Nespresso Lattissima Plus Coffee and Espresso Machine by DeLonghi, Silver

After several months of use I have nothing but positive things to say about this machine. We use it every day, sometimes multiple times per day. So far we haven't had any issues that were bad enough I can recall them when trying to think of cons for this review.I'd never had real espresso before I began using this machine, so I definitely can't comment on the quality of the espresso itself when compared to other sources. I do, however, have pretty specific taste for normal, brewed coffee and for several years have been using fresh, high quality beans from local roasters with a nice burr grinder and an Aeropress to make my morning cup. So I at least feel I know what high quality coffee tastes like in general.Overall, I really enjoy the taste of the espresso I get from this machine. We've tried several different kinds of Nespresso pods but have begun buying only the Arpeggio style because it's strong enough to taste good in lattes, tastes good as pure espresso, and is on the cheaper end of the cost spectrum for Nespresso pods.I'll definitely say that the flavor of all the Nespresso pods I've tried is a much more "pure" coffee flavor than the various high quality, single-source whole beans I've been using for the last several years. The best way I can describe it is that the espresso my machine makes doesn't have any of the many subtle flavors you'll find in a cup of brewed coffee made from high quality beans. It's not that it's bad or unenjoyable - I like it. It just tastes like really strong, pure, smooth coffee whereas brewed coffee from Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans will have a pretty distinctly different flavor profile than coffee from Hawaiian Kona beans or something.A caveat to my statements here - I enjoy high quality bourbon, scotch, wine, and coffee but I'll be the first to admit that I can never pick out and name particular flavors in those things like all the reviewers claim to be able to do. I can tell when something is great quality, good quality, or not-good quality for sure. I can tell that different varieties taste different, but can't really DESCRIBE the difference. So someone else could easily come along and call me crazy for not detecting all the stuff they do in their Nespresso-made espresso.My favorite thing about this machine, though, is definitely the ease of use. It's SO much faster to make a double espresso with this thing than it is to make a single cup of coffee with my Aeropress, between the actual preparation and cleanup time. I've also discovered that some days I really enjoy the effect of drinking espresso over brewed coffee. I can down a double espresso in a several decent sips and almost instantly get a strong caffeine boost whereas slowly sipping on a cup of brewed coffee takes noticeably longer to kick in.One downside is that you have to drink 3 to 4 Nespresso pods worth of espresso to get the same amount of caffeine you'd get in a 12 oz. cup of strong, brewed coffee. I've just become accustomed over time to getting less caffeine in the morning than I used to. I've also found that a smaller amount of caffeine delivered more quickly has just about as the same effect on me as a higher amount delivered over a longer period (like when you sip a cup of brewed coffee for an hour).This has been slightly addictive for me, as we have a one-year-old who likes to get up nice and early and is not quiet about his displeasure when he's forced to stand in his crib waiting for us to come get him. On an early morning where I'm facing making a bottle/breakfast/changing a poopy diaper while groggy and sleep deprived, being able to quickly make and drink a double espresso is seriously amazing.Also, I'd be irresponsible not to mention the built-in milk frother/steamer. That's the main reason we chose this specific Nespresso machine over others, as my wife likes to have a latte every morning but heating milk in a cup in the microwave, frothing it up using a battery powered immersion frother thingy, then combining it with some concentrated Aeropress coffee was seriously annoying and time consuming. It didn't taste quite like a real latte either, unsurprisingly.This machine makes a latte insanely quickly. Pour some milk in the milk container, connect it to the machine, let the machine heat up, put in a pod, push a button - and in about 20 seconds you're done. It's awesome, and my wife likes the taste of the lattes it makes far better than her standby vanilla latte from Starbucks or the improvised Aeropress-based lattes we were doing previously.Cleanup from milk-based drinks is simple too: Empty the pod holder into the built-in pod collection bin, put a mug or something under the milk spout, hold the steam clean button on top for 10 seconds or so while it cleans out leftover milk residue, then pop the milk container with any remaining unused milk in the fridge until next time. The milk container disassembles into about 6 different pieces that are all dishwasher safe, so we run it through ours every few days and never have any issues with sour milk smell or residue. It's also easy to wash by hand if you need to.As far as cleaning the machine itself - we have pretty hard water and there's actually a way described in the manual to program the machine to account for hard water, which I've done. The machine tells you when it needs to do its self-cleaning/descaling routine by making one of the buttons glow orange. Nespresso sells special cleaning solution for it, which we use. I looked into using other methods (e.g. vinegar) and couldn't find any solid enough evidence of it being safe that I felt comfortable risking messing up a ~$250 machine to save a little money on cleaning solution. It's not very expensive and in the half-year or so we've had the machine we've only had to descale it twice. We like the machine so well and get so much use out of it that a little extra cost to make sure we're maintaining it properly doesn't bother us.So, that's a very long (way, way too long..), stream-of-consciousness review of this Nespresso machine because I'm procrastinating on something else. We haven't regretted our purchase at all after months of everyday use and would definitely recommend it based on our experience, assuming you want to make milk-based drinks and don't have another way to produce the steamed milk. If all you're after is espresso, definitely don't buy this version. I believe DeLonghi makes other machines that don't include the milk dispensing feature that are cheaper.

