Capsule Coffee Machine Overview

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To go to the site, click "To shop"

A one-click order is available on the seller’s website.
To go to the site, click "To shop"

A free 8-800 number is available on the seller’s website.
To go to the site, click "To shop"

A one-click order is available on the seller’s website.
To go to the site, click "To shop"

Online seller is available on the seller’s website.
To go to the site, click "To shop"

A free 8-800 number is available on the seller’s website.
To go to the site, click "To shop"

A one-click order is available on the seller’s website.
To go to the site, click "To shop"

Description

Nescafe coffee machines are modern and smart kitchen assistants. They allow you to prepare an aromatic and tasty drink in a matter of minutes.

Unlike ordinary coffee makers, these units are able to grind coffee beans and prepare fresh drinks of various kinds: coffee, tea or even chocolate. The most advanced models are equipped with additional features such as heating cups for the finished drink and self-descaling.

The coffee machines of this brand are sold both for domestic use and for professional use. The difference between them lies in the dimensions, price and the maximum possible volume of the produced beverage.

Absolutely all Nescafe coffee machines made by the world famous Nestle brand are capsule. This means that for the preparation of coffee it is necessary to use special tablets, inside of which there is ground coffee of various types. It is this principle of operation that makes it possible to simplify the process of preparing drinks and to get a tasty and aromatic drink as a result.

Today, these kitchen units go on sale in several variations. Each model has its own distinctive features and advantages.

In addition, coffee machines of this production can be either fully automatic or semi-automatic. In the first case, the unit performs all the work of preparing the drink on its own, and in the second, some stages of its work should be performed by a person.

Varieties

To best meet the needs of its customers, Nestle today produces several varieties of coffee machines.

Nescafe "Dolce Gusto" - the most popular model of a household coffee machine, allowing you to cook only Espresso 6 varieties. It has a miniature size, stylish design, ease of use. Work process indicators allow you to easily and correctly prepare your favorite aromatic drink. When the coffee is ready, the red indicator lights up, when preparing the machine for work, the red indicator lights up again, and the green indicator indicates that it is possible to start preparing the drink directly. This model is more suitable for home use, as it has a small volume, the maximum amount of ready-made coffee is 42 cups per day. Coffee powder is poured into the horn and, using a spoon, gently rammed into a miniature tablet, then the “Start” button is pressed, and the rest of the coffee machine is done by itself.

Nescafe Milano is a series of smart kitchen assistants. It consists of two devices, each of which has different technical characteristics:

"Milano Lounge". This appliance is equipped with a full self-service system, it can prepare up to 15 varieties of coffee, and the minimum volume of a finished drink per day is 100 mugs. It has a fairly large weight and large dimensions. Most suitable for use in coffee houses and restaurants.
Milano 2 is a coffee machine with a stylish design and touch controls. The compact size and relatively light weight make it possible to install and operate it both at the workplace and in small restaurants and cafes. The minimum number of mugs with an already prepared drink is 40 per day. This machine can make up to 10 different types of coffee. It goes on sale in two different appearance machines.

Coffee machines from the Alegria series are also sold in several varieties:

The Alegria ATP 60 E model has a compact size, but quite decent weight, so it’s better suited for use in coffee houses or offices, although if desired and available space can be installed in a conventional kitchen. This appliance has high power and can without interruption prepare 70 cups of the drink in a row. Can be used to make 12 different types of drinks.
"Alegria 1060" differs in high speed of preparation of coffee of ten types. The minimum amount of drink per day is 60 glasses, and the maximum is 80. Ideal for installation in the office, as well as in small cafes. It will be an excellent choice for a large family of coffee lovers.
«Alegria 8/60 ”has the same technical parameters as the previous model. The difference between them is the number of prepared drinks: in the first case there were 10 varieties, and the 8/60 model can only make 8 types of coffee.
Alegria 6/30 is the ideal choice for a large family, a small office, as well as small kiosks. Can make 6 different types of coffee, the minimum number of glasses per day is 25, and the maximum is 40.
"Alegria 4/30" allows you to make 4 varieties of coffee, up to 25 glasses per day. The compact size and light weight make it possible to install this machine in ordinary kitchens, as well as in cafes and offices with a small free area.
Astoria Calypso has two varieties that differ in appearance. Both devices are capable of making 10 types of coffee, the minimum number of mugs per day is 45. It is such a coffee machine that is best suited for restaurants, hotels and large offices.

