Nespresso Essenza C101 Espresso Maker, Black

This is my third Nespresso machine, following an old trio of D150s and a more newly deceased D290.

In use now for a couple weeks, the C101 continues the streak of winning machines. This is the bare-bones Essenza, without cappuccino wand, cup warmer, etc.. After a decade of looking at the milk warming wands, I realized they had never been used, and cost money. I'd rather not maintain a supply of cream in my office, nor cart in water as often as brewing "Americanos" would require.

Use is simple - drop in a Nespresso pod (about 50 cents each), push the button, then the machine makes the espresso in about 30 seconds when it has sufficiently heated up. Trivial, even before injecting the morning caffeine. Every time very good espresso with a thick crema. An advantage over some older models is that making the coffee can be programmed in even before the machine has warmed up.

I've synchronized watering the Nespresso machine with watering my plants - each... Read more

I've had this machine with the separate frother for around 3 years now. It still delivers a great espresso with a perfect crema. It's not as good as what I can do with my Rancilio with Peet's. But it's close enough without all the drama. I got it for my office, where I didn't want the mess, but took it home for the holidays and found it so convenient, it never went back.

The only problems have been:

1) sometimes it doesn't open the capsules correctly, so you have to open and close the bar a couple of times to make it work without wasting a capsule. This happens most with dented capsules.

2) The packaging of the capsules leaves a lot to be desired. Around 20-30% of them arrive with small dents and 5-10% have major ones. I've talked to Nestle and their only solution is to offer to take them back. I'd rather they fix the problem. Especially since one of the things that really attracted me to this system was the fact that the anodized aluminum capsules... Read more

I have had this machine for over a year and I am pleased with the perfect cup of coffee each time. Each of the color cubes are selected for the taste at that moment. Whenever I have people over for dinner, this coffee is served after the meal with rave responses. I have gotten 14 people this year to purchase this machine. Now that I have started drinking this coffee, I have not been able to drink the regular drip coffee.