Sage Dual Boiler

Sage's Dual Boiler has two steel boilers, one for espresso and one for steam, so you can steam milk while the coffee runs and each stays at its own temperature. A PID holds the brew water within a degree, adjustable between 86 and 96 °C. Each shot starts with a low-pressure pre-infusion that wets the coffee gently before reaching nine bar; the portafilter is the café-standard 58 mm, and the ideal dose is 22 grams.

It has a few extra conveniences: the one- and two-cup buttons can be programmed by time or by volume, you can set the time it switches on in the morning, and after twenty minutes without use it turns itself off. A display and a gauge accompany every shot. The 2.5-litre tank fills from the top and has a water filter.

Group cleaning is an automatic cycle, with a disc and a tablet. Descaling, on the other hand, is a job: you let the machine cool for four hours and drain both boilers by opening the valves with a screwdriver. It is for someone who wants the portafilter ritual with a few more comforts, and a good grinder beside it; the steam wand is manual, and steaming milk remains a craft to learn.