My husband and I have had a number of coffee and espresso machines over the years, but as our coffee consumption increased, we got tired of fussing with pods or cleaning up the mess of espresso grounds with our beloved espresso machine. This machine is a game changer. It is truly effortless to brew a cup of coffee or espresso and creates 0 mess. The coffee tastes fantastic too! My only qualm is that you do have to empty the grounds and dirty water fairly frequently, but it’s still so much easier and cleaner than any alternative we’ve tried. Could not recommend more highly!