We always use espresso beans for everything. Having to switch out beans takes away from the "automaticness" of these machines. Never a complaint in our house about the coffee and using the same beans for everything. We love ours.

thanks rentaltux! this is definitely a splurge for us so glad to hear you're happy!

You can use the same beans, you just need to be cautious with any flavored beans as they can gunk up your system with their coating when grinding. We always bought flavored beans already ground for our Miele.

xc60, is there a separate compartment for ground coffee? or does that go in the single use compartment?

There is another container for ground.

any more recent reviews on the miele coffee system? we are about to place our appliance order and need some encouragement to pull the trigger. are espresso beans considered "oily"? i saw a review by someone stating their miele had issues due to use of "oily" beans.