The Kit
HESTON’S TIP
Meet the Oracle
“CHECK THE ‘ROASTED
ON’ DATE ON THE BAG.
IF IT DOESN’T HAVE ONE,
IT’S ALMOST CERTAINLY
NOT FRESH (YOUR BEST
CHANCE IS AT YOUR
LOCAL CAFÉ). YOU WON’T
BELIEVE HOW MUCH
DIFFERENCE FRESHLY
ROASTED BEANS MAKE.”
For café quality coffee at home, give your
order to Heston Blumenthal and his state
of the art espresso machine
Sage By Heston Blumenthal The Oracle
I
Harts Price: £1440
t’s well named this, the world’s first
automatic manual espresso
machine. In ancient times, you
visited the oracle to get guidance
from the gods. These days, you
visit the mystical barista, often
several times a day, seeking
fulfilment in the form of a flat white
and maybe a flapjack. The question
this Oracle answers is which coffee
machine to get if you love the
superior barista-delivered coffee
from a manual machine but lack the
well-trained skills to deliver it.
The Oracle instead brings you
café quality coffee so good, it’s like
there’s a barista inside and the vital
but arcane art of grinding, dosing,
tamping and milk texturing are being
performed automatically.
When you get it home, you can
even call for Sage’s white glove
in-home installation and they’ll send
a coffee engineer to ensure your
machine is set up for optimal
performance and to teach you how
to use it. You will have to make him
a coffee though.
When you start extracting, you’ll
be surprised at the speed – which
could teach your local Costa a thing
or two. At the heart of The Oracle is a
dual stainless steel boiler triple heat
system. This