How to Reprogram Nespresso Machines to Brew Bigger Shots

If there is one (and I mean only one!) downside to Nespresso machines, it’s that the serving sizes they produce are so small! If you’re like me, you probably often find yourself downing cup after tiny cup of Nespresso coffee and having to continuously go back to make more.

Luckily, there is an incredibly simple solution: reprogramming the shot volume for your Nespresso machine’s brew buttons.

The Nespresso Machine Brew Buttons Can Be Adjusted!

As you’re aware if you read our post about the differences between espresso, ristretto, and lungo coffee shots, most Nespresso machines have two buttons that determine the volume of the shot the machine produces during each use: an espresso button for a short shot and a lungo button for a longer shot.

But for lazy folks like me who still need more coffee than even the lungo button can provide but can’t be bothered to just brew another dang cup, there’s great news: reprogramming one or both of these buttons to produce a larger shot volume is a surprisingly simple process and no matter what machine you have the job is just as simple.

Nespresso Machine Default Cup Volumes

Out of the box, your Nespresso machine brew buttons are preprogrammed to produce the following cup volumes:

Espresso Button: 40 mL
Lungo Button: 110 mL

As you can see, that’s not a whole lot of brewed coffee! If you are used to drinking cups of coffee from an 8oz mug then your cup is only half full with the lungo pull!

So let’s move on to find out how to reprogram these clever little machines to produce a big boy size cup of coffee… or better described as an extra long Lungo shot, which would be similar to an Americano but just a bit more bitter.

Reprogramming Your Nespresso Machine for Larger Servings

While there are at least a half dozen different (common) Nespresso machine models and a number of additional “top-shelf” models, they all tend to have the same basic means of operation. Luckily, this is even true when it comes to programming the buttons for higher-volume shots of coffee.

Here are the basic steps:

Fill up the water reservoir.
Power up the machine.
Wait for that machine to fully heat up (on most Nespresso machines, there is some kind of indicator to let you know when it has reached the necessary temperature—most often, the buttons will flash until this temperature is reached).
Lift the handle and pop in a Nespresso capsule as you normally would.
Decide whether you want to reprogram the espresso button or the lungo button.
Press and hold the button you want to program and let it begin to dispense the coffee.
When your cup is filled to your desired volume, simply release the button.

That’s it! Now, whenever you go to use your Nespresso machine, it will produce that same volume of coffee each time you select that button to brew it!

(source)

What If I Want to Change It Back?

No problem. Simply refer to your machine’s user guidebook and follow the directions provided to restore your Nespresso machine back to factory default settings… or you can just follow the exact same steps to reprogram your buttons to brew less coffee instead of more.

The process is slightly different from model to model, but they all involve some combination of shutting the machine off with the power switch, holding down one or both buttons for some time, and then turning the machine back on (for some machines, you’ll need to continue pressing one or both buttons as you power the machine back on).

Now, let’s look at how and why you might want to do a hard reset to get your machine back to the way it was out of the box.

Why You Would Reset Your Nespresso Machine and How To Do It

Why You Would Reset a Nespresso Machine

Nespresso machines offer various forms of customization when it comes to individual taste and preference. Most notably, Nespresso coffee machines offer users the ability to customize their coffee’s water level and cup size.

As you may know, Nespresso machines also remember these preferences and store them for later brewing. However, what happens if you forget what amount you had your preferences set to, or you are making coffee for someone else? Your taste changes? Your borrowing a machine? You picked up a used machine? You are descaling and want to flush it out? Your Nespresso machine isn’t working properly?

The point is, there are a number of situations that may require you to perform a factory reset on your Nespresso machine. Thankfully, the process is usually quite simple.

How You Would Reset (By Machine)

Follow the incredibly simple instructions listed below for each Nespresso unit to reset it. This will remove all shot customizations and presets that you might have already programmed.

Nespresso Pixie

Turn off the machine
Turn on the machine while holding down the lungo button

Nespresso Inissia

Turn off the machine
Hold the lungo button for five seconds
The buttons should flash three times – your machine is now reset

Nespresso Citiz

Turn off the machine
Turn on the machine while holding down the lungo button

Nespresso Essenza

Turn off the machine
Turn on the machine while holding down the lungo button

Nespresso U-Modeller

Turn on the machine
Hold the lungo and the espresso buttons simultaneously for four seconds

Nespresso Lattissima Touch

Turn on the machine
Remove milk container
Press Latte and warm milk buttons simultaneously for three seconds
Click once on the following buttons in quick fashion (Heat the milk, cappuccino, latte, lungo, espresso, ristretto)
The hot milk button should flash; press it to confirm the reset

Nespresso Lattissima/ Lattissima +

Turn on the machine
Hold the power button for five seconds
The buttons should blink three times; this confirms the factory reset has taken place

Nespresso Vertuo

Open machine end
Eject used capsule
Close head; leave lever in the unlocked position
Push the button five times within three seconds
The button should blink five times; this confirms the factory reset has taken place

Nespresso Vertuo +

Turn the machine off (push lever down for three seconds)
Push the button and pull the lever down simultaneously for three seconds
Orange steady light should appear
Pull lever down three times
Push the button

Once your unit is fully reset then try using it again. It should perform just as it did when new and it should then be ready for you to reprogram your preferred shot size settings whenever you are ready to do so.

Nespresso Gives You Lots of Freedom to Customize Your Espresso

When in doubt experiment with this process without using a capsule so that you can dial in the procedure for your particular machine. Consulting your specific machines user guide may be easiest but I know all to well that guides get lost easy in most people’s homes.

For my machine I have reprogrammed my espresso button to pull a long ristretto, about 1oz, and I’ve programmed my lungo button to pull a short lungo or a double espresso, about 2.5oz.

This is so that I can make an approximate Americano style coffee easily. I just brew a double espresso shot into my mug and then discharge the spent capsule and “brew” another 2.5oz of hot water straight into my mug giving me a small sized Americano.

The smaller ristretto shot I’ve programmed makes it easy to add a second capsule to any drink I make to make it a bit brighter in flavor and stronger without adding a lot of extra volume.

Play with yours; you’ll surely find something that works great for you… something that is very specific to you too!