Nespresso Essenza Mini Coffee Maker

Sometimes, you find yourself at work needing an espresso to get you through the day’s work. Depending on the location of your workplace, you find that getting a coffee at a cafe is not always convenient. This is why you can have an espresso machine that you can access easily at your office or home like the Nespresso Essenza Mini espresso machine.

Using an espresso maker from a reputable brand like Nespresso will guarantee you making espresso like the ones in cafes, but with significant savings. We all know how much specialty coffees cost at our favorite coffee houses.

This machine is built with high quality plastic casings. This coffee maker has a small foot print on your counter looks attractive, especially on your kitchen countertop. Therefore, if you’re a newbie to an espresso machine, this is a great option to start with.

This machine is a lesson in simplicity and features only two buttons for brewing. The two buttons can also perform additional functions when you hold them down simultaneously.

Pricing

This is the smallest footprint coffee maker from Nespresso. This espresso mini coffee maker is very affordable and has one of the lowest cost on the market, you can check the current price below. It is a reliable product that makes great coffee and provides excellent value for your coffee investment. Additionally, you get a warranty for 12 months.

First, look out of the box!

If purchased and, when you open the box you’ll find a few accessories, a manual, and fourteen pieces of assorted coffee capsules. Once you removed the machine from the box, you will notice three plastic pieces in front.

These are the used capsule container, wastewater container, and top support. At the front of the machine, you’ll also find the coffee nozzle, steam cover, and drip tray.

Nespresso Essenza Mini

At the back of the machine, you’ll find the removable 0.6-liter water container. The top of the machine contains two buttons for the two cup sizes. The sizes are espresso and lungo(large), which have a capacity of 40ml and 110ml respectively. Located in front of the two buttons you will find the coffee capsule bay.

This machine was designed to be light and compact, with dimensions measuring 3.3-inch width, 12-inch height, and 8-inch depth. It’s lightweight and ergonomic at 5 pounds but does not compromise on taste.

Nespresso Essenza Mini comes in two shapes made by Breville, and the other manufactured by DeLonghi, with 4 colors to choose from as shown in the video below.

In order to keep tabs on the water level, you’ll have to keep an eye on the water tank in the back of the coffee machine.

Brewing the Espresso

Let’s quickly set the espresso maker to brew, and see how it works.

• The first thing is to fill the water tank with water.
• Plug the machine into a power socket. Turn it on and let it warm up for about 30 to 40 seconds.
• After filling the tank, you can then put a coffee capsule flavor of your choice inside the coffee capsule bay.
• For this test run, I used a 110ml cup size.
• After heating up the water, the machine will use pressure to force the hot water through the capsule.
• The next thing that hits your smell senses is an inviting and delicious coffee aroma. I felt that the aroma similar to what I would smell at a café.
• If the 110ml size is too strong for your taste, you can do a double press of the capsule. A double press will mix more steam water into your cup.
• You can be sure that the machine will give you some froth on top of your cup. If that is not enough crema, you can purchase the optional frother shown at the end.

Keep in mind that this machine doesn’t come with the optional milk frother. So, if you love having a creamy espresso, you can buy an inexpensive separate milk frother to froth the milk for your espresso.

When you’re brewing coffee, the coffee capsule is punctured at the front and back of the capsule while steam water is forced through it. The machine automatically shuts off after about 8 to 9 minutes of no use.

These Nespresso machines use the Nespresso Original Line coffee capsules. So, if you want to get a good life span out of your machine, avoid taking chances and purchase the original. It is advisable to purchase the Nespresso Original Line

After-use Routine

After the brewing process, you can then dump the coffee capsule into the used capsule container. This happens automatically when you open the capsule handle.

You can access the used capsule container by pulling out the cup support. You can put the used capsule in a separate recycling container. The used capsule container can hold up to six used capsules.

The smooth shiny material on the machine is easy to wipe clean and gives it a glossy clean look.

The fact that you can easily remove the parts of this machine makes it simple to clean after each use. It helps to make it a habit and remove the parts to wash them after each use.

After washing the parts, dry them with a clean material or let them air dry. Once the parts are dry, restore them to where they belong in the machine. Be careful not to clean the parts in a dishwasher because the parts are not dishwasher-safe.

Descaling Process

You may need to perform a descaling process after extended use. The machine features a 13 to 14 minutes descaling process. You can initiate the process by pressing the two buttons at the top simultaneously.

However, it is advisable to descale fully. How frequently you need to descale depends on how hard your water is. Follow this guide to descale your appliance:

• Get a descaling liquid and mix it with water
• Place a big container underneath the capsule, and then press and hold the two brewing buttons for 5 seconds
• After that, refill the water tank with the mixture of water and descaling liquid and go over the process again
• This last step is to ensure that there is no trace of the mixture in your appliance. Pour some volume of pure water into the water tank. Press and hold the two brewing buttons, and let the water dispensed through the capsule.

Descaling is not a complicated procedure but it’s a necessary and very vital practice that’ll make your appliance durable and clean. Endeavor to make descaling a habit if you often use water to brew your espresso.

The Power-Saving Mode

This mode is there to help you conserve power. By default, this machine automatically powers off after 9 minutes of non-operation. But you can increase the auto power-off timer to 30 minutes.

Keep in mind that you can only toggle the auto power-off for either 9 or 30 minutes. To regulate the power-saving feature, follow this guide:

• To modify this setting, push and hold down the espresso button until you see it blinking.
• To change the timer to 30 minutes, tap the espresso button once.
• If you want to change it back to the default in 9 minutes, you tap the espresso button twice.
• To leave the power-saving mode, press and hold down the lungo button for 5 seconds.

Troubleshooting Signals

Sometimes, you may find that your appliance is not performing as it should. Here are a few common troubleshooting pointers for this machine:

Your machine may work fine but the coffee pours slowly or doesn’t even pour at all. This is an indication that you should descale the machine. See your user guide for more about descaling your machine, and read the above descale procedure.
You may plug your machine into the power-up and notice that it’s not working. Check to make sure that it isn’t on sleep mode. If it’s on sleep mode, push and hold down the lungo button until sleep mode is off.

Previous Nespresso vs. Essenza Mini

The Nespresso Inissia replaced by the Mini is an older model with older technology. The previous Nespresso Inissia  is larger than the Essenza mini in terms of width, while the Essenza mini is higher in height than the Inissia.

The Inissia is slightly heavier than the Essenza mini.  The older model looks bulkier than the newer model which has a sleeker modern design.

During the brewing process, Inissia coffee makes is louder than the Essenza mini. These two appliances both make the same cup size of espresso when brewing. They both have a pressure of 19 bars when dispensing steam through their capsules. The Essenza Mini being newer, has the newest technology and is much easier to use.

Out of the box, the two products both come with user manuals in English and French language.

Nespresso Essenza Mini – Pros:

• It’s affordable
• It is compact and doesn’t take much space.
• Easy to use
• Cons:

  You can hear the sound of coffee brewing, but it’s not noisy

• Conclusion

  The Nespresso coffee maker is indeed a good espresso maker to have. It’s a small espresso coffee maker that is ideal for your kitchen.

  It is easy to use and very efficient for making great-tasting coffee. For the value this machine gives you, I would say the product is not just inexpensive, but money well-spent.

   

  

   

   

  

   

If you have any comments, please leave them below, I’d love to hear from you. If you’re a coffee lover and a dog lover check these pet supplements.