diff --git a/esque/cli/commands.py b/esque/cli/commands.py
index d58f6a5b..817f9a8b 100644
--- a/esque/cli/commands.py
+++ b/esque/cli/commands.py
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ def ping(state, times, wait):
     deltas = []
     try:
         try:
-            topic_controller.create_topics([topic_controller.get_cluster_topic(PING_TOPIC)])
+            topic_controller.create_topics([Topic(PING_TOPIC)])
         except TopicAlreadyExistsException:
             click.echo("Topic already exists.")
 
diff --git a/esque/clients/consumer.py b/esque/clients/consumer.py
index 54cafe67..09895f9a 100644
--- a/esque/clients/consumer.py
+++ b/esque/clients/consumer.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 import confluent_kafka
 import pendulum
-from confluent_kafka.cimpl import Message
+from confluent_kafka.cimpl import Message, TopicPartition
 
 from esque.clients.schemaregistry import SchemaRegistryClient
 from esque.config import Config
@@ -35,29 +35,35 @@ def __init__(self, group_id: str, topic_name: str, last: bool):
             }
         )
         self._consumer = confluent_kafka.Consumer(self._config)
-        self._subscribe(topic_name)
+        self._topic_name = topic_name
 
     def _subscribe(self, topic: str) -> None:
         self._consumer.subscribe([topic])
 
     @abstractmethod
-    def consume(self, amount: int) -> int:
+    def consume(self, **kwargs) -> int:
         pass
 
-    def _consume_single_message(self, timeout=30) -> Optional[Message]:
+    def _consume_single_message(self, timeout=30) -> Message:
         message = self._consumer.poll(timeout=timeout)
         raise_for_message(message)
         return message
 
 
 class PingConsumer(AbstractConsumer):
-    def consume(self, amount: int) -> Optional[Tuple[str, int]]:
-        message = self._consume_single_message()
+    def __init__(self, group_id: str, topic_name: str, last: bool):
+        super().__init__(group_id, topic_name, last)
+        self._assign_exact_partitions(topic_name)
 
+    def consume(self) -> Optional[Tuple[str, int]]:
+        message = self._consume_single_message(timeout=1)
         msg_sent_at = pendulum.from_timestamp(float(message.value()))
         delta_sent = pendulum.now() - msg_sent_at
         return message.key(), delta_sent.microseconds / 1000
 
+    def _assign_exact_partitions(self, topic: str) -> None:
+        self._consumer.assign([TopicPartition(topic=topic, partition=0, offset=0)])
+
 
 class FileConsumer(AbstractConsumer):
     def __init__(self, group_id: str, topic_name: str, working_dir: pathlib.Path, last: bool):
@@ -101,6 +107,7 @@ class AvroFileConsumer(FileConsumer):
     def __init__(self, group_id: str, topic_name: str, working_dir: pathlib.Path, last: bool):
         super().__init__(group_id, topic_name, working_dir, last)
         self.schema_registry_client = SchemaRegistryClient(Config().schema_registry)
+        self._subscribe(topic_name)
 
     def get_file_writer(self, partition: int) -> FileWriter:
         return AvroFileWriter((self.working_dir / f"partition_{partition}"), self.schema_registry_client)
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index bf680232..94718954 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -6,11 +6,13 @@
 
 import confluent_kafka
 import pytest
+from click.testing import CliRunner
 from confluent_kafka.admin import AdminClient, NewTopic
 from confluent_kafka.avro import AvroProducer
 from confluent_kafka.cimpl import Producer, TopicPartition
 from pykafka.exceptions import NoBrokersAvailableError
 
+from esque.cli.options import State
 from esque.cluster import Cluster
 from esque.config import sample_config_path, Config
 from esque.errors import raise_for_kafka_error
@@ -38,6 +40,11 @@ def pytest_collection_modifyitems(config, items):
             item.add_marker(integration)
 
