam milk at the same time – but the Jet is so fast it’s unlikely to cause any real inconvenience, unless you need to make a lot of coffees at once in quick succession.

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Sage Oracle Jet coffee machine review: What’s the coffee like?

The Oracle Jet double basket holds a dose weight of 19-22g. This is on the larger side, even when compared to some of Sage’s other machines, which typically offer an 18g double dose. When testing this, I found that they did typically come out at the higher end around 21-22g, making for a big, punchy espresso. Some might love this, others might argue it’s a bit too much to be considered a double shot.

To test extraction, I always use the same high quality, medium roast beans – Curve Roasters House Espresso – for consistent and reliable testing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the espresso the Oracle Jet produces is phenomenal, as good as you can get from your favourite coffee shop and perhaps even better in some cases. Shots are also highly consistent, especially considering this machine does most of the hard work for you.

The stepless grinder means you can tweak until your heart’s content, so even if the automated suggestions aren’t quite to your tastes, you’re not stuck with an unsatisfactory cup. In the same vein, I also liked the Jet’s wide range of temperature adjustments, which go from 86-96ºC in 1ºC increments. I measured its default settings using a Thermapen thermometer and espresso came out around 89ºC from the spout and 75ºC in the cup on average.

I personally found the larger shots made an excellent base for milk drinks such as flat whites and cappuccinos, which are my preferred way to drink coffee most days. Of course, I also have to mention the Oracle’s newest addition – cold brew and cold pressed espresso. I found the results fantastic, especially considering how much more quickly they were produced than the real thing. However, I’d argue it’s not the main reason you should consider buying the Oracle Jet. Instead, it’s more of a nice addition to an already great espresso machine.

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Sage Oracle Jet coffee machine review: What could be better?

The most obvious downside to the Oracle Jet is the price. At £1,700 it’s fairly expensive, especially considering the Barista Touch is £1,200. However, if you’re looking to spend this kind of money on a machine anyway, I’d argue the Jet might still be worth it if you want the absolute best and latest in automated espresso.

A couple of smaller issues I found while testing included issues with puck knocking. The Oracle Jet tamps using a tamper fan, which really jams the pucks into the portafilter, making it difficult to get out. I had to use a lot of force to knock pucks out, with it sometimes taking several attempts. This isn’t a deal breaker, but it can be quite annoying. Sage have since created a tool to make this easier, called the puck sucker, but it’s an eye-watering £80.

Finally, I noticed that while most milk foam came out very well, I had some issues with low fat milk alternatives such as dairy skimmed milk and Alpro No Sugars almond milk, so you’ll need to stick to the barista-style ones if you’re hoping to produce silky foam for latte art. This might be something that can be fixed with a firmware update in future, but for the time being you’ll have to put up with it.

Sage Oracle Jet coffee machine review: Should you buy it?

If you can afford it, the Oracle Jet is a phenomenal machine that should serve you well for many, many years. While it’s fairly similar to Sage’s Barista Touch, there are enough quality upgrades to the Jet that make it well worth the extra money, especially if you’re already looking to spend £1,000+ on a machine anyway.

In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s near faultless. It’s incredibly easy to use, has lots of customisation options to tweak your espresso to perfection and comes with a range of thoughtful updates to make the user experience the best it can possibly be. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using this machine and I’m sure you will too.