L’OR Barista System Coffee and Espresso Machine Combo with Frother, Matte White

Fantastic!
I had not had any plans to buy a pod based coffee maker again. I have a major brand that starts with a K and was never very happy with it. I prefer strong coffee and I always found the coffee from this machine to be weak and not pleasing to my taste.This machine popped up in my Black Friday deals and it had a sizable discount so I was a bit intrigued. The product description really went out of their way to tout the robust coffee flavor and brewing method.When I asked about the flavor strength the vendor again went out of their way to stress their brewing method and pods which they assured me gave good strong flavor.The reviews were uniformly very positive. Given Amazon’s liberal return policy I thought I would give it a try.Set up was a bit quirky. The instructions provided did not cover all the pieces to the machine and I was left trying to figure out how several of the pieces fit together. Specifically the empty pod collection container. I had no idea what it was and where it fit until I saw a completely unrelated diagram that gave me a clue of where it fit. In case you are wondering what I mean – there is a large hollow gray piece that is meant to fit behind the coffee output nozzles.There was also another smaller grey piece that was not detailed in the main instruction page and was referenced on a small separate piece of paper I am almost missed as it was stuck in the bottom of the box. So make sure you look for that.As for the main instructions it felt like they were designed to be language free and only use pictures so that they did not need to have a bunch of different versions. To sum all of this up – the instructions need a separate comprehensive section that details ALL of the pieces and how to properly install them. I also think that the usage instructions might need to be revisited and consider adding some writing in addition to the pictures. (No need to try and be like ikea with their ‘it will take you all day to figure it out instructions’.)Once I got everything put together and running I was impressed with how quickly it got up to temp and ready to brew.Very very pleased with the taste of the coffee. Even the medium strength pods brewed a reasonably robust cup. The strong version was excellent. It also makes a very nice Crema (froth layer) on the top of the cup. I have yet to try the espresso pod, saving them for when I run out of the others as a treat for myself.A nice little touch is the aforementioned used pod receptacle – when you lift the top to put in a new pod it automatically ejects the used pod into the receptacle. Nice usability design.So overall as a coffee maker I think it is fantastic. Minor downside is that because it is so easy to brew a quick cup I might end up drinking too much coffee.Update after one week:(Important) – as mentioned above, used pods are ejected down into the grey container. You need to pay attention how quickly the container fills up because it is easy to lift lever and have it try and force a pod into it and possibly getting stuck. (totally did not happen to me….)I think the water reservoir should be larger. I am getting about 3 cups of coffee before I have to fill it up again. Personally I think it should be large enough to hold 5 cups of water. Thankfully it’s right next to the sink so refilling it’s not really a problem. I just think it will be more convenient with a larger reservoir.Oh BTW – Make sure you grab the coupon that gives you a bunch of free pods. I almost missed that.(Funny side note: I saw the Vine reviews and I am a Vine reviewer, and unfortunately this had not popped up on my available to get list. -We don’t all get the same list of products available for review. So I ended up paying for it.)