Espresso Express

I bought myself an espresso maker for Christmas and have been using it now for a couple of weeks. The machine is the Nespresso C-190 and I am absolutely loving it. It's so fun to make espresso that I find myself pretty caffienated lately! As usual, before buying it I did a lot of research on the internet and it has gotten rave reviews especially in Europe where it is made. I figure if it's fared well among the coffee-cultured Eureopean's, it's probably good enough for me. It is a sub-$400 machine that makes espresso like a $1000 maker. Even better though, is the fact that I can make a cup of espresso in about 1 1/2 minutes - no tapping, no grinding, no blending, etc... It uses a 'pod'. Just turn on the machine and warm it up, slip in the pod, and move the top lever and fill your cup. When done, lift the lid and the used pod ejects into a repository in the machine that is easily removed and emptied every so often.

Lots of smooth creamy 'crema' and great rich coffee. Nestle, the manufacturer makes 9 different espresso blends (including a suprisingly nice decaf - thank goodness) and 3 'lungo' blends for larger cups. The only negative thing about it is you have to buy the pods from Nestle and they are only available through their website. But since they guarantee delivery in 2 business days (and so far in two orders, they have done great) - it's arguably even more convenient than running out to the grocer. Yea - I worry a BIT about the fact that if they stop making these pods I have a useless machine - but Nestle is a big company and they are using these same pods for several of their increasingly popular machines. And it would be nice to not have a single source for the pods for pricing reasons - but Nestle probably isn't going to be motivated to jack up the price too much - it would not only anger existing customers but also hijack the product.

Some say that the automation in this machine takes the 'romance' out of blending, grinding, and tapping but I can't say that that the mess and fuss for what often turns out as less-than-perfect espresso is romantic to me. Just give me a good cup of consistently yummy espresso in short order and then I will show you some romance!