An Espresso Travel Kit: Taking charge of your coffee when away.

[ladalet]

I recently purchased a Gaggia Factory 8 cup espresso machine to take with me when I travel. It is fairly light weight and has a small footprint. I paired it up with my Solis Maestro Plus which is also fairly small and light. I also brought a brush, group brush, 2 shot shot glass, 2 demitasse cups, 12 oz pitcher, tamper (crappy aluminum one that needs emidiate replacement), and an extension cord. I roasted two batches of coffee 2 days apart to give them time to degass properly by the time I would use them. The case has wheels to make it easier to haul around.

The pictures below are of the kit I put together to take with me on my trip to Yellowstone. The proprietor of the B&B was very gracious in letting me set it up in the dining room on a cool old mission sideboard.







This setup worked very well.

[jesawdy]

Very nice setup... I have seen a few others posted here as well.

So far for me, I throw the Rocky in the trunk and a press pot.... No espresso but better than most alternatives. I then attempt to find something decent at a cafe with the obvious mixed results. The worst was in Little Italy in Cleveland. The place with a gift shop with coffee and tea. Yes, I know, a gift shop, but hey, Little Italy right? Also, they were selling bags of Intelligentsia Coffee that was roasted within a week or so. The little old lady proceeded to go to the back where I was prepared a watered down "pod" "espresso" in a very LONG luongo! Blech!

-Jeff

[mattwells]

Tony Levin (a famous bass player of Peter Gabriel, et. al.) also has a road setup that is quite impressive: http://tonylevin.com/tlevcoffee.htm



Kinda puts the rest of us to shame. Custom road case with all the essentials.

Matt

Ladalet - great job with your travel setup, I love the rolling case. Is this for driving only or are you planning on flying with it as well? (My uncle always has to check baggage because his Pavoni is his carry-on).

[doleeo]

haha, Tony Levin is the reason i got into coffee. I wanted to be just like him and almost got an Estro Profi.

[ladalet]

I throw the Rocky in the trunk and a press pot.... No espresso but better than most alternatives. I then attempt to find something decent at a cafe with the obvious mixed results. The worst was in Little Italy in Cleveland. The place with a gift shop with coffee and tea. Yes, I know, a gift shop, but hey, Little Italy right? Also, they were selling bags of Intelligentsia Coffee that was roasted within a week or so. The little old lady proceeded to go to the back where I was prepared a watered down "pod" "espresso" in a very LONG luongo! Blech!

-Jeff

I made this kit to avoid the very experience you describe above. I think I would have been fooled as well seeing the fresh Intlligesta there. I would rather have no coffee than bad coffee. Even regular store bought drip is ok as long as it is fresh, uses good water, is not too weak, and the brew temp is high enough. Oh wait, that almost never all happens at the same time. What was I thinking?


I would love to have a Rocky to take with me. It would be worth the extra weight and size. The Maestro generates a little too much powder and is a maintanence nightmare when grinding for espresso. I usually use it to grind for vacuum pot coffee.

Tony Levin (a famous bass player of Peter Gabriel, et. al.) also has a road setup that is quite impressive: http://tonylevin.com/tlevcoffee.htm


Kinda puts the rest of us to shame. Custom road case with all the essentials.

That is quite a setup. However, I am shooting for a more compact setup since I have no roadies to haul mine around.

Ladalet - great job with your travel setup, I love the rolling case. Is this for driving only or are you planning on flying with it as well? (My uncle always has to check baggage because his Pavoni is his carry-on).

Thanks, it works very well.

Yes, I will be using it when flying. I think it may be too heavy for carry on though. It is a hard plastic case with thick foam padding. I think it will survive air travel just fine.

Best wishes,
Lance

[oofnik]

Hi Lance,
This is precisely what I have in mind to do. I'm glad I found your thread!
I have one question. What material did you use for padding, and how did you form fit it so well?

Thanks!

[RegulatorJohnson]

looks like a pelican case..or a knock off of a pelican case

it has a grid of perforated foam that you tear out the cavity for what you want to put in there. you can lay out all the items and trace with a marker then tear out holes. its fun.

i dont travel much but id love to have a lever and use the zass on the road. love the pelicancase. now i have an excuse to go buy some stuff. oh and a place to go.

jon

[narc]

ladalet, Nice organized setup. You have inspired me on a future travel setup. Ponte Vecchio Export & a quality hand grinder packaged similar to what you have done.

