Nuova Simonelli Appia II Compact Espresso Machine

Special Warranty Offer

For a limited time, we're offering a FREE Gold warranty for this machine. ($850 Value)

Who Should Buy The Nuova Simonelli Appia II Compact? 

Small to Medium Coffee Shops

Creating minimal impact on space consumption, the Nuova Simonelli Appia II Compact gives cafe owners with limited counter space the perfect solution.

Measuring only 21 inches high, 22 inches wide, and 22 inches long, it’s a powerful machine for cafes with continuous espresso drink orders to fill but little room to spare.

Meanwhile, the features are top-notch: raised group heads, cool-touch wands, soft infusion, automated cleanings, and more.

Small to Medium Restaurants

Restaurants are often searching for room for all the food and beverage service items and equipment as it is.

Since it’s so economical on space usage, the Appia II Compact can be tucked into a variety of locations as needed in a busy restaurant.

Offering superior espresso drinks, the Appia II Compact is every bit as robust as the other Appia II models, creating deluxe cappuccinos your customers will remember.

Small to Medium Offices

The Appia II Compact is ideal in an office providing delicious espresso drinks to a small to medium staff.

This machine is small but powerful, capable of producing espresso drinks as excellent as the ones from the coffee shop (this is a professional cafe-style commercial machine built for espresso, after all).

If you’re searching for an espresso machine for the corporate office, the Appia II Compact will deliver the results you’re looking for.

Other Business with Low- to Medium-Volume Espresso Traffic

Many businesses that aren’t coffee-centric serve espresso beverages to clientele.

Whether you need a machine to make lattes for hotel guests or for spa clients, this model can provide everything you need.

It’s best for locations with low- to medium-volume espresso drink needs that don’t have the room for intrusive equipment.

Description

The Appia II Compact is the machine for demanding professionals. 

Beautifully crafted espresso beverages without the bulk of a typical commercial espresso machine are now possible with the Nuova Simonelli Appia II Compact. 

This machine condenses the features of the Appia II into one perfectly efficient package. 

Reducing the width of this machine by nine inches allows the Appia II Compact to fit neatly and comfortably into any setting while maintaining two groups, two steam wands, and a hot water spout.

Evolve your espresso drink game with the Appia II Compact.

The Appia II Compact loses some of the width of the Appia II, but none of the functionality.

Staying true to the Appia II’s design, the Appia II Compact offers baristas the opportunity to craft high-quality espresso with soft infusion and superior microfoam with high-performance steam mechanisms.

The name Nuova Simonelli is synonymous with excellence.

Creator of World Barista Championship espresso machines, Nuova Simonelli is a brand with a stellar reputation.

Business owners can rest assured that the Appia II Compact makes quality accessible to everyone.

Key Features and What They Mean

7.5 Liter Copper Heat Exchange Boiler

With plenty of power for up to medium-volume businesses, this boiler makes simultaneous brewing and steaming for back-to-back drinks a snap. Copper, a heat conductor, lends energy efficiency as well as natural antimicrobial properties to make cleaning easier.

Easy Control Pad

The control pad comes with easy-to-operate buttons for dosing and hot water dispensing. The Volumetric model features programmable single and double volumetric buttons for automated brewing and guaranteed consistency. User-friendly manual buttons on both the Volumetric and Semiautomatic models make manually controlled extraction more intuitive.

Raised Group Heads

Fit tall cups right under the group heads of the Appia II Compact. This can improve the production pace by skipping brewing into shot glasses first. It will also help baristas to ensure a beautiful crema presentation on espresso shots and Americanos.

Cool Touch Wands

Froth milk and clean the steam wands with built-in safety precautions. Staying cool to the touch, the Appia II Compact steam wands also discourage milk from sticking, so cleaning is a much simpler task.

Push Pull Steam Triggers

Push-pull steam triggers are an ergonomic upgrade from turning steam valves. After long hours making lattes, your wrists will thank you.

Soft Infusion System

Nuova Simonelli’s soft infusion system prevents tamping errors from impacting the espresso. Espresso will be richer in flavor with perfect crema.

Automated Cleanings

As baristas know, end-of-day machine cleaning can be tedious. The auto cleaning cycles allow baristas to select the groups to be cleaned using the automated backflushing program, giving baristas more time to multitask.

Reverse Mirror

See the espresso in greater detail while it extracts in the backplate mirror on the machine. This will assist baristas in monitoring the espresso and performing quality control more effectively.

Bar Pump Gauge

Checking pressure profiles is simple with the proper gauges. The bar pump gauge shows how many bars of pressure are building during brewing, communicating to baristas vital information that informs their process.

Configurations

Semiautomatic Appia II Compact

The Appia II Compact Semiautomatic is quite user-friendly, proving that semiautomatic models don’t have to be intimidating.

Using an on/off switch, the barista gets full control of the extraction time to craft original results from different coffee blends and single origin coffee.

If you’re looking for a hands-on experience and more control while handcrafting each espresso beverage, the Semiautomatic is for you. 

The internal components are designed to make this machine more than capable of delivering high-quality espresso, especially at the hands of an experienced barista. 

*Auto-Steam Wands are not available for this configuration.

Volumetric Appia II Compact

The Appia II Compact Volumetric is the ideal model for business owners scouting out machines that deliver nothing but amazingly consistent coffee. 

Operation is easy: Program your desired espresso volumes and then pull shots at the specified volumes all day long just by pushing a button. 

