I finally found the perfect portable espresso maker for camping!
First off, I like espresso, and I’m kind of a snob about it. I like the taste and can hardly even stand to drink bitter drip coffee anymore. I’ve tried several ways of brewing coffee while camping: Drip, press, instant, doubling the amount of grounds, and even cowboy coffee (which is gross). None of it ever gets close the espresso I like from my at home or Starbucks. I gave up on trying to make coffee while camping and resorted to scouting the nearby towns in the morning for quality coffee shops (shout to Coffee Emporium in Hocking Hills plus their breakfast pizzas and quiche are kick ass and Dino’s Cappucinos in Yellow Springs which you can hike to from the John Bryan campground). Even then, I’ve only found a few who even remotely know how to make an espresso. Often times it’s drip grinds run through an espresso machine and sold as espresso and overpriced at that. I even caught one shop trying to water down a double to make a quad!
Needless to say I had not entirely given up. I was sure there had to be a way to get quality espresso without the professional electric machine. I almost bought the stovetop espresso maker which basically boils water over a fire and forces it through coffee grinds, until I ran across the Wacaco Nanopresso machine. Doing a little shopping, I noticed a few other similar ones, however this one seemed to get good reviews, so I splurged for the $70 price and decided to give it a try. I even bought the $30 Barista Kit which expands the machine with more options for larger shots.
The main Nanopresso kit comes with everything you need to make a single shot espresso, minus the boiling water and ground coffee. The device is very well built and really seems like a lot of R&D went into it’s engineering (it is the second version, first being the Minipresso). In addition to the pump, it comes equipped with the single shot basket, scoop, cup, and small cleaning brush. It’s only a little over 6 inches tall too!
The Barista Kit comes with another single shot basket, two double shot baskets, an adapter ring for using the larger double baskets, and a larger water reservoir and cup. It’s about the same size as the Nanopresso.
You still need to boil the water separately, which I use my awesome Jet Boil for. You also need to have pre-ground coffee, which I have a really manually intensive burr grinder (GSI JavaMill), or I just pre-grind at home and carry in a zip lock bag.
The Nanopresso and Barista Kit weighs in about 1.25 pounds together, but I think you can leave about a half pound of it at home. Coffee is light weight, plus you need a pan or Jet Boil to heat the water onsite. I also like cream, sugar, and ice with my expresso. Needless to say, it’s a luxury item if you’re backpacking.
I decided to give it a try at home, so I could figure it out before I hit a trail with it, plus I couldn’t wait to taste it’s end product. So I set it up for a double shot, and ground up three double shots worth of beans.
After reading the simple instructions, I began by getting it ready for the first “press” by loading it with a double basket. Then I boiled water in my Jet Boil, as I was after the full experience of doing this on a trail. I poured the boiling water into the original water reservoir, as the instructions said it would hold enough for a double shot. You then flip the machine upside down and unlock the pump and begin “pressing”. It takes a few pumps to build pressure and then the coffee starts flowing. It took about 20 pumps to extract the full double shot. I will say the “press” of the pump was a little tough, but not too difficult. After reading the instructions more carefully, it recommends removing a small pressure nozzle from the tip to relieve some of the pressure, but I’m skeptical about this as it may degrade the quality of the espresso. I’ll try that next time. I cleaned the basket and repeated two more times to get six total shots of espresso, which is what I usually drink.
The quality and amount looked comparable to what I am used to. The crema looked quality, although the quantity of crema was a little less than I normally see.
I mixed in my sugar, then the cream, then poured it over ice. Then I took a sip… Wow, it was very good, in fact very close to what I am used to at home or Starbucks, and much better than most of the amateur shops I’ve tried on the road. I was sold. The price seems high to someone not familiar with espresso, but when you are a coffee snob like me, you can appreciate the quality. Plus, now I can have my coffee at camp prior to hiking and not have to depend on finding and driving to a quality barista shop somewhere.
Next, up… Trying to get a good quality breakfast pizza or burrito at camp before hiking.