I've been thrilled with my various Keurig machines since I first stumbled onto the pod-coffee concept a few years back. We've had several  B70s  at home (admittedly, that's more of an indictment of Keurig's reliability than a ringing endorsement - but we did keep going back for more), and I've had one  B31  at the office that's saved me from many a cup of intolerably bad company-provided coffee. I _was_ thrilled with my Keurig's and their convenient any-time coffee, until I bought this Nespresso machine.The machine thoughtfully comes with a sample of more than a dozen different flavors of espresso, with descriptions for each and recommended recipes (i.e., which are suitable for recipes with milk, which are better for ristretto size servings, etc.). We received the machine on a Friday, and had consumed all the pods by Sunday afternoon, and were thrilled to receive the 200-pod sample pack (available from Club Nespresso, direct) within a day or two after that. We're hooked!Like the Keurig system, the Nespresso system utilizes individually sealed pods of espresso, through which the machine forces hot water. Unlike the Keurig, the Nespresso machine uses very high pressure (I read 19 bars of pressure somewhere, take that with the grain of salt you'd take any unsourced assertion on the internet). The amount of water that you used can be varied by choosing one of the two different non-milk recipe buttons on top of the machine - one is a single-shot sized serving (i.e., 40 mL), the other is a Lungo sized serving (i.e., 100 mL). What's more, these volumes can be varied by programming the machine to your preferences - you can hold down the recipe button for as long as you wish espresso to be dispensed, and once you let go, the machine remembers that volume as your preference for that button. If you like risrettos, for example, you can hold down the smaller cup button for as long as it takes to dispense 20mL (the minimum supported serving size for espresso).The milk distribution system is also ingenious- the container of milk is stored in the fridge between uses, and the milk nozzle can be cleaned immediately after dispensing a latte or cappuccino by holding down the "clean" button and pumping some steam through the nozzle into a waste cup. The whole milk container can be disassembled, and every single part thereof washed in the top rack of the dishwasher, which the manual recommends be done twice a week. The quality of foam that comes out is top-notch, and the volume of foam is adjustable, both by varying the volume of milk that is pumped through the system for each milk-based recipe (using a similar button-holding method to that described above), and by twisting the adjustment knob on top of the milk container. The knob is a little confusing - I think it determines how dry the foam is, not the quantity of milk used to make the foam. In any setting, it produces a lot of dry foam from skim milk. Mixing in some whole milk, or using any milk other than skim will also reduce the amount of foam.Cleaning the machine after each use is a breeze - just lift the handle to eject the used pod (which is ejected downward into a storage drawer inside the machine), close the lever, and then select one of the non-milk recipe buttons (espresso or lungo) to run water through the espresso nozzle. If you used milk in the recipe, you can also hold down the "clean" button on the milk container for about ten seconds, which will force steam through the milk nozzle until it's clean. The milk container detaches in a single piece from the counter-top unit, and stores easily in the fridge.Capsules are not widely distributed - Nespresso wants to retain a tight control on those, both for maximum profit (think printer ink refills), and to ensure high quality and continued customer satisfaction. On that second count, I am completely satisfied - the quality of the espresso pods is top-top notch, and easily worth the sixty cents a piece that the regular flavors cost (seasonal or specialty flavors are sometimes available at higher costs). Even with this exorbitant price, you're saving money over purchasing at Starbucks, and the quality is at least as good, if not better.If you're an espresso fan, you'll be thrilled at how thick the crema is on top of a shot of espresso. If you're a latte fan, you'll love how little effort is required to make one in the morning, when you're too sleepy to do anything except push one button.-----Some cons-----The machine is definitely a five-star product, but here are a list of some drawbacks I've encountered (as minor as you'd expect):The default volumes on the milk-based recipes are surprisingly small. Both recipes (cappuccino and latte) dispense 40mL of espresso, with the only difference being the volume of milk (50mL for cappuccino, 150mL for latte). Thus, a cappuccino with the default settings won't quite halfway fill a small teacup. This can be easily remedied by programming the machine, but it was a minor disappointment when I made my very first drink.The volume of water stored in the reservoir is also quite small - the machine is surprisingly small when compared to the Keurig B70 which sits next to it, and the water container is only the height and width of the machine, and about 1.5" front-to-back. According to the manual, it holds 900 mL (30.4 oz). This doesn't make as many beverages as you'd expect.Cost-- This machine is definitely a luxury item, with a multiple hundred dollar initial investment and sixty cents per pod. That's a long way from the thousand dollar plus machines that you see at Williams Sonoma and the like, but it's still a lot of money to invest in a coffee habit.To me, however, it's absolutely worth every penny -- and you'll have to pry the machine from my cold, dead (and caffeine-twitching) hands.

The mils skimmer works perfectly, the machine is very good looking and practical. Makes a big noise while using, but its the same for all Nespressos. The coffee is awesome and both water and molk get hot very quickly. The milk skimmer is very easy to clean and you just need to stor it in the fridge if there is still milk in it. Original price is a bit expensive, yoy pay for the brand I guess, but I got it for a 50% discount so its perfect,

When it was time to replace our beloved coffee maker, we decided to take the plunge and go Nespresso, and we have no regrets. This machine is easy to use, easy to customize, and easy to clean, and produces excellent macchiatos and cappuccinos. The pod selection is quite varied, so we have been working our way through a variety pack to choose our favourites. A hearty recommendation! It is more expensive per cup than a traditional coffee maker or a less expensive pod option, but for us it is worth it for the quality and ease of use.

The coffee was never hot. The flavour was awful and steamer wasn’t very good. Go for the cheaper one the coffee is always hot and delicious

This espresso machine worked great for a out the first 2 months. Since then we have nothing but issues with it. The milk foamer stopped working all together. Also to make a coffee now u have to stand there and hold the button down the whole time. Would not recommended this product especially at its price point.

Bought this for my husband for Christmas and he absolutely loves it! He is a pretty picky guy and he raves about how delicious this is!