Nespresso is a company that specializes in espresso and coffees. Their line of machines were made just for that, to make you a quick and easy cup of coffee with a press of a button. But if you’re a coffee person who also enjoys a cup of tea, you might want to make use of your Nespresso machine.
So the question is, can you make a cup of tea using a Nespresso machine?
The Quick Takeaway:
- Yes, you can make tea using a Nespresso OriginalLine machine (Essenza, Citiz, Lattissima, Pixie, Creatista)
- Nespresso does not make or sell official tea pods, but they are available from third party brands.
- Tea pods, since they’re made from other manufacturers, are only compatible with OriginalLine machines.
- If you don’t own a Nespresso OriginalLine machine, I wouldn’t recommend buying one just to make tea. They’re not made for that.
Now let’s dive into these points in details…
Does Nespresso Have Tea Pods?
There are no officially released tea capsules from Nespresso. But you can explore tea pods from other brands that make them for OriginalLine brewers.
How To Make Tea Using a Nespresso Machine
As stated above, Nespresso specializes in coffee and espresso, so no, they do not make tea pods. But, there are a few ways you can make tea using your OriginalLine Nespresso machine.
Use Nespresso-Compatible Tea Pods
Brands like TeaPods.com or Gourmesso.com offer a range of tea pods like: black tea, green tea, earl grey, English breakfast and many herbal teas and decaf varieties.
If you enjoy blends and milk based teas, Gourmesso offers tea capsules like fruit teas ( and Chai Latte. You can buy these individually or as a variety pack.
If you’re a fan of Matcha tea, you’ll find a few in the form of a Nespresso capsule, too.
Use a Refillable Nespresso Pod To Make Tea
One of the advantages of having an OriginalLine Nespresso machine, is the fact that there are so many refillable capsules available that are compatible with these brewers.
Coffee lovers use these to use their favorite coffee grounds to make their espresso. But you can easily use them the same way to make your cup of tea.
Fill the pod up with loose tea to make a cup. You can try using tea leaves, too, but I’m not sure how well this would work since tea leaves usually take longer to infuse.
Related: How to Make Hot Chocolate Using a Nespresso Machine
Can You Run Hot Water Through Nespresso for Tea?
If you’ve ever thought of using your Nespresso OriginalLine machine as a hot water dispenser to make tea, you’re on the right track, as this is totally doable. But you got to keep a few things in mind before following this method.
Hot Water for Tea Using OriginalLine
You can totally run hot water through your Nespresso (OriginalLine only). If you press the espresso or lungo button without inserting a pod, hot water will come out. Easy as that.
But here’s the important thing: If you use your machine for both coffee and tea brewing, you’ll want to rinse the machine between uses.
For example: if you have made a shot of espresso earlier, the machine will still contain some coffee residue in its pipes. So running hot water immediately to make your tea will result in a cup of tea with residue of coffee grounds.
Instead, you want to run a brew cycle of water only. Get rid of the water with the coffee residue, then make tea with fresh water. Same goes after making tea. Run an empty brew cycle to get rid of any tea residue or taste before making the coffee.
Hot Water for Tea Using Vertuo
Running hot water through Vertuo isn’t as straight forward as an OriginalLine, since Vertuo models don’t run without a pot inserted. The workaround for this is to run a ‘cleaning cycle’, which is officially used to clean the internal parts of the machine. The cleaning mode is designed to dispense about 24 oz of hot water in intervals, so you’ll want to pay attention and stop it before it gets to that.
This is not something I would recommend, as you would be getting a lot of leftovers and debris in the hot water.
Is There Nespresso Vertuo Tea Capsules?
Nespresso Vertuo uses pods that are exclusively made by Nespresso. And since Nespresso does not make their own tea capsules, there are no tea pods available for Vertuo machines like Next or VertuoPlus. You can try using a refillable Vertuo pod to do that, but I don’t recommend this at all for few reasons:
- The refillable pods available for Vertuo machines are not the best. Some of them are made of metal, which can easily break your machine and the warranty won’t cover any breaks due to misuse.
- You can’t run hot water through a Vertuo machine like you would using an OriginalLine machine.
