Heating and brewing
The Oracle Touch has a dual boiler with a dedicated steam boiler and a PID-controlled espresso boiler, a heated group head and a 15 bar pump with low-pressure pre-infusion. It can steam milk and pull a shot at the same time.
SageEspresso machines · SES990
SES990
The Sage Oracle Touch (SES990) is a premium dual-boiler espresso machine.
2400 W220–240 V2.5 (removable) L
17 original reviews to read 4 video summaries Good to know
Start your decision here
The Sage Oracle Touch (SES990) is a premium dual-boiler espresso machine. It automates the barista steps: it grinds, doses and tamps 22 g into a 58 mm portafilter and textures milk hands-free, all controlled from a touchscreen with presets and saved drinks. Owners largely agree it makes café-standard coffee with little skill once dialled in. However, a notable minority report grinder, brew-head or boiler faults and difficult repairs, which matters at this price. Sage and John Lewis have discontinued it, and remaining UK stock varies widely in price. It suits coffee lovers who want real espresso without learning manual technique and have space for a tall, heavy machine. Buyers who value long-term reliability or easy servicing should consider the risk, as long-term durability evidence is mixed.
Before you buy
What the features mean in everyday use.
The Oracle Touch has a dual boiler with a dedicated steam boiler and a PID-controlled espresso boiler, a heated group head and a 15 bar pump with low-pressure pre-infusion. It can steam milk and pull a shot at the same time.
The integrated hardened-steel conical burr grinder (45 settings) automatically grinds, doses and tamps 22 g into a 58 mm commercial-size portafilter.
The automatic steam wand textures milk hands-free, with temperature adjustable from 40 to 75 °C and 9 texture levels. A manual mode is also available.
A touchscreen offers 5 café presets (espresso, long black, latte, flat white, cappuccino) and up to 8 named custom drinks.
The machine draws 2400 W, has a 2.5 L tank and a 280 g hopper, and weighs about 16.6 kg. Retailers give its height as about 45 cm, and TechRadar notes it is large and tall and that the hopper needs extra clearance above.
Sage UK and John Lewis list the Oracle Touch as discontinued. It is still sold by some UK retailers, including Amazon.co.uk (third-party seller), Art of Living Cookshop (low stock) and Costco (Black Stainless Steel), while Currys and Argos do not list it.
Most UK reviewers say it makes café-quality espresso and milk drinks at home, and several say it is better than high-street coffee shops.
Many reviewers find the touchscreen workflow easy once the grind is dialled in. Several upgraded from older Sage machines or replaced an earlier Oracle.
A minority of reviews describe faults within weeks to a few years of use. Reported problems include grinder jamming or failure, a faulty brew head, boiler leaks tripping the power, and machines that stop heating or frothing properly after a descale cycle. Some owners had repeat repairs or replacements.
Some reviewers report slow engineer visits, repairs refused under warranty or costly out-of-warranty repairs. A few others praise Sage's customer service.
Reviewers mention a learning curve in dialling in grind and tamp, and some report inconsistent dosing, tamping or shot volumes even after adjustment.
Reviewers often praise the automatic milk frothing as smooth and hands-free, though a few find the froth weak or inconsistent.
TechRadar's 2018 review rated it 4.5/5. It praised consistently great coffee and suitability for beginners, and criticised the investment pricing and the large, tall body.
Many reviewers call the machine expensive, though often 'worth it'. Owners who had faults feel the price makes reliability problems harder to accept.
Amazon.co.uk's rating (3.8/5 from 121 ratings) is lower than the pooled Sage/John Lewis rating (4.4/5 from 242 reviews). This points to a meaningful share of dissatisfied buyers next to a satisfied majority.
Sage gives a 2-year repair, replace or refund guarantee, at its own discretion.
The automatic steam wand textures milk hands-free, with temperature adjustable from 40 to 75 °C and 9 texture levels. A manual mode is also available.
A touchscreen offers 5 café presets (espresso, long black, latte, flat white, cappuccino) and up to 8 named custom drinks.
The machine draws 2400 W, has a 2.5 L tank and a 280 g hopper, and weighs about 16.6 kg. Retailers give its height as about 45 cm, and TechRadar notes it is large and tall and that the hopper needs extra clearance above.
Sage UK and John Lewis list the Oracle Touch as discontinued. It is still sold by some UK retailers, including Amazon.co.uk (third-party seller), Art of Living Cookshop (low stock) and Costco (Black Stainless Steel), while Currys and Argos do not list it.
