From pulling shots and dialling in your grinder to texturing different milks for different drinks, there’s much more to brewing a tasty cup of joe than meets the eye – just ask any professional barista. That said, the Impress is not without its teething problems – we've occasionally had to pull the lever a few times to perfect the smoothing of the puck, and every now and again the machine doesn't seem to register that the lever has been pulled at all. One thing worth noting though is that, while the machine includes a few non-coffee drinks like tea, hot chocolate and babyccino’s in its line-up, there’s little technology behind creating them using the machine as they just use the hot water spout or steam wand and not much more.

If your portafilter is a little low, as mine was a few times, the machine will tell you to re-tamp until the dose is perfect. Sign up to our newsletter for style and decor inspiration, house makeovers, project advice and more. If you are looking at upgrading from a lower-end model, or have money to spend on a first-timer, your risk of dissatisfaction with the Barista Express Impress is low. You can tell when you hit the right point from looking at the pressure dial on the front of the machine.However, the Barista Express Impress comes with 25 precision grind settings, as opposed to 16 of the older model. Pull down the lever and it'll replicate a barista's tamp with a mechanism that delivers 10kg of pressure and a lil 7-degree twist, too. Though very well packaged to protect the machine, it was disappointing to see so much polystyrene and plastic. Outside of the tamping system, the machine is pretty much as solid as you'd expect from a Barista Express spin-off. Overall, the design aims to present the same features you’d expect on a commercial espresso machine in a compact, consumer-friendly size – and we were impressed by the results.

Helping you to achieve the perfect dose and a precise tamp while reducing the grinds on the machine and bench top.Initially, we referred back to the manual frequently, but this is much easier than it sounds, and very soon we were making the perfect espresso precisely the way we wanted it every time. We tested to see whether it could deliver truly barista-worthy beverages at home, taking into consideration everything from how easy it was to make different types of drink to its design and overall performance. you get the sense that the elite talents that created Sage's Barista Express Impress are somewhat wasted in the coffee game.

While there is space for a second espresso cup, if you want a double espresso in one cup then we’d suggest using a standard coffee cup to capture the flow from the two spouts more effectively. So if you happen to need large quantities of ground coffee for, say, cold brew, then you'll struggle to get the job done without having to manually fill up portafilter several times over. With this new and extremely luxe coffee machine, they’ve created a countertop product that can exactly replicate the movement and pressure of a top-tier barista tamping (the process of compressing the ground coffee into an evenly-distributed puck) saving a whole lot of time, hassle and mess. What I found most impressive at the Sage demonstration and while using the Sage Barista Touch Impress is its milk settings. When she’s not typing away at her computer, she can be found tending to her Dorset-garden, trying the latest water sport at the beach or acting as chauffeur to her two young kids.Meanwhile, the manual steam wand that sits neatly to the right of the machine is useful for making micro-foam textured milk. The grind dial on the side of the machine ranges from 1 to 25 – with “1” delivering a fine grind and “25” a coarse grind. Watch the full episode of 10 Essentials with Sam Curran, as the England cricket star reveals 10 things he can’t live without.