In the debate of Gaggia Babila vs Breville Oracle, I have found the ultimate winner: Breville Oracle. This article will review and compare these two machines to clarify this conclusion.
For a quick review of the winner – Breville Oracle, it is something of a hybrid between semi-automatic and super-automatic espresso machines, which provides users with a wide range of adjustable automatic functions such as dosing, grinding, tamping, and texturizing milk. It also features digital temperature control technology (PID) that precisely controls water temperature to ensure a balanced extraction of coffee, giving you greater control and consistency for a perfectly brewed cup of coffee.
With the runner-up, the Gaggia Babila is still an awesome super-automatic espresso machine. It has many intelligent one-touch brewing functionalities. One of its interesting features is the milk frothing system with a manual steam wand integrated into the machine and a separable automated milk carafe.
Gaggia Babila Vs Breville Oracle: Comparison Chart
Last update on 2024-04-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Gaggia Babila Vs Breville Oracle: Differences
After a range of testing, I concluded that Breville Oracle beat Gaggia Babila by a score of 3-1 in terms of coffee flavor, milk system, and value for money. Now, let’s dive into the details.
COFFEE FLAVOR
The winner: Breville Oracle
Espresso flavor
Overall, the espresso flavor that these two machines produce is pretty good. However, I prefer the espresso extracted from the Breville Oracle because it tastes thicker and is much stronger. By using the right dose of 19–22 grams of freshly ground beans, the Breville brings us a cup of espresso with an incredible aroma and intense flavors.
Grinder
Although both Gaggia Babila and Breville Oracle have integrated burr grinders, their designs differ dramatically and have their own pros and cons. To illustrate, while Babila’s grinder is a ceramic flat burr grinder, the Oracle’s is a stainless steel conical burr.
With Breville Oracle, the grinder is one of the best-integrated grinders I’ve ever known. There are 45 grinding settings that allow users to choose the grind size to suit different beans. Besides, the Breville’s grinder also comes with an adjustable automatic tamping system that will tamp and level your coffee grounds for perfect consistency.
Furthermore, the conical burr design with stainless steel material also offers many great benefits, such as less heat, less noise, less initial cost, and so on.
For Gaggia grinders, the machine offers 15 grinding settings, which is not easy to be found in any other super-automatics at this price point. The highly durable ceramic blade protects the coffee from burning and changing flavors during the grinding process. Also, the flat blade design produces a remarkably even particle size for all the coffee grounds. However, the disadvantage of this grinder is that it is quite expensive and difficult to replace when damaged.
Heating system
From the comparison chart above, you can see that both these two machines are equipped with dual boilers. However, Breville Oracle, its heating system includes more than that. Let me explain.
Breville’s heating system is an innovation with a dual stainless steel boiler and a heated group head controlled by digital temperature control (PID). This also means that you can brew and steam at the same time while ensuring optimal espresso extraction.
The brewing temperature controlled by the PID is accurate to within 2 degrees and can be tweaked using the “shot temperature” function. Also, you can change the steam boiler temperature, but there is no need for a PID since the operation is not very sensitive.
With Gaggia Babila, the heating system is as good as normal. It offers three levels of coffee temperature adjustment. You can choose from low, normal, and high temperatures. The double boiler reduces the wait time between espresso and steam brewing into milk froth.
EASY TO USE
The winner: Gaggia Babila
With regard to ease of use, Gaggia Babila is slightly more dominant than Breville Oracle.
On the Breville, this machine will do automatically for you, from grinding, dosing, distributing tamping, and milk texturing. All you need to do is move the portafilter from the dosing cradle to the group head. You don’t need to know any special skills or worry about making mistakes in the brewing or foaming process.
Meanwhile, with Gaggia Babila, you don’t even need to screw the portafilter to the group head. As a bean-to-cup machine, your job is just to put the beans into the grinder, press the button, and then a cup of coffee will be ready.
