coffeedom wrote:
<snip> It's just not going to be as consistent with the real weight of the coffee from shot to shot. Standalone grinders will be better for that, allowing for single dosing or having built in scales, or overdosing and scraping off the excess, another way to get roughly consistent results. The Oracle doesn't allow this much control over how much coffee ends up in the basket, and how evenly it can be distributed before tamping.<snip>

Great point. The most important thing I learned when starting to read H-B for tips on better espresso is to do single dosing and always weigh the coffee in and out. Single dosing also allows you to do WDT, which is a very fast way to get better shots.

Another relevant thread from a user that has a DBD+Smart combo and is thinking about a grinder upgrade: Thinking of grinder upgrade, but what taste improvement to expect?

I wouldn't worry about learning how to tamp. It's easy enough to figure out within your first few shots and after that it'll be an automatic step that you don't have to think about.

Steaming milk does take a good bit of practice. It took me a few months to get OK milk and years to get great cafe quality milk texture. In hindsight, I could probably have ramped up to great quality in a few months if I knew that I should be aiming for a vertical roll instead of a toilet bowl swirl.

Thank you all for the thoughtful replies. I knew I could count on H-B. Perhaps unexpectedly, I feel better about the purchase now

Consensus seems to be that I should be able to make some good espresso with the oracle. Once my skills and taste reach the limits of the machine, nothing will stop me from picking up a new (to me) grinder and starting to work on manual dosing. And in the interim, hopefully I'll get some good pulls.

Bak Ta Lo wrote:Great point. The most important thing I learned when starting to read H-B for tips on better espresso is to do single dosing and always weigh the coffee in and out. Single dosing also allows you to do WDT, which is a very fast way to get better shots.

WDT is unrelated to whether your single dosing or hopper fed. Either way you end up with a dose in your basket that can be stirred.

Also keep in mind that there are a number of high end grinders that cannot be effectively single dosed. (Even though they are doserless). So single dosing is not necessarily a tip for better espresso but rather simply a preference on workflow.

I said the tip that helped me produce better espresso was single dosing, not that single dosing is better.

Also, I did not say hopper fed grinders cannot do WDT. The Oracle auto-doses, then also auto-tamps. You would WDT a basket that has already had the tamp applied?

HoyaZot wrote:Thank you all for the thoughtful replies. I knew I could count on H-B. Perhaps unexpectedly, I feel better about the purchase now

Consensus seems to be that I should be able to make some good espresso with the oracle. Once my skills and taste reach the limits of the machine, nothing will stop me from picking up a new (to me) grinder and starting to work on manual dosing. And in the interim, hopefully I'll get some good pulls.

Congrats on your purchase!

I had an Oracle and enjoyed it, but oddly enough while convenient, I ended up being drawn to a more hands on approach. The built in grinder can occasionally make good espresso, but can be finicky to dial in. Towards the end I was using the built in grinder for decaf and bought a dedicated spro grinder for my morning drinks. The auto frother is super convenient. At the time my child was an infant and the automation was quite helpful in a busy morning. I sold it and moved to a manual E61 machine which my son loves to help operate.

Breville has a habit of improving products based on real world feedback.I have little doubt that the next evolution of their Oracle will be quite amazing.