breville bes980xl oracle espresso machine, silver

I have just had to retire my first espresso machine, which was the Oracle Breville. After more than 10 years it has been a very reliable machine to create high quality coffees I have just sent it off to another service, and unfortunately (but not expected) my old machine is ready for retirement. However, to get 10+ years and close to 8000 cups out of a domestic machine like the Oracle is defintely exceeding my initial expectations. It has been struggling over the last 6 months or so, but I managed to still produce great coffee, until we now have mutually agreed (the Oracle and I) that it is time to let it go. Needless to say, as I know exactly how to dial in this machine (we also have one at work) and the right bean to use (big fan of The Little Marionette), I will now be looking for a good deal on my next Oracle.

I purchased this Coffee Machine a few months ago and chose Breville after watching many videos, reviews and comparing different brands. I am so pleased with this machine making consistent great tasting coffees such as Short Blacks, Cappuccinos & Soy Lattes for the family. It didn't all start great at the beginning unsure what I was doing but after booking a White Glove Service Master Class it made all the difference ensuring great tasting coffee day after day. The team taught me how to prepare the machine through proper grinding, extraction of coffee, milk texturing and cleaning the machine. The feature I love is the inbuilt automated grinding, dosing and tamping. The key to making great tasting coffee is ensuring regular cleaning of the machine, cleaning the milk texturing wand and using fresh roasted coffee beans. I still buy coffee from different cafes when I am on the road and feel that the Breville Oracle makes a better quality tasting coffee or at the very least is comparable to most Cafes. In our current Covid climate as I am working from home it is an ideal companion.

We have been using this machine for close to 8 months now. We have always had an espresso machine, but this one is the top of our list now! It is reasonably mess free, and just about anyone can make a good cup of coffee. Take the time at the beginning to learn the grind and tamp strength of your beans, and any hot water steps as well, and it makes a *great* cup of coffee. With many of the steps that create issues with coffee taste automated, it helps remove the guesswork, and the need for teaching your family exactly how much pressure to tamp, etc. The ability to froth milk automatically, or manually really helps those wishing to learn milk texturing as well as the guy who just wants a dang cup of coffee! The auto on feature makes my mornings so much more pleasurable! I get up, the cups are warms Dan the machine is ready to go!

We recently moved to a new property and as part of the move the intent was to finally have a quality coffee machine. After much research we pur chased the Oracle to provide the advanced automated functions to maximise efficiency, accuracy and quality output whilst still allowing user customisation to cater for different tastes and beans. Setting up and getting started was so easy. I had read about the importance of bean selection and sought out a local coffee roaster to obtain fresh beans. With some experimentation with grind level and milk texture level we are enjoying great coffee when we want without driving to the shops or cafe. We had a friend visit who owns a restaurant and she was vvery impressed saying it was as good as they make with their commercial machine. We love it and look forward to drinking great coffee for years to come. Thanks Breville.

Excellent machine, replacing the same 8 year old model, which while working had inconsistent performance, and a small leak.

Upgraded from the Breville Barista Express to the Breville Oracle and haven't looked back! Love the automated functions - makes it quicker and easier working at home to make coffee throughout the day. Would 100% recommend!

We purchased the Breville Oracle and have been pleased with this machine. Although it may have been a generous offer by Breville to include 3 months supply of coffee beans we were more than disappointed with the coffee beans as the coffee they made was undrinkable and we have had to purchase quality coffee beans to use and throw out their "gift". Friends refused to drink the Brevile supplied coffee also it was so bad!

The machine did not reach operating temp at set up and it took 5 days to troubleshoot and fix the problem. That said the Oracle is easy to use even for a novice and 1st espresso better than many cafe's. My frustration is with operating hours for Perth - 6am to 2pm!

Enjoyed this machine for a while and diligently kept it clean, descaling regularly, cleaning as soon as notifications were made, as well as cleaning the group head after each use… however the coffee basket handle broke requiring replacement, other wear and tear issues were not too difficult to fix however when it started to break down after only 2 years (as soon as the guarantee expired) requiring expensive repairs each time it became a case of throwing good money after bad… and after only 2 years, for such an expensive machine… 2 repairs starting only 2 years after original purchase should not cost more than the machine itself. On top of that I can't get anyone from Customer support via phone, email or chat…

Purchasing a more expensive machine, does not necessarily guarantee 'you get what you pay for' these days, for sure! I have had 6 Breville coffee machines now, since 2004, and this one was meant to be the last! Had it for over a year, and wasn't happy with the way it was frothing the latte's, especially the second one, thought it was normal, but disappointing. When the grinder and steamer had a problem, I put it in to be fixed, (under the 'ultra care' warranty), which they do not offer anymore....mmmmm....wonder why?! It came back to me like it was a new machine, frothing like it SHOULD HAVE IN THE FIRST PLACE, then, 2 weeks later, there was a noise in the pump (which had been replaced), and the grinder was making this whirring sound, which had also been replaced,and found it wasn't grinding at all because water had leaked into the grinder. YEAH!! Back it went to get fixed again, no coffee machine for Christmas and won't get it back for about 3 weeks or more. Looking at other reviews on coffee machines, or anything for that matter, I think its POT LUCK when it comes to buying anything anymore, which is very frustrating in such a busy time, but hey, what can you do!! To sum up, I am very very disappointed with Breville.....we have been using their products for many years, with no compaints, but now they are just another company who makes stuff so it breaks down, just so you have to buy another.