I am a long-time coffee drinker, and over the decades I've worked my way up from drip coffee, with water poured manually from a kettle over pre-ground Folgers, to Tim Horton's coffee, to Second Cup coffee, to Starbucks coffee, to Starbucks espresso, to my current source: a local italian barrista who brought his techniques, as well as his bean roasting secrets, to our little city. This guy makes the best espresso I've ever had, and I feel that this is probably the best that I will ever have.

That said, I can't afford to go out for espresso every day, multiple times a day, so I have to make my own at home too. When I'm in a coffee mood, I have my Cuisinart Grind and Brew coffee maker, and for espresso I've used a Breville Cafe Roma Espresso machine.

Then along came the Nespresso CitiZ Automatic Espresso Maker and Milk Frother. 

Review:

This wonderful machine makes some of the best espresso I've ever had, and considering that I'm getting this at home, I couldn't be happier. The process is simple--pick your espresso type from the various capsules you can purchase, put one in, hit a button, and moments later you are served an amazing espresso.

I just mentioned picking the type of espresso that you want from one of the many capsules made available. Here's a list of the types of espresso capsules regularly available:

• Ristretto (intensity:10)
• Arpeggio (intensity:9)
• Roma (intensity:8)
• Decaffeinato Intenso (intensity:7)
• Livanto (intensity:6)
• Capriccio (intensity:5)
• Volluto (intensity:4)
• Cosi (intensity:3)
• Decaffeinato (intensity:2)

As you can see, there's a type for everyone. In addition to these, Nespresso releases "limited edition" capsules a couple of times a year.

While I don't like the additional waste generated by using capsules, I do have to admit that they do a great job of keeping the ground coffee fresh and oxygen free.

If you aren't sure where to store all of those additional capsules, there is a nice affordable capsule carousel that you can pick up to store them on.

In terms of build quality, the machine I have is very well built. I use it regularly, and have had no problems.

It also looks really great! I have the stainless steel version, but there is a black version available as well. Some of the other brands also have white versions.

Good Recommendations Summary:

If you've been on the fence about whether or not to pick up one of these espresso makers, I highly recommend that you go get one. Outside of Nespresso, there are a number of different brands that are licensed to make Nespresso espresso machines, including Krups, Magimix, Miele, Siemens, and DeLonghi.

Here are some other links you might be interested in:

• Nespresso capsules
• Capsule storage