[Aushiker]

Espresso Coffee for the Touring Cyclist

I haven't yet tried one of these but got a heads-up on from a member at the Australian Cycling Forums. Looks like a pretty cool way to make coffee for those of us keen on "real" coffee on tour


The product is called AirEspresso and details can be found at Airspresso | Extreme Espresso Machine


If anyone has experience with one would love to hear your thoughts.


Andrew

 

[Scott B]

Interesting and amusing, but I'm probably going to stick with my Snowpeak Ti French Press unless this get's rave reviews. At least in the US I was even able to find decent beans in middle of nowhere Montana. By decent I mean prepackaged Starbucks in grocery stores. Not good, but sure beats instant.

Keep us posted if you find out more.

 

[InfiniteLoop]

Fascinating idea. I'd think all the plastic would pretty much ruin the espresso though.

 

[froze]

Dang, sounds like a great idea but it's a $180 for something worth maybe $40? I take something called the AeroPress when I go touring, it's called an espresso maker but it's more of a French Press and it cost about $25; see: AeroPress® | AEROBIE® High Performance Sport Toys It doesn't pack down as small as the Airspresso but it's not large either. Mine came with a carrying case so I just throw the case into a pannier.

 

[Fogdweller]

AeroPress

I take something called the AeroPress when I go touring, it's called an espresso maker but it's more of a French Press and it cost about $25; see: AeroPress® | AEROBIE® High Performance Sport Toys

I swear by the AeroPress. My friends call it the "crack pipe". Makes coffee as nice as a french press without the sludge in the bottom of the mug and cleans much easier than a press. I eject the hockey puck into my green waste for the worm bin instead of pouring the grounds down the drain like I used to do with the press. Also a home roaster with 50lbs of bean from 15 different countries in the garage. The addiction is strong....

 

[JCavilia]

a home roaster with 50lbs of bean from 15 different countries in the garage. The addiction is strong....

That's hard-core, foggy. I'm guessing with that screen name you're a San Franciscan?

 

[froze]

I swear by the AeroPress. My friends call it the "crack pipe". Makes coffee as nice as a french press without the sludge in the bottom of the mug and cleans much easier than a press. I eject the hockey puck into my green waste for the worm bin instead of pouring the grounds down the drain like I used to do with the press. Also a home roaster with 50lbs of bean from 15 different countries in the garage. The addiction is strong....

Just this last weekend one of friends came over and brought his French Press so we could compare the taste, and he liked the Aeropress better because it didn't leave that sludge you talked about, and the French Press has a bit more of a bitter taste to it probably because of the sludge and all the oil gets passed straight through into the cup, so I didn't like the French Press either. So the AeroPress while not a espresso maker like they claim it's more like a refined French Press.

I still want to buy another espresso maker but I spent my extra wad of cash of a new bike so it's back to being a tightwad, so I'll have to wait till I get a job, then true to my nature I'll buy a $100 dollar cheap one!

 

[madduck]

froze, ever looked at moka pots?
check one out. i have an electric, not a traditional way to do it, but still works. if i had a gas stove i'd have done stove top.

 

[froze]

froze, ever looked at moka pots?
check one out. i have an electric, not a traditional way to do it, but still works. if i had a gas stove i'd have done stove top.

I have a small moka pot, and I still use it. I even take it camping sometimes. Moka pots though have a tendency to overheat the water past the idea 197 degree temps for espresso. But I switch back and forth between the two types according to my mood. I'm always switching coffee brands too.

 

[mrcreosote]

handpresso wild hybrid - Handpresso

 

[ph0enix]

It's Espresso, not Expresso.

 

[QuattroCreep]

Another great way to go for travel is a Vietnamese coffee maker (phin). Paired with some dark roast coffee, makes a nice single serve morning cup. Basically a self contained manual drip/pour over filter made from stainless steel, just add grounds and hot water. Packs up nice and small for touring. Also fun to do Vietnamese iced coffee after dinner, just add ice and condensed milk for a dessert coffee.