Most UK reviewers say it makes café-quality espresso and milk drinks at home, and several say it is better than high-street coffee shops.
Many reviewers find the touchscreen workflow easy once the grind is dialled in. Several upgraded from older Sage machines or replaced an earlier Oracle.
A minority of reviews describe faults within weeks to a few years of use. Reported problems include grinder jamming or failure, a faulty brew head, boiler leaks tripping the power, and machines that stop heating or frothing properly after a descale cycle. Some owners had repeat repairs or replacements.
Some reviewers report slow engineer visits, repairs refused under warranty or costly out-of-warranty repairs. A few others praise Sage's customer service.
Reviewers mention a learning curve in dialling in grind and tamp, and some report inconsistent dosing, tamping or shot volumes even after adjustment.
Reviewers often praise the automatic milk frothing as smooth and hands-free, though a few find the froth weak or inconsistent.
TechRadar's 2018 review rated it 4.5/5. It praised consistently great coffee and suitability for beginners, and criticised the investment pricing and the large, tall body.
Many reviewers call the machine expensive, though often 'worth it'. Owners who had faults feel the price makes reliability problems harder to accept.
Amazon.co.uk's rating (3.8/5 from 121 ratings) is lower than the pooled Sage/John Lewis rating (4.4/5 from 242 reviews). This points to a meaningful share of dissatisfied buyers next to a satisfied majority.
Sage gives a 2-year repair, replace or refund guarantee, at its own discretion.
User experience
See the common points first, then read the original reviews yourself.
Summarised from the 265 reviews we read. A review can mention several points, so the theme counts can add up to more than 265.
Owners mostly praise the Oracle Touch for café-standard espresso and milk drinks with very little effort. The touchscreen, automatic grind, dose and tamp, and hands-free milk frothing make it approachable once the grind is dialled in, and many reviewers are repeat Sage or Oracle buyers. The main complaints are reliability and after-sales. A notable minority report the grinder jamming, brew-head or boiler faults, or problems after descaling, sometimes needing repeated repairs or replacements. Some found Sage support slow or warranty claims refused. Others mention inconsistent tamping or shot volumes, a learning curve, and a feeling that problems are hard to accept at this price. One Black Truffle owner found the finish scratches easily.
Summarised from 265 reviews; 7 reviews about delivery, packaging or the seller were left out. The summary is drawn from opinions that recur in the reviews read; each theme shows how many reviews mention it. These counts are not a rate and do not apply to every unit.
265 unique reviews: all 242 from the Sage UK feed (3 pages) plus 23 native John Lewis reviews (pages 1–5); 77 John Lewis reviews duplicating Sage were counted once. Theme counts come from the collectors' reading (full text for about 130, title/snippet for the rest) and are lower bounds. Off-topic: 4 Sage + 3 John Lewis, possibly overlapping.
17 original reviews can be listed on this page. The number of reviews analysed may differ.
M*** 4/5 8 January 2026 John Lewis
We got this Oracle coffee maker a month ago to replace an oracle we'd had for 8 years… At first we found the coffee rather weak but have tweaked a few settings and are very pleased with it now. There are so many settings that are changeable…
A*** 4/5 18 August 2025 api.bazaarvoice.com
Replaced my 5 year old failed Oracle with an Oraclwe touch about a month ago. Positives: New grinders - good improvement in effectiveness of the grind… Milk frother - Much smoother frothy milk than with old Oracle… Negatives: Can't get extraction time longer than 4 to 5 seconds… The milk jug and waste top tray discolours with a tarnished appearance.
A*** 5/5 5 August 2025 api.bazaarvoice.com
Got directly from Sage during their sale as a birthday present . Fantastic machine . Makes great coffee and the automatic milk frothing is a game changer… Some issues just with adjusting tamp height after using new beans but easily resolved .
K*** 5/5 26 April 2025 John Lewis
I love how easy it is to use. It took me a while to dial in the beans but now they are perfect!
P*** 1/5 30 March 2025 John Lewis
Decent Brew but Breaks Down! … started making loud noises after just six months… The grinder didn't work when it came back… I've been left really dissatisfied having spent the best part of £2000 on a coffee machine for it to only last 2½ years.
M*** 1/5 21 January 2025 api.bazaarvoice.com
Nightmare so far. Inconsistent brew quantities despite dialing in ,adjusting burrs and using fresh beans. Impossible to change brew times on anything other than espresso… for a 2k machine I really did expect better.
R*** 5/5 10 January 2025 api.bazaarvoice.com
Excellent easy to use with great results. Stopped at Costa today and found out making better coffee at home.