MILK SYSTEM
The winner: Breville Oracle
In terms of the milk system, the Breville Oracle and its steam wand give you two options: automatic and manual. With the automatic milk frothing feature, you don’t need any skills to prepare milk for your cappuccino. Just place the steam wand in the milk jug, pull the lever, and wait until the milk is perfectly frothed. The quality of the froth comes out creamy and almost perfectly every time.
Besides, this automatic mode also allows you to customize the steam temperature and the amount of foam in the milk. Or if you need more control over the texture of the milk to unleash your creativity on your own recipe drinks, the manual mode is available for you to practice.
On the Gaggia Babila, you can also use either the automatic milk frother or the manual steam wand. The carafe acts like a milk container that can be stored in the fridge, then easily slotted into the machine. With a touch, you will have a perfect milk base for your drinks.
However, the matter is that you can’t alter the froth on Gaggia unless you’re doing it manually. This is annoying if you don’t have much experience manually making milk froth. Moreover, the foam’s quality is not as good as expected. Actually, the taste remains good, but the milk is too frothy with big bubbles in it.
Value For Money
The winner: Breville Oracle
Considering value for money, some people might think that the Breville Oracle is quite expensive, heavy, and less portable. But in my opinion, a machine like Breville is worth that price. It is a super-automatic machine with a wide range of automatic features that allow you to control and program almost every aspect of your brew to get the perfect shot. And whether selecting automatic or manual mode, the quality of beverages makes me satisfied.
On the other hand, at almost $2000, I had expected more from Gaggia Babila. Despite the advantage of convenience and ease of use, the quality of espresso and milk froth should have been better.
Quick Rundown Of Breville Oracle
- Earn up to $200 cashback with a Beanz coffee subscription when you purchase a selected Breville espresso machine. Visit earn-cashback.breville.com purchase to claim. Valid Aug 1, 2023 until Dec 31, 2023
- The Breville Oracle fully automatic delivers third wave specialty coffee at home using the 4 keys formula; It has a professional Dual Boiler construction that delivers unparalleled temperature control and simultaneous extraction and steaming
- DOSE CONTROL GRINDING: The integrated precision conical burr grinder automatically grinds, doses and tamps 22 grams of freshly ground coffee, for maximum flavor
- OPTIMAL WATER PRESSURE: The Over Pressure Valve limits the maximum pump pressure throughout extraction, helping prevent bitter flavors; Low pressure pre infusion gradually increases water pressure to gently expand grinds for an even extraction
- PRECISE ESPRESSO EXTRACTION: Dual stainless steel boilers and heated group head controlled by digital temperature control (PID) delivers water at precisely the right temperature, ensuring optimal espresso extraction
Last update on 2024-04-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Quick Rundown Of Gaggia Babila
- One touch brewing and frothing: bean-to-cup feature. Milk carafe includes automatic milk frothing for cappuccinos, and milk froth. Manual steam wand doubles as a hot water dispenser
- ACCESSORIES INCLUDED: 1 bottle of Gaggia Descaler, 1 AquaClean Water Filter, 1 Water Hardness Test Strip, 1 Tube of Brew Group Lubricant, 1 Brew Group Brush, 1 Coffee Scoop/Grinder Key
- PROGRAMMABLE: 8 Programmable brewing options for espressos, espresso lungos, coffee, ristrettos, lattes, cappuccinos, macchiato, flat whites and milk foam
- Easy access to water reservoir: features a top Loading removable 50.7oz water reservoir; Brew Boiler Wattage: 1400
Last update on 2024-04-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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References:
- Gaggia Babila RI9700/64 from Gaggia https://gaggia.com/automatic-machines/babila/
- Breville BES980XL Oracle from Breville https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/espresso/bes980.html
I’m Floyd J. Alcock, an experienced barista with a deep love for coffee. I curate personalized coffee experiences, guiding customers through diverse flavor profiles and suggesting ideal brewing methods. My extensive knowledge of espresso machines enables me to recommend the best equipment to match specific needs and budgets. Sharing my expertise and passion with coffee enthusiasts brings immense satisfaction. I look forward to continuing my journey of coffee discovery with every customer I serve, fostering connections over a shared love for this magical beverage.