All these coffee machines as well as the world famous Italian coffee machine "Astoria Gemma" have a fully automatic control. But there are also semi-automatic Nescafe coffee machines:

“Combi” is a device that makes it possible to prepare 8 varieties of coffee using both ground product and soluble granules. Equipped with self-cleaning and self-diagnosis functions, and also has protection against unauthorized access. It has a counter for the number of prepared servings of the drink, which is why it is best suited for use in catering establishments.
Lioness allows you to make coffee in just 15 seconds. Using this appliance, you can prepare a drink of 8 different types. Like the previous model, it has the functions of self-diagnosis and self-cleaning.
"XX-OC E" is a coffee machine that allows you to make coffee of 6 different types from ground beans. It has three compartments for components, a counter of prepared drink mugs and a self-diagnosis function.

All these varieties of Nescafe coffee machines have not only individual technical characteristics, but also common features and advantages.

Advantages and disadvantages

First of all, I would like to dwell on the merits of these units, and there are a lot of them:

A wide range of coffee machines themselves. Each consumer can choose the best option for this coffee machine, based on the required number of cups of drink per day, the types of coffee being prepared, dimensions and weight of the device itself and its device.
The ability to prepare several types of coffee using only one appliance. The result is savings on the purchase of various coffee machines and a wide range.
The ability to prepare not only coffee itself in coffee machines of this brand, but also other drinks, such as chocolate or even tea.
Beautiful and stylish design. The manufacturer made sure that its customers were able to purchase a car that would fit into the overall interior of the room.
The opportunity to purchase both a semi-automatic device and a fully automated device.
Lightweight and easy to operate. Even a person who has never encountered the use of such machines will easily understand their principle of operation and management.

Such benefits are very important and significant. And if we talk about the shortcomings, then there are only two of them:

Fairly high price. But this item applies only to professional coffee machines, which can be installed and used only in public catering places.
A water bowl can sometimes leak. This disadvantage really is, but it is quite rare. But even with its presence, a new device can be exchanged in a store or purchased a new capacity, but it is inexpensive.

These coffee machines have more advantages than disadvantages, so it is not surprising that they are very popular all over the world.

Reviews

Buyers of Nescafe household coffee machines leave only positive reviews about their purchase. People note the high quality of the prepared drink, a wide variety of varieties of coffee, tea and chocolate that can be prepared. An important advantage in their words is also a stylish design, ease of use and care, as well as the speed of preparation of drinks.

Experienced barista also support such positive reviews. According to them, the use of such a machine helps to greatly facilitate the work, while guaranteeing customers a high-quality and aromatic drink.

Nescafe coffee machines are reliable and modern kitchen appliances that really make life easier and improve its quality.

For an overview of the Nescafe capsule coffee machine, see the next video.

A little bit about the history, capsules and design of coffee machines

The history of capsule systems for making coffee dates back nearly four decades: it begins with a patent granted by Eric Favre (Eric Favre) in 1978. The appearance and spread of capsule coffee makers took about ten years, and they are currently offered in a wide range.

The capsule itself is a small airtight container where a portion of coffee is laid, and immediately after roasting and grinding. We already know from the previous review that in order to get the best result, grain grinding must obey certain rules, and rotary coffee grinders with flat knives, which are most often used in everyday life because of their cheapness, are not able to provide the correct grinding. Of course, in the production of capsules on an industrial scale, all the necessary requirements are easier to follow.

To keep the taste and aroma for a long time, an inert gas can be pumped into the capsules to prevent oxidation. The gas may have a slight overpressure, so the capsule lid is usually slightly swollen, and this does not mean that the product has deteriorated.

In a coffee machine, the capsule is punctured in two places: to supply water and to exit the finished drink. We do not say “above” and “below”, because the capsules in different devices are oriented differently.

And everything else in capsules of different sizes is very individual. The container may be made of food-grade plastic, aluminum, or a combination of these materials. To prevent fine powder particles from escaping with the liquid, filters or permeable membranes can be placed in the capsule. Holes can also be not one on each side.

The design of the capsule coffee machine itself does not fundamentally differ from the “large” automatic espresso machines: there is a boiler that heats the water to the desired temperature, and a pump that creates the necessary pressure. Naturally, there is a control unit in which electronic and mechanical components can be combined. The absence of a coffee grinder, powder dispenser and its removal system greatly simplifies and reduces the cost of the design, and there is essentially no brewing unit: it is largely replaced by the capsule itself, which requires only a simple retention, puncturing and extraction mechanism.

Thus, the capsule technology has another advantage that we have not mentioned before: grinding is a very noisy operation, so making coffee using capsules is much quieter - there is only the sound of the liquid coming out under pressure, incomparably quieter than the noise from the coffee grinder .

