Ah ha, well as I own and run my own cafe I feel quite comfortable with being a coffee snob! I loathe instant and will drink water rather than drip, cafetiere or percolator coffee. It's espresso all the way for me, ideally with a small amount of velvety steamed milk to make a Flat White.
If you want to make really good coffee at home Gaggia do a good little espresso machine, as do Dualit. These machines require you to grind the beans (or buy ground) and have control over the coffee as a barista does - fineness of grind, firmness of tamping and so on.
f you want Italian-quality coffee without the decision making process you could get a Nespresso machine. The pods are expensive, but decorative (I love the way they wibble in their boxes), they do very nice special flavours so you can save on the syrup, and people will always know what to get you for Christmas! Those little hand held whizzer gadgets ("Aerolatte") do a good job of frothing microwave-heated milk.