Best portable (powerless) espresso set up?

[joellawry]

Hey,

Well here's the problem - i am going to a four day music festival in january, and therefore need some way of getting my daily caffeine hit!

Actually i lie, i would be perfectly fine without it, but it's an excuse for some new gear for me


So, the general consensus i have gotten from the forums is to go with the Aerobie Aeropress and a hand grinder (pe de, pe ve or zassenhaus).

My question is this - is there anything else i should be looking at as a powerless alternative (battery operated would be fine, though im not sure that there are any battery operated espresso machines )

Also, does anyone have an old hand grinder or aeropress they would be willing to sell to me?

Many thanks to you all (in advance)

Joel

[HB]

I haven't read much discussion of it lately, but how about the All-Clad Presso?



A recent option is the Handpresso Wild.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=WQaiKDyPPHc[/youtube]

It's a new product from France. Unfortunately it only works with ESE pods.

[joellawry]

Wow, with an ad like that, Handpresso Wild's tag line should be "We make bicycle pumps sexy".

Very clever idea, but i dont wan't to be restricted to pods.

As for the presso, i've used one and was very impressed, but i really wan't to keep the cost at around $100 (New Zealand - NZ$100 = US$76.50) so unless i happen to see a second hand one to snatch up its probably out of my range.

In terms of grinders am i looking the right way or are there other alternatives?

Thanks again to you all


Joel

[joellawry]

I recently found a PeDe on TradeMe (New Zealand's equivalent to eBay) that looks worth a shot, opinions from those in the know *cough* peacecup, mogogear, randyg, prof_stack *cough* so those who seem to know about these items, please gimme a yell.

Thanks a bunch

[HB]

In terms of grinders am i looking the right way or are there other alternatives?

I'll defer to the manual grinder experts. One option I've been eyeing for Christmas is EPNW's Go Greener Go Travel Coffee Kit. It's an Aeropress and manual grinder that looks camping-friendly. I know nothing about the grinder, but it's got to be better than what I usually do when camping (Dan drinking preground coffee?!? Oh, the humanity!).

[joellawry]

Hmm. i have no idea how to judge that grinder, its conical burr but whats the adjustment like? and how evenly does it grind? i just don't know!


thats why i sent them a question or two. answers will follow when received.

Thanks again, Dan,

Joel

[joellawry]

Well, i got a reply today;

"The grinder is well built and grinds to a very fine espresso grind. We have found it to work well and the quality matched the sale price."

Hmm.. well with that in mind i watched the closing of the PeDe auction, and i won it for $50 NZ!

So now its just down to the brewer. Looks like I'll be getting an AeroPress unless someone can give me a good reason not too, or a good alternative.

Thanks for the input everyone (well.... Dan anyway :p)

Joel

[Bushrod]

If you were feeling old-school, a La Peppina or Caravel would work well. Just pour the boiling water into the kettle and pull the shot.

[musicphan]

Joel -

I do music festies all the time.... although some of the choices like the aeropress will get you close to espresso its not the same as what you get out of real machine. I typically bring my polycarbonate French press and will pre-weigh & pre-package the coffee (and vacuum if you have a home vacuum machine). I usually have a pot to cook in - or I'll bring my tea pot.

Granted its not the best fix - and certainly not my morning Spro but its nice and fast in the morning. I typically add several extra pots worth of pre-weighed coffee. You can make some excellent friends in the morning and I'm always shocked that so many people have never had good French press coffee.

Have fun -

Mike

[ntwkgestapo]

I'll defer to the manual grinder experts. One option I've been eyeing for Christmas is EPNW's Go Greener Go Travel Coffee Kit. It's an Aeropress and manual grinder that looks camping-friendly. I know nothing about the grinder, but it's got to be better than what I usually do when camping (Dan drinking preground coffee?!? Oh, the humanity!).

Dan, I've got the "large" grinder they mention and have used it quite a bit while "camping" (i.e. sitting in my camping trailer down @ the beach). It'll grind coffee WAY too fine for the Krups that I leave down there and does do a quite good job at grinding. It's only real issue is repeatability. As long as you don't change anything it works great, BUT getting back to the same point AFTER you've made a change in the grind can be an issue. Grind adjustment is with a small set-screw and a little movement goes a long way. Works quite well tho, I'm even using it @ home some (until I finally figure out what grinder I want!).

[CoffeeOwl]

Sorry for a little hijack:
Dan, where can I buy that kind of cups?
I love watching my espressos in a glass cup and the one on the photo looks like an Illy glass cup, yet I can't find anything like that anywhere.
Thanks

[ideor]

hello joel,

when you can't take your crem with you how about a travesso?

http://www.travesso.com/

best wishes for a fine trip,

ideor

[cannonfodder]

Sorry for a little hijack:
Dan, where can I buy that kind of cups?
I love watching my espressos in a glass cup and the one on the photo looks like an Illy glass cup, yet I can't find anything like that anywhere.
Thanks

That looks like an Illy collector nude, hard to find and very expensive (few hundred for 4 if I remember correctly).

Another option is the Bodum double wall line of cups.

[HB]

That looks like an Illy collector nude, hard to find and very expensive (few hundred for 4 if I remember correctly).

Right you are. Wish that I had bought a closetful of them when they were selling for $95.

[CoffeeOwl]

Thanks for reply!
And I found them... oh well, maybe not totally nude, but...
I think just 2 would do, but probably I'll buy a set of 6.
When I visited the site a month ago I didn't notice that what I wanted was actually on sale there

[jasonmolinari]

...merged with related topic by moderator...



I'm pretty sure the coffee isn't exactly up to our standards..but pretty neat none the less!

http://handpresso.com/

[Psyd]

when you can't take your crem with you how about a travesso?
http://www.travesso.com/

Prolly snake-oil. No tech info, and their 'how to' page says less than nothing, except that it's small and that you can use it in your house, too.
Either that or they have zero marketing and/or web authoring skills.

[darrylr]

Here is another alternative for a portable brewer. It's advantage is that you just need a way to get hot water (such as a hot pot). I have no idea how well it works, though if the hand pump achieves a high enough pressure it would result in more of a true espresso extraction, versus a moka pot extraction.

http://www.handpresso.fr

Darryl