There is another option for coffee machines with portioned dressing - pod machines. Pads are compressed tablets (cialda in Italian it just means “tablet”) of 7–9 grams of ground coffee, placed between two layers of filter paper. Moreover, the packaging of coffee in disposable bags appeared much earlier than capsules, in 1959.

To ensure safety, each chald is packed in foil, where carbon dioxide is additionally pumped, which preserves ground coffee with preservation of taste and aroma for a long period, up to 2 years. Pads come in different diameters and with different shapes of cuffs (edges of filter paper).

Like capsular, pod coffee machines do not have various adjustments and are forced to be satisfied with the types of pods available on the market (which, like capsules, are offered a lot), however, many models allow you to work with ordinary ground coffee, which is not found in capsule machines.

The device and range of capsules Dolce Gusto and Nespresso

Above we gave only a brief and generalized description. As usually happens, different manufacturers offer their capsules, which differ in size and internal structure, respectively, and coffee machines for them also need different ones. Of course, the main thing - the amount of coffee - should be constant: since different types of coffee drinks are usually prepared on the basis of the bookmarks needed for espresso, it is understood that each capsule contains 6–9 grams of ground beans. However, finding accurate information on the websites of capsule manufacturers is far from always, to be precise, for both participants in our review, representing the two most popular capsule sizes Nespresso and Nescafe Dolce Gusto, as well as for Bosch Tassimo, there is no data on official websites on this subject .

No more official information on the design of the capsules themselves, except for advertising phrases that extol the excellent virtues and the unsurpassed taste of the resulting drinks. Therefore, much had to be comprehended by ourselves. Unfortunately, it’s quite difficult to take high-quality photos of the insides of the capsules, especially at different stages of preparation, and often you have to limit yourself to verbal descriptions.

So, we tested Nespresso capsules with DeLonghi Essenza EN 97.W coffee maker and Nescafe Dolce Gusto capsules with Krups Mini Me coffee maker.

The capsules are only similar in shape, but very different in size: the volume of the Nespresso container is almost three times less. The internal structure of the capsules and, accordingly, the mechanisms of coffee machines associated with them are very different.

Nescafe dolce gusto

Let's start with Dolce Gusto.The capsules use a plastic container in the form of a wide bowl, sealed on top with a flexible polymer film. The water supply system in the coffee machine ends with a sharp small-diameter hollow needle piercing this film and supplying pressurized water into the capsule.

The design of such a capsule is much more complicated than just a container with ground coffee. If you open the film, you can see that the coffee powder in the espresso capsule occupies about half the volume of the container and is covered with a transparent membrane on top. The needle injects water into the empty space between the outer film and this membrane, while the pressure in it rises. Since the film is elastic, it adheres tightly to the needle at the puncture site, and pressure losses here are minimal. Therefore, the water pumped by the pump presses on the membrane, compacting the powder under it.

The membrane is not continuous, it has several tiny holes that look like a puncture from a pin, and, until the pressure is very high, the water seeping through them is only enough to soak a sealed tablet of ground coffee. That is, everything happens according to the "classic" cycle: compaction and hydration.

Then another membrane comes into play, located under a layer of powder and made of foil. Under the foil, on the bottom of the capsule, a plastic disc is inserted, equipped with dozens of spikes, which, as the pressure inside the capsule rises, pierce the foil and allow fluid to flow out. This disk has no holes, there are only small slots around the perimeter, and its reverse side has a complex relief through which coffee streams “get through” to collect to the only through hole of the container, the bottom of which has the shape of a funnel. This probably contributes to the creation of good foam, and certainly the punctured foil, together with the embossed disk, form a filter that does not allow small particles of ground coffee to fall into the cup.

Thus, the capsule is completely airtight during storage, and for use does not require complex devices inside the coffee machine: it is enough to place it in a simple holder with an opening at the bottom (moreover, there are no high demands on the design of the holder and the shape of its outlet). It is still necessary to provide an effort sufficient to pierce the upper film, but even here special tricks are not required: a short lever pressing the carriage with the feeding needle is sufficient so that even a female hand easily copes with such work. At the same time, the lowered lever presses the capsule and locks the holder so that when you try to remove it you can not damage the needle.

This design of capsules has a not very pleasant feature: at the end of the process, quite a lot of water remains inside the capsule, which will flow from any hole - the lower one, through which the finished coffee leaves, or the upper one, at the puncture site with a feed needle. This can hardly be called a disadvantage, you just have to consider that in the garbage container, where after making several servings of coffee capsules are thrown, a small puddle can form. And certainly it is not necessary to scatter spent capsules anywhere.

