[JavaBrewer]

In my years as a bartender I've made (and consumed) way too many espresso beverages. The biggest killer for espresso machines is coffee grounds making their way up into the head and pressure system. Our industrial machine needed to be professionally cleaned on a regular basis, and I spent 15 minutes every night at closing cleaning the sucker.

The new consumer grade espresso machines are very cool. I would avoid the "full automatic" deals that grind, tamp, brew, and dump grounds with a single button push. Too complex, and I imagine not very durable with so many process points. Go with the machines that support the coffee pods - no mess, keeps the machine clean, and easy to work with.

At work we've had a Starbucks Barista Athena for over 2 years. It gets used by 3-4 people everyday. No problems. Wife and I just bought a Starbucks Barista machine for our home and it does a great job. We've used espresso pods from Starbucks, Illy Cafe, and Espression. All are good.