Nespresso Coffee not hot enough? | (Here’s What to Do!)

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Johny Morrisson


It’s quite frustrating when you make your favorite Joe in the Nespresso machine and after taking one sip, you notice that your coffee is not hot enough.

Key Takeaways

  • Nespresso machines brew at 83-86°C for the original line and 78°C for the Vertuo line.
  • You can’t adjust the temperature directly on most Nespresso machines. 
  • Preheating the machine by running a hot water cycle is really helpful in making Nespresso coffee hotter.
  • Descale your Nespresso regularly as mineral buildup reduces heating efficiency.
  • Reset the machine if troubleshooting doesn’t resolve low temp issues.
Nespresso not hot

If your Nespresso coffee is not as hot as it used to be and you want to turn up the temperature you are at the right place.

I have written my proven tricks in this article that will definitely help to make hotter coffee with the Nespresso machine.

What’s the temperature inside the Nespresso machine?

The brewing temperature inside a Nespresso machine is around 83-86° for Original line machines and 78° ± 5° for Vertuo line machines.

Well! the ideal temperature for brewing coffee according to the National Coffee Association is 90 to 95 degrees Celcius.

We see that the temperature of Nespresso machines used for brewing is not hot enough. Well, there might be a technical cause behind this and the temperature of 85 degrees Celsius might work best with Nespresso machines.

In my opinion, the inability to adjust the temperature setting on Nespresso should be taken into consideration and there should be a solution for this since many people like me enjoy hotter drinks than the Nespresso machine can provide.

Actually, in some high-end Nespresso machines, there is an option for adjusting the water temperature.

However, Nespresso coffee is meant to be drunk immediately after brewing, which might be the reason behind the lower temperature of the Nespresso machine.

Also Read: Espresso Machines vs Nespresso

3 hacks to make coffee hotter in Nespresso

I have personally tried the following hacks and I am sure that will help you to turn up the temperature of your Nespresso Coffee.

Nespresso coffee hotter

Preheat the machine

You can increase the temperature of your coffee by simply preheating the Nespresso machine before brewing.

Here’s how you can preheat the Nespresso original line and the Nespresso Vertuo line machines

Heating the Nespresso Original line machineHeating the Nespresso Vertuo line machine
Fill the water tank with water.
Open and close the lid without inserting the capsules.
Press the Lungo button and the machine will start dispensing hot water
Run the cleaning cycle for about 20 seconds.
Or clean a used capsule (Don’t remove the lid). Put it in the machine and hit the button.

With original line machines, the preheating procedure is very straightforward as you can easily run a brew cycle without inserting the pod.

On the other hand, Vertuoline machines don’t work until you insert the pod inside them. So you have to apply some tricks to preheat them as mentioned in the above table.

Preheat your cup

Another trick to keep your coffee hotter for a relatively long period of time is to preheat your cup.

There are many ways to do that. You can fill your coffee cup with water and heat it in the microwave for a few minutes before making coffee.

Or if you are already applying the above trick of preheating the machine just place your coffee cup underneath the dispenser for the preheating cycle.

Heat the milk

It is a good practice to use very hot milk when preparing milk-based espresso drinks, as these drinks contain almost 50% milk.

If you have a Nespresso with milk frother you can easily heat and foam the milk with a press of one button.

Otherwise, you can use a separate Aeroccino milk frother from Nespresso to steam and foam the milk. Or you can simply heat the milk on the stovetop or microwave (Just make sure the milk is very hot).

hot milk nespresso coffee drink

What to do if the temperature of your Nespresso machine is declining with time

If the temperature of your Nespresso machine is not as hot as it used to be then you should clean and descale your machine properly.

Descale your Nespresso machine

Descaling your Nespresso machines can actually help in turning the temperature of your coffee drink.

If you haven’t cleaned your Nespresso machine in a while, limescale buildup inside can affect the taste of your coffee drink and might reduce the heating efficiency of the machine.

For descaling, you need a descaling kit. Put the machine in descaling mode and follow the instructions written in the manual.

Here are the descaling instructions for Nespresso Vertuo.

If the descaling does not solve your problem, then the heating element of your Nespresso machine might be damaged. In that case, you should consult with Nespresso Customer Support or some local technician.

Adjusting your machine pressure

In some cases, the pressure inside the machine drops over time, causing the temperature inside the machine to drop.

To readjust the pressure of the machine, Make 5 lungo cups without inserting the pod inside the machine.

Note: This tip is for original line machines only

Reset the machine

There might be some technical fault in the machine if your machine is continuously brewing coffee at a low temperature.

In that case, resetting the machine might help.

If you don’t know how to reset the machines, follow my article on resetting Nespresso to the default factory setting.

Final thought

And there you have it – my top tips for making your Nespresso coffee hotter when it’s not quite hitting the spot temperature-wise.

With a few simple tweaks like preheating your machine and cup, you can get your morning Nespresso to the perfect temperature.

Let me know in the comments if you have any other good tricks for making Nespresso coffee hotter! I’d love to hear what works for you.

And if you are facing the issue of Nespresso coffee not being as hot as it used to be then you must descale the machine immediately.

Does Nespresso have a hot water option?

No, Nespresso machines don’t have a dedicated hot water option.
However, you can easily get hot from Nespresso’s original line machines by running the machine without inserting the pod.
To get hot water from the Vertuo line machine, you have to run the cleaning cycle.

Can you change the heat settings on Nespresso?

No, Nespresso machines don’t allow users to change the heat settings.
Only one Nespresso model, The Nespresso Expert has the option for changing the temperature.

Related Nespresso Articles:

Johny Morrison is a founder and content creator at Coffee About. He knows everything there is to know about coffee and loves sharing his passion with others.

You can often find him sipping a single-origin pour-over, rich French press, or pulling espresso shots at home. Johny loves full-bodied dark roasts – the bolder, the better!

As a former barista, he takes coffee equipment seriously and enjoys experimenting with the latest gear. When he’s not brewing or blogging, Johny is scouting local cafes for his next coffee fix.

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