Morocco was first introduced to Nespresso’s wonders when someone purchased a machine for his office over a decade ago to compensate for the building’s lackluster drip coffee makers. As someone who’s gone on to recommend plenty of coffee accessories in the years since—like a petit travel coffee kit and his favorite burr grinder—he’s come to recognize the relative merits of a Nespresso machine for the home coffee drinker.
“It’s not that I don’t think you can do better at home,” he adds. “But the pursuit of trying to do better at home I just don’t think is a program that most people want to sign up for.”
Does it get the job done?
The coffee my Nespresso machine produces on a daily basis is genuinely and reliably good. It doesn’t malfunction, the coffee is creamy and full-bodied, and it’s a great venue for milk of all varieties, steamed or not.
A Nespresso machine is consistent whereas an espresso maker, by nature of its involved variables, can never be, particularly at the entry level. “I think most coffee professionals would agree that their craft, at the highest level, exists mostly in professional spaces,” Morocco says. “And that it’s just not replicable in a home environment for most people.” In a lengthy espresso-making process requiring that one purchase the right beans, grind them properly, tamp them, dial them in, and then actually parse the technicality of a manual machine, the learning curve is steep and the room for error is vast, in contrast to a lower stakes pour-over or drip-coffee workflow.
“You might burn through $5 worth of beans just fucking around” with an espresso machine, Morocco says. For its price (just $170) and convenience, Nespresso gets you pretty darn close to the non-pod version.
I’m listening. Which machine should I purchase—and why is the Nespresso VertuoPlus the best?
The machine is simple: It consists of a cylindrical body with a spout for the coffee to pour out of, a drip tray, and a water reservoir that swivels to fit in tight or otherwise oddly-shaped spaces. To use it, you’ll lift up the lid, pop in a capsule, and click the button atop the machine. Then, it’ll spin that capsule “up to 7000 rotations a minute,” before dispensing your coffee blended with the exact amount of water needed for a particular espresso drink. Rather than selecting the type of espresso drink on the machine, you’ll do so when you buy your pods—choosing from those capsules optimized for a 230 ml mug-size pour, a 40 ml shot, and everything between.
Vertuo pods (more on that below) bear barcodes instructing the machine about how much water is needed for a particular variety of espresso, “recognizing each capsule and adapting the parameters accordingly to create your perfect coffee style,” per Nespresso’s FAQs. Vertuo machines can make six different drink sizes, from a single shot to an 18-ounce carafe.
The result, I can attest, is good. In under a minute, our Vertuo machine produces a smooth, rich, and foamy cup of coffee, with a layer of crema that almost simulates latte foam if you close your eyes while drinking it. While some other Nespresso lines are outfitted with built-in milk frothers, Vertuo isn’t; however, you can separately purchase their standalone frother, the Aeroccino, for all those homemade cappuccinos and flat whites.
What’s the deal with the coffee pods?
Nespresso pods are made out of aluminum, and they’re hermetically sealed to keep the grounds inside fresh.