Tonight, my favourite football team goes into action in arguably their toughest game of the season. Victory could see us all but be promoted to the promised land of the English Premier League. A draw or defeat isn't the end of the world, but would lead to a few nervy last few weeks of the season.

Did you pick up on that word there? Nervy? Tonight is going to be bad enough, but if things do get prolonged to the last few games, then my nerves are going to go through the roof. And to counter those nerves I'm going to need coffee. Oodles of it. One cup of coffee after another lined up ready to be gulped down. Hey! It's either that or go back to chain smoking. Fortunately, I've recently treat myself to a new coffee machine that uses Dolce Gusto pods!

If you've never heard of Dolce Gusto - then take a quick look at the picture up top that accompanies this little ramble of mine. Is there a word you can see that stands out? That's familiar? 

Of course there is - Nescafe. Nescafe are almost synonymous with coffee. They've been teasing our taste buds with coffee for as long as I remember - and probably a lot longer before I ever came onto the scene. And when they turned their hand to their own range of coffee pods, they made a lot of people very happy indeed.

The benefits of using a coffee machine are plenty. Quick and instant coffee at the press of a button. The ease and convenience that brewing a mug of coffee that they bring. And, importantly, when used in conjunction with one of the top brands of coffee the world over - the said Dolce Gusto coffee pods - you get the coffee you want, brewed exactly how you want it, when you want it, over and over again.

There are many other brands that produce their own line of both coffee machines and the pods (sometimes referred to as discs)  available on the market. And they are very good at what they do and the coffee they produce. But there's just something satisfying knowing you have a world renowned coffee manufacturer in your corner drip feeding you your hit each day.

Needless to say, tonight (and no doubt the rest of the football season) - my little coffee machine is going to get a hammering. However, if things don't go well tonight, I know I can take great comfort in enjoying my Dolce Gusto coffee pods and that whatever my poor old nerves have to go through, I should be alright.

So there you have it. If you're looking to buy yourself a coffee machine make sure to get yourself one that can take Dolce Gusto pods. There are a whole range of machine manufacturers that can supply you with the tools necessary to enjoy this blend of coffee - whether that be Krups, De'Longhi or Oblo. All very capable coffee machine manufacturers designed to deliver the coffee you want, when you want and exactly how you like it. Enjoy!

A coffee maker is a real necessity for those that are not able to go a full day with out the usual mug of coffee that they need to keep them running. And I must declare, I have long grown sick and tired of the Styrofoam garbage that is provided at my nearby coffee shop. So much so that I now recommend purchasing a coffee maker so I can have my hit anytime I want it in the convenience of my very own household. Before you decide to take the plunge and rush out to the shops and do the equivalent, there are many questions you'll have to answer. These important questions will guide you in finding the suitable coffee maker for you.

How many cups of coffee do I need?

Start out with your usual cup of coffee in the morning and count up the number of cups that you have daily. You should also need to include the coffee drinking behavior of the other people in your household. When there's only you who resides there, it wouldn't seem a good idea to get a coffee machine that produces enough cups of coffee for 5 people, does it? It might be ideal for you to get a coffee maker that's sufficient to suit the quantity of coffee that you might want.

Do you need any other particular features?

Technology has advanced in leaps and bounds in recent years in all areas of life and the same holds true with current coffee makers. Simplicity and productivity are some of the buzzwords surrounding coffee machines these days and a wide variety of capabilities have been included with vanilla designs recently. To keep a unit contained, you will find coffee makers that now include grinders so that you have no need to fork out more money on such things. The integrating of electronic timers, clocks and alarms will mean your cup of coffee is ready and waiting for you the second your eyes open on a morning. Should you want your machine to do every little thing known to man as well as preparing a mug of coffee, then make sure you find a product with the most features, but bear in mind, you'll spend a little more on it.

How about brewing an espresso?

If you can't determine what you want : ordinary coffee or an espresso coffee, then do not worry. You can find coffee makers available on the market that are able to do both. Enjoying an espresso coffee occasionally should never involve owning a couple of different coffee makers in your kitchen - if you can purchase a dual role machine affordably, then you'll be better off in the long run.

