This pistachio green coffee machine is the most beautiful I've seen - make your coffee chic this summer

Butter yellow and pistachio green are the tastes of the year. Not only have they been seen splashed in kitchens as KitchenAid’s colour of the year and on our holiday nails, they now feature on some of the best coffee makers: Nespresso.

I’ve always thought that Nespresso had great taste when it comes to styling a coffee machine, but their latest launch of the Vertuo Pop Pistachio takes things to a whole new level of delicious.

I tested the Vertuo Pop in pistachio green with the brand new flavoured pods, pistachio vanilla (which you make over ice). The experience was nothing short of sensational, securing this a spot as one of the best coffee machines on the market.

Specifications

Unboxing

Nespresso is one of the best brands when it comes to conscious packaging. Their boxes are always all recyclable and easy to open up, move around, and then eventually flatten. However, with the pistachio colourway, I have some other ideas about the box.

They’ve jazzed it up with a pretty butter yellow and pistachio green sleeve that I just can’t throw away, so this has become a storage box that I keep loose extras in inside my cupboard. My partner, when he spotted it, asked me where he could get one for all his bits and pieces and I’ve never been prouder of my upcycling in my life.

Aside from getting the machine out of the box, there isn’t a lot to do in the way of setting up. I clicked the drip tray into place, filled the reservoir at the back, and plugged the machine in. The whole process is really simple.

Who would it suit?

Even before a coffee machine arrives on my counter, I’m asking myself, ‘who would it suit?’ The Nespresso Vertuo Pop suits a whole spectrum of people, especially the style conscious. If you part-resent your coffee machine for the fact that it’s not the prettiest thing on your counter, but also part love it because it’s the thing that keeps you caffeinated and peaceful, this is the answer to your problems. It’s so beautiful, I think I could convince some of my non-coffee friends to invest in one.

Overall, this is a really compact machine that you’ll easily make space for on your counter. It’s actually the smallest that Nespresso makes, but that doesn’t stop it from packing a serious coffee punch The only extra that you might want is a milk frother — which Nespresso makes too — especially if you want to make lattes and cappuccinos.

The nature of a pod machine means that this is best suited to people who want quick, fuss-free coffee. With the Vertuo Pop, you just have to pop a pod in and press a button to have an endless variety of coffee shots, iced coffee, and bigger cups of coffee. Nespresso makes some of the best pods (and you can subscribe to them) on the market, although it’s worth noting that the flavours will never match up to the cup you get from a barista in Pret or Gail’s (guess where I go on a Sunday).

What is it like to use?

Nespresso machines fit the simplicity of a pod machine perfectly. You fill up the water container (reservoir) at the back and then lift the top to put your pod in. There’s a lock mechanism that will release the top of your machine and then the lid actually lifts itself, which is helpful if your wrists and joints aren’t great. The pods will only sit comfortably in one position (curved side down), so you can’t go wrong.

Each pod has its own special barcode, so the machine will choose how much water to fill your cup with according to the beans inside. You can override this by holding down the button, but the guidance is there for a reason.

I make three different types of coffee (many times over) with my coffee machines, but I did an extra special test with the pistachio flavour that brews over ice. It would be rude not to with a machine this beautiful and some brand new pod flavours.

Test 1: espresso

Thanks to the size of the Nespresso Vertuo Pop, the espresso cup sits nicely underneath the brewing head. There isn’t much space for coffee to splash on the machine — this wasn’t an issue at all, which was relieved about because of the colour — so the whole brewing process is really neat.

My espresso filled the cup in eleven seconds, which is the perfect amount of time for a little shot of coffee like that. It’s not even enough time for me to read a page of my book. Whilst I do love an excuse to read, I like getting my coffee in quickly a lot more.

The espresso tasted great too. Nespresso has created a clever centrifugal system which spins the coffee around, so you get this lovely head on the espresso. If you see that in an artisan coffee shop, it’s called the crema and it’s all the delicious oils from your beans. Whilst it’s not that here — pod coffee can’t keep oils fresh for that long, it serves a purpose for looking good. I liked the balance of flavours that came through the espresso too. It was nutty, rich, and totally delicious.

