
Maintenance
EssentialDescaler
Limescale is what most machines die of, and vinegar attacks the seals. A liquid descaler declared suitable for espresso machines does the same job as the maker’s own branded fluid, usually for less.
€15.90
Go to bol
Sage
The Express with the tamping taken out of it
€626.00 in Black Truffle
Price verdict from 11 NovWe have measured this price since 12 October (29 days). Lowest measured: €583.00 on 31 October. A price verdict follows from 11 November.
Updated on 10 November 2026Updated on 10 November 2026
Last 30 days
| Date | Lowest price that day |
|---|---|
| 10 November 2026 | €626.00 |
| 9 November 2026 | €626.00 |
| 8 November 2026 | €612.00 |
| 7 November 2026 | €612.00 |
| 6 November 2026 | €612.00 |
| 5 November 2026 | €649.00 |
| 4 November 2026 | €649.00 |
| 3 November 2026 | €649.00 |
| 2 November 2026 | €649.00 |
| 1 November 2026 | €649.00 |
| 31 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 30 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 29 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 28 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 27 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 26 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 25 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 24 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 23 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 22 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 21 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 20 October 2026 | €583.00 |
| 19 October 2026 | €589.00 |
| 18 October 2026 | €589.00 |
| 17 October 2026 | €589.00 |
| 16 October 2026 | €589.00 |
| 15 October 2026 | €589.00 |
| 14 October 2026 | €589.00 |
| 13 October 2026 | €589.00 |
| 12 October 2026 | €589.00 |
Price alert
Espresso machines drop hardest around Black Friday and in the weeks before Christmas. Leave your email address and pick below what you want to hear about.
The Impress is the Barista Express with an assisted tamper: a lever presses at a fixed pressure and corrects the dose. That removes the step that most often goes wrong on the standard Express.
The question is whether that is worth the difference. Tamping can be learned, and anyone who already has it down is mostly buying convenience here. Anyone pulling several shots a day who is tired of the variation will notice it.
Who for: Anyone who wants the Express but does not want to learn to tamp.
Against 13 other manual espresso machines between €419.00 and €876.46, on the specifications the maker publishes.
On the measured specifications, this machine does not stand out from similar machines.
This is what we know for certain. Dimensions and capacities the manufacturer or the shop does not state are left out rather than estimated. A measurement or a tank volume that is not there is one we do not have.
A worked example, not a specification: 2 cups a day (730 a year), the intervals from the maker's manual, with the water filter the maker recommends, and the lowest price in our catalog today.
We cannot price anything for this machine: what the maker requires is not in our catalog, or the maker gives no interval.
How often you descale depends on your water hardness. Where the maker gives no interval for it, we leave it out rather than estimate it.
6.57 kilos a year at 9 grams a cup: €108.34 with the cheapest kilo in our catalog, €445.45 with the dearest.
Picked on what this machine does and does not do itself

Maintenance
EssentialLimescale is what most machines die of, and vinegar attacks the seals. A liquid descaler declared suitable for espresso machines does the same job as the maker’s own branded fluid, usually for less.
€15.90
Go to bol
Milk
EssentialA stainless jug of around 600 ml is the difference between milk that froths and milk that boils. The shape of the spout decides whether you can pour anything with it.
€12.95
Go to bol
Maintenance
RecommendedSage's cleaning powder for backflushing the group head, in single-dose sachets. On daily use Sage recommends a flush every 2 to 4 weeks.
€12.95
Go to Expert
Brewing
RecommendedThe tamper Sage includes is light and plastic. A heavy one with a distributor gives a flatter bed and a more even extraction, the step that most often goes wrong when brewing by hand.
€39.95
Go to bol
Brewing
RecommendedThe puck has to go somewhere, and the bin clogs with wet coffee within a week. A box with a rubber bar is quieter than it sounds.
€21.95
Go to bol
Maintenance
Can waitThe same Sage cleaning powder for the group head, in a pack of twelve sachets. At one flush every 2 to 4 weeks, as Sage recommends, that is six months or more.
€21.90
Go to bol
Brewing
Can waitDosing by eye is why the same machine tastes better on one day than the next. A scale accurate to a tenth of a gram, with a timer, turns pulling espresso into something repeatable.
€44.95
Go to bolEvery bean fits every machine. What differs is the order: on a bean-to-cup the 100% arabica beans come first, because dark-roasted blends carrying robusta give off more oil and that clogs a built-in grinder sooner.

Segafredo
€16.49per kilo
Lowest price we have seen€16.49 · 1 kg bag
A blend with robusta, made for the Italian bar. Full and bittersweet, and the kind of bean a bean-to-cup grinder gets through without complaint.

Segafredo
€18.45per kilo
Lowest price we have seen€18.45 · 1 kg bag
Segafredo’s house blend, for anyone who also drinks their espresso with milk.

Lavazza
€19.99per kilo
Keenly priced€19.99 · 1 kg bag
The classic Italian bar blend: arabica with a good deal of robusta, which is where the thick crema espresso is known for comes from. Robusta is a cheaper bean than arabica, and that usually shows in the price per kilo.

Lavazza
€23.99per kilo
Keenly priced€23.99 · 1 kg bag
All arabica as well, like the Oro. The middle path between the soft arabica blends and the firm bar blends.

€459.00 in Black Truffle
Price verdict from 11 NovW 31.8 x H 40.4 cm · 2 l tank
With essential accessories€487.85
machine + descaler, milk jug

€469.00
Ordinary priceW 28.5 x H 40 cm · 1.7 l tank
With essential accessories€497.85
machine + descaler, milk jug
What we wrote about this, with the kit each piece names.
Does your espresso taste sour, or too bitter? It is usually not the beans or the machine, but how long the water runs through the coffee. How to recognise it and what to do.
A bean-to-cup does everything for you; with a manual machine you do it yourself. Which fits you depends on how much time and attention you want to give your coffee. Why I chose a manual machine twice.
Good milk foam is no accident, but two steps in the right order. How I steam milk with the wand on my Sage, which milk works best and which mistakes I made myself.
From bean to cup with a manual espresso machine: the recipe, the grind, tamping and cleaning. The way I do it myself with my Sage, including the mistakes I made along the way.
The beans decide more of your espresso than the machine. What to look for: the roast, the roast date, arabica or robusta, and how to store them.
The price of a coffee machine moves through the year. How to tell whether an offer really is an offer, and when waiting pays.