Nespresso Original

Nespresso

Capsule espresso, one button, no fuss.

Nespresso Original

Sealed capsules at around 19 bar through a fixed aperture. Nothing to grind, dose or dial in. More consistent than most beginners manage by hand.

Roast	Grind	Coffee	Water	Time
light	fixed (sealed capsule)	5.5 g	40 ml	28 sec
medium	fixed (sealed capsule)	5.5 g	40 ml	26 sec
dark	fixed (sealed capsule)	5.5 g	40 ml	25 sec

Per 40 ml cup. Makes 1–2 at a time.

What goes wrong

Running a used capsule twice. Nothing left to extract, so it comes out thin and bitter. Never descaling: brew temperature drifts down, sour and weak. Brewing into a cold cup, which a 40ml shot cannot survive. Using lungo for strength. It is more water through the same 5g, so you get weaker coffee, not stronger.

Care schedule

1 task for this machine.

Descale the machine

Every 6 months

Pod machines have a small thermoblock and a narrow water path, so scale shows up as a weak, slow, spluttering extraction long before anything actually breaks.

What you need

The maker's descaling kit, or citric acid at about 10g per litre if the manual allows it. A container for the output.

Espresso descalerAd

What goes wrong

Descaling with a capsule loaded. Using undiluted vinegar, which perishes the small internal seals these machines use. Rinsing with one tank instead of two. Treating a blocked pod-piercing needle as scale when it is dried coffee - that needs a paperclip, not descaler.