Pixapresso by Wacaco: the high-end portable espresso maker

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 this, I was able to enjoy the Pixapresso both 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 filter holder, 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.

Find the Pixapresso coffee machine on Amazon affiliate link

Offered as an option is a small carrying case, which also includes a capsule holder and a box that can hold 8 Nespresso capsules.

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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 convenient transport, perfect for traveling. The LED touchscreen interface makes it easy to customize extraction settings, offering a tailored experience with each use.

The coffee machine’s reservoir has graduations for making different extractions:

• Ris. – Ristretto (35 mL)
• Esp. – Espresso (50 mL)
• Dou. – Doppio (80 mL)
• Lun. – Lungo (120 mL)

The Wacaco Pixapresso has 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 inside the reservoir of the Pixapresso along with most of the accessories. Really well thought out!

Using the Pixapresso

Being electric, the coffee machine requires a small adaptation for using 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 touch screen , the other physical .

Making coffee with the Pixapresso

Making coffee with the Pixapresso can be done in two ways: either by preparing your own coffee capsule in advance, or by using Nespresso capsules directly.

Making coffee with your own coffee

The coffee machine comes with a “portafilter” that has two modes:

• the 8 g mode
• the 16 g mode

In my demonstration, I’m going to make an espresso with 16 g of coffee, and, being accustomed to professional espressos made with 15 to 18 g, I systematically use the “16 g” mode offered by this filter. So, 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 what 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 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 into the filter, simply 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. A 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

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.

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Extracting a Nespresso Coffee with the Pixapresso

To prepare Nespresso capsules, you need to use the second “portafilter” (or, we could even say, a capsule holder).

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 the majority of 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 obtain 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 rim of the cup during heating and coffee extraction.

Find the Pixapresso coffee machine on Amazon affiliate link

Pixapresso heating time

As I already mentioned earlier during the extraction tests, one of the Pixapresso’s great innovations — 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 more full-bodied and expressive extraction
  Tip

  Using hot water in the Pixapresso reservoir allows you to significantly reduce 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 be heated.

Cleaning and maintenance

Cleaning the Pixapresso is a real breeze: all its parts disassemble 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 affiliate link. Compact and lightweight, it can be taken absolutely anywhere.

Of course, you don’t get a “real” espresso comparable to that of a professional machine, but the Pixapresso perfectly fulfills its mission: offering a good coffee, wherever you are, while allowing you to heat the water directly with the machine.

Thanks to its portable features and its compatibility with Nespresso capsules, this machine becomes an ideal travel companion.

For my part, I always have in my small carrying case affiliate linkmy 8 ready-to-use capsules for my next trips.

Find the Pixapresso coffee machine on Amazon affiliate link

I give it a rating of 5/5 ★★★★★

If you are looking for a portable machine whose extractions are much closer to a professional espresso, you should rather turn to the Wacaco Picopresso.