The range of Dolce Gusto capsules is very wide, at the time of writing, 25 different drinks were offered, including:

nine types of espresso, of which two ristretto (high strength), one espresso with milk and one low in caffeine,
five options for coffee with a lower strength and a larger volume (Americano, Lungo),
six options for coffee with milk (cappuccino, latte macchiato), as well as cappuccino ice (prepared with ice),
four kinds of hot chocolate,
latte tea (with milk froth).

Unfortunately, all these types can only be bought in packages of 16 capsules (if we are talking about a drink with milk, then out of sixteen eight will be with milk powder), and some test kits containing at least several different types are not offered . The only exceptions are the “bonuses” to the coffee machines themselves: the kit may contain several different capsules. We did not find any other forms of delivery from retailers either.

The recommended volume of the resulting drinks ranges from 35–40 (for ristretto, the values had to be written with a hyphen, because on the capsule packaging it says 35 ml, and in the manual 40 ml) to 220–240 milliliters (for drinks with milk). For each type of drink, the content of various ingredients is indicated: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, as well as energy value. The claimed composition for capsules of different varieties can be "100% arabica" and "arabica + robusta", there are no specifications, but coffee lovers know that arabica is different. The shelf life indicated on the package for different types of capsules can be exactly one year, and a little more - twelve and a half or thirteen months.

As we already said, we could not find coffee bookmark weights in publicly available official sources. But they are still there, albeit in a rather unexpected place: on the box in which sets of capsules are sold, with subtle small characters.

However, there is no inscription confirming that this is the weight of the coffee, so we decided to clarify and made the measurements using the exact weights: 5.95 grams of ground coffee were found in the espresso capsule with the stated 6 g. That is, the tab is just calculated as the minimum six grams required for a serving of espresso with a small margin of error during packaging.

The corresponding inscriptions on the packages of capsules of americano say that there is 10 g of coffee in them (and indeed: there is much more powder in them than in an espresso capsule - the empty part of the capsule is very small and weighs 4 grams more capsule), for cappuccino coffee capsules contain 8 g of coffee, in dairy - 17 g of milk powder.

On the film covering the capsule, in addition to the company logo, the name of the drink and the amount of water required for its preparation in the divisions of the conventional scale are marked. The color of the film itself is different for different drinks, which makes it easier to distinguish one capsule from another. Plastic containers are also different colors: it can be dark brown, almost black, for capsules with coffee and white for capsules with milk powder.

Capsule Coffee Machines

We will look at one machine for each of the two capsule types under consideration: Krups Mini Me for Nescafe Dolce Gusto and DeLonghi Essenza EN 97.W for Nespresso. Both of them are packed in boxes of high-quality cardboard with a good printing design, equipped with carrying handles.

Comparison of features and information support

Let's start with the characteristics that we have tabulated. As often happens, the values had to be found in different places, and sometimes measured by ourselves, so the table contains relevant notes for cases when the data was not obtained from the manufacturer’s website.

Parameter	Krups Mini Me	DeLonghi Essenza EN 97.W
Capsules	Nescafe dolce gusto	Nespresso
Sizes, cm	24,1×30,5×16,1 (according to the packaging)	16,6×25,3×29,1
Gross weight, kg (our measurement)	3,3	3,8
Net weight kg	2.3 (our measurement)	2.9 / 2.7 (online / our measurement)
The volume of the container for water, l	0,8	0.9 or 1 (on different pages of the site)
Pump pressure bar	up to 15	19
Power consumption	1500 / 1340–1600 (on site / on label)	1260 (on site and label)
Warm-up time when turned on, sec. (declared / our measurement)	≈30 / 36	25 / 22
Maximum cup height, mm	152 (see clarification in review text)	84
Waste Container Capacity	container is missing	12-14 capsules
Description on the manufacturer’s website	krups.ru	delonghi.com
average price	T-10532948	T-8492228
Retail Offers	LS-10532948-10	LS-8492228-10

The significant difference in the declared pressure can hardly be attributed to the advantages of one model and the disadvantages of another: as we have already found out, it takes 8–9 bar to make a real espresso - no more and no less. The value given in the characteristics is obtained by measuring the output of the pump, and there may be pressure losses on the way to coffee in the capsule due to various reasons, and a lower declared value at times can only mean that there are fewer such losses in this coffee machine. And what pressure really affects the laying of coffee, it is simply impossible to measure in our conditions.

