FLAVIA® FUSION™ (FL401) Espresso Machine & Coffee Maker

I can't imagine life before the Flavia moved in to our home! My husband is VERY particular about his coffee. In the past, we've ONLY used thermal carafes because he doesn't care for the taste of "cooked" coffee. We had the opportunity to try this unit at a friend's home while on vacation. We were both very impressed at how tasty the coffee was. When we returned home, I ordered us a Flavia and also another one for my father for his birthday. He's another tricky one to please with coffee. Fast forward to when our units arrived...which when you deal with a Flavia Ambassador,(look for this in the eBay listing) it is shipped directly from the factory and arrives in about 4 days. I used to drink 2 cups of coffee per day. That was enough to get me moving and keep it that way all day long. Since our Flavia arrived, that has changed...EVERY single cup of coffee is such a wonderful aromatic and tasty treat, it's literally impossible to not indulge.
If you're thinking about the cost per cup, it's on the average of .32. Cross check that with a cup of Starbucks from the mall at $2.75. Flavia is better tasting. Also factor in the wasted coffee you dump from the pot that was made.
Have you had company over and 1 person in the group asks if you have decaf? No more brewing a second pot of older coffee for your guest...there are decaf packets available. They also have several different teas available. We've tried everything the company has to offer...even the kids like the hot chocolate.
The only drawback is the storage of the coffee packets. They come on rails of 20 packets per rail. A very clever design. I solved the problem of having boxes on my pantry shelves by using the peg board wall that was already in my pantry. I bought single 3" straight hook pegs from the hardware store and now have all of my selections neatly hanging where I can see all of my choices. I have a decorative box on the counter with a nice variety of selections (why have the same coffee 2 times in a row?????) for immediate use. If you search around the web, you will find that the original Flavia site isn't the least expensive for coffee packet purchases. I see in the review rules for this comment sheet I can't give you the outside link for the less expensive site. Just do a google search for Flavia coffee and look for 4-mega-vending. The order arrives in 3 days! They also sell a rotating unit that holds 6 rails of coffee packets. I haven't bought one yet. I rather like my pretty box on the counter.
If you're thinking about purchasing one of these units, I can say based on our EXTENSIVE (oh the joy!) use, that you would be very pleased with your purchase. I've already had 3 friends purchase their own Flavia's after trying ours!
One last comment to add comes from my dad. He said after his first week of ownership, that the only problem with this coffee maker (at this point, my heart skipped a beat because this was his birthday present!) is that every cup of coffee is so darn good. This comes from a man who believed the microwave was invented to reheat coffee. He is completely spoiled now and is truly enjoying it. My brothers tease him that his coffee cost is going to reach $30.00 per month. It's no surprise that when my brothers visit, they have to put their .32 on the counter before Dad will make them a cup of coffee! Ha ha!
Enjoy!