Nespresso Creatista Plus Automatic Pod Coffee Machine with Milk Frother Wand for Espresso, Cappuccino and Flat White by Sage in Brushed Stainless Steel

Product Information

Simply scroll across the touchscreen to choose your coffee of choice from the 19 options (I like a latte), press go and both the coffee and milk will pour themselves. If you prefer, you can detach the milk carafe and attach a steaming wand instead. Aficionados can also customise temperature, grind size, volume, strength and pre-infusion and save preferred combos to one of four profiles for easy access. Multiple filter baskets: if you're after an espresso machine that can make double shots as well as single, choose a machine that offers two or more filter baskets for loading into the portafilter. When purchasing a bean to cup machine with a milk steamer have a think about whether you want to steam the milk yourself or have it prepared automatically.

Available in three matte colourways, SMEG’S new BCC02 is altogether more contemporary-looking than the cheaper ECF01BL above. Modern touches include an illuminated dispenser that moves up and down to accommodate different-sized cups, an easily removable drip tray (useful if you want to fill up even taller travel mugs) and a removable grounds tray behind it. Warning LEDs even tell you if you’re out of beans, water, or if you need to descale the machine. Prefer the fuss-free process of making coffee from a capsule, but want a sophisticated take on this style of machine? This model is that. We also like how easy it is to get started with, and that it makes a great range of coffees, while foaming milk is also simple. Not everyone can afford to spend this kind of money on a bean-to-cup coffee machine, but the PrimaDonna Soul does genuinely justify its asking price. It creates a huge range of drinks – 21 to be precise – and the milk carafe means that it takes just one prod of the touchscreen to produce a very pleasant cappuccino or latte. What sets it apart from the cheaper machines, however, is the Bean Adapt feature: this helps to eke far more flavour from every type of coffee bean than the average automatic machine. Skimmed milk or skinny milks are a little more challenging to texture and the milks texture isn’t always as light and fluffy as whole milk. Although performance is obviously more important than appearance, the Sage Barista Pro is one well-thought-out, stylish brushed stainless steel machine that anyone would be proud to have on display (as you’d hope, to justify its price tag). It comes with a wide range of accessories: a milk jug and ‘razor’ tool for levelling coffee in the portafilter, along with four filters for both freshly ground and pre-ground coffee. The tools are stored in a built-in drawer.

Discover the best espresso, bean-to-cup, filter and capsule coffee machines we've tested in the Expert Reviews kitchen

The texture of the milk is the most noticeable difference though and is undisputedly better when steamed with a milk frother. What machine do you need to make latte’s? It takes either ground coffee or coffee beans thanks to its integrated ceramic grinder. It arrives assembled so all you need to do is plug it in, set the time by holding down the H and M buttons (this is so you can use the timer functions) and fill the water tank.

Essentially you need a milk frother to texture and heat the milk and then a machine to make espresso. The Sage The Barista Pro SES878BSS coffee machine isn't cheap but it is worth the investment. Find out more below. Depending on your budget and desired amount of control over the coffee-making process, look out for these features.It’s almost impossible to resist the ease of a Nespresso machine. They come ready to go out of the box and each time you want a coffee, you only need to pop a pod in the top and press a single button. It’s totally mess free. To make things more complicated still, the recipe ie. the amount of ground coffee per shot varies depending on who you ask. Baristas tend to use between 15 to 26 grams, depending on the machine, the roast of the coffee and the type of drink they’re making. If your latte art leaves a little to be desired, you may like that this has an easy-to-use adjustable steam wand with different options for frothy cappuccinos or creamy lattes. Once I had it set up and had played around with the grind size, it was easy to use. This is as simple and intuitive as espresso can be. The Barista Touch Impress takes care of every part of the process for you, as it has an inbuilt burr grinder and bean hopper, along with hands-free, automated grinding and an easy-to-use touchscreen display. Choose between a latte, cappuccino, flat white, espresso and more and the machine will take you through the entire brewing process - all you need to do is press the screen when it prompts, and move the portafilter and cup when told. The steamed milk is then poured over the espresso coffee to create a delicious latte, cappuccino or flat white.

My least-favourite job when making coffee is steaming milk. I find it’s often an ear-piercingly loud process and it’s always hard to know if the wand is in the correct position in the jug. Gaggia solves this with an in-built milk carafe which has a rotating lever on top to hold over your cup. These obviously come as one machine and you are able to make lattes with the majority of domestic espresso machines today. Are milk frothers worth it? If, however, you want more of a helping hand but still want the very best espresso, then consider Sage’s Oracle Touch instead: it has the same coffee-making skills as the Dual Boiler, but adds a touchscreen and a few hand-holding features to help you make the perfect coffee time after time. The issue with most coffee machines is that you can only make one coffee at a time. Enter: the filter coffee machine. The difference is that you make a jug of coffee rather than a cup and each jug makes 10 cups of coffee, in theory. In practice, it makes more like eight what I’d call proper cups. Espresso machines aren’t for everyone, they’re often fiddly and inconsistent. Unless you’re a trained barista, they can be frustrating and messy. Pod machines bridge the gap between instant coffee and espresso machines and the Vertuo Creatista is Nespresso’s most advanced yet.

The best coffee machines for 2023 are:

This model has a fully automatic steam wand and a whopping eight texture levels and 11 temperatures for the milk. Auto purge of the wand means less cleaning for you to do. When we froth milk we place the tip of the steam wand on the top of the milk frothing jug and texture the milk by adding air into the top of the jug.

verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ We were looking for how easy each coffee machine was to use, how easy they were to clean, how much space they took up in our small kitchens and how easy they were to maintain. Here are the best coffee machines, starting with our favourite... Pod (or capsule) coffee machines tend to be looked down upon by espresso enthusiasts, but they are the easiest and most convenient way to make coffee at home. They use one sealed capsule of fine-ground coffee for each drink. All you have to do is put it in the machine and press one button. In the long run, pods can be expensive, and you’re limited as to what kind of coffee you can make. They’re also not always recyclable, although there are more and more eco-friendly pods popping up on the market.This is because the micro foam is much more velvety and consistent which make it much easier to pour latte art.