Regarding the power, one can say the following: it is mainly consumed by the boiler heater, therefore, the higher the power, the faster the water is heated after switching on and the fewer breaks required to restore the temperature after preparing another portion.

But this is theoretically, and in our case it turns out that DeLonghi, which has less declared power, warms up much faster after switching on. There are no miracles in this, just the characteristics do not indicate in which mode such power is consumed. We made a measurement: the maximum power consumed during heating for DeLonghi is about 1170 watts, for Krups - 1180 watts.

We emphasize that we measured with a simple Etech PM300 wattmeter, which cannot be called an accurate measuring device, especially at small values, it is suitable mainly for evaluative measurements, which in this case was required for us: we wanted to compare two devices.

In this case, the values turned out to be almost the same, this is the peak power consumed by the boiler, however, during heating, the consumption was not constant, so the average power is a more important parameter in relation to the heating time, but our wattmeter does not register such values. Thus, the advice encountered on the Internet to choose a coffee machine with maximum power should be taken critically: it is necessary to focus on the stated numbers, which far from always unambiguously determine practical advantages or disadvantages.

For Krups, the official website has four automatic values, but not all of this is true:

auto power off after 5 minutes - there are no questions, it really turns off,
automatic dosing of the water level (7 levels) and temperature (hot / cold), as for the temperature, everything is not smooth: there is definitely no cooling of the water, it just may not heat up, but the heating will probably occur to the temperature optimum for making coffee about 90 ° C, and here you can already talk about automation, albeit with a stretch of the imagination - there simply shouldn’t be anything else, as far as dosage is concerned, nothing is automatic here and is close: the water supply is manually controlled by a special selector,
an automatically adjustable height for the cup holder - and it’s also completely unclear where the word “automatically” came from: the stand is really rearranged in one of three positions in accordance with the height of the cup or glass to reduce spatter, it's just done by the hands of the user.

Actually, the complaint here is not to the design of the coffee machine, but to the method of supplying information: two of the four adjustments are not automatic, and for the third one can give such a definition, but with reservations. In addition, the site does not mention yet another important function, which is precisely automatic: stopping the preparation of a drink in the absence of water.

And another thing: the site does not have a number of meanings - dimensions, weight, pressure. We weighed the coffee machine ourselves, and the dimensions and pressure were indicated on the package.

In the kit there is a brief guide, where in the pictures and with extremely concise comments in several languages the basic actions of the user are displayed. In principle, everything is quite understandable, but still more complete verbal instructions would be useful to many users - they also exist, but in the form of a pdf file, available on the corresponding page of the manufacturer’s website, including in Russian. But in the box we found a plump little book with a description of precautions in more than three dozen languages. It is clear that “in which case” the manufacturer can always say: they say, it’s written! However, it is not the manufacturer’s self-insurance that is more important to the consumer, but the detailed “paper” operating manual.

Thus, one has to express dissatisfaction with the information support of Krups.

At DeLonghi Essenza EN 97.W, things are much better in this regard, but also not brilliant.

There is an instruction manual in the kit, and it’s quite detailed, intelligible and in several languages, including Russian. But if the owner has lost the little book, then he will not be able to download the instructions on the manufacturer’s website: the “Support” tab is empty, and the “User Guide” link on the coffee machine’s overview page leads to the empty support page.

The list of characteristics on the pages of the official website is quite complete, except for gross weights, and even in different places different values of the capacity of the water container are indicated.

It seems that DeLonghi wants to seem “holier than the Pope”: when you visit the site, a window pops up asking you to accept the use of cookies. It would seem very polite, but the proposal is somehow strange, more like a requirement: you can only agree with him, otherwise the window will still appear - you cannot reject it.

In terms of automation, the DeLonghi model is not inferior to Krups: there is an automatic shutdown, as well as an automatic ejection of used capsules. At the end of the water in the container, like Krups, nothing bad will happen.

The coffee machines themselves are very simple, but there is still something to talk about, so let's move on to describing them.

Krups Mini Me

This coffee machine is quite unusual in appearance: in profile, it resembles either a hunched human figure in a round helmet with a double visor, or a skinny penguin with a large round head, a wide open beak and a crest at the back of the head.

The manufacturer on the official website assures that Mini Me "will become an exquisite addition to your interior" - we will not argue, but a very specific interior will be required. But the children will have a lot of joy: the coffee maker’s look is very toy-like, but it’s not recommended to give the majority of coffee drinks to children at all, or in very limited quantities, depending on age.

