The Dolce Gusto Piccolo coffee machine is a good investment for big fans of coffee as it enables you to serve up authentic coffee shop tasting coffee in your own home simply and effectively.
This coffee machine is sleek in design, coming in a simple domed shape with a tray on which to put your coffee cup, a compartment to put your coffee pod in, a clear water dispenser that clicks on and off at the back and a little spout which delivers the coffee into your cup. It is as simple as that.

Coffee machines can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Some are huge, domineering boxes with several dispensers and numerous buttons, which appear daunting to use. This coffee machine can be worked by anyone and does not take up too much space in the kitchen.

To use you plug it into the mains, fill the water dispenser at the back up with cold water - you can take it off to do this - and place a coffee pod of your choice in the pod department at the top of the machine. Once you have a cup in place you press the on button on the side of the coffee machine. When it has turned from red to green, which only takes about a minute, you pull down the lever at the side and this releases the coffee contents in the pod and the boiled water simultaneously into your cup. Your coffee is ready.

If you take milk you can add this afterwards or some of the coffee varieties come with special milk pods which you put in with the coffee pod.

The coffee is ready to drink straight away as the water is not warmed up completely to boiling point.

The coffee pods are little circular containers containing coffee mixture. You can buy them in pretty much any coffee variety you wish from espresso and Americano to cappuccino and mocha. The taste of the coffee is as good as any bought in a coffee shop. You get 16 pods in a box for around £3.99 from most supermarkets. This is one of the draw backs as this type of coffee is much more expensive than buying a jar of instant coffee. Because of this you may choose to use this machine only once a day and use other coffee the rest of the time but for people who love coffee and are happy to spend a bit more money on it this won't be a stumbling point.

I bought this coffee machine for £50 but that was when it was on offer at 50 per cent off. Usually it costs about £100. This coffee machine is certainly value for money at £50 but I do not think it is worth the full price.

The machine is easy to clean and maintain. It generally just needs a wipe down with a damp cloth and the tray upon which the cup sits can be removed and rinsed under a tap.

The only other negative is the water storage at the back could be a bit bigger as it only holds enough for two cups.

This coffee machine is ideal for those looking for a simplistic, easy to use model but it is worth looking out for it in the sale as it is not worth its full retail price.