Key to a french press is grind size. Needs to be larger than a drip grind, if you're getting a lot of sludge in your cup the grind is to fine or to poor (blade vs burr grinder). If you are getting a bitter taste from your french press it is not the presses fault. Use it more and experiment with coffee weight to water volume until you find the correct extraction level for your tastes. Try to keep water temp and brew time constant between tests. 7gr of coffee to 4oz is my normal starting point for a french press.

IMO it is the oil in the cup that makes french so great. Someone makes a reusable metal filter for the areopress to allow oils through.

 

[froze]

^^ The Phin coffee maker you have to boil the water, it's the boiling part that can overcook the coffee. Also the true way to make that coffee is using condensed very sweet milk not evaporated milk like most most do in America that know this style of coffee making; this is due to the very bitter nature of true Vietnamese coffee used is Robusta and roasted to as dark as one can roast it giving it a burnt taste, add to that the boiling water, thus it is that reason the sweet milk is required. I've had that coffee before, and personally I found it nasty tasting, and Vietnamese people made the coffee for me, but I was polite and asked for seconds...ugh.

 

[demonrider]

I just use a portable stove (MSR Dragonfly) and a small Bialetti stove-top espresso maker. Works pretty well.

 

[froze]

I just use a portable stove (MSR Dragonfly) and a small Bialetti stove-top espresso maker. Works pretty well.

You have to realize though that a Moka pot does not make true espresso. The max PSI developed inside a Moka pot is only 1.5 bar while true espresso is required to be at 9 bar psi, and the coffee grind is courser then espresso grind...though personally I've used espresso grind in mine Moka Pot and it worked just fine. I do like coffee made Moka style so I'm not belittling it, I make coffee that way whenever I get a little tired of doing it another way.

 

[JCavilia]

The max PSI developed inside a Moka pot is only 1.5 bar while true espresso is required to be at 9 bar psi

What you say about how the pots work is accurate, but I have to make a little nit-picking engineering terminology correction here. "Bar" and "psi" (pounds per square inch) are two different units for measuring pressure. "psi" does not mean "pressure" - it's a measurement unit. You can say "9 bar" or you can say the equivalent "130 psi", but it doesn't make any sense to say "9 bar psi", or that the max psi in the moka pot is 1.5 bar. The max pressure is 1.5 bar.

It's kind of like saying "my maximum mph on that descent was 60 kilometers per hour."

I'm sure you know that and just slipped, but sometimes I can't resist picking nits ;-)

 

[Fogdweller]

That's hard-core, foggy. I'm guessing with that screen name you're a San Franciscan?

Close. I came up with the moniker when I lived in the the city but have move north of the bridge in the land of milk and honey. I always get asked why I go through the hassle of roasting my own coffee. I can't imagine a real coffee fanatic not roasting their own. Green coffee ends up costing around $7-8/finished lb (about $5/lb green and delivered) and it's as fresh as coffee gets. I roast it as I need it since the green beans will stay fresh for over a year.

 

[AndreyT]

Interesting and amusing, but I'm probably going to stick with my Snowpeak Ti French Press unless this get's rave reviews.

Well, they way it looks the OP is specifically talking about espresso. You can't make espresso with french press.

 

[froze]

What you say about how the pots work is accurate, but I have to make a little nit-picking engineering terminology correction here. "Bar" and "psi" (pounds per square inch) are two different units for measuring pressure. "psi" does not mean "pressure" - it's a measurement unit. You can say "9 bar" or you can say the equivalent "130 psi", but it doesn't make any sense to say "9 bar psi", or that the max psi in the moka pot is 1.5 bar. The max pressure is 1.5 bar.

It's kind of like saying "my maximum mph on that descent was 60 kilometers per hour."

I'm sure you know that and just slipped, but sometimes I can't resist picking nits ;-)

I didn't notice I wrote PSI till you mentioned it, it was some sort of automatic goof, note I didn't use the PSI with the first mention of bar.