Why You Should Reprogram Your Nespresso Machine For The Best Coffee

Nespresso machines make life so much easier. You can wake up in the morning and have a fresh, delicious espresso at the press of a button, or change up what type of coffee you want on a whim. There's no fancy grinder or milk jugs, no spills or mess. But although you can pretty much plug them in and hit go, you should reprogram your Nespresso machine if you want the best results.

We asked Matt Woodburn-Simmonds, Ex-Barista and Founder of Home Coffee Expert, for all of his Nespresso machine tips and tricks, and one was to change the volume of water being used for your drinks if you feel you're not getting the best flavor. The reason for doing so might just be down to taste, or you might feel like certain pods you're trying out are getting too watered down.

Woodburn-Simmonds says, "Some Nespresso capsules are designed to be brewed longer or shorter. You may feel the standard length from your machine under- or over-extracts these pods, so adjusting can give you a better balanced coffee." Every Nespresso machine has automatic settings, but you can easily program any button to brew less or more liquid. For example, an espresso button can switch between 1-ounce to 2.33-ounces, and a lungo button between 2.33-ounces and 3-ounces.

Reprogramming is simple. Woodburn-Simmonds explains, "If you press and hold the button on your Nespresso machine until you have the desired size in your cup and release. Your Nespresso machine will save this as the new length for that button. There are maximum and minimum sizes, though, which vary by machine."

If you want a larger, weaker coffee, hold the button for a bit longer than the standard, and vice versa. Nespresso machines are usually programmed to brew 1.35 ounces for an espresso or 3.7 ounces for a lungo. A good aim if you like a stronger taste is 1 ounce or 2.7 ounces, respectively. However, make sure you select the right capsule for your goal and don't overreach too far.

Woodburn-Simmonds says, "Using a capsule designed for an espresso to make a 12-ounce cup because you want a longer coffee from it will most likely result in an extremely bitter brew. The point of the pods and the machines is to calibrate them so the pods are perfectly extracted at the specified length." If you want to switch back to the settings programmed by Nespresso, just reset it. Each machine is different, but this is usually done by holding down the Lungo button for more than five seconds while the machine is off.