Nespresso Essenza Eco by Krups XN212040 Coffee Machine, Piano Black

My wife is from Switzerland and her cousin had a similar machine. I was always more of a tea Jenny but this machine has changed that.

Simple and easy to use and plenty of choice. I am now going through coffee like nothing else which is handy with a newborn in the house. My swiss parents in law came over and the ease of use has been brilliant compared to my old machine where I had to brew up batches of filter coffee at a time and with varying degrees of mess. Even the decaff stuff tastes good. Also the price compared to other nespresso machines was very reasonable.

For people buying it here are some downsides that don't apply to me but may to you.

The capsules can only be ordered online apparently they can be found in some shops but I have yet to find them. However ordering online is dead easy. Worth noting that delivery can get cheaper if your not fussed about the timing of it as well.

Warmth to get a really hot cup of coffee I would suggest pre-heating the cup.

The cup size of coffee you get can be easily altered but for best results about half a normal mug size produces best taste results.

The free selection you get only has one of each type which between my wife and I meant I didn't try all of them again to get round this I have ordered 10 of each in my first order to get around this.

All in all perfect for me hence the 5 stars however some of the above may not suit everyone so thought it worth mentioning.

I purchased one of these machines on Xmas day (2011) in a sale when I was on holiday (Sweden celebrates a day early, hence shops open on the 25th) and managed to get it at a cheaper price than I've seen anywhere else. The deal also included (circa) £50 of free coffee, so it seemed like a bargain to me. I've used various Nespresso machines before that my family have but I didn't have my own until now. I'm very happy with it and think one of the biggest selling points is the no fuss approach to making coffee. One simply lifts the handle, inserts the capsule, lowers the handle then presses go. Clean and simple coffee everytime.

Coffee size - The name of brand gives this away "N-espresso", although I've seen one reviewer saying they can't get a decent coffee size out of it. I was fully expecting espresso sized coffee portions from my machine based solely on the name. I don't think it is fair to ask for a large coffee as you get from a filter machine. There are 2 settings on the machine, small and smaller (I wouldn't really call it small and large). I only use the larger size though. If you want to make a latte of cappuccino then you have to heat/ froth milk yourself.

Coffee strength - Arguably, the coffee capsules should be stronger than they are. The coffee, specifically the espresso shots, from your local cafe will serve up a more potent coffee. It is, of course, how the cafes can dilute their espresso shots with milk to have a reasonable strength latte. I don't think the coffee provided by Nespresso is quite strong enough to have a similar sized and strength latte as you would get at a cafe.

Capsules - from Nespresso they are around 30p each, I haven't had to buy new capsules yet as the free £50 worth of coffee capsules is still going strong (this is March, I bought it at Xmas). That £50 translates to 150 capsules, at one per day that's around 6 months of coffee. I probably drink closer to 2 cups per day and still have about half a box left. The capsules can be bought online from Nespresso's website and even on Amazon. Unfortunately, there aren't many stores that stock the capsules. Only the Nespresso owned stores and perhaps a very limited number of other stores. Online is probably the best place to buy them then.

Nepresso still have copyright protection on the design of the capsules which is why rival coffee brands have not been able to make their own version. This patent is supposed to run out some time in 2012 so we may see more companies taking advantage of this. It would be helpful if I could buy more capsules in my usual weekly shopping. Surprisingly (?) the Dolce Gusto capsules are sold in the supermarkets. This is another brand of coffee and machine which is *also* owned by Nescafe. Yep, that's right. Nescafe controls most of the espresso machine market.

Machine faults - I've found with all Nespresso machines that the capsules don't always puncture when you pull the handle down. I don't think it has to do with the amount of force applied either, slamming down the handle doesn't necessary work (I've tried). It is quite annoying as the water cannot be pumped through the capsule unless it has been pierced from the front and back. The piercing at the back seems to happen 100% of the time but it is the face of the capsule (the silver foil part) that doesn't always puncture. One simply remedy to this is to lift up the handle again and pierce the capsule manually then put it back in. I haven't had this problem recently but it can happen.

Ideally, I'd rate this as 4.5 stars but going for 4. I'd love to be able to buy the capsules at the supermarket when I do my weekly shopping otherwise no real complaint (and would have made it a 5 star review).

Absolutely hooked on the Nespresso system, this is my third machine in the last 10 years and the best yet for quality and value. Its portability means it always comes on holiday with us in the UK! Totally thrilled with the new Eco features and it looks great too!