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How do you improve best coffee machine T3 ever used? Our current pick of the best coffee makers is Sage Barista Touch Impress – and now Sage (Breville in the US) has taken that five-star machine and made it even better with some important upgrades.

The main features here are a new ThermoJet heating system – previous Oracle models were double boilers – and a higher spec mill. There is also a more powerful processor. But the main selling point here is that Sage the Oracle Jet delivers exceptional customizability without sacrificing ease of use.

Sage the Oracle Jet review: price and availability

Sage the Oracle Jet was launched in August 2024. In the UK it costs £1,699.95 and in the US, where it is sold under the Breville brand, it is $1,999.95. It is available from regular retailers and direct from Sage in Great Britain and Breville in the United States.

The Oracle comes in two colors for the UK market, truffle black and stainless steel; American customers get a third option, a white called Sea Salt. It’s a neat thing, but I have to apologize for some of the photos: my review unit arrived after it appeared to have taken a few bumps in transit, and there were a couple of small dents around the bottom touchscreen that are visible in some of the the pictures. Of course, if you buy one it will be factory fresh and will not have been subjected to such treatment.

Sage the Oracle Jet review: design and features

This is a big machine, almost 15 inches deep and wide, although it’s a bit smaller than the dual-boiler Oracle models. It is also very heavy. But there is a small lever under the drip tray that lifts the coffee machine on wheels so you can easily move it. That’s typical of the thought that has gone into Oracle Jet’s design.

The design is very similar to the Touch Impress, with a large touchscreen taking care of most of the controls. There’s a hefty grind adjustment knob to the left of the machine, a bean container on top and a water tank on the back. Below the touch screen you will find the output of the mill, the brew head and the steam wand.

There are two important upgrades in Oracle Jet. The first is that, unlike previous Oracle models, this one uses a ThermoJet (like the Touch Impress) rather than a dual boiler; there are two ThermoJets, one of them on the brew group head, to ensure constant temperature. The big advantage here is the heating speed, which is very fast compared to an Oracle Touch or similar double boiler, and Sage says it’s also up to 32% more energy efficient than a thermoblock.

The other key upgrade is the grinder. The large bean hopper feeds into a Baratza European Precision Burr grinder, made of carbon hardened steel, with 45 grind settings. If Oracle detects that your brews are going too fast or too slow, it will tell you on the touchscreen and encourage you to adjust your grind settings accordingly. The portafilter is 58mm/18-22g with its large surface providing more consistent extraction. ThermoJet delivers a constant temperature of 93ºC for optimal results.

The Oracle Jet gets Sage’s Auto MilQ system to create silky microfoam, something we’ve also seen in the Touch Impress, and understands that there’s more milk than cow’s milk. It lets you specify soy, almond, and oat as well, and it automatically adjusts for each type. And the touchscreen allows you to choose and customize a wide range of presets from the standard black coffee pods to milky drinks and cold brew. The temperature is adjustable from 40ºC to 75ºC and there are eight levels of texture to choose from.

Given the range of options available, this could have been a very intimidating device. But it is very sensibly thought out, with excellent software. There’s even a video app that shows you how to set it up and use it.

The touchscreen interface is fast and responsive and very clear; you can set dark or light mode, create custom drinks and adjust settings with ease. For the first time, there’s also Wi-Fi to download firmware updates, and there’s more horsepower in the processor to provide a smoother response.

Sage the Oracle Jet review: performance

Oracle Jet’s goal is to automate as much of the actual coffee-making process as possible while still delivering proper barista coffee, and to that end it performs spectacularly. The grinding process produces beautifully uniform and well tamped grinds thanks to the integrated tamping fan, and the resulting coffee is exceptional, providing beautifully aromatic espresso without unwanted bitterness.

It’s interesting to compare it to the Touch Impress, which as we said in our review “takes a few tries to get the best results.” I found that the Oracle Jet delivered great coffee out of the box with the default settings, and while many of the people who will be considering this machine will be interested in adjustable temperatures, grind settings and so on, that’s optional rather than necessary.

With cold brew, the results are still great but the labeling is a bit misleading: as with other supposed options for cold brew coffee machines, it’s a cooler brew over more finely ground coffee that you then pour over ice. True cold brewing is of course an overnight effort, but it is hardly convenient.

It’s worth noting that the 45 grind settings are a bit of a fib, as the grind adjustment is stepless and delivers a lot more than 45 stops; the 45 settings are stops on the digital dial rather than discrete steps in the mill’s gearing.

You can’t rush good coffee, but Sage has found a way to speed up the process without cutting corners. What Sage calls Auto Queue reduces the total time required. For example if you are making Americano it will clear the water while you are grinding the beans; if you make a flat white, it will cause the espresso to brew when the milk is ready. It’s very clever.

One area where some otherwise smart coffee machines fall down is keeping them clean, but the Oracle Jet is very clean in use and largely self-cleaning afterwards. All you really need to do manually is rinse out the portafilter between drinks and give the vapor wand a wipe when you’re done each day.

It’s worth noting that, unlike some coffee machines, it doesn’t require serious strength to attach or remove the portafilter before or after extraction—something your reviewer’s RSI-wracked hands really appreciated. The weight of the main unit contributes to that, keeping the coffee machine steady while you attach or remove the filter with one hand, but there is high-quality technology here as well.

Sage the Oracle Jet review: verdict

This is a five-star coffee machine that makes the kind of coffee you want to write songs about. But the same company already makes a five-star coffee machine, the Touch Impress, and it’s considerably cheaper: that model’s launch price was £1,199 but we’ve seen it discounted for events such as Prime Day, which took £250 off the price earlier this year; we’re writing this review with Black Friday just a few weeks away, and similar deals seem likely. With the Oracle Jet coming in at £1,699, that’s potentially a very big price difference.

Oracle Jet is undoubtedly better than Touch Impress. It has higher quality grinders, it is even easier to use and it requires even less user effort to make really good coffee. And the inclusion of Wi-Fi for future firmware updates, a first for Sage, means it could be even more fun for coffee machine gamers in the coming months and years. If that’s important to you and money is no object, this is an exceptional machine that will make every day start brighter.

Sage the Oracle Jet review: options to consider

Surprise! I will recommend Sage Barista Touch Impress: it’s almost as good and it’s more affordable. If you’re not fussed about automation but want something that’s still easy to use Beem Espresso Grind Professional is a phenomenal machine at a phenomenally low price.