So which espresso machine do I need to opt for?

That decision is most likely down to your own personal desires, but never forget to look into review web-sites or customer testimonials when you can find them. You will most probably have to study numerous sources for the reviews seeing as everyones experience and needs are different and what could be best for them, might not be good for you.

For most of us a single hit of coffee will likely be sufficient whenever it comes to an Espresso - a couple of hits is often the most. But if you are actually feeling brave a number of people enjoy having a triple or quad shot as an alternative.

Beyond adding alot more coffee to your Espresso, there are various more alternatives if you prefer a bit of variance to your coffee each morning. Let us take a short look at a handful of the varied espresso products available.

Latte - This is actually a coffee made using a hit of espresso and hot milk which often comes with a layer of creamy froth at the top. You must be mindful that in the event you're placing your order in a authentic Italian Coffee shop that Latte translates to just milk, therefore, if travelling to Rome do not forget to ask for a Caffe Latte.

Cappuccino - This coffee is a popular number one with numerous people. Different from a Latte which includes a great deal of whole milk, a Cappuccino alternatively offers quite a bit more froth. Having said that, those provided in Starbucks may be consisting of 50 percent milk and also 50 percent of foam and then the hit of espresso. A Cappuccino with increased whole milk is generally termed as a Wet Cappuccino whilst more foam indicates it really is dry.

Mocha - The Mocha is usually a cup of coffee made up from a hit of espresso, hot whole milk together with delicious chocolate. More often than not it will be capped off with a touch of whipped cream and also chocolate shavings. All this would depend upon exactly how indulgent someone would want to be whenever you are having this. Regardless of the fact dark chocolate can be used in this particular drink it won't really taste insanely sweet but it pretty much offers a pleasurable cocoa undertone in the flavors of the espresso somewhat.

Americano - Though this might possibly seem like an every day mug of coffee initially it is in reality produced in different ways from your others. Typically the coffee / espresso itself is watered down by using boiling water. However you may believe this will possibly not make an excessive amount of a difference. This is usually a great replacement for the normal style of brew for you to drink. When ordering this some people ask the barista to leave them space for adding cream into it, but a majority of prefer it just straight up.

Don't be reluctant of playing with these different types of espresso the very next time you're looking for your coffee hit - you may just be surprised.

Many people are moving away from a common kettle with regard to his or her coffee and then turning their attention to specialist coffee making machines. Naturally, that little unassuming appliance which often is found upon the kitchen worktop did not always exist in its current form, so how did we actually arrive here?

Coffee plants still grow as they done for millennia upon the Ethiopian highlands, the area where legend states the sheep herder Kaldi initially stumbled upon the potential associated with these treasured coffee beans back in the 11th century. The coffee bean eventually came to European countries during the seventeenth century and were at first prepared by way of crushing the coffee itself up and placing that into a pan of boiling water to draw out the flavor.

It had been the French who created the original one or two cutting-edge brewing approaches which we subsequently find resulted in the modern-day coffee machine. The earliest of those methods had been drip brewing that saw the steaming water slowly and gradually drip fed over the finely ground coffee. The 2nd method employed by the French was making use of a perculator in their preparation to be able to continuously rinse the ground coffee beans with boiling hot water and extracting even more flavour in every cycle. In the 1830s, the use of a vacuum to brew coffee was implemented in Germany and a new way to draw out flavour came into common use. Once the use of a perculator was mastered during the last century, we eventually begun to view the development of the coffee making machine we'll all be familiar with today.

Over time as technology has advanced and commercialization has increased, coffee making machines have continually improved however in most all cases the foundations of the original methods are the same.

Whether you want an instant coffee or preparing for a larger brew for your household members, current improvements in technology help to make this feasible. Several machines have also done away with the natural coffee in the form of beans or grains and currently make use of little pre-made coffee pods or discs which have perfectly mixed blends and flavours to suit any coffee-drinkers likes.

And that's about all there is to the background of the coffee making machine. Advancement is a wonderful thing and man has made use of every one of his imaginative powers to devise techniques to get the most from a unfamiliar bean that has come from the African continent some 1000 years ago.