The Breville Oracle Touch strikes the balance between convenience and quality with dead-simple operation and the prosumer-inspired basics to back it up. True to its name, the Touch flaunts a vibrant 4-inch touchscreen that lets you zip through controls and menus, change settings, and program and save custom drinks—all at the flick of a finger. The streamlined screen means friendlier operation for owners and guests alike, while also enabling custom drinks and labels to make your mornings easier. The Oracle Touch’s impressive featureset finds its roots in traditional espresso machine designs: dedicated brew and steam boilers, PID temperature control, a heated brew group, and built-in pre-infusion (to name a few). And just like the original Oracle, the Touch sports an automatic dosing and self-tamping grinder (that now supports both single and double espresso baskets), volumetric shot programming, and best-in-class automatic milk steaming that rivals most cafes.
Features and Functionality
Dual Boiler – Dedicated brew and steam boilers offer fast heat times and PID-controlled temperature stability.
Electronically Heated Group – The group head of the Oracle also sports a dedicated heating element to keep shots hot.
Automatic Dose and Tamp – The Oracle Touch’s brings hands-free consistency with an integrated grinder that doses and tamps automatically.
Auto-on – Set a start time on your machine for a piping hot shot right out of bed.
Oracle Steam Wand – The Oracle’s steam wand monitors temperature and introduce an adjustable amount of air, creating the perfect milk foam and temperature every time.
58mm Group with Solenoid – The Oracle Touch’s brew head is a classic 58mm, and also has a built-in solenoid valve for backflushing.
Volumetric or Timed Shots – The Touch offers extra flexibility with programmable shot times set by volume, time or monitored manually.
Pros
Product Design – Breville excels at making daily usage feel like a premium experience. The touchscreen is bright, responsive and stands head-and-shoulders above the dodgy TFT screens of other machines. The ability to save your favorite drink recipes is a marked improvement over the original Oracle.
Consistent Coffee – Traditionalists tend to dislike hybrid machines like the Oracle Touch, but the repeatability possible shot-to-shot with the Oracle’s built-in fan-tamper, brew temperature stability and volumetric shot programming is remarkable.
Magic Milk – The Oracle’s steam wand, with temperature probe and auto-aeration, is still one of the slickest effort-saving features on a home machine to-date. It feels immensely luxurious to plant a perfect rosette while putting in almost no effort—you don’t even have to change out of your PJs.
Worry-free Workflow – Almost effortless is no exaggeration. Setup is minimal and coaxing a good shot from the machine is as easy as a few grind adjustments.
Cons
Streamlined, Missing Features – The automation and simplified controls of the Oracle Touch come with a price. The Touch trades some of the original Oracle’s functionality, namely programmable tamp pressure and pre-infusion, for a sleeker, more user-friendly interface.
Large Format – Like the original Oracle, the Touch is a large espresso machine, standing at almost 18 inches tall and 15 inches wide. Make sure to measure your cabinets before purchasing.
How Does it Compare? Need help divining your future? Pick the Oracle Touch if you’re looking for streamlined lattes, or are sharing your new toy with someone uninterested in technical details. For tighter controls and more minute measurements, the original Oracle is just the thing to scratch that technophile’s itch.
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