True, the assortment of Dolce Gusto capsules also contains different types of hot chocolate based on cocoa powder with milk: nesquik, just for children, chocochino with vanilla and cinnamon, as well as caramel-flavored chocolate. It is quite possible to assume that such drinks prepared by such an unusual device will be more enthusiastic for kids than the same non-squid from a can that dad or mom pour hot milk or boiling water right in the cup.

I must say that not only Mini Me coffee makers have a similar shape, but also other Krups models: Genio and Piccolo look almost like twins, while Melody 3 have more rounded lines at the bottom.

Moreover, all these devices are available in different color options. So, Krups Mini Me is black, like ours, white and red, to be precise, the cases are always two-tone - only a part is painted with the “title” color, and the rest is light or dark gray. And in our coffee machine, the power cable, including the plug, was red.

There are three governing bodies, all of them are concentrated on the “head” of the machine. The round power button is located on the top of the head, it is highlighted in red when warming up and green in operating mode. On the back of the head there is a protruding mode selection lever with three fixed positions: push it to the left - water will flow without heating, to the right - hot water is supplied, middle position - stop.

Moreover, it is not necessary to hold the lever, it is enough to move it, and it will be held in extreme positions until the portion of water set by the third organ, the level selector, is poured. Its transparent handle is located on the “crown”, and the settings are made in accordance with the scale already mentioned, which has seven divisions and is applied both to the coffee machine itself in the selector's movement zone and to the capsules — their caps and general packaging.

The adjustment range is from 35–40 ml (ristretto, different values are indicated in different places) to 230 ml (americano).Everything is very simple and clear, you just need to remember to put the selector in the right position before starting the coffee brewing, and if the process has started, then it is not recommended to touch the selector.

Of course, the scales shown on the capsule divisions are recommended, and the owner can set the amount of liquid and, accordingly, the strength of the drink in accordance with their own preferences. That is, one operational user adjustment is still there. And you can stop the cooking procedure at any time by moving the mode lever to the "stop" position.

The capsule is placed in a retractable holder. Its inner edge is equipped with a magnet that plays a double role: when installing the holder, you won’t be able to leave it in an intermediate position - the magnet will send it in all the way, and for the holder already inserted, it will become a lock that does not allow it to fall out, for example, when carrying it.

Carrying, by the way, is better with DeLonghi: although Essenza is a little more weight, it is easier to lift it with one hand, and only the owner of a very large hand can grab the “head” of the Krups Mini Me with your fingers, and most owners will have to use both hands.

The selector engine is located on the handle, when lowering the blocking holder and feeding down the capsule clamp device together with the piercing needle. The clamping device is equipped with a rubber seal.

Cups and glasses are mounted on a pallet equipped with a grill. We mentioned above that this pallet can be installed in one of the fixed positions in accordance with the height of the vessel used to minimize splashing during the preparation of drinks. In the lower position of the pan, the maximum height of the dishes will be 152 mm.

We talked about the fact that a lot of water remains in the used capsule. If the capsule is not removed from the holder, then this liquid will slowly drip into the tray, whose capacity is small. Of course, the pallet will not overflow with drops from one capsule, but still it is better to empty it in a timely manner. At the same time, it is necessary to remove or at least hold the grate: it is held only by its own weight and easily falls out when the pallet is tilted.

A transparent water container is installed in the rear, and the line of its outer wall continues the rounded shape of the coffee machine body. At the same time, the filler neck is closed by the protrusion of the machine body, only the handle protrudes outward, which is very convenient to hold with your fingers. The inserted container is securely fixed with latches (a characteristic click is heard during its installation) and does not fall out when carried.

The neck is narrow, but this does not prevent water from being poured into it, however, you will have to use a brush to clean the container: not even a miniature female hand will fit into the hole.

The outlet is located below, of course, it is equipped with a spring-loaded valve that does not allow water to pour out when the container is removed from the coffee machine.

In contrast to this container and capsule holder, the pallet in the lower position is fixed much worse and can fall if you tilt the machine when carrying it. In the middle and upper positions, the pallet mount is strong, but not so much as to significantly complicate its movement.

The operations for preparing the machine for operation and its periodic maintenance are described in the instructions, and we just say that you will have to buy a special tool to remove the scale.

The preparation time for a serving of Americano (the recommended volume is 230 ml, which corresponds to seven divisions of the scale) is 49-50 seconds, the servings of expresso (50 ml, two divisions) are about 13 seconds - measured from pressing the button until the pump is finished. At the end, the indicator blinks red for several seconds, at this time the instruction prohibits lifting the locking lever and removing the holder with the capsule. The maximum consumption recorded by us during cooking was 1265 W.

