A professional coffee bar in the comfort of your kitchen

Mmm....coffee.

(Credit: Miele)

I think I've mentioned my love of coffee once or twice before.

Almost exactly a year ago, we told you about the latest Miele built-in coffee machine. So now it's time for an update--which comes in the form of an introduction to Miele's next generation beverage systems.

The central dispenser is height adjustable to fit espresso cups, tall mugs or decorative glasses for specialty drinks. That's a bigger deal than you might think, because an otherwise beautiful coffee experience can be marred if you have to lose some of your precious liquid gold when you try to extract the cup from under the dispenser. Trust me.

The integrated tank keeps milk cool for up to 12 hours and allows one-touch preparation of steamed milk and froth drinks. The milk tank slides easily out of the unit's swing door, so it can be stored in the refrigerator. And the whole thing looks good, too--the Clean Touch Steel resists scratches, fingerprints and smudges.

To the joy of housewives everywhere, there's no special cleaning required after each use. And the coffee? Well, the clear text display and user prompts make it easy to make a great cup of whatever. In fact, up to 10 users can preprogram their personal preferences for fineness and quantity of beans to be ground, water temperature and quantity of milk or water per cup.

The machine costs about $2,800. If you visit your local coffee shop daily, the Miele will pay for itself in about two years. Tempting. Very tempting.