Great coffee with a pop of personality
I am going to preface this review by stating I am a bit of a coffee snob. In my daily life, I use a Delonghi Bean to Cup machine and take my beans, grind level and overall coffee experience perhaps more seriously than I should. That said however I firmly believe there is a place for Pod-style coffee machines such as Nespresso and the Vertuo Pop is one of the most cost-effective ways of getting a taste for what can only be described as good, artisanal coffee.
| Pros | Cons |
| Compact Well Designed A Great Way to quickly make consistency good coffee | Useless smart features The drip tray is badly deigned Pods can be a little expensive |
What is Nespresso Vert?
Nespresso are a coffee company who specializes in one touch go style pods, for a long time they were most well known for the espresso-style ‘Original’ machines, but in more recent years due to a number of factors Nespresso have switched gears towards not only Espresso style coffee but longer and more ‘speciality’ blends in a new system they call ‘Vertuo’.
What makes Vertuo machines unique is the way it brews its coffee. The machine automatically recognizes the inserted capsule and adjusts the brewing parameters to extract coffee at its best through its patented barcode system on each aluminium pod. During the brewing process, the machine will spin the pods up to a very high RPM to allow for the machine to extract the coffee at its best and produce a rich foam they call ‘Crema’ more on that later though.
Why choose Vertuo over Original?
Nespresso sells 2 ranges of the machine, the Original machine takes 1 size pod and only brews an Espresso each time, giving you a nice consistent shot each time you can complement with milk to create Lattes and cappuccinos or enjoy as a standard espresso. Vertuo on the other hand can handle up to 5 pod sizes depending upon the machine you choose.
Espresso (40ml)
Double Espresso (80ml)
Gran Lungo (150ml)
Mug (230ml)
Alto (414ml)
This gives you a lot more choice and control over how you like your coffee, alongside the greater choice you also get a much wider range of pods to even some fun seasonal pods such as their summer ‘Juicy Watermelon flavour over ice’.
Introducing the Pop
The Pop machine is the most compact and newest addition to the Nespresso family.
Measuring in at 13.6 x 42.6 x 25cm (WDH) and weighing just 3.5kg it’s small enough to comfortably fit into any kitchen space while not compromising on functionality or build quality. It also brings a ‘pop’. of colour in your space too including spicy red, aqua mint, mango yellow and Pacific blue, as well as some more familiar ones such as liquorice black and coconut white. With that smaller size though does come a much smaller water tank at 600ml, similarly the capsule bin capacity is limited to a maximum of 8 pods (depending on the pod size) so will need emptying more frequently than the larger models such as the Vertuo Next but on a feature to feature comparison these machines are basically identical other than either size.
The different colours on offer with the pop are certainly a welcome break from the rather elegant but somewhat boring black or silver almost all other machines tend to go for these days and its well throughout design means it’s built to last. Its bigger brothers such as the Next and Plus to somewhat automate the brewing process a little more by offering a lever to automatically open and close the machine, the pop requires you to twist to open and physically push it down to lock the machine, this is a very minor thing and helped Nespresso to hit that £50-£99 price point but is still worth noting as at times it can feel like you’re going to break its rather plasticy design.
One thing I found to be an issue with the pop’s compact size however was its inability to hold larger cups and mugs by default, the drip tray is comically large compared to the rest of the machine meaning if you want to use a larger mug this would need to be removed and replaced between coffees, sure this is a small neglegable point but still a minor annoyance I have with its compact design.
Ease of Use
The main selling point of a Nespresso machine for most people is just how simple it is to use, and honestly, that’s why it complements my current Bean to Cup machine so well, A lot of the time when my Wife wants a coffee or I do not want to spend 5-10 mins getting the perfect cup of Coffee its easier to select your favourite pod (there are currently over 40 different blends!) pop it into the machine and press go, you cant get it wrong and the coffee you get at the end is always consistent.
Taste and Sustainability
What is a coffee machine review without me talking about the coffee? I got a wide range of capsules with my machine to help me decide the kind of style I like, from Espressos all the way to the longer cup-style coffees. Each brew at a perfect temperature and has distinctly different characteristics depending on the blend, The fake and forced ‘Crema’ the machine produces on the top of each coffee is certainly not to my taste, its incredibly bitter and in most cases feels absolutely unnecessary adding no flavour or any perceived advantage to the coffees overall taste.
Of course, being single-use aluminium pods a lot of people are rightfully concerned about the sustainability of Nespresso and their pods, especially with parent company ‘Nestle’s less-than-stellar record. Thankfully though Nespresso handles this exceedingly well with each pod you buy being around 85% recycled aluminium and once done with your coffee you can take the pods and place them into free-of-charge ‘Podback’ recycling bags that allows these pods to be responsibly recycled and given new life as pods, pens and even bikes.
Not so smart
One of my biggest grumbles about the Pop, or most Vertuo machines for that matter is its strange use or lack thereof of the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. You can connect your machine to your phone using Wi-Fi and the Nespresso app. While this all sounds very modern and slick giving you the ability to brew coffees and wake the machine, maybe track coffee consumption and other smart features, the app doesn’t actually do a whole lot. You can check whether your machine is in standby mode or if there are any errors, as well as start the process for descaling, rinsing or emptying your machine. However, you’ll need to be at the machine to oversee these things anyway, so being able to do this remotely doesn’t really help you. There’s no option to start the coffee-making process in the app either, so it’s only really useful for buying more capsules and accessories – things you can already do on Nespresso’s website.
This overall feels like a massive oversight, why is the technology present in the first place if it’s not being fully utilised? Other machines have the ability to brew remotely so why strip it from this model? the machine already reads the barcodes on the pods so could quite easily tell you what coffees you drink giving you better analytics on what pods suit you best, Of course you don’t even have to setup the ‘Smart’ functionality if you don’t want to its entirely upto you.
Price and Conclusion
Coming in at between £50-£99 depending on the current sales or method of purchase the Pop is a surprisingly capable and compelling machine, it looks great in almost any kitchen thanks to the colour, and its versatility in drink selection is bested by none too and overall this is a perfect way to start your Nespresso or a coffee journey in general.