This drastically reduces the risk or extraction errors and variability of drink quality from barista to barista.

Making this machine even more dynamic, there is a manual button included to allow instant customization of any espresso.

Baristas of any skill level can operate this machine. It’s so simple that there is no longer any need to stand at the machine and wait for every shot to pour, giving baristas the opportunity to attend to other tasks.

Whether that means getting more face time with customers and growing your local customer base or starting on other drink orders, business owners benefit from the Volumetric’s streamlined approach to drink making.

Options

Smart Wand Options

We offer the Auto-Steam Wand as an optional upgrade (on the Volumetric model only).

Select Volumetric with Autosteam above to order your machine with this upgrade.

Auto-Steam Wand

The Auto-Steam Wand will replace one manual steam handle with a button. 

The advantage of Auto-Steam is that it requires no input from the barista. It will texture the milk perfectly with automated technology. 

Here’s how it works: The barista places the wand in the pitcher of milk, and the Auto-Steam Wand takes care of the rest.

Pod Kit Adapter

The Appia II Compact supports a standard pod kit adapter. 

We will install these left to right, unless a particular head is specified in the comment section while checking out. 

They can also be moved by the user with a screwdriver.

Color Options

The Appia II Compact comes in the default color Black unless otherwise specified above.

You can select Black, White, or Red upon purchase. These colors are available free of charge (see them below). 

If you would like your Appia II Compact in a custom color, please contact us directly.

Features & Specifications Chart

Warranty Info

All of our espresso machines come standard with our 2 year manufacturer warranty.

We also sell additional dealer warranties which can be found above.

Water Info

The installation of a water softener is mandatory for all users that don't meet the required water specifications, failure to do so will void your warranty. It is recommended to always add a water filter to your order if you do not have one already.

Replacement time of filters depends on the water and quantity of drinks being made (see estimating calculator).

View Water Calculator

Common Questions and Answers

Q: What are the differences between the Appia II Compact and the full-sized Appia II?

A: Overall, the Appia II Compact is really not that different from the Appia II Semiautomatic and Volumetric (full-sized machines). It’s built for the same high performance, but for smaller work environments.

Dosing aside, there are a couple of key differences between these machines:

• Machine size
• Boiler size
• Water level indicator

The Appia II Compact subtracts nine inches from the 31 inch length of the 2 Group Appia Semiautomatic and Volumetric machines, making it one of the slimmest options on the market.

The boilers in the full-sized 2 Group Appia II models are larger: 11 liters to be exact. Larger boilers do give these machines a little more power. 

However, the Appia II Compact is impressively robust for a smaller machine, especially when you consider the high functionality maintained while whittling down the components.

There is also a water level indicator that lets you keep an eye on the boiler water in the full-sized Appia II models.

Each machine is built with features that play to its strengths. For the Appia II Compact, that’s power +  major space saving capabilities.

Q: What is the difference between volumetric and manual dosing in the Appia II Compact configurations?

A: The key difference is a matter of automation.

Volumetric dosing in the Appia II Compact Volumetric is an automated approach to extraction. Manual dosing in the Semiautomatic is closer to extraction performed on a manual espresso machine.

To brew espresso on the Volumetric, the user pushes a button for a single or double shot. The machine then dispenses the correct amount of water, ending extraction at the appropriate measurements all on its own.

Users are in the driver’s seat with the Semiautomatic. They’ll push the dosing button to start extraction, pushing it again to end extraction when they feel that the brew cycle is complete.

This is why semiautomatic models are more user-intensive—they require the user to have greater knowledge of the brew cycle and to monitor every shot closely.

The Volumetric configuration of the Appia II Compact does come with a manual dosing button, providing both functions for switching at any point (like when a customer requests a long shot).

Q: What is the soft infusion system in the Appia II Compact?

A: Essentially, this is Nuova Simonelli’s pre-infusion system.

Pre-infusion is an extraction stage that precedes the pump reaching full pressure. Water is released to fully immerse the coffee bed in the group head, reaching every particle.

In some espresso machines with pre-infusion, this stage happens before the pump turns on. In other systems, it occurs while the pump is slowly building pressure, well before the pump reaches nine bars.

The Appia II Compact’s soft infusion system delivers pressure-free hot water to the coffee bed before the pressurized water is released. 

What this does is ensure a better, tastier espresso. Extraction of all the nuances of the coffee becomes standardized and better crema is achieved.

Q: How do I use the bar pump gauge on the Appia II Compact to make better espresso?

A: It mostly has to do with your brew ratio.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, the brew ratio is basically how much coffee you use to the liquid volume in the espresso shot.

The bar pump gauge displays how many bars of pressure are building during extraction. The rule of thumb is that nine bars of pressure should be reached.

If not, you may need to check your brew ratio. Try adding more or less coffee to the portafilter. You may even need to adjust your grind setting.

If the gauge reads low pressure and you’re tamping very lightly, that might be something to consider, too.

Q: Who might need the pod kit adapter for the Appia II Compact?

A: Espresso pods are there to make it easier for beginners and those without a barista background to make their morning Americanos.

There’s no coffee grinding involved, removing the process of figuring out the best grind settings, tamping approach, and other factors in using freshly ground espresso.

Restaurant staff and office employees are usually in a position to benefit from espresso pods. Any business that doesn’t serve coffee and espresso as main products may look into the pod kit.

You’re not likely to find espresso pods being used in coffee shops—grinding fresh coffee for espresso is part of barista training.

Extra Resources

• Appia II Compact Documents