My first coffee machine

[CozyCup]

Hello everyone

some months ago i had a nice gift for christmas: a Krups VIVO Coffee

here's the link to it:
http://www.monologues.co.uk/cgi-bin/apf ... B00008BQYW

what recommandations/advices/sugestions can you present me to try my best to take a nice espresso from it?!
what do you think of this machine for a beginer?!
what extra stuff/hardware should i think on buying in the upcoming months?!

thanks for all the help provided, regards.

 

[CCafe]

Not to be rude, but it looks like it fell off the ugly wagon! :evil:

Well one of the best things you can do is get a burr grinder. You may not be able to grind as fine as some of the high end machines can take but at least you can find a setting that should make great espresso every time.

Look for nice little Solis Maestro, that will give you consistent grinds every time. Granted it costs about 5 times the amount of what your machine cost. You can find them around $100 and up.

If you ever decide to go all out for a new machine, I would check in to a Rancilio Silvia. There are other machines out there that are just as nice if not better, Gaggia, Solis, Jura Capresso. But if you really want to lighten up your wallet have a look at Cimbali Junior M21, or a Nuova Simonelli Microbar.