S*** 2/5 23 September 2024 api.bazaarvoice.com
I bought this machine new just over a month ago, it make the milk nice but I had to buy a separate grinder as the built in grinder is awful absolutely no consistency… this has been the worst purchase I ever made…
C*** 1/5 3 September 2024 John Lewis
DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE MACHINES - UNRELIABLE… After 13 months it went wrong… After 20 months that replacement machine… won't heat the water enough… Sage won't honour the warranty… A repair sounds very expensive at £210 plus parts…
J*** 1/5 16 August 2024 api.bazaarvoice.com
Purchased in January, by July the machine was tripping the electric at home. There is a leak from the boiler that has caused internal damage include corrosion to the casing. I'm being told this is not covered under warranty…
J*** 4/5 22 July 2024 John Lewis
Excellent machine. The only grip I have is the coffee puck is hard to remove on the 58mm compared to my 54mm barista Express
s*** 1/5 21 June 2024 John Lewis Black Truffle
BEWARE! The truffle finish is not fit for purpose. the drip tray is so so easy to scratch when washing by hand… Sage… keep sending me replacement trays, but I want to exchange the complete appliance for the brushed stainless steel…
N*** 1/5 17 November 2023 api.bazaarvoice.com
Prior attempts at reviews censored so don't trust these scores!… Doesn't work after is first descaling process. A failure after 3 months for a GBP 2,000 mechine is more than a little disapointing…
M*** 2/5 12 October 2023 John Lewis
Great coffee, plagued by problems… Ive had 2 replacements and 3 further engineer visits. There is a known issue with regards the descale process which causes it to not warm up properly and it regularly fails to froth the milk properly…
C*** 1/5 3 May 2023 api.bazaarvoice.com
I have had a faulty brewhead on my oracle touch. I have had 1 machine repared (part replaced, and then the whole machine replaced. however - the fault has occurred again within 3 months of normal use. This is a design fault…
R*** 1/5 12 September 2022 api.bazaarvoice.com
The machine was great the first 2 weeks of use, then it started inconsistently tamping correctly (came out wavy 50% of the time, resulting in a lot of wasted coffee). Then after only 6 weeks of use, the grinder started jamming (despite using only fresh locally…
P*** 5/5 27 May 2022 John Lewis
Outstanding product & exceptional customer service. I have owned my Sage Oracle Touch for just under three years… by far the best designed and built product on the market… Sage have been exceptional in helping me resolve these issues with my water quality…
No reviews match this choice.
Go to the store's reviews: sageappliances.com · Amazon · costco.co.uk
See it in use
Read the summaries; tap a moment to watch the video from that second.
4 videos · Timestamped summary
YouTube · Review
The Sage Oracle Touch simplifies the home espresso experience by automating grinding, dosing, tamping, and milk texturing to produce consistently good coffee. While its £2,000 price tag and restricted control over dosing variables may deter espresso purists, it is an exceptionally well-built machine that delivers café-quality drinks with ease. It is an ideal choice for those who want fantastic coffee at home without turning espresso making into a demanding hobby.
YouTube · Review
The Sage Oracle Touch offers excellent hardware and automation, handling grinding, dosing, tamping, and hands-free milk texturing with dual boilers. However, it is bulky, noisy, slow to warm up, and now discontinued. It is recommended only at a good price with a reliable warranty and repair support.
YouTube · Review
The Breville Oracle Touch offers a great balance of automation and high-end espresso features, providing automated tamping, dual boilers, and exceptional automated milk texturing. While it makes delicious coffee with an intuitive touchscreen interface, it is expensive and coffee enthusiasts may find the built-in grinder and lack of granular dose control limiting.
YouTube · Review
The Breville Oracle Touch is an automatic espresso machine that blends bean-to-cup automation with manual control, capable of making multiple drinks back-to-back reliably. It features dual boilers for simultaneous brewing and steaming, exceptional automatic milk texturing, and a convenient wheel lock mechanism for sliding on worktops. However, it carries a high price tag, shot volumes can occasionally be inconsistent, and it takes around six minutes to warm up.
Video summaries and timestamps were taken from the videos with AI (Gemini); the video itself is the source.
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Preliminary infoWhat it has
Technical information with its source.
Where the information comes from, by type; each finding also links its own source.
This page is compiled from manufacturer, store, review and video sources; every piece of information links to the source it was read from. Technical values are as stated by the manufacturer or store; user experiences are summarised from the reviews read and do not apply to every unit. We do not test products ourselves.