Macap's M4 is a great alternative to the darling of the home-espresso crowd, the Mazzer Mini. It's solidly designed, has an excellent doser, and a few harder to find features (removable bean hopper, for example). Plus it looks great next to a Rancilio, Expobar or Quickmill espresso machine.

The only potential downside is the stepped grind selector; many enthusiasts feel that fine-tuning should be done in the grinder, and that the steps are too large. I felt the same way, until I got to know the M4 a little better - a little technique goes a long way, and it's easier to eliminate the guesswork of constant grind adjustments. Still, if extreme fine-tuning is a must for you, Macap has released a stepless version of the M4 with Mazzer-style infinite adjustment.