Pod Espresso Makers

Pod espresso makers are almost foolproof

Experts agree that making espresso at home is a complicated business. You have to buy fresh coffee beans and store them properly. Then, each time you pull a shot, you have to grind the beans to the proper fineness, decide how much coffee to use and tamp the grounds down with the right amount of pressure. You can avoid a lot of trial and error by purchasing a machine that accepts pods (prepackaged filter packets that resemble round tea bags) or cones (which resemble K-cups or coffee cream containers). Purists disdain these types of espresso makers because they take away a lot of the creativity and skill from making espresso, although they do greatly simplify the process.

Cleanup with a pod coffee maker couldn't be easier. Most can only make one shot at a time (regular espresso makers generally let you make two shots), and the pods cost more (about 50 cents each) in the long run than buying coffee and grinding it yourself. Pods are available online, as well as at some retail stores. Owners say that the pods stay fresh for months, so you can keep a large supply on hand. The downside is that most machines strictly limit you to prepackaged pods for your particular machine; Nespresso, for example, has a line of 12 cones available year-round and a few seasonal varieties. Espresso enthusiasts say that pods cannot compete with freshly ground coffee beans for flavor, but on the flip side, many owners say espresso from pods tastes just as good as or better than coffee shop espresso.

Editors at Food & Wine magazine deem the Nespresso Concept D290 (*Est. $400) the best cone or pod machine they evaluated. After six months of testing, Slate.com's Alex Abramovich also chooses the Nespresso D290 as his favorite: "The machine is so reliable and easy to use that I found myself overlooking the inconvenience of Nespresso's online ordering system." He writes that inexperienced baristas could "spend all day trying to make a better cup than this one produces at the touch of a button." Users at Amazon.com say that the D290 is especially easy to use and consistently produces excellent espressos. Several also rave about Nespresso's stellar customer service. Many wish, however, that cones were more widely available. All Nespresso machines use proprietary cones that are only available online from Nespresso. The Nespresso D290 ejects spent cones in a container that you empty after eight cups, and it has a removable steam wand. Otherwise, the Nespresso D290 works like any other top-quality espresso machine, using pump action that generates 15 bars of pressure.

If you don't care about frothing milk to make cappuccino, but still like the idea of a pod espresso maker, the Nespresso Le Cube C180 (*Est. $280) and the Nespresso Essenza C100 (*Est. $270) earn high marks for their espresso. Neither has a milk-frothing wand, so if you plan to make cappuccino, you'll need a separate frother, such as the Nespresso Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother (*Est. $100). Reviewers say that the Le Cube is a good overall performer, but it has a relatively small water reservoir, and its brewing temperature varies from cup to cup. We read a handful of reviews of the 11-pound Le Cube at Amazon.com. Owners praise its sleek Deco design, and they say that it's a great machine if you want espresso only.

The Nescafe Dolce Gusto by Krups (*Est. $160) gets good reviews at Amazon.com. It also relies on proprietary prepackaged pods (*Est. $1.10 each) from Nescafe. Users, however, say that although the coffee is delicious, Nescafe doesn't offer much variety and the pods are more expensive than those from Nespresso. But many manufacturers are catching on to the popularity of espresso pods. All Gaggia machines are now ESE-certified, meaning that they work with both traditional ground coffee and pre-packaged ESE pods (*Est. 50 cents each), which are more readily available than other proprietary pods. In fact, ESE pods and machines are made by several manufacturers, all of which agree to adhere to standardized technical and geometrical parameters in order to guarantee consistent quality. Manufactures insist that the pods work well in all pod-capable machines except singe-serve machines, like Nespresso. Espresso pods that are not ESE certified work in the same manner, but many are not compatible with ESE-certified machines. The Breville 800ESXL (*Est. $400) is compatible with most pods.