 
+@pytest.fixture()
+def cli_runner():
+    yield CliRunner()
+
+
 @pytest.fixture()
 def test_config_path(mocker, tmpdir_factory):
     fn: Path = tmpdir_factory.mktemp("config").join("dummy.cfg")
@@ -205,3 +212,8 @@ def cluster(test_config):
         raise ex
 
     yield cluster
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def state(test_config):
+    yield State()
diff --git a/tests/integration/commands/__init__.py b/tests/integration/commands/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/tests/integration/commands/test_apply.py b/tests/integration/commands/test_apply.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..48fa8865
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/commands/test_apply.py
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+from typing import Any, Dict
+
+import pytest
+import yaml
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+from esque.resources.topic import Topic
+from esque.controller.topic_controller import TopicController
+
+from esque.cli.commands import apply
+from esque.errors import KafkaException
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_apply(cli_runner, topic_controller: TopicController, topic_id: str):
+    topic_name = f"apply_{topic_id}"
+    topic_1 = {
+        "name": topic_name + "_1",
+        "replication_factor": 1,
+        "num_partitions": 50,
+        "config": {"cleanup.policy": "compact"},
+    }
+    topic_2 = {
+        "name": topic_name + "_2",
+        "replication_factor": 1,
+        "num_partitions": 5,
+        "config": {"cleanup.policy": "delete", "delete.retention.ms": 50000},
+    }
+    apply_conf = {"topics": [topic_1]}
+
+    # 1: topic creation
+    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
+    assert (
+        result.exit_code == 0 and "Successfully applied changes" in result.output
+    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
+
+    # 2: change cleanup policy to delete
+    topic_1["config"]["cleanup.policy"] = "delete"
+    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
+    assert (
+        result.exit_code == 0 and "Successfully applied changes" in result.output
+    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
+
+    # 3: add another topic and change the first one again
+    apply_conf["topics"].append(topic_2)
+    topic_1["config"]["cleanup.policy"] = "compact"
+    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
+    assert (
+        result.exit_code == 0 and "Successfully applied changes" in result.output
+    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
+
+    # 4: no changes
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path])
+    assert (
+        result.exit_code == 0 and "No changes detected, aborting" in result.output
+    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
+
+    # 5: change partitions - this attempt should be cancelled
+    topic_1["num_partitions"] = 3
+    topic_1["config"]["cleanup.policy"] = "delete"
+    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
+    assert (
+        result.exit_code == 0 and "to `replication_factor` and `num_partitions`" in result.output
+    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
+    # reset config to the old settings again
+    topic_1["num_partitions"] = 50
+    topic_1["config"]["cleanup.policy"] = "compact"
+
+    # final: check results in the cluster to make sure they match
+    for topic_conf in apply_conf["topics"]:
+        topic_from_conf = Topic.from_dict(topic_conf)
+        assert not topic_controller.diff_with_cluster(
+            topic_from_conf
+        ).has_changes, f"Topic configs don't match, diff is {topic_controller.diff_with_cluster(topic_from_conf)}"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_apply_duplicate_names(cli_runner: CliRunner, topic_id: str):
+    topic_name = f"apply_{topic_id}"
+    topic_1 = {
+        "name": topic_name,
+        "replication_factor": 1,
+        "num_partitions": 50,
+        "config": {"cleanup.policy": "compact"},
+    }
+    apply_conf = {"topics": [topic_1, topic_1]}
+
+    # having the same topic name twice in apply should raise an ValueError
+    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
+    assert result.exit_code != 0 and isinstance(result.exception, ValueError), f"Calling apply should have failed"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_apply_invalid_replicas(cli_runner: CliRunner, topic_id: str):
+    topic_name = f"apply_{topic_id}"
+    topic_1 = {
+        "name": topic_name,
+        "replication_factor": 100,
+        "num_partitions": 50,
+        "config": {"cleanup.policy": "compact"},
+    }
+    apply_conf = {"topics": [topic_1]}
+
+    # having the same topic name twice in apply should raise an ValueError
+    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
+    assert result.exit_code != 0 and isinstance(result.exception, KafkaException), f"Calling apply should have failed"
+
+
+def save_yaml(fname: str, data: Dict[str, Any]) -> str:
+    # this path name is in the gitignore so the temp files are not committed
+    path = f"tests/test_samples/{fname}_apply.yaml"
+    with open(path, "w") as outfile:
+        yaml.dump(data, outfile, default_flow_style=False)
+    return path
diff --git a/tests/integration/commands/test_creation.py b/tests/integration/commands/test_creation.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9855c136
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/commands/test_creation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import confluent_kafka
+import pytest
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+
+from esque.cli.commands import create_topic
+from esque.cli.options import State
+from esque.resources.topic import Topic
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_create(cli_runner: CliRunner, confluent_admin_client: confluent_kafka.admin.AdminClient, topic_id: str):
+
+    cli_runner.invoke(create_topic, [topic_id])
+
+    topics = confluent_admin_client.list_topics(timeout=5).topics.keys()
+    assert topic_id not in topics
