When the alarm goes off in the early morning, I need motivation to throw my legs over the edge of the bed. As far as I'm concerned, a good espresso is what eases getting up. Nespresso has done this in recent years, and not without merit, but still: the freshly ground beans, adjust the strength yourself, more control... And the cups are not exactly cheap either. I have had this Krups at home for a week now to test whether this machine will make me stop using the Nespresso.
The installation is simple. However, keep in mind that the device will be flushed the first time. This is accompanied by a lot of water through the machine and the steam nozzle. Of course I hadn't read the manual and I was surprised by the fact that water was coming out of all its ends. Just mop up and move on...
After refilling the water, the beans in it (do yourself a favor and buy good espresso beans at a specialty store), grind setting on fine and the wheel on 30ml coffee it was a press of the "give me a strong espresso" button and go... The machine does everything else itself: heats up, grinds the beans (that does make noise, but the beans are hard), and then the water is pressed through the ground espresso and the espresso cup fills up nicely. The coffee is hot, the cream layer lies nicely and the remaining shuffleboard disc falls into the waste bin after a click. The device does what you expect and knows how to produce a powerful, beautiful espresso. As an extra feature, there is a thorough cleaning program that rinses everything nicely and of course the steam nozzle which is removable for convenient cleaning. Milk in the coffee is a shame, but it works fine. I think Krups has created an affordable fully automatic machine with this machine. No fuss, fancy displays or extreme setting options, but a great device for anyone who wants a little more than nespresso or (brrrrr) coffee pads.