Choosing an anniversary gift can be the most sensitive of challenges. Get it wrong and you could find yourself in big trouble – for a long, long time.

However, when nothing pleases one’s partner more than the uplifting combo of an early morning kiss n’ cuddle with an aromatic coffee, that daunting task becomes a lot easier.

Skipping the kiss ‘n cuddle part (some things, after all, should remain behind locked doors), let’s talk about the coffee. The biggest challenge here is the bewildering array of choices, both specific blends and machine types.

That’s when Nespresso came to my rescue.

Teaming up with the Whirlpool-owned KitchenAid, the company has created a cute, retro-looking artisan machine made not from the usual plastic material, but from die-cast metal. It also comes in six different colors so for a bit of celebrity fun on our special day together, I chose vivid candy-apple red for my partner of 18 years. My color choice was a stroke of pure genius. Hitting the jackpot, I was rewarded with kiss ‘n cuddles galore.

Even more delightful news is that the ‘KitchenAid’ uses the same pods as other Nespresso machines so my partner and I could still use the supply we had bought for our older version.

‘KitchenAid’ carries no fancy name either, simply ‘Nespresso by KitchenAid’ (or stock number KES0504 if you want to be really formal) and it’s easy to use – basically a knob, a button and a lever. Push the lever and the machine’s pod door opens on top, load a pod, then pull the lever back down to its original position.

Selecting strength is also straightforward. Simply rotate the front silver knob either left or right, picking points one through three on the LED indicator for espresso and the same for lungo, starting from the petite 25ml ristretto up to the large 130ml version. When done, just pull up the lever and the capsule drops into the container below.

Technology is essentially the same as with earlier machines, with a 19-bar pressure pump and a thermoblock to heat the water. A slightly larger water tank, however, holds up to 1.4 liters of water and the pod box can hold up to 14 used capsules. If you like your coffee frothy, you can also purchase a separate KitchenAid-designed milk frother.

Who doesn’t enjoy kiss ‘n cuddles …combined, of course, with a delicious coffee.