Test 2: Americano

This is your classic, ‘just a coffee’ kind of coffee, so I was really interested to see how Nespresso could pull it off. The water can’t be too hot otherwise you’ll get bitter flavours, but it can’t be cold either, otherwise you won’t get any flavours. Thankfully, Nespresso has the balance perfectly.

The machine spins the coffee so you get that lovely crema on top and it comes out hot, but still drinkable (which is 80 degrees for my coffee aficionados). Again, there was a good balance to my cup: I opted for a lighter, more mild pod, with some fruity notes and they came through.

The only wobble was that my coffee cups have quite a wide base, so they sit at a slight angle on the drip tray. It’s not massive and the coffee doesn’t fill up to the top close enough to pose a problem, but I noted it down just for your information. You’ll see that when I made my iced coffee, I brewed it in a tall glass, which needed the drip tray removed. It’s easy to do and a quick fix for your travel mug too.

Test 3: latte

I mentioned earlier that this doesn’t have a milk frother integrated, although Nespresso does have a model, the aerroccino, which is sold separately.

I made an espresso and then frothed some milk myself to make a latte, which doesn’t really count as an effort from the Vertuo Pop, since it already flew through the espresso test. I’ve kept this section in to flag to my frothy coffee drinkers that you might need to pop an extra in your basket.

Test 4: iced vanilla pistachio coffee

Now, we come to the special test. In coordination with the launch, Nespresso has added iced pistachio vanilla pods to their collection, which is a combination of coffee types that is nothing short of sensational.

I brewed mine over ice — I recommend that you do too — and added a splash of milk. You’ll get a really clear flavour of the vanilla and, in all fairness, I could definitely taste the pistachio. It’s a little artificial for me, but I have quite a sensitive palette.

My friends, who demanded a coffee morning and taste test when I sent this to them, all thought that it was delicious. One even pronounced it to be “better than my local coffee shop’s pistachio coffee.” So, you can see that I’m being a bit picky.

Cleaning

Cleaning this up is really easy. The small brew head meant that no coffee splashed around onto the machine, so the body didn’t need a wipe. The pod collector was full when I had tested eight coffees, which is a decent size. You can recycle the pods with a special Nespresso bag and I recommend that you do. I like to look after the planet.

My drip tray, despite the odd drip falling after I removed my cup, was still in good condition. I gave it a rinse because this coffee machine is too beautiful to neglect, but you won’t need to make that a regular practice.

How does it compare?

The Nespresso Vertuo Pop is one of my favourite coffee machines for small homes. In this colourway, it is easily the most stylish. However, if you think it's still a little chunky and you need a slimmer pod machine, I tested the illy X3 alongside this. The coffee that illy brews is really delicious. You have the same issue, whereby you need to buy special pods from specific retailers, which requires some organisation, but these are just as easy to get hold of as Nespresso's.

Whilst you don't have the special pistachio pods and other unusual flavours on offer from illy, I'd say that they take the edge with authentic coffee flavours. The slim overall design of the coffee machine is perfect if you're too short on space for the Nespresso Vertuo Pop and you have the added benefit of a pod storage section on top of the machine.

If, on the other hand, you like the Vertuo Pop, but you were hoping for an integrated milk frother, Nespresso does have another machine. The Vertuo Creatista was designed with Sage, which means that you have all the barista-style features that their machines are famous for, but these have been automated into the hands-off functions of a pod machine. It's a lot more expensive, but worth it if you want expertly frothed coffee.

Should you buy it?

If you want a chic, petite coffee machine the Nespresso Vertuo Pop is the one to go for. It makes delicious coffee and I still can't quite get over how attractive it is. I'm definitely the envy of my friends at the moment.

How we test

At woman&home, all the coffee makers that I review go through the same series of tests. This means that I make multiple espressos, double espressos, Americanos, and lattes to test the consistency, speed, versatility, flavours, and functioning of the machine.

I measure the temperature and time that it takes to brew a cup of coffee, but I'll also think about the quality of the flavours. As a former barista, this is something that I'm really hot on.

Aside from the different coffee orders, I also make notes on how easy the coffee machine is to use, what it's like to clean, as well as how it compares to similar models. When you come away from a review like this, you should have a really clear idea of what this is like to use. If not, don't hesitate to email me your questions. I am always happy to chat about coffee.

You can also find out more on our dedicated page for how we test coffee machines.