Nespresso CitiZ Coffee Machines
This range of coffee machines by Nespresso encapsulate ‘urban design’ into the appliances. According to Nespresso themselves, the machines are aiming for a practical design while sending out an artistic message – and they do look really sleek!
Nespresso CitiZ Coffee Machine Review
Their design is clearly inspired by the 30’s and 40’s mid-west architecture, and Chicago is even pictured in the background of most of Nespresso’s promotional photos. The lines are clear and defined, the colour choices are simple and refined as opposed to bold (think brushed metal rather than bright colours) and the attention to detail is great – even the water tray has vertical grooves in it to make the machine resemble a building.
There are three main types of coffee machine in the range – the regular CitiZ, the “CitiZ & Milk” and “CitiZ & Co”. We example the strengths of these machines and the differences between them below.
The official Nespresso marketing strategy on the Pixie focuses on five primary selling points: Fast, Intuitive, Cool, Ergonomic and Energy Efficient. These rather conveniently translate (with one exception – read on to find out which) to the main points of note about this machine, so we’ll talk about them in that order.
Nespresso CitiZ General Information
The normal CitiZ model of coffee machine is compact and elegant, but with an elegant touch to its design. Its size is 13 x 27.8 x 37.2 cm which is approximately 5.2 x 11.0 x 14.7 inches, which is quite compact, but not quite as small as the Nespresso Pixie range.
Machine maintenance is a breeze that involves flushing the system once in a while – in fact, the way this is done is by pressing a single button – and generally doesn’t involve any hassle. According to one Amazon customer review, how convenient this machine is “…together with no need for washing up makes it possible for me to actually have a coffee made and drunk in the morning while feeding a one year old”. We confess there are few reviews that we could find which are quite as compelling as that.
The platform upon which you rest your espresso cup doesn’t slide down for multiple sizes, but does flip up so that you can either use it for a shot of espresso or have the tray out of the way in order to fit a larger sized mug which is rather convenient.
Nespresso CitiZ Red
Nespresso CitiZ Black
Nespresso CitiZ Cream
CitiZ & Milk Coffee Machines
The CitiZ & Milk range is rather simple in its name, in that it offers what the regular machine does plus an additional container for your fresh milk. It is fitted with an ‘Aeroccino’ which is Nespresso’s own milk frother. It can prepare both hot and cold milk (to the drinker’s liking) at the touch of a button and feeds into the CitiZ machine so that milk-based / long coffees are just as available as espressos for those who enjoy their lattes, cappuccinos and the like.
One thing to bear in mind is that the Aeroccino’s maximum capacity theoretically halves if you are preparing cold milk froth (so that there’s space for the froth, of course) to 120ml / 4oz. This stays at 240ml / 8oz if you’re preparing hot milk for drinks such as a latte.
CitiZ & Co Coffee Machine for Work
Unless you live in a household where several of you wake up simultaneously, fight for the shower and then have their coffee at the exact same time, we confess the CitiZ & Co Nespresso machine may not quite be the solution you’re after. Having two distinct machines combined with a shared water container in the middle is perhaps a tad excessive for domestic use.
However, this does make the machine a particularly elegant space saver when it comes to saving on work surfaces in an office, for example. Having two coffee machines without needing to necessarily double the footprint of it is a very useful little space saver, and we would definitely recommend this should you want to buy a stylish Nespresso machine for the workplace.