Nespresso Original Vs Vertuo
If you’re in the market for a Nespresso machine, you’ll need to choose between the Vertuo and Original capsule or pod coffee systems before you decide what machine you buy.
Back in 2017, Nespresso launched its Vertuo range of coffee machines in the UK. These use a completely different type and size of coffee pod to previous Nespresso machines, meaning you can’t use standard Nespresso pods, or the third-party varieties now found in most supermarkets, in the Vertuo models.
We explain the pros and cons of each system, and what type of coffee drinker they suit, to help you choose.
Alternatively, to find out our expert lab-tested view on individual models, see our capsule and pod coffee machine reviews.
And to compare all the different pod coffee systems, including Nespresso, Dolce Gusto and Tassimo, see our full guide to the best capsule and pod coffee machines.
Choosing The Best Nespresso Machine
Whether you decide on a Nespresso Original or Vertuo machine, you’ll want to find a coffee machine that makes a great coffee. We’ve tested all the current Nespresso models, and found some brilliant machines that make a truly excellent espresso, and others that fall flat on flavour, under-extracting your brew.
Price is no indicator of performance, either. As the graph below shows, we’ve found good and mediocre options at every price.
Best Small Nespresso Machine: Nespresso Vertuo Next
The Nespresso Vertuo Next is the newest and most feature-rich VertuoLine machine.
To start with, its the first machine that takes Nespressos new 18-ounce carafe capsules. That gives it six brew size options, compared with the five options available on all the other VertuoLine machines.
The Vertuo Next includes both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, making it the closest thing to a smart coffee maker in the entire Nespresso lineup. This is easily the biggest technological difference between the VertuoPlus vs Vertuo Next.
Right now, the main feature of the Bluetooth-enabled smartphone app is the ability to track and re-order capsules. More importantly, though, the Nexts connectivity lets it receive firmware updates, so its the first Nespresso Vertuo machine that will get fixes for software issues and receive new features as they come out.
At just 5.5 inches wide, the Vertuo Next is the narrowest VertuoLine machine. Its also the most environmentally friendly VertuoLine machine since they made it from 54% recycled plastic. Of course, youd need to switch to reusable Nespresso capsules to truly minimize the Nexts environmental impact.
The smaller size of the Vertuo Next does mean they had to sacrifice when it comes to the water reservoir. The tank is rigidly placed behind the machine and holds only 37 ounces, making it the smallest tank of any Nespresso VertuoLine machine. The used capsule capacity is still the same size as that of the VertuoPlus, though.
Don’t Miss: Does Dunkin Donuts Have Decaf Iced Coffee
Take Care Of The Basics Of The Best Nespresso Machine For Office
-
Price
When you are first starting, it is easy to want to buy the cheapest stuff . But affordable products can cost more in the long run if they break quickly or are not helpful.
With the best nespresso machine for office you can find a price point that works for you and be willing to spend some money on what matters. If your audience finds value in your work, they will be more likely to support future purchases if you make them.
Consider how much you can reasonably spend. You may be sure that you want to get the best nespresso machine for office, but it is probably an unrealistic goal if you cannot afford to pay for it. For this reason, it is sometimes helpful to ask yourself if there are some essential features and others that would be nice to have in the ideal product but could also be skipped to meet your budget.
A good rule of thumb is that less expensive products usually are not as durable or reliable as their more costly counterparts they might not last as long or work quite like the most expensive brands on the market. However, a higher price does not necessarily reflect better quality in all cases. If acceptability and reliability are your fundamental concerns, get the cheapest one you can.
Best Seller Products on Amazon! Check it out.
-
Quality
-
Durability and longevity
Upgrade Pick: Nespresso Essenza Plus
*At the time of publishing, the price was $210.
If you want a Nespresso machine that can make a wider variety of espresso drinks, we recommend the Nespresso Essenza Plus. This slightly larger machine can brew espressos, lungos, and ristrettoseverything the Essenza Mini canbut it can also brew two sizes of Americano by adding hot water to your espresso, so its an excellent option for households that enjoy different coffee drinks or for people who may want something more similar to regular coffee. The Essenza Plus also boasts a larger water tank and used-capsule tray than our top pick offers, and thanks to its few extra inches of height, it can accommodate taller cups than the Essenza Mini can.
