You can tweak the settings (grind size and ratio) to make something closer to true espresso, but the majority of home bean to cup machines don't quite produce “true” espresso that would cut the mustard for someone who's really into their espresso. It has a fast brew setting for when you just need coffee fast, a strong brew setting for when all you're bothered about is brewing a strong coffee (to wash down your paracetamol the morning after the night before, for example) a pourover setting (you can change the filter holder for your favourite pourover device, i.e. V60 or Kalita) and a cold brew setting. The latest addition the the Creatista range, the Creatista Vertuo is the most interesting Vertuo Nespresso machine on the market, in my opinion. What do they make? Espresso and all the espresso-based coffee shop favourites, including cappuccino, latte, flat white & americano.

One amazing feature within this machine is the adjustable PID controller. That’s a fancy term for producing perfectly balanced espresso shots. If you're considering getting into the home barista hobby at the very entry level, and you were thinking along the lines of DeLonghi Dedica, Swan Retry and so on, and doing some modding or buying an aftermarket standard basket portafilter, I'd recommend considering the Bambino instead.While it may not be as sophisticated and State of The Art as the Eagle One Prima (Read my Eagle One Prima review here) I honestly think Sage Barista is as quality as it gets. So if you want a cappuccino, for example, you just use the selector dial to toggle the digital screen to get to cappuccino, plop in the pod, press the the start button, and the milk will be textured to the default temp and texture for cappuccino, unless you've changed it in which case it'll froth and heat the milk to what you set it to, and then you just pour the milk into the cup. These things are relatively small, and overall if the Barista Express cost the same as the Barista Pro, I'd probably say the Barista Pro is the better choice.

You can control the brew temperature over a much bigger range than usual, 10 degrees in 1C increments, from 86-96, and you also have control over preinfusion power, and a much bigger range of preinfusion time than with any other similarly priced dual boiler espresso machine I've come across.So just be aware, any coffee machine selling in the UK with “Breville” on the box, will not be a Sage coffee machine, it's a completely different brand. The one negative, is cost, as you can get much cheaper Nespresso machines, but if it's cheap you're after, you probably wouldn't be reading an article about the best Sage coffee machines anyway, as they're among the best & themost clever with just about everything they do, but they're definitely not the cheapest.