Breville Oracle Espresso Machine BES980XL, Brushed Stainless Steel

I have been using it for about a week. I have wanted it for about 2 years, since I saw it at a William Sonoma and tried a sample and loved how it operated. I have a Saeco super automatic machine that I have used every day for over 10 years. It is slowly breaking (display stopped working, water tank occasionally leaks, can't run the decalcifying program anymore). So, I didn't need this machine now. But, I was going to need it. The Saeco is a workhorse and I never expected to last as long as it has. I thought the coffee tasted fine from the Saeco. But, I realized it tasted like crap once I got this machine.Very easy to set up. There are a few things to know about operating it that requires reading the manual. But, day to day operation is pretty simple. It takes way longer to get ready than my Saeco. But, you can easily program it to turn on at a designated time. The main display is more old school than it needs to be. In this day and age, they can use something more than an old school lcd display. For some of the functions, if you don't know what it supposed to be displaying, you won't understand it. Probably used it for the aesthetic.I really like the manual part of this machine. It is still essentially an automatic machine. But, you have an espresso basket to put in one port for the grinds to be dispensed into and tamped. Then, you move it to the other port and it makes the coffee. If you make a triple cappuccino, like I do, it is a bit more work than pressing the espresso button 3 times, like I did on my old machine. With this, I have to move the basket from one port to the other, then bang out the grounds in the included barista ground disposal thing, rinse it off and start the cycle again and do that 3 times. You also have to move the cup for the coffee off the machine when you remove the espresso basket or you risk knocking it over. That takes slightly more time than a fully automatic machine but it is more the attention it requires. If you want to multitask while the machine does all of the work, this machine is not for you. One nice feature that saves time is that you can froth the milk while the espresso is being made and you can do that hands free. So, compared to my Saeco, the active time making a beverage is about the same, since the Saeco required my attention in frothing the milk.I think this machine provides the perfect amount of manual interaction in an automatic machine - and the interaction that I want. I would love to get a shiny La Pavoni and a professional grinder, learn the perfect amount of pressure to tamp and have that for the weekend and a fully automatic machine for the work week. But, I don't have the money or the counter space for that. This machine gives me close to both experiences. I get to use an espresso basket (which makes it feel more like an authentic coffee making experience) but still not have to worry about tamping it perfectly and watching the coffee come out and stopping it when it makes the right amount. Yet, you can still experiment with the time for the water flow to control the strength of the coffee. You can control the water temp, the tamping pressure, the grind and a bunch of other options. Or, you never have to fool with those settings.Did I mention it makes amazing coffee? It does. It tastes incredible and the froth is perfect every time. I haven't even used espresso beans in it yet. I have been using some light roast that a local roaster made and was given to me as a gift mixed with some Philz dark roast that I had left over.Only comment/complaint is that you only have one portafilter size. It only dispenses a fixed amount of grounds. So, the button for a double espresso isn't really a double, compared to the single. At a coffee shop, they would use a different size filter for a single and a double and a different amount of coffee in each. So, if you want a full strength double, you really have to make 2 singles. You will have something different if you just let water flow through the same grounds for an extra 10 seconds. Small price to pay, though. Other comment/critique is that the milk can be tough to clean off the bottom part of the frother and you really should do it each time.you use the frother. Didn't have that issue with the Saeco that used a plastic frother tip.

I bought an Oracle in Jun. It didn't come very well packaged and was making strange noises even when powered off. I called customers service. We had a 10 min video call when the rep said the machine needed replaced, but not to worry if I dropped it off they'd have a replacement for me in a couple of days.It's been 6 weeks and I still don't have a replacement. 6 weeks without coffee for our office.Every few days I email Breville, and unbelievably they keep saying "oh, that colour is out of stock, do you want the other colour?" THREE TIMES I said I don't care about colour any colour is fine, and Three times they say they'll send a replacement without actually doing it!! I follow up a few days later and it's like they never read the detail in the email thread and start the whole thing over again.It's the worst customer experience I've ever had. Let alone for a machine worth thousands of dollars. It doesn't feel legal that they can take your money, promise you a replacement but string you along for months.DO NOT RECOMMEND.

I've been a fan of Breville's espresso machines for years going back to a really inexpensive one I bought 9+ years ago that is still working. It isn't the greatest machine, but it produces decent, if not great espresso. A little more than a year ago I got a Breville 920XL that is still working fine with an easy repair I did recently.So I decided that the Oracle would better fit me because I'm remodeling the kitchen and would like to reduce the counter space usage. Got the Oracle a couple weeks ago and it was DOA! Called Breville and they offered a fix I could do, but it didn't work. They sent me a replacement which did the same thing. But this time I remembered that air locks are sometimes a fact of life. So I opened the 2 boiler drains and then turned it on and let it run until some water came out. Closed the drains, the machine kept going and filled the boilers and heated up. All is good!! BTW, I had called Breville on this second unit and they were going to pull one from the warehouse and fully test it before sending it out. That's going above and beyond IMO.Now for the review of the Oracle itself. After doing all the preliminary things such as bringing it up and flushing things as the instructions said, I then proceeded to brew an Americano with the default settings. Nearly perfect, though it was a bit thin. Well within range of dialing it in. After 2 more runs with changed grind settings, things are spot on! Pulled a very sweet Americano.Next was to test out the automatic frothing/heating of milk for a Cappuccino. Worked perfectly, I was impressed by how well it does it. The milk was at the proper temp (140F) and the consistency was like wet paint, just like it is supposed to be. The cleaning flush for the steam wand is wonderful! You do the milk, wipe the steam arm down with a damp cloth and push it back into place and it automatically does a few cleaning spurts. Very nice.Overall this machine is excellent IMO. Looks good, works good and my experience with Breville says it will last quite awhile and they do back up their stuff quite well. There are all sorts of adjustments that you can do as you learn this machine. Brew temp, pre-infusion time and pressure, Americano volume, shot temp and volume and Tamp time and pressure are all there, as are auto-start and auto-stop. BTW, Americano has 3 built in settings and you can add 6 more settings depending on how you like your Americanos.The auto-steamer has temp and type adjustment so you can set the temp you want the milk to get to, and the type for a Latte or a Cappuccino or anywhere in between. It is a well thought out implementation.I noted some other reviews that saw issues with descaling. I think that is probably earlier models as there has been a firmware change to aid in that not being an issue. I've descaled my 920XL which is the same basic design as the Oracle's espresso side a few times with no issues.