I have a Jura Impressa - bought it refurbished 5 years ago and it's still going strong. We make 2-6 cups of coffee/day and more when we have company. I LOVE it - best coffee I've had outside of Europe.

It is a little noisy - just the sound of it grinding the beans and then dispensing the coffee. Don't think it would wake me unless my bedroom was right next door.

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who use a nespresso...I just bought the Latissima model, and love it, but have a question. When i use the latte setting with a to-go mug, I get about 1/2 a cup, definitely not the venti latte I am trying to replace. I know I can change the settings around, but will it mess with the quality if I just run the same pod twice? If so, does anyone have a good method to make a larger latte without using 2 pods?

No, don't do that, it will be too watered down. A venti latte usually has 3-4 shots of espresso. So that's 3-4 pods. Plus 12-14 oz of milk.

I make myself grandes every morning, so 2 pods and then 10 oz of hot milk.

ours
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Saeco-RI9752-47-Black-Odea-Espresso-Machine/8108666/product.html?cid=202290&kid=9553000357392&track=pspla&ef_id=04ZOD2QSgyMAAEMO:20130801215236:s

cannot live w/o it
used daily

Does anyone have the Starbucks machine? Once a year they used to have their nice espresso machines on sale for about $200-300 but I could never catch the sale at the right time, lol

Anonymous wrote:Wow! OP signing on again. Thanks for all the recs. A few questions...

1. What is the difference between Nespresso and K-Cup makers? I've used a K-cup and been totally unimpressed with the weak coffee it produced.

2. How noisy are the Gaggias? I think I'd love to go down this road and as a PP mentiioned "perfect my latte art" but not if it's going to wake me up every morning at 5am when my husband wants his first cup.

Thanks everyone!

K-cups make coffee, nespresso makes espresso. You have the option of about 1.5 oz or 3 oz. So you aren't getting a cup of coffee, you are getting a shot. You definitely get the crema with the nespresso. There are many pod options for strength, type etc.

We got an expensive one a few years back. Total waste after novelty period.

Those of you who use a nespresso...I just bought the Latissima model, and love it, but have a question. When i use the latte setting with a to-go mug, I get about 1/2 a cup, definitely not the venti latte I am trying to replace. I know I can change the settings around, but will it mess with the quality if I just run the same pod twice? If so, does anyone have a good method to make a larger latte without using 2 pods?

Thanks! The Brera looks great.

Earlier Gaggia poster here - I find ours pleasingly loud but not terribly so. I can hear it from the bedroom if the house is quiet, but not if the door to the downstairs is closed. My DD can also hear it from her room - it's usually her afternoon signal that quiet time is over! We have the Brera, BTW.

Krupps bare-bones, spurts coffee and steams milk, model. 20 years old - my DH and I each use it every day at least once/each (yes, for 20 years). I think it was $80 new. Sad now cuz we're moving to another country and we will have to give it up. Wah. It's discolored, misshapen (part of it melted) and something is clanging around inside and a screw is missing from inside the hot-water lid. I really wanted to run it into the ground but no. It outlived us.

Anonymous wrote:What's your current coffee routine? And when you say espresso machine, do you mean a serious one where you will also need a good grinder and to learn to pull shots properly, or a pod machine like Nespresso, or one of the super-autos where you push a button and it grinds/brews for you?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I think time/cleanup/cost will all factor into the decision. Right now we're grind our own beans every second day or so people. We use a cheap-o stovetop espresso maker, Bialetti, and like how it brews a VERY strong cuppa...though not really "espresso" per say meaning there's no lovely, creamy, head on the pour.

Oh, I think noise will play a factor too. We can't have anything too loud in the morning.

But reading through these threads it sounds like I could probably put an ISO add for a Gaggia machine and come up with a few folks willing to sell their gently used models. May be a good way to dip a toe in the water.

Wow! OP signing on again. Thanks for all the recs. A few questions...

1. What is the difference between Nespresso and K-Cup makers? I've used a K-cup and been totally unimpressed with the weak coffee it produced.

2. How noisy are the Gaggias? I think I'd love to go down this road and as a PP mentiioned "perfect my latte art" but not if it's going to wake me up every morning at 5am when my husband wants his first cup.

Thanks everyone!

Which Nespresso model?

Anonymous wrote:Yes. And yes. We spent around 750 on a Gaggia semi-automatic (grinds and makes a nice pour automatically; use a wand for milk frothing). We use it multiple times every day and it has been absolutely worth the cost. We use a french press when we want to serve brewed coffee.

The gaggias are some of the best on the market right now. There's a semi-automatic for somewhere near 350. Wholelattelove.com has really good info and videos about various machines.

Nespresso. One touch and you have a great latte. I put mine in a reusable to go cup every morning and drink it on the way to work.