Nespresso CitiZ by Magimix M190, Cream

It took me ages to decide which expresso machine to buy because there are so many on the market. I am delighted with the Citiz machine, it is compact and stylish and fits into the kitchen without taking too much space. Making coffee couldn't be easier and cleaner than the Nespresso system. Because I drink my coffee black this machine is perfect without the complication of milk frothing. Perfect results every time within seconds. As always, Amazon delivery was prompt as I have come to expect!

I find the product very easy to use and keep clean. Just wish I'd done a bit more research and perhsps gone for a more elaborate model, e.g. with cappucinno maker or frother. The machine is perfect for me though as I like my coffee plain black.

I've had this for about 3 weeks now and have already got through about 100 capsules. I use it in a small office, mainly for myself and a couple of colleagues. I'm usually too lazy to write reviews, but felt that I needed to balance what has already been written. My experience has not been as positive.

I've previously mostly used bean-to-cup machines, but also a semi-manual machine and another nespresso device (can't remember which one, think it's discontinued).

The best thing about this machine is the size. It really doesn't take up much space and the tank is a reasonable size. There is a draw for expelled capsules - this seems to take about 10. So in theory you can get through quite alot of coffee before needing to empty/clean anything. It is pretty simple to set up and doesn't (yet) really need a clean.

I also like the style, though frankly it doesn't feel that robust.

However, (obviously) unlike a bean-to-cup machine which stores the beans in a hopper, you need to feed the capsules one at a time. So I have a box of capsules next to the machine which doubles its footprint. I got a "totem" holder free with my "welcome" order of 250 capsules - but this is a horrible plastic thing and it's in the bin along with a glossy telling me it is part of the "glass collection"!

But my biggest gripe is that the coffee is just too cold. Put an espresso into an unwarmed cup and it ends up little more than luke warm (though looks and tastes OK). My colleagues prefer americano. It should be possible to use this machine to let more water run through, but they much prefer to boil a kettle and top up with that. The result is acceptable, but a bit of a hassle.

For espresso, your really must warm the cups first. You can achieve this by running some water through the machine and letting it stand for a few seconds. But the results aren't really satisfactory in my opinion.

The machine has two drip trays. One underneath where the cup stands and another inside and under the draw where the capsules are ejected. This latter one is very shallow. In normal usage this works fine as on ejection the capsules seem to retain any residual liquid, so the capsule draw fills before the drip tray underneath. However, if you run water through the machine (without a capsule) to warm the cups, then some water is expelled into this tray as you open the top to place your capsule in. I'm finding that the shallow tray becomes full after every 3 or 4 coffees, so I'm pulling out the drawer to access the drip tray long before it is filled with capsules.

A final point (compared with bean-to-cup) is that whereas used coffee grinds are stored quite efficiently in a bean-to-cup, a pile of capsules takes up more space.

So my conclusion is this. You can get reasonable coffee out of this machine if you like a lungo/americano style and don't mind topping up/warming with water from a kettle. Failing that, the situation is not too bad if you use water from the machine to heat the cups first. Either way is inconvenient. You either need trips to a kettle or must empty the internal drip tray more frequently than you'd want to.

You have to sacrifice convenience in order mitigate shortcomings.