I must say that in the energy-saving mode, into which the car enters either at the touch of a button or after 5 minutes of inactivity, some energy is still consumed: our wattmeter showed 8 watts - of course, at such values its error is very large, but with the DeLonghi it showed zero.

In the kit, in addition to the brief guide and safety instructions already mentioned, there is a box with six different capsules and a Nescafe Dolce Gusto product guide that encourages you to register on the site to receive another package of capsules as a gift.

DeLonghi Essenza EN 97.W

The appearance of this coffee machine is not so unusual, although also quite peculiar. The exterior has a lot of straight and flat elements that are connected by rounded surfaces.

The combination of colors is offered, although the only one, but is quite harmonious: the dark brown, almost black color of some elements is shaded by a pale cream, close to white, color of others.

The visual apparatus consists of two parts, in the lower upper one there is a clamping piston and a brewing unit. A boiler and a pump are located in the lower part, a water tank is attached at the back, and a pan combined with a container for used capsules is inserted in front.

At least two controls: only two buttons located on the side on the upper roundnesses of the lower part. When warming up, the buttons are highlighted in a blinking green light, after reaching ready, the glow becomes constant.

Pressing any of these buttons turns on the machine, after warming up with the left button, you can set the preparation of a portion of coffee in the amount of espresso (40 ml), and the right - lungo (110 ml). Recall that the classic espresso lungo implies a double amount of water with the same coffee tab, but here the volume is almost three times as much, and this is hardly compensated by an extra gram of coffee in the lungo capsule.

If the machine is not used, then after about 9 minutes it goes into standby mode, in which the buttons are not highlighted and the power consumption is close to zero. You can force the device into this mode by simultaneously pressing both buttons.

But all these are the default values that the user can change. The setting procedure is described in the instructions, we just say that the transition to energy-saving mode can be set for 30 minutes or completely disabled, and also program for each button the amount of water that the owner considers optimal (the limits of the settings are not specified anywhere, but they are unlikely very wide). However, the settings related to the taste and strength of coffee are always very individual, and therefore it is better to make them quick and easy, but in this case the programming procedure cannot be called operational, and it is suitable mainly for those rare cases when the coffee machine will be used by one human or the tastes of all users coincide.

In front of the coffee machine there is a drip tray, the protruding part of which in horizontal projection has the shape of a semicircle. The pallet is equipped with a grate, on which a cup or a glass is installed, as in the Krups model, this grate is held only by its own weight and can easily fall out when tilted.

On this grate, and just in the place where the drops should fall, there is a sticker that can be seen in some photos. It has a certain digital code on it, but this is not a serial number, important for the guarantee, and the sticker can be safely removed. The serial number is on another sticker located traditionally on the bottom.

The gap between the grate and the nozzle through which coffee is poured is not adjustable and is designed for utensils up to 83–84 mm high - such cups will be quite enough for any of the types of coffee drinks offered, including lungo.

However, servings of cappuccino or latte mean volumes significantly exceeding 110–120 ml, and therefore they are usually poured into tall glasses, and milk foam is first prepared (recall: unlike Nescafe / Krups, you will have to use a separately purchased cappuccino), which then coffee is added in an amount close to a serving of espresso. Putting such a glass with milk foam into the Essenza coffee machine does not work, so you have to first pour coffee into a small cup, and then pour it into the glass.

But machines with Nespresso capsules also have a feature that distinguishes them from Nescafe machines: automatic removal of used capsules in a special container that holds up to 12-14 capsules in Essenza.

We have already familiarized ourselves with the device of the capsules themselves, now we will explain how they work in a specific coffee machine.

The smaller upper part of the apparatus contains a piston driven in motion by an external lever. With the lever raised in the front, a hole of a characteristic shape opens, where the capsule is placed (with the lid forward, not up, as in Krups) and then clamped with a piston. If you observe the movement of the piston when lowering the lever, then at first there may be a fear that the capsule will be squeezed skew - nothing like that: the shape of the grooves and cavities of the brewing mechanism are maintained in accordance with the configuration of the capsule, and it will certainly fall into the right position.

At the end of the cooking process, it is enough to raise the lever again so that the spent capsule falls down and falls into the container, which is an integral part of the pallet and is removed with it.

Thus, each Dolce Gusto capsule must be carried to the waste bin (and liquid may drip from it), and for Nespresso, it is enough to empty the container from time to time.

