Mypressi TWIST - Second Look - Page 2

Behind the scenes of the site's projects and equipment reviews.
User avatar
HB
Admin
Posts: 21983
Joined: 19 years ago

#11: Post by HB »

This concludes the formal evaluation of the mypressi TWIST. Questions and comments from the HB membership are welcome!

Note: For those that are interested, the thread Mypressi Twist covers the TWIST's introduction in April 2009 thorough early comments from SCAA conference attendees, some informal reviewers, and clarifications from the product's designer, Stephen O'Brien. The thread Let's do the mypressi TWIST is dedicated to comments from early owners. Contributors to this thread may wish to read these other threads to avoid repeating earlier discussions.
Dan Kehn

User avatar
Peppersass
Posts: 3690
Joined: 15 years ago

#12: Post by Peppersass »

Thanks for your efforts, gentlemen.

Looks like the Mypressi does a nice job running very hot water through coffee ground with a superior grinder. Thus, it could be a great choice for an office or vacation cabin setting, say paired with a Baratza Vario and any number of inexpensive water boilers. Around $600 for the solution isn't too bad for the truly committed.

But what about the travel scenario? How is the espresso when ground with something you can easily throw into the suitcase, like a Kyocera hand grinder, and using water heated in the typical hotel room coffee maker? I realize such an investigation would likely have more to say about the quality of the grinder and hot water source, but it would also be a service to those contemplating the Mypressi for travel.

Perhaps someone will come up with a chic travel case for a Mypressi, a Baratza Vario and a small water boiler. :D

poison
Posts: 474
Joined: 18 years ago

#13: Post by poison »

I'd like to try one with a Baratza Maestro. A Vario is quit a bit out of range for many folks for a secondary setup. A refurbished Maestro is $68.

User avatar
michaelbenis
Posts: 1517
Joined: 15 years ago

#14: Post by michaelbenis »

Many thanks to everyone. That's brilliant. Looks like this may well be the best choice for my camping trips and motorcycle rallies and forays into the wilderness that is British hotels. By the sounds of it superior to the Handpresso and Aeropress.

Cheers

Mike
LMWDP No. 237

User avatar
HB
Admin
Posts: 21983
Joined: 19 years ago

#15: Post by HB »

Peppersass wrote:But what about the travel scenario? How is the espresso when ground with something you can easily throw into the suitcase, like a Kyocera hand grinder, and using water heated in the typical hotel room coffee maker?
Having tried it for French press, I would not recommend coffee makers in typical hotel rooms for heating water. A cheap and travel-friendly solution is an immersion heater. They sell for $5 to $10 and are meant for heating one cup, which is perfectly sized for the mypressi.

We didn't test a manual grinder, but I will try to borrow one and report back.
Dan Kehn

User avatar
AndyS
Posts: 1053
Joined: 19 years ago

#16: Post by AndyS »

HB wrote:This session featured another round of blind taste tests, this time with a single origin espresso under development. The result? Surprisingly, against the resident La Marzocco FB-80, the diminutive TWIST won every round with three blind taste testers. :shock: We really liked this SO... a huge fruit bomb. Think blueberry pancakes with light maple syrup. To get similar pour speeds from the two machines, we dosed the LM at 19 grams and the TWIST at 22 (!!) grams and pulled 1+ ounce ristrettos.
Lately there has been a rash of posts questioning people's experimental techniques, so I apologize in advance for adding to the cacophony....

But...comparing 19g doses on one device to 22g doses on the other?

Maybe 22g is simply what the coffee "needed?"
-AndyS
VST refractometer/filter basket beta tester, no financial interest in the company

User avatar
HB
Admin
Posts: 21983
Joined: 19 years ago

#17: Post by HB »

AndyS wrote:Maybe 22g is simply what the coffee "needed?"
Sorry, I cannot say because we didn't bother dialing in two grinders to achieve the same dose. We agreed that the difference between the rounds was no larger than the variance we'd expect shot-to-shot on the La Marzocco. In other words, when pulling ristrettos, the appearance, flavor profile, and texture of the TWIST and La Marzocco espressos were nearly indistinguishable.
Dan Kehn

User avatar
mhoy
Posts: 1138
Joined: 16 years ago

#18: Post by mhoy »

HB wrote:In other words, when pulling ristrettos, the appearance, flavor profile, and texture of the TWIST and La Marzocco espressos were nearly indistinguishable.
Coupled with a hand grinder, this is likely the best thing out there for a bang vs buck scenario.

Mark

jackson6
Posts: 80
Joined: 15 years ago

#19: Post by jackson6 »

Hello, I was wondering how many doubles you were pulling with each cartridge? The Mypressi website says about 4 doubles per cartridge. Can you confirm this? Could you tell when they cartridges were running low, ie. the first 3 shots pulled at 9 bars but the 4th or 5th started to sputter?

Abe Carmeli (original poster)
Team HB
Posts: 845
Joined: 19 years ago

#20: Post by Abe Carmeli (original poster) replying to jackson6 »

It is 4 double shots. I wouldn't recommend trying to pull a 5th, it is likely to die mid-shot. The lack of "remaining shots" indicator is an issue as I mentioned in the review. I used to pull the trigger without the water chamber on, to see how strong the air is coming out. At the end of the cartridge, it does taper off and I suspect pressure profile goes down.
Abe Carmeli