Both the removable drip tray and 27.05 fl.oz/ 0.8-litre water tank are dishwasher-safe; however, they’re just as easily cleaned under running water. As is sometimes the case with capsule machines, quite a lot of water gathers in the tray beneath the used-pod drawer. Also, the twin-spout group head drips coffee for a few seconds after extraction. I haven’t found this to be the case with my favourite Nespresso machine, the Grind One, so I guess it’s a design thing. I’ve been very impressed with this machine’s performance. It extracts all makes of Nespresso capsules really well, and with excellent levels of crema to boot. Most Nespresso machine capsule chambers use a simple lever that you pull up, put the pod into its recess and slam the lever down to engage it with the hidden group head. This machine has a much more complex pod-loading system and I love the way it works. You basically lift the top handle and the pod orifice articulates upwards. Now pop in either a small or large pod and close the handle – the machine can detect which sized pod is being used. It’s a lovely action but I do hope it’s never capable of jamming if, for instance, you load in a pod while the used-capsule drawer is full to capacity. This is because it ejects the previous pod when you lift the lever and, if there’s a used capsule in the way of the mechanism, it could feasibly jam. I should add that I haven’t had any issues in this regard. In terms of cost per use, if you buy the XXL pods in bulk, it works out as 30p per coffee. Sure, there's also a small cost of running it added to your electricity bill, and the cost of buying a descaler once in a while, but overall I think it's well worth it because coffee's one of those small but important pleasures.

It's hard to exaggerate how much of a difference investing in the best coffee machines makes to your morning routine. Before reviewing the L'OR BARISTA Sublime I was using much more analogue methods: a cafetière on weekends and WFH days, instant coffee for those 'need coffee now' moments, and a Moka when I'm missing Italy. I really like using it, and guests have used it with zero instruction from me. Also, the early morning stupor-induced errors I've submitted it to prove it's pretty fool-proof. I've turned it on without putting a mug underneath the spouts, and I've turned it on without a pod in it. All that happened was the drip tray filled with coffee and I ended up with a mug of coffee-flavoured water, inadvertently giving the interior a clean. The L'OR Barista Sublime has three different extraction buttons – Ristretto (or short espresso), standard Espresso and Lungo. Basically, you choose a pod – standard or large – load it into the machine and press a button of choice. For instance, if you select a standard pod and tap the espresso button, it will dispense enough coffee to fill three quarters of a standard espresso cup. But if you put in a large capsule and tap the same espresso button it will dispense almost double the volume. How long does it take? I timed it, and it takes 1 minute, 28 seconds to make a coffee, including the time it takes to rinse and fill the water tank, find a mug etc.

A compact pod machine that’s capable of making a variety of coffees

As you may have read in my guide to the Best Coffee Pod System, my issue with standard Nespresso pods is that they’re too small – just 5g of coffee per pod as opposed to, say, the Lavazza A Modo Mio which has around 7g per capsule. This means I’ve sometimes felt the need to extract two pods one after the other just to get a proper barista-style hit. The L'OR Barista Sublime, however, has been manufactured by Philips to accept two sizes of coffee capsule – and only L'OR makes them. This is music to my ears – or rather palette – because it means I can get a double-shot espresso with just one tap of a button. Capsule recognition: The system identifies the size of the capsules used to ensure the correct dosage of water and offer you an optimal coffee experience. The pod bin holds about 10 used pods and is easy to remove. It's available in three colours, Piano Noir, Sunset Rubis and Satin Blanc. The water capacity is 0.8L which is enough for 3-4 long coffees. Removing the drip tray provides access to the bin in which used capsules drop. We found this bin could comfortably hold around a dozen capsules, so depending on how many cups of coffee you drink, it will need emptying every, or every other, day.

When I first emptied the pod reservoir it felt like I might break it, but I found you just have to be firm. The instruction manual says to flush the machine with fresh water before using it for the first time, which I didn't realise at the time.

For noise, we measured the L’OR Barista Sublime at 52dB on our noise meter, which is somewhere between moderate rainfall and normal conversation. It wasn't loud, but you will hear it in operation, especially if there aren’t any other appliances running.