To brew an Americano with the Essenza Plus, you simultaneously press the hot water button and either the espresso or lungo button, depending on the size of Americano you want. The hot water button also works on its own, as the water comes out of a separate spigot. Though this hot water feature initially struck us as an exciting option to brew tea, we found that the Essenza Pluss hot water comes out, at its hottest, at around 160 °Fnot hot enough for most teas. And if youve just brewed coffee, in order to avoid a muddied cup of water you have to wait several minutes for the spigot to stop dripping its final brown droplets before you can brew the hot water.
Also Check: How Much Caffeine In Mcdonalds Iced Coffee
How Do Nespresso Machines Work
To use a Nespresso machine, you insert a capsulethey come in standard, decaffeinated and flavored varietiesinto the machine.
The machine pumps water from a reservoir and heats it with a boiler in just a few seconds, heating only enough for a single serving at a time.
The machine punctures holes in the capsule and then injects the hot water through the capsule at high pressure. The waters interaction with the fine coffee grounds extracts flavor compounds, which are dissolved into the water and forced out the other end of the capsule as coffee.
A special valve ensures safety in the event that the pressure becomes dangerously excessive during the brewing process.
Forcing water through the coffee grounds at high pressure is what gives Nespresso coffee its real espresso flavor. Scientifically, it is exactly the same process as that used by conventional espresso machines.
Best Space Saver: Nespresso Vertuo And Milk Frother
-
High-quality coffee and espresso beverages
-
Beautiful, compact design
-
Must use Vertuo coffee capsules
-
Coffee is on the stronger side
-
Makes only individual cups
The Nespresso VertuoLine is more than just a space saver. It makes downright tasty coffee, espresso, and specialty drinks like lattes and cappuccinos.
This bundle is highly reviewed, with the majority of customers awarding it five stars. Users particularly love the VertuoLines convenience as well as its durability and easiness to clean. Our product tester noted that brew time is “extremely fast,” taking roughly 15 seconds. When compared to the Keurig K-Café, another coffee-and-espresso maker on this list, the VertuoLine “heats up significantly quicker.”
The machine itself is very slim, and many customers mention that the bundle saves even more space since the milk frother can be stowed away separately.
Grounds or Pods: Pods | Grinder: No | Frother/Steamer: Yes in bundle deal | Dimensions: 8.32 x 11.91 x 11.93 inches | Wattage: 1,350| Voltage: 120
“Offering speedy prep, low maintenance, and excellent coffee and espresso beverages, the Nespresso Vertuo is a true bargain.” Cheyenne Elwell, Product Tester
Don’t Miss: How To Cancel Amora Coffee Online
Select Up To 3 Products To Compare
Discover our range of Breville Nespresso machines offering innovative, convenient and consistent high quality coffee experiences in the home without the mess.Select from our range of OriginalLine capsule machines, ideal for the space conscious espresso based coffee lover who also enjoys long blacks, lattes, cappuccinos and flat whites. Alternatively for those who enjoy both the espresso-based and longer coffee pour, discover our range of Vertuoline coffee pod machines. For the coffee connoisseur, the Breville Creatista range offers the ultimate in-home barista experience allowing you to create latte art recipes at home.No matter the occasion, our Breville Nespresso coffee machines will meet your highest expectations.
Discover our range of Breville Nespresso machines offering innovative, convenient and consistent high quality coffee experiences in the home without the mess.Select from our range of OriginalLine capsule machines, ideal for the space conscious espresso based coffee lover who also enjoys long blacks, lattes, cappuccinos and flat whites. Alternatively for those who enjoy both the espresso-based and longer coffee pour, discover our range of Vertuoline coffee pod machines. For the coffee connoisseur, the Breville Creatista range offers the ultimate in-home barista experience allowing you to create latte art recipes at home.No matter the occasion, our Breville Nespresso coffee machines will meet your highest expectations.
