Krups F 897 > Reviews > Connoseour's espresso ...but at a price

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Excellent
Ease of use	Very easy
Durability	Long
Cleaning & Maintenance	Easy
Value for money	Fair

Advantages:	Brilliant Coffee, Looks good, easy
Disadvantages:	Expensive

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Nespresso system is revolutionary in coffee. If you are not familiar with it, it is one whereby fresh very high quality capsules of coffee are made into espresso using a Nespresso machine. The coffee is of the best standard and comes in a huge variety of blends. Nespresso is a huge step us from other coffee systems such as Tassimo by Kenco. Owning one is more of an experience than a simple appliance; coffee is delivered in tubes of 10 or so and display cases for the capsules can be bought.

The end result is no different from the traditional espresso machine in which ground coffee is used. Indeed inside the capsules are ground coffee. The espresso made is perfect, and sugar sprinkled on the top falls through the crema after 10 seconds. In price comparison, per espresso, it works out at about 70p and that's far cheaper than Starbucks etc.

The machine itself looks beautiful. It has clean lines and would fit in any modern kitchen. The machine is of very good quality as one would expect from Krups. It has excellent functionality. One can have two sizes of coffe, which are preset in the machine. One can produce hot water, use the steaming function for frothing milk or heating liquids, cups etc.

However, according to the instructions, you have to let it heat up until the water stored inside is hot enough to make coffee. This takes at least 5-10mins. You could leave the machine on all the time but apparantly this isn't good for the machine - a bit like leaving a TV on standby. Also, the manual recommends cleaning immediately after use, every time. This is very tedious, especially if you use the frother.

Also, the machine itself is very expensive. It currently retails at £300. This does seem quite expensive but despite the cleaning chores etc, you don't have to be so pedantic, it makes awesome coffee. It is a very fashionable item and would make a wonderful present for someone dear.

One final point is that the capsules are only available online. Some may find this irritating but it does add to the exclusivity of it.

Summary: Would recommend one to anyone who can afford one.