Nespresso Essenza Mini Coffee and Espresso Machine by De'Longhi, 1150 watts, 110ml, Black

Why it's worth it

The Essenza Mini is barely wider than a coffee mug and heats in under 25 seconds. It brews espresso and lungo from Original capsules, which give you the widest flavor range Nespresso sells, and it costs the least of any machine here.

If your kitchen counter is already full, measure before you shop — this one is about four and a half inches wide. It slides between a toaster and a knife block. Owners with apartment galley kitchens keep pointing at the footprint as the reason they picked it, and a few just put it away in a cabinet between uses.

It does two things and does them well. Espresso and lungo, off the Original line, at 19 bars. That's the whole menu. Good Housekeeping clocked its heat-up at under 25 seconds, among the quickest of any single-serve machine they've looked at. If you drink small, strong coffee, nothing here gets you a cup faster.

From our review of 8 nespresso machines and accessories

What we like

• +If your kitchen counter is already full, measure before you shop — this one is about four and a half inches wide
• +It does two things and does them well
• +The Original capsule range is the other quiet advantage
• +This is the machine with the strongest owner sentiment in the lineup by a clear margin, and complaints skew toward what it…

What to know

• –There's no frother in the box and no milk system of any kind
• –You can't brew a mug of coffee