Nespresso range?

November 17, 2014 7:46 PM

What's the difference between the various Nespresso machines?

Other than things like frothing accessories and style, what is the difference between the various nespresso machines at the different price points? Do they actually make the drinks in any different way?

(This question excludes the new virtuoline or whatever it's called that makes the larger coffee drinks for the north american market).

posted by modernnomad to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Basically, nothing. Some have built in milk frothers, some don't. But they all push hot water through coffee grounds more or less the same.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 8:36 PM on November 17, 2014

I have had an essenza (the cheapest model) for 8 years and use it daily. While I was gifted it, I would still choose it. Other models have more moving/mechanical parts to break. The fancier ones at my office obviously get more users per day, but they have needed repairing several times.
posted by atomicstone at 9:40 PM on November 17, 2014

The main difference is that the simpler models have a water start/stop button, and you time making the coffee yourself, while fancy models have buttons for setting the volume (small/medium/large) and one button to start making coffee, and stop automatically after the volume has been reached.

We recently got one at the office that doesn't even have the start button: you set the volume, and it starts making coffee as soon as you close the lid on the capsule compartment. After the first couple of times, you learn to put the cup under the spiggot before putting in the capsule.

I hate this kind of DWIM design with a burning passion.
posted by Dr Dracator at 10:20 PM on November 17, 2014

One improvement in a newer model we got when our old one busted out of warrenty that I particularly liked was that it was simple to adjust for a large mug instead of a little espresso cup. The cheaper models require you to pull out a ledge, and this one just needed a switch bit flipped up.

We avoided the milk one because friends warned us that cleaning the milk nozzle parts was a hassle and in a humid hot climate, potentially gross. The standalone milk frother is awesome.
posted by viggorlijah at 10:56 PM on November 17, 2014

I have an older model Nespresso with the milk frother, and I like it a lot. Lattes every morning, ya :). However, the frother stopped working a year or so after we got the machine. After some internet research, we replaced it with a Breville which does a great job. Hindsight being 20-20, I would have purchased the smaller Nespresso stand-alone and bought the frother separately.
posted by elmay at 4:25 AM on November 18, 2014