Nespresso

A few weeks ago, Paul and I started seriously thinking about a new coffee machine. Even though I'm a big coffee drinker, I don't like the process of making a big cup of coffee in the morning. Most days, I probably don't have time to make it and wait for it to brew either.

After doing some research about Keurigs and other machines, I landed on Nespresso. Yes, it's an espresso machine, but in my mind it was the best of both worlds. If I had to choose, I'd rather have an espresso based drink. For someone like Paul who'd rather have something similar to drip brew, you can easily make an Americano (espresso + hot water).

Paul called William-Sonoma and had a great phone conversation with Sam, who invited us to come demo one in the store. That night, we were on our way. We had such a great experience and to boot, the U machine we purchased was on sale as a bundle with the milk frother (a separate accessory) for $149. I had a William-Sonoma email for 10% off online, which they also honored in the store. (You know I'm never leaving a store without the ultimate deal) Score!

We immediately came home and broke it out.

It's a simple system - place the pod in, and, if you've been using it a while, it'll even remember the shot size you use. This machine makes a former barista's heart skit a beat!

I didn't expect to get the milk frother, but it's one of my favorite accessories. You can choose between a steamer "clip" or a frothing "clip." If you like a stiff milk cappuccino, the frothing clip will work for you. I'm happy with the steamer setting, which gives it just the right amount of heat and foam.

With the machine you get to try all 16 flavors of espresso pods Nespresso has to offer, which was a lot of fun. It was almost like having a box of chocolate and looking at the map to see what flavor you wanted to try next!

After doing some research, though, we found a pod that's cheaper, but full of flavor - HiLine Coffee. I highly recommend them. There's about a 10-20 cent difference per pod (.45-.54 per pod vs. .67 per pod) over buying from Nespresso.

I can even say personally that their customer service is great because I accidentally bought two boxes that weren't compatible with our machine and they've already shipped me two boxes to replace them and told me to keep the other two to share with friends.

All in all, our coffee machine journey has been so enjoyable. The past couple of weeks I've wondered if this excitement would fade, but it's really been one of the most exciting gadgets we've purchased in a while, in my eyes. I've even wondered about purchasing one for my office!

Cheers!

[No one paid me to write this post, I just love our little machine, and coffee, so much.]