Wacaco Pixapresso: Premium Portable Espresso
A few weeks ago, Wacaco gave me the opportunity to test their Pixapresso coffee machine. I was eager to discover it!
I hope they'll forgive me for the delay, but I was absorbed by the complete migration of my site from WordPress to Hugo – a substantial undertaking for tech enthusiasts.
Despite that, I was able to enjoy the Pixapresso at home and on the go, testing both my freshly ground coffee and Nespresso capsules.
After this break, it's a real pleasure to pick up the pen again and finally share my impressions of this little portable gem!
The Wacaco Pixapresso is a portable and compact espresso machine, designed for coffee lovers wanting barista-quality wherever they are. Its elegant design and intuitive interface offer a perfect espresso experience at home, at the office, or while traveling.
Design of the Wacaco Pixapresso Travel Coffee Machine
The Pixapresso comes with a complete set of accessories: a portafilter, a Nespresso capsule holder, a coffee cup, an espresso cup, a spoon that also serves as a tamper, a small brush, a small funnel, a carrying pouch, a USB-C cable to recharge the machine, as well as an instruction manual with warranty and sticker.
A small carrying case is offered as an option, which also includes a capsule holder and a box that can hold 8 Nespresso capsules.
Here are the features and accessories included with the Pixapresso:
Included Accessories
- Pixapresso
- Ground coffee module
- NS capsule module (Nespresso® Original)
- Dosing spoon
- Funnel
- Cleaning brush
- Two cups (one large and one small)
- USB-C cable for charging
Technical Specifications
- Dimensions: 74 x 74 x 181 mm
- Weight: 755 g
- Water tank capacity: 120 ml
- Basket capacity: 8–16 g of ground coffee
- Maximum pressure: 20 bars
- Water temperature: preset at 88, 92 or 96°C
- Battery: 3 cells of 3000 mAh (up to 5 cups)
- Heating time: approximately 180 seconds for 35 ml at 88°C
- Display: LED touchscreen with intuitive interface
- Compatibility: ground coffee or NS capsules
- Materials: BPA-free plastic
- Warranty: 1 year
Presentation and Design of the Wacaco Pixapresso
The Pixapresso stands out with its modern and sleek design featuring a dark burgundy finish. Its compact size allows for easy handling and effortless transport, perfect for traveling. The LED touch interface makes it easy to customize extraction parameters, offering a tailored experience with each use.
The coffee machine's reservoir has graduations allowing for different extraction volumes:
- Ris. – Ristretto (35 mL)
- Esp. – Espresso (50 mL)
- Dou. – Doppio (80 mL)
- Lun. – Lungo (120 mL)
The Wacaco Pixapresso comes with two containers: one that can be stored inside the reservoir, and the other serving as a protective cover.
When the machine is not in use, the large container serves as a protective cover, while the small container is stored in the Pixapresso reservoir along with most of the accessories. Really well thought out!
Using the Pixapresso
Being electric, the coffee machine requires a little adjustment to learn the menus. No worries: the operation is intuitive and getting the hang of it happens very quickly.
The Pixapresso has two buttons: one on the touchscreen {{< fa-icon "solid" "circle" >}}, the other physical {{< fa-icon solid power-off >}}.
Wacaco has produced an excellent video presenting all the features and navigation through the menus.
Preparing coffee with the Pixapresso
Preparing coffee with the Pixapresso can be done in two ways: either by preparing a coffee capsule yourself in advance, or by directly using Nespresso capsules.
Preparing coffee with your own coffee
The coffee machine is sold with a "portafilter" that has two modes:
- 8 g mode
- 16 g mode
In my demonstration, I'm going to prepare an espresso with 16 g of coffee, and, accustomed to professional espressos made with 15 to 18 g, I systematically use the "16 g" mode offered by this filter. Thus, after weighing 16 g of coffee, I pour it into my Wacaco Exagrind coffee grinder. The grinder setting I use for this grind is set at 25 clicks, which corresponds to a fine grind, but slightly coarser than the one I use with my La Pavoni or my Lelit Mara X V2. One thing I really liked about the Wacaco Exagrind — just like with the Timemore C3 ESP Pro — is that the grounds container fits directly into the Pixapresso filter. This allows you to pour the ground coffee cleanly and without making a mess.
Once the coffee is transferred to the filter, you simply need to tamp it lightly, then place the valve before assembling everything.
