I've trawled 100s of café-inspired Pinterest ideas – this is the one bean-to-cup machine that every stylish person is curating their coffee corner around

I absolutely love this neat and tidy espresso machine

Beige tiled kitchen with wooden chopping boards
(Image credit: Future PLC / James French)

I've been racking up some serious screen time on Pinterest and given my job as Ideal Home's Kitchen Appliances Editor, it'll be little surprise to anyone that my curated feed is crammed full of enviably good café-style kitchens.

Coffee machines are my niche, with my review process of the best coffee machines meaning I've tried everything from bean-to-cup models in the £1000s to filter versions (like the Moccamaster KBG Select, a seriously Pinterest worthy coffee machine). But when trawling Pinterest there's one machine range above all other that the design-types among us are really invested in: the Sage Barista Express line.

Plus, it just happens to be that my coffee machine of choice is the Sage Barista Express Impress, which is the neatest and tidiest espresso machine I've ever tried, so I've been taking plenty of inspiration too. Here are three reasons this type of machine is so perfect for a cosy at-home café bar.

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1. It's so easy to keep tidy

When we reviewed the Sage Barista Express Impress we called it 'a triumph for tidy kitchens'. And after using this machine for three years solidly at home, I can only agree that its in-built storage system is second to none as well as its integrated tamper, which keeps grounds from spilling all over your worktop.

When you pull out the drip tray on this machine, you'll find a stashing place for your portafilter baskets, which is a godsend to keep from misplacing them. The entire footprint of the machine is also very smartly square, which makes it very easy on the eye and easy to keep clean.

Of course, if you're creating a coffee nook, being able to easily maintain a tidy station for your lattes or cappuccinos makes things much easier which is where the appeal of the Sage range comes in.

We've also tried the Sage Barista Express BES875UK Espresso Coffee Machine, which is a much more affordable option (especially on sale) but our reviewer did find it more difficult to keep tidy over time.

Sage The Barista Express BES875UK Espresso Coffee Machine with all of its accessories on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future / Amy Lockwood)

2. It offers the at-home barista experience

If you like an easy life, there are plenty of coffee machines out there that are actually way easier to use than the Sage Barista line, like automatic options such as the De'Longhi Rivelia or the KitchenAid KF8.

And while those sleek one-touch options are a fabulous fit for neutral or minimalistic kitchens, they don't quite have the coffee-shop charm that Sage machines do, which have manual elements that make you feel like a barista in your own kitchen.

Sage coffee machine featuring on a coffee bar

(Image credit: Future PLC)

I might be biased but I think the Sage Barista Express Impress strikes the perfect balance between features that allow you to do the work and those which help you make better coffee.

The one-armed bandit tamp system exerts the perfect pressure on your coffee puck, but you're still the one frothing the milk and pulling the espresso shot. If all of that sounds foreign to you but you want to get into making higher quality coffee at home then don't worry, the machine is straightforward to master once you've gone through the set up process.

3. There are so many different iterations

I think this range of coffee machines from Sage is the most impressive when it comes to choice – there's really something for everyone. If you already have some specific ideas in mind when creating your at-home coffee station, then you're really spoilt for choice here, including when it comes to colour range.

Below I've compared the entire range based on our reviews of these machines so you can quickly see which one might best appeal for your Pinterest-board-vision.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Machine

Price

Pros

Cons

The Barista Express

£629.95

Most affordable, very customisable

Messiest option, most complicated process

The Barista Express Impress

£729.95

Tidiest design, huge colour range, integrated tamp

Milk frother is manual only

The Barista Touch Impress

£1,199

Touchscreen, automatic milk frothing

Exceptionally expensive

My personal favourite is the Sage Barista Touch Impress in white (now that is an ultimate wish list item) but the classic stainless steel exterior seems to be the ultimate favourite amongst those styling their at-home coffee bars on Instagram and TikTok.

One of my favourite at-home coffee stations is from TikTok user @bygemma – it shows how you can bring together pink kitchen ideas in café kitchen setting so beautifully. Here are some of my favourite new-in products that I think would make the perfect finishing touch to a coffee corner.

Complete the look

Would you have a Sage coffee machine in your dream coffee bar set up? There's certainly plenty of choice with this brand if you're in the market to create one!

Molly Cleary
Kitchen Appliances Editor

Molly is Ideal Home’s Kitchen Appliances Editor and the Ideal Home Certified Expert on Appliances. An all-around cooking and baking enthusiast, she loves finding the next must-have product for readers that will their kitchen a better place. She joined the team in September 2022 after working on the editorial teams of Real Homes, Homes & Gardens and Livingetc.

For the last 4 years, she's been reviewing hundreds of small appliances; conducting tests at home or in the Ideal Home test kitchen.

Molly also has the lucky job of testing coffee machines, from pricey bean-to-cup models to low-faff pod machines, to serve those looking to hone their barista skills at home. She oversees an expert panel of coffee machine reviewers too, to cover every coffee niche.