Q& a: Advantages Of The Nespresso Machine
In many ways, the Nespresso can be seen as the Keurig of the espresso world, and these machines have much in common.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of pod-based brewing systems is convenience. Think about brewing a coffee the traditional way and all the steps involved.
You need to grind the beans correctly for the type of coffee you are making , you need to set up the equipment, you need to heat the water, you need to judge the dosage correctly, you have to estimate the steeping time and you have to clear up after.
With a pod-based brewing system, all you do is pop in a pod and hit brew and in about a minute, the perfect cup of your favorite drink is waiting for you. Some coffee makers allow you to make adjustments to the size or strength of your drink, but thats about it .
Nothing could be simpler.
And then there is another point to note. When you are brewing coffee yourself, there are many different steps that you have to get just right. We mentioned grinding, dosing and steeping, but there are others.
If you make a mistake at any of these steps, you can end up with bad-tasting coffee. With a pod-based machine, this is impossible you know that the coffee the machine produces will be perfect, all you need to do is to choose the flavor you desire.
Speaking of flavors, thats another advantage that pod-based systems have over regular brewing methods.
But having said that, the new VertuoLine coffee makers can give you the best of both worlds.
Recommended Reading: What Height Should My Coffee Table Be
How Do You Clean A Coffee
The proper routine to maintain a coffee-and-espresso maker is similar to that of a standard coffee maker. Both machines require regular descaling, which is a more thorough and rigorous process than normal hand washing . Those who own a more advanced product may have a separate maintenance routine. Some machines have a light-up sensor that notifies users when its time to clean. Others may even have an auto-clean function that eliminates the hassle altogether.
Machines with a traditional espresso group head also require a cleaning process known as backflushing. Start by rinsing all the coffee grounds out of your portafilter, then brush underneath the group head to remove stray grounds from there as well. After that, all you have to do is lock the portafilter into place and run the brewing cycle several times. Coffeehouses backflush machines at the end of each day, but home users only need to do it weekly. Several products are available to make the process easier, from cleaning solutions to single-use tablets.
Best Basic: Nespresso Inissia Espresso Machine
Specs and Features
The Nespresso Inissia is a Nespresso machine produced by DeLonghi. It measures 4.7 x 12.6 x 9 and weighs 5.29lbs. It is constructed mainly of plastic.
This model features a 24oz tank, making it capable of holding enough water to make up to 9 espressos. It has a folding drip tray that allows you to use larger sized cups.
The Inissia is capable of pouring two sizes of drink, espresso or lungo. You can choose between the two with a simple-to-use one-touch operating system.
These buttons are programmable, too, so you can set exactly how much coffee you want each one to serve.
This machine brews at 19 bar of pressure, allowing it to produce barista quality espressos.
It has a very fast warm-up time of only 25 seconds, after which it is ready to pour your first drink.
It also includes an energy-saving feature which turns it off after nine minutes to conserve electricity.
This machine is supplied with a variety pack of 16 pods for you to try.
Review
Possibly the first thing you will notice when you remove this machine from the box is that it looks good.
This is something you will want in your kitchen or living room for other people to see it is a stylish and classy piece of equipment.
After that, you will probably notice how small and light it is. This machine is ideal for people who dont have huge amounts of space to spare.
One of the things we really like about this machine is how quickly it can produce a cup of espresso.
Good for
Also Check: Folgers Decaf Coffee Caffeine Content
Most Versatile: Philips 3200 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine Ep3221
-
Espresso has strong flavor and aroma
-
Fast and intuitive brewing
With four preset drink options, a built-in bean grinder, and a bevy of customizable settings, the Philips Fully Automatic Espresso Machine is the type of item to transform your at-home coffee routine. It can brew espresso, Americanos, and black coffee with a single touch of the intuitive display, and the possibilities don’t end there: An attached steam wand allows for lattes and cappuccinos too. You can adjust everything from the size of your drink to its strength and temperature, making this one of the most versatile brewers on the market.