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_topic_creation_with_template_works(
+    state: State, confluent_admin_client: confluent_kafka.admin.AdminClient, topic_id: str
+):
+    topic_1 = topic_id + "_1"
+    topic_2 = topic_id + "_2"
+    topics = confluent_admin_client.list_topics(timeout=5).topics.keys()
+    assert topic_1 not in topics
+    replication_factor = 1
+    num_partitions = 1
+    config = {
+        "cleanup.policy": "delete",
+        "delete.retention.ms": "123456",
+        "file.delete.delay.ms": "789101112",
+        "flush.messages": "12345678910111213",
+        "flush.ms": "123456789",
+    }
+    state.cluster.topic_controller.create_topics(
+        [Topic(topic_1, replication_factor=replication_factor, num_partitions=num_partitions, config=config)]
+    )
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    runner.invoke(create_topic, ["--no-verify", "-l", topic_1, topic_2])
+    config_from_template = state.cluster.topic_controller.get_cluster_topic(topic_2)
+    assert config_from_template.replication_factor == replication_factor
+    assert config_from_template.num_partitions == num_partitions
+    for config_key, value in config.items():
+        assert config_from_template.config[config_key] == value
diff --git a/tests/integration/commands/test_deletion.py b/tests/integration/commands/test_deletion.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..36476c95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/commands/test_deletion.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import confluent_kafka
+import pytest
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+
+from esque.cli.commands import delete_topic
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def basic_topic(num_partitions, topic_factory):
+    yield from topic_factory(num_partitions, "basic-topic")
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def duplicate_topic(num_partitions, topic_factory):
+    yield from topic_factory(num_partitions, "basic.topic")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_topic_deletion_works(
+    cli_runner: CliRunner, confluent_admin_client: confluent_kafka.admin.AdminClient, topic: str
+):
+    topics = confluent_admin_client.list_topics(timeout=5).topics.keys()
+    assert topic in topics
+
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(delete_topic, [topic], input="y\n")
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    # Invalidate cache
+    confluent_admin_client.poll(timeout=1)
+    topics = confluent_admin_client.list_topics(timeout=5).topics.keys()
+    assert topic not in topics
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_keep_minus_delete_period(
+    cli_runner: CliRunner,
+    confluent_admin_client: confluent_kafka.admin.AdminClient,
+    basic_topic: str,
+    duplicate_topic: str,
+):
+    topics = confluent_admin_client.list_topics(timeout=5).topics.keys()
+    assert basic_topic[0] in topics
+    assert duplicate_topic[0] in topics
+
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(delete_topic, [duplicate_topic[0]], input="y\n")
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+    # Invalidate cache
+    confluent_admin_client.poll(timeout=1)
+    topics = confluent_admin_client.list_topics(timeout=5).topics.keys()
+    assert duplicate_topic[0] not in topics
+    assert basic_topic[0] in topics
diff --git a/tests/integration/commands/test_describe.py b/tests/integration/commands/test_describe.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c75f48c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/commands/test_describe.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import pytest
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+
+from esque.cli.commands import describe_topic
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_smoke_test_describe_topic(cli_runner: CliRunner, topic: str):
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(describe_topic, [topic])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
diff --git a/tests/integration/commands/test_get.py b/tests/integration/commands/test_get.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2ac5afd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/commands/test_get.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import pytest
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+
+from esque.cli.commands import get_topics
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_smoke_test_get_topics(cli_runner: CliRunner):
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(get_topics)
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
diff --git a/tests/integration/commands/test_ping.py b/tests/integration/commands/test_ping.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a730554d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/commands/test_ping.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import pytest
+from click.testing import CliRunner
+
+from esque import config
+from esque.cli.commands import ping
+from esque.controller.topic_controller import TopicController
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_smoke_test_ping(cli_runner: CliRunner):
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(ping)
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_correct_amount_of_messages(mocker, cli_runner: CliRunner, topic_controller: TopicController):
+    topic_controller_delete_topic = mocker.patch.object(TopicController, "delete_topic", mocker.Mock())
+
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(ping)
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    assert topic_controller_delete_topic.call_count == 1
+
+    ping_topic = topic_controller.get_cluster_topic(config.PING_TOPIC)
+    assert ping_topic.offsets[0].high == 10
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_topic_controller.py b/tests/integration/test_topic_controller.py
index e1f58ae2..4c02b909 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_topic_controller.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_topic_controller.py
@@ -1,23 +1,13 @@
 import json
-from typing import Any, Dict
 
