The Morphy Richards Cafe Merito is a fantastic little machine. Bought it on clearance from Comet in around April this year as we were on our 4th or 5th machine of our previous coffee maker, which kept breaking down and having to be replaced under warranty. Full price this little machine would still have been a bargain. It is an excellent machine for people new to making espresso as it's so easy to use. It's got 15 bar pressure and is a proper pump machine, not pressure based as some cheaper models are. The 1 litre removable water tank is really easy to fill and clean out, and it's easy to see how much water is left. The only complaint I can make is that 1 litre tank will only make about 4 cappuccinos so not great if you're in to entertaining. It's reasonably quick - you can make two double shot wet cappuccinos in around 6 or 7 minutes from cold (we like around 250ml each!).

The frothing spout has a removable end, and the remaining plastic piece unscrews from the pipe for ease of cleaning. It has such a small footprint that it's an excellent choice for a kitchen lacking in space. Because it's so compact the milk spout is a little low but we have no problem using our stainless steel frothing jug (and that's a jug which can hold 200ml of milk after it's been frothed). Again, as it's a compact machine be aware that you won't be able to fit a large cappuccino cup under the twin spout, but as you should put the milk in first it's not a problem to use espresso cups and decant. Not sure about the previous review that said how poor the frothing was, as we've never had any problems and the quality of the milk froth is excellent. As already mentioned, we can make two large wet cappuccinos in around 7 minutes, and that includes grinding the beans. After we've finished frothing the milk there's more than enough steam left to clean through the nozzle and the frothing pipe.

We've not had it that long but so far it's been far less trouble than our previous machine of choice and have only had to descale it twice. Personally, if you're looking for an inexpensive coffee maker that won't take up half your work surface, I don't think you could be disappointed with this little gem for the price. It makes coffee to compete with machines ten times the price and produces a really nice crema.