In fairness, let’s say: the fixation of the pallet itself, like the Krups model, is rather weak, and the tilt of the machine when carrying it can cause it to fall out.

The water tank in Essenza in terms of location, method and reliability of fastening is almost the same as in Mini Me, and differs only in a shape that repeats the rounded shape of the front pan, as well as a slightly larger capacity. Like Krups, the filler neck of the installed tank is covered by the machine body, and an external handle is used to extract it. And in the same way, you will have to use a brush to clean the inside of the tank: although the neck is larger than that of Krups, an adult's hand will not crawl into it.

Again we will not retell the steps for the initial start-up and periodic maintenance of the device, which are described in detail in the instructions. For descaling, you also have to buy a special tool, only now produced by Nespresso.

The kit includes a user manual and warranty card, a set of 16 capsules of various types and several information leaflets on Nespresso products in a convenient folder. We did not find any promises of any other bonuses: apparently, the manufacturer considered that sixteen capsules was enough.

The cooking time for a portion of lungo (recommended volume is 110 ml) is 40 seconds, a portion of expresso (40 ml) is 13 seconds - it is measured from pressing a button until the pump is finished. The maximum consumption recorded by us during cooking was 1120 W, and in standby mode our power meter showed zero.

The quality of the coffee

As usual, the opinions of our employees who tested the coffee diverged. But in general, no one denied that the drinks prepared with the “default” settings are quite strong and aromatic, although sometimes there was an excessive bitterness. Representatives of the beautiful half with special pleasure tasted the cappuccino from Dolce Gusto. And again, I have to express regret for the lack of a professional barista in our team who is able to recognize, appreciate and describe the advantages of coffee made by each of the machines. Therefore, again we restrict ourselves to only a few observations.

In the process of making coffee in both machines, the trickle that spills out is brown, and only in the glass does the liquid turn black. This suggests that at first it is full of air bubbles, which is consistent with the idea of proper espresso.

When using transparent dishes, you can observe a rather thick layer of light beige foam, which does not settle for several minutes. The foam is dense, with more or less the same small bubbles - at least a large number of individual large bubbles are not observed.

If you tilt the glass or glass, the foam remains on its walls, forming not just traces, but rather a fairly uniform layer having a certain volume. And these traces do not disappear for a long time - they simply dry out on the walls.

In general, in both cases, everything is very similar to a classic espresso.

Established milk foam drinks are only available on a Krups machine with Nescafe capsules. Abundant foam is usually obtained from milk in which the protein content is at least 3% (it is about protein, not fat content), of course, the milk powder in the corresponding Dolce Gusto capsules is properly selected, so the foam turns out to be thick, lush, stable and quite tasty. And during cooking, the smell of hot milk is clearly felt.

To summarize

It is also difficult to compare the coffee obtained from two types of capsules and using two different coffee machines because the only parameter is the same - the weight of the tab of ground beans in espresso capsules, and then there are continuous differences. Even the default volume of water used for espresso is different: in Nespresso / DeLonghi 40 ml, which corresponds to the textbook portion, and in Nescafe / Krups a quarter more, 50 ml, although the regulator will reduce it to 35–40 ml.

Also: in the assortment of Nescafe Dolce Gusto capsules there are three types of espresso (not including decaffeinated, flavored and iced), Nespresso has four types (only those that the manufacturer calls espresso, although there are other variations on the same topic). Naturally, only comparisons made for the same “basis” - coffee beans of one variety or one mixture of varieties, with the same roasting and grinding, would be correct only if we could talk about the influence of other parameters, including the design features of capsules and coffee machines. It turns out that in our case this is impossible in principle.

For ease of use, it is not easy to give the palm of one of two technologies and models unequivocally, everything will depend on the individual preferences of the potential buyer.

For lovers of cappuccino and other drinks with milk, as well as families with children, we would advise you to choose a coffee machine with Nescafe Dolce Gusto capsules. At the same time, they will be able to quickly change the strength and volume of the drink.

At the office, it will probably be more convenient to use Nespresso capsules, the machines for which allow you not to run to the bin after preparing each portion or not to keep a special vessel for used capsules near the coffee maker.

But, of course, we must remember that any capsules and coffee machines designed for them are always a compromise, primarily between ease of use and taste. In addition, the owner for the entire service life of such a machine will be “tied” to a certain type of capsules, which, although not deficient, are still not available at every corner, and you will have to take care of restocking in a timely manner. Finally, we emphasize again: the price of the coffee machines themselves is relatively low, but the cost of coffee with regular consumption will be significantly higher than when using “non-capsule” coffee makers.