9 best Nespresso machines

Alright, we’re starting with the big guns. This Creatista Plus comes from Sage – Heston Blumenthal’s brand – and is the daddy of Nespresso machines. It’s not the most coin you can drop on one of these bad boys, but it ain’t exactly cheap. For your money, however, you get a top of the range coffee maker with a digital display that guides you through the seven different coffee selections, it has an impressive three-second heat-up time and an assisted cleaning system. Plus, it has a built-in steam wand that offers 11 milk temperature settings and, as if that weren’t enough control, you can choose from eight different texture levels too.

There are two types of Nespresso capsule: Original and Vertuo. What’s the difference? Vertuo pods are bigger, so if you’re the type of drinker who prefers a mug to a cup, then you’re going to want a machine that can handle a little extra. The Krups Vertuo Plus does just that and it’s not half clever too. For instance, say you’ve got a house full of coffee obsessives with varying tastes, the Vertuo Plus will read the barcode on the side of the pod that’s been inserted and make your drink to those exact specifications, whether you’re waiting on an espresso shot or a travel mug’s worth of Americano.

As the adorable name suggests, the Krups Pixie is a modest Nespresso machine. Not the smallest you can get (see the Essenza Mini), but a space-saver nonetheless at a slim 11cm wide. Given its diminutive size, it won’t heat up at the same three-second rate of the Creatista Plus, but it manages 25 seconds and let’s be honest, even Londoners aren’t in that much of a rush. It offers two sizes, espresso or lungo, the latter literally giving you a longer coffee. Plus it looks good, with a wrap-around polished steel handle to open the capsule drawer and anodized aluminium side panels that won the Pixie the Red Dot Design Award in 2011.

Two years ahead of the Pixie, the CitiZ took home the Red Dot Design Award and is another sure-fire winner for the style conscious among us. It’s sleek, comes in a variety of colours and has some lovely chrome highlights, including the drip tray. It also has a one-litre water tank and an integrated ‘aeroccino’, which froths the milk for you, so you can enjoy smooth espressos and silky cappuccinos daily – all at the touch of a button. This one comes with 16 capsules, so you can start brewing straight out of the box.

This isn’t the sexiest of all the Nespresso machines out there, being a boxy, silver contraption, but it is easy to use and comes with some nifty features. For instance, you can remove the milk carafe and keep it in the fridge. Speaking of the milk container, the De'Longhi Lattissima Touch automatically adds the frothed milk to your coffee for you, making the perfect cappuccino or latte even easier to make at home. You can also set personalised coffee preferences and the drip tray slides to allow for varying cup sizes.

Not strictly an official Nespresso machine, but the Dualit Café Plus is compatible. In fact, it’s compatible with Nespresso, Starbucks, L’or and Dualit’s own capsules, so you stand to save some bucks when the various brands have offers on. It has a heat-up time of 40 seconds and not only makes espresso and lungo coffees, but also tea. What a curveball. The idea is to save you a separate trip to the kettle. You can set the dial for different amounts (mug, cup, shot, etc.) and if you’re making tea, the Café Plus will boil the water to a higher temperature to ensure the perfect brew.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a quality Nespresso machine for less than £100, so this De'Longhi Essenza, which just breaches the £100 mark, is a bit of a bargain. It doesn’t have any fancy extras like the CitiZ’s integrated milk frother or the Latissima’s adjustable drip tray and it can’t read barcodes like the Virtuo Plus, however, it makes damn fine coffee and, at the end of the day, that’s all you need it to do. Plus, it’s small (only 11cm wide) and has a unique, rounded triangle shape that gives it a bit of a space-agey look.

When Krups say mini, they mean it. This sleek and minimalist machine is almost 3cm smaller than the Essenza at just 8.4cm wide and almost half a kilo lighter. It’s the ultimate space-saver for those with little-to-no-room left for kitchen appliances. Understandably the tank is smaller too, holding just half a litre of water, so you’ll find yourself making more trips to the sink, but if you live in a tiny space, this is much of a muchness. This Essenza Mini comes with a ‘welcome set’ of 14 capsules, which, at just shy of £90, is a total bargain.

Want Nespresso but wish you could have it on the go? Consider it done! Thanks to the Wacaco Nanopresso Portable, which does what it says on the tin. It looks like a time capsule and works by a hand-operated piston pump (requiring around six pushes per cup), which gives 18 bars of pressure – that’s just one below the electric machines. It’s compatible with Nespresso pods, just make sure you buy the one with the Nespresso adapter, or you won’t have room to fit the pod. Another upside of the Nanopresso is that, should you run out of pods, you can use ground coffee too.