L'OR BARISTA coffee pod machines are designed to create high quality espressos with L'OR BARISTA coffee capsules. But it does include a tasting pack of 12 pods, so you’re sure to find at least one that works for you.

True, you’re not going to have the same degree of control as you would over a steam wand, but you’ll get a lovely thick latte in minutes. It takes traditional Nepresso pods, which you can load in, then the touch-screen menu takes you through all the coffees it can make. Similarly sleek in looks and robust in build, it still offers oodles of substance to back up its style, but there's no separate water dispenser and it can't heat milk at the same time as pouring coffee. I found it simple to use via a panel of four buttons on a panel on the top of the machine, and suitable for beginners as you can use either ground coffee or ESE pods. Alongside excellent pod compatibility, this machine also lets you customise drink lengths from 25ml up to 270ml, as well as offering three standard sizes – ristretto (25ml) espresso (40ml) and Lungo (90ml) – via the buttons at the top.Choose from the available roasting profiles, Classico, Intenso, Forte or Decaffeinato, and let yourself be swept away by the refined taste of our Arabica Selections : Costa Rica, India, Brasile, Guatemala, Etiopia, Colombia.

The portafilter was a little hard to load the first couple of times I used it, but that was quickly resolved with a bit of elbow grease. It comes fully assembled and is quick to heat up, but it took me a while to master making espressos with fresh ground coffee. For instance the steam wand feels professional level, and lets you get into creating microfoams and seeing what works for you. We loved that this Smeg coffee machine looked sleek, and perhaps less intimidating to use than some others we tested.

Pod (or capsule) coffee machines tend to be looked down upon by espresso enthusiasts, but they are the easiest and most convenient way to make coffee at home. Failing that, make sure to budget for a separate milk frother – you can read our guide to the best milk frothers here. We were looking for how easy each coffee machine was to use, how easy they were to clean, how much space they took up in our small kitchens and how easy they were to maintain. Rather than popping your pods into the top of the machine, you instead place the pods in a professional-looking portafilter which twists and locks into place.

This Nespresso-friendly pod coffee machine earned rave reviews from our experts for its quick, reliable, and accurate espresso making. Nevertheless, if you’re after a simple, affordable coffee capsule machine that won’t take up too much space, the Jolie is a fantastic option.It’s highly versatile, with the capability, via its brew head and adaptors, to make drinks using various capsules, pods and even ground coffee. Drinks recipes can be modified to cater for personal preferences and our tester achieved fine, velvety foam ideal for latte art with its automatic steam wand. It poured consistently accurate coffees for our tester, who loved that the height of the coffee outlet can be altered to accommodate those taller, chunkier mugs we all reach for on chilly days.