Despite the many options, our tester found the machine fairly easy to use once he got the hang of it. It’s also incredibly fast and gets high marks for the rich coffee flavor. It will certainly be larger than many coffee or espresso machines, so consider your counter space before purchasing. Philips produces other automatic coffee machines that are worth considering, but we chose the EP3221 model, a middle-tier option, because it stands out as the best value for your money.
Grounds or Pods: Grounds | Grinder: Yes | Frother/Steamer: Yes | Dimensions: 9.69 x 14.6 x 17 inches | Wattage: 1,400 | Voltage: 120
Patent Expiry And Focus On Image
In 2010 the concept was still subject to 1,700 patents which protected Nespresso’s ownership of the concept until their expiry, leading to comparisons of Nespresso with printer manufacturers that block the sale of generic ink cartridges to achieve a vendor lock-in effect. This contrasts with some other prepackaged coffee preparation systems.
Nespresso’s patents began to expire in 2012, gradually allowing competitors to offer capsules and machines compatible with the Nespresso system. By 2010, Nestlé was working on ways to prevent competitors from doing this. The service part of Nespresso’s business modelthe Nespresso Club and Nespresso stores and cafeswas aimed to be a long-term defense for the brand, its elevated image and premium pricing. Beyond attentive customer service and being the only places where most customers can replenish their ‘pods’, the brand has been able to maintain images of exclusivity and suave connoisseur-ship. Actor George Clooney appeared in ads for Nespresso, with company representatives insisting that he had been elected by Club members to become the brand’s ambassador , in a form of celebrity advertising that emphasizes the status of the brand over that of the endorsing star.
Recommended Reading: Black Rifle Sticker Club
Is Itworth Buying Nespresso Machine
If youve scoured Nespresso Vertuoline bundle reviews, its clear thatthis machine nails it with its black coffee and full brew Alto. However, thereare 2 viable complaints that you may have found buried in the positive reports.
First, a few people say that the Nespresso Vertuoline coffee is not ashot as theyd like. This may be an issue if you prefer your coffee scorchinghot. However, we reckon it wont be a problem if youre in the other camp ofpeople who wait for their piping hot coffee to cool down a little bit. On thisnote, there are a couple of ways to mitigate this issue, including pre-heatingthe machine by running it without a capsule. Also, you could put your coffee inthe microwave for a few seconds.
On to the second bummer, Nespresso Vertuoline espresso shots are great,but not the best. This is another valid complaint that we hear, especially frompeople switching from a traditional 19-bar espresso machine.
In most Nespresso opinions, this variation in espresso quality is aresult of the Centrifusion technology that fails to hit the 19-bar pressurerequired for a perfect crema. The lack of enough pressure leads tounder-extraction, giving the espresso a thinner-than-average body and aslightly bitter tone. While these 2 issues may be a concern for some, we feelthat they boil down to personal preference.
The Best Nespresso Machine
-
Weve added the Instant Pod as an option that can brew either Nespresso capsules or K-Cups, and weve changed our upgrade pick to the Essenza Plus, which can brew Americanos.
After making and tasting over 100 espressos, lungos, latte macchiatos, and cappuccinos, weve determined that all Nespresso machines make identical drinks. We dont love the flavor of Nespresso, but for those who prefer espresso drinks to drip coffee, a Nespresso machine is the fastest and most convenient way to make something like them at homethough if you want to make real at-home espresso, we recommend these beginner setups instead. We like the compact Nespresso Essenza Mini because it makes the same quality coffee as machines that cost hundreds more, without any extra frills.
Our pick
The Essenza Mini makes the same espresso as $400 Nespresso machines but has a smaller footprint and no unnecessary features.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $140.
This larger-capacity machine can also brew Americanos, making it a good option for households that want both espressos and more diluted coffee drinks.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $210.
Also great
Big but inexpensive, the Instant Pod is the only machine that can brew both Nespressos and K-Cups.
Buying Options
Also Check: Does Diet Root Beer Have Caffeine