So doing tea using a Vertuo is not something I would recommend trying.
Things You Need to Know Before Making Tea Using Your Nespresso Machines
Now that we’ve reached the conclusion that you can in fact make tea using your Nespresso OriginalLine, there are a few things that you should keep in mind:
Nespresso Tea Can Taste Lighter
When making tea using a Nespresso pod, the water runs immediately through the capsule to make the brew. Unlike the classic method of brewing tea, where you let the tea bag steep for several methods. This will obviously result in a lighter brew, especially if you use larger cup size.
Nespresso Tea Pods Are Made of Plastic
For some reason, the majority of tea capsules I found are made of plastic. I’m not a fan of plastic pods, since they are not recyclable and they sometimes, depending on the brand, produce a lukewarm cup of brew (Tea or coffee). If you want an eco-friendly method of making tea using your Nespresso machine, use a refillable pod or simply use it as a hot water dispenser and use tea bags instead.
If you come across biodegradable tea capsules, just be careful as some of these could be fragile and can easily explode inside the brewer.
Preparing and Rinsing your Nespresso Between Uses Is a Must
As mentioned above, for a cup of Nespresso tea that is free of coffee ground residues, you need to run hot water between uses of tea and coffee brewing. Simply press the espresso button without inserting a pod to let some water out and clean the spout/pipe. You’ll want to do the same when switching to coffee brewing, too.
Nespresso Machines are Not Designed for Tea Brewing
While it’s great that you can use your Nespresso to make tea, keep in mind that these brewers were not designed to do that, so your tea experience can be less than perfect.
Nespresso OriginalLine machines are espresso machines, and they do espresso perfectly fine. When it comes to tea, it’s something that third party brands offered as an option, not Nespresso.
If you’re a serious tea lover, you would not want to use Nespresso to make tea. You’ll be better off using a kettle and tea bags or infusers. But, if you’re ever in a place where you don’t have a kettle around, or no way to make hot water, your Nespresso machine would come in handy.
Know What’s In Your Tea Pods
Tea pods are available in so many blends and varieties, and as tea lovers, you might want to explore those.
Caffeinated Tea Pods
Anything that contains black tea or green tea is most likely caffeinated, unless stated otherwise. Black tea, English breakfast tea and Earl grey are among the most popular picks for caffeine tea.
Herbal Tea Pods
If you prefer to unwind at the end of the tea with a delicious tea brew that is caffeine-free, herbal tea pods are a great pick. From Peppermint tea, Hibiscus tea, Peach or Plum for a fruity option.
Milk Based Tea Pods
Chai Latte is popular milk based tea drink. This spiced tea infusion is great to warm up your cold days. But you’ll want to take note of what’s in your pod:
In some brands, you’ll get the pod containing the spiced tea only and you’ll have to add the milk separately. In other brands, the pack powered milk and sweetener inside the pod along with the tea. So if you’re wary of drinking powered milk or added sugars, pay attention to the ingredients of your Chai Latte pod.
Green Tea Pods
Green tea is on high demand whether it’s in a capsule form or powered. Green tea, as well as Matcha, is a natural source of caffeine, and it’s even higher in caffeine and antioxidants than coffee.
The Wrap: Is Using Your Nespresso to Make Tea Worth It?
Having a machine that does it all is a nice thing. Same goes to your Nespresso OriginalLine. It’s designed to make coffee, but it’s nice that it can make tea using pods as well, as long as you keep in mind that:
- The tea results will vary depending on each pod and bran.
- Keep rinsing your machine between uses to keep it clean and optimal.
If you don’t necessarily want to use Nespresso tea pods, you can use your machine as a replacement for a kettle. Press the espresso or lungo button without adding a pod to run hot water through and brew a cup of tea bag.
Nespresso coffee capsules and tea capsules are a totally different thing. Coffee capsules are aluminum made, produce a perfectly measured cup and perform as expected. Tea pods are produced by other companies and Nespresso has no control over what they make, so the results can be a hit or miss.
When it comes to tea, it could be better that you use traditional methods for a more flavorful cup than Nespresso tea pods can produce. But if you’re looking for a convenient and quick way to brew your tea, it’s always worth a try.
