I finally broke down and decided to splurge on some illy espresso. I grind my own beans for coffee, but as I don't have a heavy duty burr grinder, I buy my espresso pre-ground. Shying away from spending the money on the always expensive but beautifully packaged illy, I've stuck with the cheaper Italian brands. Really, could it taste that much better? We all know we're paying for the slick packaging and marketing.

Well, it does taste better. Much better. There's a bit of work that goes into making good espresso, and doing it at home with a little rinky dink home espresso machine is a severe handicap, but if you put a little love into the parts you can control (water and the coffee) you can still come out okay. And using the illy espresso certainly helps. And really, it's still cheaper than buying a shot at the local Starbucks.

illy Coffee & Espresso Machine Shop : illy caffè North America, Inc.