Right now due to the type & where I travel to minimal gear & light is right. Have to give up the espresso unless I get real lucky. Have taken a "camping" presspot, a GSR grinder (junk) and a pound of my own roast. After the first week I end up drinking tea. Beats bad coffee. Have you or anyone else tried any of the Zassehaus or any other quality hand grinders for traveling? Was wondering if the wooden Zassehaus grinders could be tossed into a backpack and withstand a few bumps?

[Psyd]

SR grinder (junk) and a pound of my own roast. After the first week I end up drinking tea. Beats bad coffee. Have you or anyone else tried any of the Zassehaus or any other quality hand grinders for traveling?

I chucked an old PeDe into an ole recycled recycling bin along with a mokapot, a butane stovetop, three or four kinds of rum and the rest of my camping kit, and chucked the whole kit and kaboodle in the back of my pickup and left the grid for a weekend with a couple hundred pals, and it did just fine. Even with the, "Sure I'll make you some! Here's the grinder" policy!

[mrgnomer]

If you don't mind hand grinding I found a Zassenhaus kneemill did a fine job for espresso with a Cremina. I'm thinking about getting a Europiccola for road trips and pairing it with the kneemill to keep down the weight and space. An unbreakable Bodum French press will come along as well as some jars of fresh home roast, a frothing pitcher and assesories like a scoop, Pallo brush, clean up rag and a brush for sweeping out grinds. Oh yeah, and a small knockbox.

[peacecup]

I live by the hand grinder:

http://www.home-barista.com/forum...o-essay-t4482.html

And BTW, my Export used to travel back and forth to work with me every week before someone very nice lent me a La Pavoni Pro. Most of the quality hand grinders I have will do fine with either manual or spring lever. A few will choke them to a standstill.

[MachoSilvia]

Tony Levin made espresso so much cooler for me... He even has a coffee corner on his personal site.

[Fullsack]

I have one question. What material did you use for padding, and how did you form fit it so well?

Don't know what Lance used, but here's an idea from another post on a related H-B thread, (they probably should be merged).

http://www.home-barista.com/forum...t-t3212.html#40646

and the full thread with an additional H-B thread on the subject:

http://www.home-barista.com/forum...uipment-t3212.html

http://www.home-barista.com/forum...uandary-t2631.html

[ladalet]

Hi Lance,
This is precisely what I have in mind to do. I'm glad I found your thread!
I have one question. What material did you use for padding, and how did you form fit it so well?

Thanks!

My travel case was originally made for a medical microscope. I got it from a friend that worked at a hospital repairing medical equipment. The padding is foam. It was already almost a perfect fit for my Europiccola. I just had to cut out a little extra foam to get it to fit. I also glued in some additional foam where needed.

I am glad some of you like the travel kit. I usually get funny looks and I sometimes wonder if I am being silly dragging that kit around with me. Well I got both a positive and negative reinforcement supporting taking it with me when I recently took it with me to visit my daughter in Idaho.

First the negative. On the way down my wife and I stayed at a B&B in Boise Idaho. On arrival at the B&B I inquired as to where I could set up my espresso machine. The proprietors bragged about being coffee connoisseurs and about the custom roasted gourmet coffee they serve. I took there word for it and left my machine in my room. The next morning with breakfast they proudly served there coffee. Or should I say, luke warm water stained with ground charcoal. The coffee was very weak. In this case that was a blessing as the roast was very carbonized. This could have been avoided by "using it." NEVER trust a B&B when they say that they have good coffee or comfortable mattresses. It is safer and less disappointing to just assume both are going to be bad.

Second the positive. My daughter loves coffee and usually buys an 8oz unsweetened Latte from whatever espresso stand is handy or just drinks black coffee from her Hamilton Beach drip machine---Ugh. She was quite taken with my little Gaggia Factory and totally blown away by the espresso it produced. She kept wanting me to make her another one, and another, and another, and would get disappointed when I had to tell her that the boiler is dry and has to cool down before I can refill it. She said that she did not know coffee could be that good. She is now on the path.

Taking my travel kit on past trips at other B&B's has mean that I have never had to drink a bad cup of coffee. Also, it has also been an opportunity to make the other guests happy. They are usually pleasantly surprised when I offer to make them an espresso, americano, cappuccino, or a latte. It is really a treat to see their faces when they taste it.

I think I will continue to use my travel kit along time into the future.