Telegraph verdict: 8 out of 10
If you want a compact coffee pod machine for less than £100 that allows you to make a wide range of different coffees and blends that taste just as good as the ones that you could get from a café, the Nespresso Vertuo Pop is well worth considering.
It is simple and straightforward to use and takes basically all of the hassle out of brewing a tasty cup of coffee. I also liked the fact that you could pair your phone to it with Bluetooth to allow you to have your coffee brewing for you while you’re still in bed or on your way home.
If you are a big coffee drinker and spend quite a bit buying coffees at cafés and coffee shops throughout the course of a week, buying this machine is much better value for money. After just a few months it will have effectively paid for itself, when you save on paying £3 to £5 per cup outside your home, with the pods being relatively affordable too.
As long as you take care of it and descale it when it needs to be – even if this is an additional expense – it should last you for many years to come and is a worthwhile investment to make when it comes to your daily coffee making.
FAQs
Is the Nespresso Vertuo Pop worth it?
This all depends on how often you will use it and whether or not you are a big coffee drinker. For example, if you buy coffees at the likes of Starbucks or Costa several times a week, this can soon add up. And given that the results were comparable to those store-bought coffees, you will save money in the long run by having a machine like this and making them at home.
I would say, if you can find it on offer – particularly around the £60 mark, like I found – it is well worth the money. And given that it is somewhat of an entry-level pod machine, it isn’t too much of an expense and will allow you to make a wide variety of drinks, both hot and cold, for a fraction of what it would cost in a cafe.
What types of coffee can the Vertuo Pop brew?
With six size settings to take any and all of the guesswork out of making a variety of drinks, you can make ristretto, espresso, double espresso, gran lungo, mug and alto at the push of a button.
Depending on the pods that you buy, you can brew everything from a sweet roasted hazelnut blend to their dark ‘stormio boost’ in the Vertuo Pop. It is worth noting that you can only use Nespresso’s Vertuo pods in this particular machine, but when you purchase it directly from Nespresso, they often have deals running whereby you receive a number of pods – for free – with the machine to help get you up and running.
How do you clean a Nespresso Vertuo Pop?
In terms of day to day cleaning, you should only really need to give the drip tray and capsule container a rinse, and wipe the exterior of the machine with a clean cloth, to keep it looking its best. You will also need to rinse and clean the water tank – I did this every time that I needed to refill it with clean water.
The Vertuo Pop does have a self-cleaning function, which is straightforward and only takes a few minutes to complete. Nespresso also recommends descaling your machine every three months or every 300 capsules, whichever comes first. Every three months should more than suffice, as it would take drinking around three pods a day to reach this 300 figure before then. Thankfully the machine will blink orange three times, before turning to a steady white, to indicate when it needs to be descaled.
Can Nespresso Vertuo Pop pods be recycled?
Yes, Nespresso Vertuo Pop pods can be recycled. After ordering or collecting a free recycling bag from the brand, simply fill it with any used capsules and either drop it off at your nearest Nespresso store or have it collected via their new collection scheme with Royal Mail.
According to Nespresso, “after you have returned your capsules through any of our methods, they are sent to our specialist recycling plants, where the coffee is removed from the aluminium. The aluminium is smelted and recycled into new products, such as beverage cans. While the coffee is used to create renewable energy and soil improver.”