There is no mathematical girl in the world who can do the Breville Oracle Jet It makes sense to me, but it's very nice to use.
Like most of the machines I test, the $1,999.95 espresso machine has a touch screen. It connects to a wireless network and receives software updates that way. But unlike most of the machines I test, the Jet is designed to shoot hot water at high pressure and turn it into coffee.
The Jet is an updated version of Breville’s high-end Oracle super-automatic machine. It’s sort of a sister to my Breville Barista Express, but only in the sense of an older brother who left his modest hometown and got a high-powered job in the big city. I’ve been testing it out for the past two weeks, but more importantly, so has my husband.
I'm convinced that in every relationship there is one person in charge of the coffee machine and one who chooses not to learn how to use it. In my family, I'm the one making the coffee and my husband doesn't engage with the Barista Express. I've tried to convince him that making an Americano is easy, but he remains intimidated and unless I'm around to make him a coffee, he insists that he can “make a Keurig” and that “it's fine.” Hardly.
The basic mechanics of the Oracle Jet are the same as my machine: both grind coffee beans in a portafilter and brew them for espresso. But, like Breville’s other super-automatic machines, the Oracle Jet’s grinder also tamps the beans, removing a manual step from the process. The graphical interface also guides you through the steps of preparing your drink. It makes a complex process less intimidating—or at least it was for my husband. After a tutorial, he was successfully brewing Americano coffees on demand.
As for me, a coffee nerd with a moderate knowledge, the Oracle Jet seems like overkill. I found it surprisingly easy to leave out part of the process – a machine is probably more consistent in tamping or pressing the beans right before brewing anyway. nice, There's also a light so you can see what you're doing. The drip tray is larger, so I can make more drinks before I have to empty it. You can also add water to the tank from the front of the machine – on the Barista Express, I have to move the machine forward so I can reach the reservoir at the back.
Being a control freak, I didn’t like delegating other tasks to the machine. For one, it’s a pain to change the amount of ground coffee the Oracle Jet adds to the portafilter, or the “dose.” Technically, you can, but it’s imprecise and adjusting espresso doses is already a process of trial and error. To keep things simple, Breville simply asks you to adjust the grind coarser or finer to control the doses.
I played around with the dosage a bit, but gave up and resigned myself to using a very coarse grind for my espresso; a finer grind and smaller dosage would probably have given me better, more consistent results. It worked well, but with more patience and beans to put into the effort, I could have gotten better results.
The Oracle Jet also introduces a new feature: cold espresso. It is not cold, Exactly: “None of these products on the market, including ours, have the ability to chill water,” Breville product manager Matthew Davis explained to me. Instead, the Oracle Jet draws water from the reservoir at room temperature, applies a bit of heat, lowers the temperature, and applies pressure to brew room-temperature drinks. Less melted ice in your iced latte makes for a stronger-tasting drink, and that’s something I appreciate at 3 p.m. on an 85-degree day.
Still, and this is definitely a problem with me, I don’t think I like the computer aspect of the Oracle Jet compared to my Barista Express. Using my espresso machine is one of the few opportunities during my day where I can take a break from using computers. The touchscreen is nice, but I’m still a firm believer in physical buttons. Plus, I watched this espresso machine download a software update over Wi-Fi, which is crazy.
I watched this espresso machine download a software update over Wi-Fi
Connectivity does have some advantages. This is Breville’s first machine with Wi-Fi, and the company is just beginning to explore how it can use sensor data during diagnostics when troubleshooting remotely. But, as with any other computer, some repairs require access and hands-on skill, and that’s where things get a little more complicated.
I found that a couple of local espresso machine repair shops near me in Seattle do not work with Breville machines. Espresso machine repair experts He says the company does not make sufficient spare parts or technical documentation available to the public.
Davis says Breville's approach is all about building machines for the greatest possible long-term durability while making the components that see the most wear and tear easy to replace. So far, that philosophy has kept my Barista Express running smoothly, now that it's been several years since the warranty ran out. But it's another factor to consider, and the cost to replace my machine is $700, not $2000.
Anyway, for someone who has no problem using computers in the middle of the day, it's an amazing machine. And boy oh boy, can you spend over $2,000 on an espresso machine. I probably won't be upgrading to an Oracle Jet anytime soon, but at least trying it out has given me a better idea of how hands-on I want to be when making coffee. I think I'm fine with tamping my own beans, and that's probably a good thing — my Barista Express still works just fine, after all.
Photograph by Allison Johnson/The Verge
