I like the fact that the Oracle has the milk temp sensor in the wand rather than detecting via the base of the jug. It allows me to steam milk in any container I want, especially a larger volume jug if I just want to steam some for a couple of hot chocolates or other milky drinks. With the Impress it only seems to work with their jug.
Love the video - really eager to see more info about the Impress! Quick question - how come it says you've got 129K subscribers on the notification at 25 seconds?
Thanks for the side by side comparison of these two machines. Initially it seemed to me that it might be worth selling my almost 5 yr old Oracle Touch and buying a new Impress with the proceeds but I’ll stick with the Oracle. The main reasons being the ability to brew & steam concurrently, the auto on, auto steam, front water fill as well as the additional adjustable parameters. Also mine is used by up to 5 adults in my household some of which ‘just want a coffee’ and if I switched to the Impress then it’d end with me regularly making their drinks .
Hi Mike, It sounds like the Oracle is the machine for you, and if it works why change it? You definitely don't want to be stuck in the kitchen making coffee all day!! Cheers Kev
5 years with the Oracle touch, have you faced any issues thats been mentioned by other users such as just becoming a brick after a year of use? Leaks and mechanically broken?
@@Riply71 Wow, you sound pretty salty about Sage Espresso machines 🤣🤣🤣 Do you think that after a year it broke and I’ve kept it on the worktop unused for another 4 more years and that I could sell it for enough to buy a new Barista Express Impress; even though it has a 2 year warranty and in the UK we also have consumer rights that give us extended legal protection over and above any manufacturer warranty?
Oh no i meant in your experience after 5 years have you faced any of the issues i notedor has it been smooth sailing? Im tossing up between the oracle touch or the impress
The only issue that I have had was caused by scale or my lack of descaling, where over the Covid lockdown I had a partially blocked steam wand; let me explain: The first couple of years I was using bottled water following the advice from the internet and one well known UK coffee forum and rarely descaled it. One time when I did a descale, the steam wand didn't perform as well afterwards and steadily got worse, but not to the point of not working, I just needed to increase the 'froth level'. I put a call into Sage support but because of the lockdown restrictions and supply chain issues there would be a lengthy delay before they could send an engineer to my home or if I sent it back to them for repair they couldn't give me a return date. Therefore I left it a couple of months and decided to decale the machine several times in a row and that resolved the issue, reaffirming my suspicion of scale being pushed through the system and ending up restricting a pipe. There is a lot of discussion and conflicting advice on use of bottled or filtered water & descaling on the internet, so I gave up wasting my time trying to work out the best thing to do and decided to follow the manufacturers advice because they will know better even if they have a vested interest in selling consumables than any internet warrior's personal opinion. I have always changed the water filter every 70 days (before any machine alert) from the day I purchased it and now descale every month with no other apparent issue because how will I know what's happening inside the machine? Overall I am happy even if a serious issue occurs tomorrow and I cannot cost effectively repair it because over the years I have recouped the cost of takeout coffee many times over brewing around 100kg of beans (probably 10% ground on a seperate grinder) in this machine in the >4 years of ownership. I have kept a log of all the coffee I have bought since August 2014) therefore know what beans and when have been used in this and via other brew methods. There are a lot of vocal people on forums (and social media) that have bought expensive prosumer espresso machines (Rocket, ECM, Profitec, etc) and talk down the cheaper brands and the people that own them, could it be because they are projecting their need to justify the additional expense for little gain, who knows?
One final piece of advice, give the portafilter lip a wipe off to remove coffee grounds before placing it in the group head, otherwise it won’t give you a good seal and also it’ll wear the seal out quicker.
Great video kev! I still can’t decide between the two. If you were to buy one of them and could find a great deal on the Oracle touch (the difference is 600€ more for the Oracle) which one would you choose? Not intending to be a home barista but do want the best shot possible from the machine! Thank you
Hi Kev, great video I am looking to take the plunge after getting bored with my Nespresso original and Virtuo, my wife loves the latte and milky drinks where I like a long black coffee and an espresso / lungo. Can you advise on something like the automated version in the video so we can get the best of both worlds. Thanks Leigh
kev, great video as always. Could you do a video on the cost of running the machines? If you haven't already. By machines I mean any machine you have. I'd love to know the difference between running a Bambino Vs a Gaggia Vs Barista range. With the cost of electricity now I'm sure it might decide what machine people go for.
What do you think is the better one, the Express Impress or the Barista Pro? I want to buy a sage, watched your Videos, but don‘t know the Impress or Pro.
It depends on you. The Impress is more for the beginner and for people who have no interest in honing home barista skills and just want better tasting espresso that they'd get from a bean to cup (fully automatic). Cheers, Kev.
@@Coffee_Kev thanks Kev for this quick answer. Do you think, the Pro has better options/ settings in contrast to the Impress? But your Right i‘m coming from a Full Automatic machine, but i would love to improve some barista skills, so you would prefere the Pro, Right. Greeting from Germany, have a nice Evening.