The Pixapresso heats the water itself in just 2 to 3 minutes, making it very convenient to use. One particularly well-thought-out feature is that Wacaco offers the ability to choose between three extraction temperatures:
- 88 °C → ideal for light or lightly roasted coffees
- 92 °C → suitable for medium roasted coffees
- 96 °C → perfect for dark or heavily roasted coffees
Of course, you can prepare the capsule in advance or just before extraction, to ensure truly freshly ground coffee.
The coffee maker has been lifted to show the coffee flowing. Normally, in normal use, you leave the coffee machine resting on the rim of the cup during heating and coffee extraction.
And there you have it, the coffee obtained is certainly not at the level of an espresso extracted with a professional machine, but it is frankly good. This machine perfectly fulfills its mission: preparing, while traveling, a true espresso, lungo or not, with an ideal extraction temperature.
Extracting Nespresso coffee with the Pixapresso
To prepare Nespresso capsules, you need to use the second portafilter (or, you could even say, a capsule holder).
There are reusable Nespresso capsules for sale all over the Internet, particularly on Amazon. I have not tested whether this machine is compatible with this type of capsule.
As much as I encourage avoiding the use of Nespresso capsules for ecological reasons, for extracting with this machine, I would recommend avoiding reusable capsules.
The Pixapresso automatically heats the water in just 2 to 3 minutes, making it very convenient to use. For Nespresso capsules, Nespresso recommends an extraction temperature between 83 and 89 °C.
Therefore, among the three temperatures offered by Wacaco, here are the ones I recommend depending on the type of capsule used:
- 88 °C → ideal for most Nespresso capsules, as it corresponds to the optimal extraction range according to Nespresso
- 92 °C → perfect for more intense or slightly darker coffees
- 96 °C → to be reserved for dark roasts
Thanks to this flexibility, the Pixapresso allows you to achieve a balanced and aromatic result, regardless of the type of capsule used.
The coffee maker has been lifted to show the coffee flowing. Normally, in normal use, you leave the coffee machine resting on the edges of the cup during heating and coffee extraction.
And there you have it, the coffee obtained with a Nespresso capsule may not reach the complexity of an espresso made with the dedicated filter for freshly ground coffee, but it remains pleasant on the palate.
The Pixapresso perfectly accomplishes its mission: allowing you to prepare coffee anywhere, anytime. And, even though I am less fond of Nespresso capsules, I must admit that I was really delighted to be able to easily extract coffee, especially during long car trips.
Pixapresso Heating Time
As I mentioned earlier during the extraction tests, one of the major innovations of the Pixapresso — and what immediately made me prefer it to the Wacaco Minipresso GR2 — is its ability to heat water directly. This is a particularly practical feature, made possible thanks to an integrated battery powering a 100 W heating element.
Thus, even without a thermos of hot water available, it is entirely possible to prepare a complete espresso, wherever you are.
The machine offers three extraction temperature levels, allowing you to adjust the preparation according to the type of coffee or capsule used:
- 88 °C → ideal for the majority of Nespresso capsules, as it corresponds to the optimal extraction range recommended by Nespresso
- 92 °C → perfect for more intense or slightly darker coffees
- 96 °C → to be reserved for dark roasts, for a stronger and more expressive extraction
Using hot water in the Pixapresso reservoir allows you to significantly reduce the heating time while preserving battery life. As a reminder, it offers sufficient capacity to make up to 5 espressos, depending on the amount of water to heat.
Cleaning and Maintenance
Cleaning the Pixapresso is a breeze: all its parts come apart easily, allowing for quick and hassle-free maintenance.
Conclusion
I was pleasantly surprised by the result in the cup, but also by the ease and speed of use of the *Wacaco Pixapresso. Compact and lightweight, it can be taken absolutely anywhere.
Of course, you don't get a real espresso comparable to that from a professional machine, but the Pixapresso perfectly fulfills its mission: offering a good coffee, wherever you are, while allowing you to heat water directly with the machine.
Thanks to its portable features and compatibility with Nespresso capsules, this machine becomes an ideal travel companion.
For my part, I always have in my small carrying case my 8 ready-to-use capsules for my next trips.
- Compact and portable
- Easy to use
- Interesting result in the cup
- Electric function
- Ability to change the temperature (three choices)
- Up to 5 espressos by heating water
- Modularity (ability to use Nespresso capsules and your own coffee)
- Design
- BPA-free plastic
- Inability to easily change the battery
If you are looking for a portable machine whose extractions come much closer to a professional espresso, you should instead consider the Wacaco Picopresso.