 import confluent_kafka
 import pytest
-import yaml
-from click.testing import CliRunner
 
-from esque.cli.commands import apply, create_topic
-from esque.cli.options import State
 from esque.controller.topic_controller import TopicController
 from esque.errors import KafkaException
 from esque.resources.topic import Topic, TopicDiff
 
 
-@pytest.fixture()
-def state(test_config):
-    yield State()
-
-
 @pytest.fixture()
 def topic_controller(cluster):
     yield cluster.topic_controller
@@ -65,19 +55,6 @@ def test_alter_topic_config_works(topic_controller: TopicController, topic_id: s
     assert final_config.get("cleanup.policy") == "compact"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.integration
-def test_topic_deletion_works(
-    topic_controller: TopicController, confluent_admin_client: confluent_kafka.admin.AdminClient, topic: str
-):
-    topics = confluent_admin_client.list_topics(timeout=5).topics.keys()
-    assert topic in topics
-    topic_controller.delete_topic(Topic(topic))
-    # Invalidate cache
-    confluent_admin_client.poll(timeout=1)
-    topics = confluent_admin_client.list_topics(timeout=5).topics.keys()
-    assert topic not in topics
-
-
 @pytest.mark.integration
 def test_topic_listing_works(topic_controller: TopicController, topic: str):
     topics = topic_controller.list_topics()
@@ -139,144 +116,3 @@ def test_topic_diff(topic_controller: TopicController, topic_id: str):
     topic = Topic.from_dict(conf)
     diff = TopicDiff().set_diff("replication_factor", 1, 3)
     assert get_diff(topic) == diff, "Should have a diff on replication_factor"
-
-
-@pytest.mark.integration
-def test_apply(topic_controller: TopicController, topic_id: str):
-    runner = CliRunner()
-    topic_name = f"apply_{topic_id}"
-    topic_1 = {
-        "name": topic_name + "_1",
-        "replication_factor": 1,
-        "num_partitions": 50,
-        "config": {"cleanup.policy": "compact"},
-    }
-    topic_2 = {
-        "name": topic_name + "_2",
-        "replication_factor": 1,
-        "num_partitions": 5,
-        "config": {"cleanup.policy": "delete", "delete.retention.ms": 50000},
-    }
-    apply_conf = {"topics": [topic_1]}
-
-    # 1: topic creation
-    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
-    result = runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
-    assert (
-        result.exit_code == 0 and "Successfully applied changes" in result.output
-    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
-
-    # 2: change cleanup policy to delete
-    topic_1["config"]["cleanup.policy"] = "delete"
-    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
-    result = runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
-    assert (
-        result.exit_code == 0 and "Successfully applied changes" in result.output
-    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
-
-    # 3: add another topic and change the first one again
-    apply_conf["topics"].append(topic_2)
-    topic_1["config"]["cleanup.policy"] = "compact"
-    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
-    result = runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
-    assert (
-        result.exit_code == 0 and "Successfully applied changes" in result.output
-    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
-
-    # 4: no changes
-    result = runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path])
-    assert (
-        result.exit_code == 0 and "No changes detected, aborting" in result.output
-    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
-
-    # 5: change partitions - this attempt should be cancelled
-    topic_1["num_partitions"] = 3
-    topic_1["config"]["cleanup.policy"] = "delete"