Thank you for making this comparison video. Hoping you will still do a comparison between the Oracle and the Oracle Touch. As always, I love all of your reviews. So cotton candy was invented by a dentist? I guess that’s one way of making sure you stay in business. 😊
I thought I'd made a decision with the gaggia 30th anniversary and separate grinder, then I decided on the sage barista pro.. Now I'm not sure between the barista pro or the express impress.. Help! 🤦♂️🤷♂️🤦♂️🤷♂️
@@hellolau I know the pro heats up faster than the express, but what about the express impress.. Also not convinced an all in one is the route I should take. Gaggia seems like an easy machine to maintain and modify, while sage seems better out of the box... I'm all over the place 😂😂😂
I understand the Oracle has an inbuilt automatic leveling tool, but the Express Impress do a good job of tamping? i.e. do you get channeling or anything since you're not able to level out the dose?
Hi Alex, I've not done any in depth testing yet re channelling and tamping quality, but the tamp always seems to be very level. They've set it to deliver the dose centrally, and then the way the tamp lever works ensures a completely level tamp, so I'd be surprised if it wasn't as good where tamping is concerned as the Oracle. Cheers, Kev.
I don't likw auto tamping in both machines as it skips the WDT process and just straight to tamping after grinding. That creates uneven density in the basket, leading to channeling. Even though it seems subtle, it can't be ignored to create a better cup of espresso.
As a beginner I'm trying to decide between the impress and the touch. They both have different ease of use features. One does milk and the other does Clean tamping.
@magguess I purchased the pro just last week. I like the updated body over the impress,touch. I just couldn't justify the extra $200-$400 for the screen. Many people on reddit also say the grinder is less than desirable on all breville machines, so if down the road I need to buy a separate one, atleast I didn't dump more $$ into an all in one machine.
BTW I purchased from bed bath and beyond. They had black Friday sales on for $959 Cad. If you call customer service to place an order, they will add the additional 20% coupon. I couldn't get them to do this in store.
I notice the lights in your machines are white. Is that a camera color tint (for lack of better words) issue or is that the true color? I’ve only seen these machines on RU-vid with blue lights around the buttons
@@NHO12209 Thanks, I've bought an Oracle because I believe that the fan not only spreads the coffee more consistently, but also measures the tamping pressure to shut the grinding mechanism off, achieving a better result than the newer Impress.
is there a reason why I keep seeing coffee people on youtube making lattes with oat milk? Is it especially tasty / good for making lattes? I can't eat oats so hopefully it's not that much tastier :)
Oat milk compliments coffee flavours really well, be it the typical "chocolate and nut" flavours people are used to, or the more exotic "fruit and spice" flavours. It's also more environmentally friendly than dairy, and IMO a little sweeter than cow's milk. But I wouldn't necessarily say you're missing out if your preference is already dairy or different alternative milks, it's just a preference thing at the end of the day.
Hi Kevin, I use oat milk as I appeared to have developed an intolerance to cow's milk, I think over all its personal preference. Oat milk is extremely creamy, I drink flat whites usually and it tastes delicious with the oat milk. Ta Kev
Kev, Rookie mistake there. You’re supposed to keep the portafilter on the group head to ensure it’s heated prior to use, that’s the main reason why the Oracle has the auto on feature so that it’s up to temp when want it rather than having to wait.
Hi Mike, the auto on means that when you come to use it the group itself is at the same temperature as the brew boiler. I always recommend purging with the portafilter in place, and purging brings the portafilter up to temp, I don't believe that leaving the portafilter in the group is all that important, and of course you have to remove it to dose it anyway. Cheers, Kev.
@@Coffee_Kev The advantage of keeping the portafilter on the group head and heated means the brew temperature is more stable, otherwise the coffee will be brewed a few degrees lower than optimal which could result in a sour shot with the water chilled as it traverses the coffee. Also, the brewed coffee will be hotter (it's easier to cool coffee compared to heating it without effecting the taste) which most people prefer. It also helps with OCD because you'll notice that the portafilter expands very slightly due the heat and will be a tighter fit in the grouphead, which results in the handle being more perpendicular to the machine; it just looks 'nice' rather than cocked at an angle 🤣
I think that you need to use clean water in the Oracle rather than swamp water 😂😂😂 that purge looked disgusting 🤮 at 8:25 I think you should keep on top of cleaning the machines because that seems to be the cause of swamp looking water. I’m surprised the resultant coffee tasted OK with rancid coffee dregs in the group head.
Hi Mike, haha, that's a brand new Oracle not long out of the box, what you're seeing in the cup is simply some grounds from the shower screen, obviously the shower screen could have done with a wipe. Cheers, Kev.
@@Coffee_Kev Good to hear that. How do you put up with idiots like me that think we know better 😂😂😂 I forgot to keep up with your new videos, there's just too much content on RU-vid to keep up with these days.
The Express Impress has one huge advantage over the Oracle (other than price of course) - it can do single shots. I have no need or interest in shots made from 22 gram of coffee. Too much coffee in one time. Give me half that amount, more times a day.
