The Barista Express Impress uses 18 to 22g of freshly ground beans to create its rich and creamy espressos, which also make the perfect base for intense flat whites and creamy cappuccinos. It's similar to a commercial espresso machine, so it's a bit more complicated than a standard bean-to-cup model, but that's a huge part of the appeal. Creating decent-tasting coffee in the way a professional barista would takes time – but we found that the ceremonial approach to using this machine, whereby you need to tamp and dose correctly, made the process of making coffee almost as enjoyable as drinking it.

One way to tell if it’s done steaming is to touch the side of the jug - if you can keep touching it for five seconds before having to take your hand off, the milk is done. Alternatively, you can buy a thermometer that sits in the jug as you’re steaming. Cleaning tool The Seattle Coffee Gear Diletta Bello has swooped in to our best espresso machine guide to claim the top spot. We feel that this is a next-level espresso machine, not quite an industrial-grade one you expect to see at coffee shops but more elevated than that automatic one you’ve got at home. If you’re still not sure, you can find a more detailed breakdown in our article covering which type of coffee maker to buy. Best coffee maker FAQs What is the best coffee maker?

Radiatori

It's not a machine suitable for beginners, as it takes patience to perfect the brew that's right for you, but once you've mastered it, you'll never be without excellent coffee again. It's also expensive compared to the rest of the market but is a worthy investment if you want to level up when it comes to barista skills. We did find, when whipping up a cappuccino, that we had to wait a while for the pressure in the steamer to build up. Our expert also found the machine's espressos to be a little thin and felt the crema was poor. Despite this, the drinks were well-rounded in flavour, with initial raisin notes followed by brown sugar-esque sweetness.

A filter basket is a small stainless steel cup with lots of small holes in the bottom. It sits inside the portafilter and is where the coffee grounds are placed. If your machine can make two shots at the same time, you’ll be provided with two different-sized filter baskets: one for a single shot and another for two shots. Tamper

Cleaner with Ariete

If you're looking for an espresso machine that does everything for you with a single touch while you're still rubbing the sleep from your eyes, then we think that this isn't the machine for you. But if you care about the craft of coffee, if you want manual controls so you can get your coffee just-so, there's a lot to love –not least a price tag that comes in below many other high quality manual machines. Our reviewer found that while the learning curve is pretty steep – it'll take a day or so before you really get the hang of it – the coffee is pretty much perfect. The Barista Touch Impress is currently US-only, but we're expecting it to launch under the Sage brand in the UK later in 2023. And it's worth waiting for: this machine combines the compact integrated grinder, user-friendly assisted tamping and auto-dosing of the 2022 Barista Express Impress with the intuitive touchscreen and automatic milk frothing of the Barista Touch to make the most user-friendly manual coffee machine available anywhere.

Best espresso coffee machine for milk frothing: De'Longhi Dedica Style EC685 Traditional Barista Pump Espresso Machine To help you find the best espresso coffee machine, we’ve tested top models from all the major brands including De'Longhi, Smeg and Breville.

With so many different types of coffee makers on offer, it’s no surprise that each type of machine works slightly differently. Here we focus on espresso machines and pod coffee makers but for a more detailed explanation, head to our feature on how coffee makers work.