-    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
-    result = runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
-    assert (
-        result.exit_code == 0 and "to `replication_factor` and `num_partitions`" in result.output
-    ), f"Calling apply failed, error: {result.output}"
-    # reset config to the old settings again
-    topic_1["num_partitions"] = 50
-    topic_1["config"]["cleanup.policy"] = "compact"
-
-    # final: check results in the cluster to make sure they match
-    for topic_conf in apply_conf["topics"]:
-        topic_from_conf = Topic.from_dict(topic_conf)
-        assert not topic_controller.diff_with_cluster(
-            topic_from_conf
-        ).has_changes, f"Topic configs don't match, diff is {topic_controller.diff_with_cluster(topic_from_conf)}"
-
-
-@pytest.mark.integration
-def test_apply_duplicate_names(topic_controller: TopicController, topic_id: str):
-    runner = CliRunner()
-    topic_name = f"apply_{topic_id}"
-    topic_1 = {
-        "name": topic_name,
-        "replication_factor": 1,
-        "num_partitions": 50,
-        "config": {"cleanup.policy": "compact"},
-    }
-    apply_conf = {"topics": [topic_1, topic_1]}
-
-    # having the same topic name twice in apply should raise an ValueError
-    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
-    result = runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
-    assert result.exit_code != 0 and isinstance(result.exception, ValueError), f"Calling apply should have failed"
-
-
-@pytest.mark.integration
-def test_apply_invalid_replicas(topic_controller: TopicController, topic_id: str):
-    runner = CliRunner()
-    topic_name = f"apply_{topic_id}"
-    topic_1 = {
-        "name": topic_name,
-        "replication_factor": 100,
-        "num_partitions": 50,
-        "config": {"cleanup.policy": "compact"},
-    }
-    apply_conf = {"topics": [topic_1]}
-
-    # having the same topic name twice in apply should raise an ValueError
-    path = save_yaml(topic_id, apply_conf)
-    result = runner.invoke(apply, ["-f", path], input="Y\n")
-    assert result.exit_code != 0 and isinstance(result.exception, KafkaException), f"Calling apply should have failed"
-
-
-@pytest.mark.integration
-def test_topic_creation_with_template_works(
-    state: State, confluent_admin_client: confluent_kafka.admin.AdminClient, topic_id: str
-):
-    topic_1 = topic_id + "_1"
-    topic_2 = topic_id + "_2"
-    topics = confluent_admin_client.list_topics(timeout=5).topics.keys()
-    assert topic_1 not in topics
-    replication_factor = 1
-    num_partitions = 1
-    config = {
-        "cleanup.policy": "delete",
-        "delete.retention.ms": "123456",
-        "file.delete.delay.ms": "789101112",
-        "flush.messages": "12345678910111213",
-        "flush.ms": "123456789",
-    }
-    state.cluster.topic_controller.create_topics(
-        [Topic(topic_1, replication_factor=replication_factor, num_partitions=num_partitions, config=config)]
-    )
-    runner = CliRunner()
-    runner.invoke(create_topic, ["--no-verify", "-l", topic_1, topic_2])
-    config_from_template = state.cluster.topic_controller.get_cluster_topic(topic_2)
-    assert config_from_template.replication_factor == replication_factor
-    assert config_from_template.num_partitions == num_partitions
-    for config_key, value in config.items():
-        assert config_from_template.config[config_key] == value
-
-
-def save_yaml(fname: str, data: Dict[str, Any]) -> str:
-    # this path name is in the gitignore so the temp files are not committed
-    path = f"tests/test_samples/{fname}_apply.yaml"
-    with open(path, "w") as outfile:
-        yaml.dump(data, outfile, default_flow_style=False)
-    return path