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Comment by YZF | Hacker News Reader

A friend brought a portable espresso machine camping and it made very nice coffee. I'm pretty sure it was the http://www.handpresso.com/ . You boil water to the specified temperature (he had a hot water bottle with a temperature gauge) and pour it in the right compartment. You hand pump it up to pressure (there's a gauge). You put the grounds in the filter. Press a button and away you go.

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why all the hastle? get an espresso cooker / cafetierra http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot

low tech and not a perfect espresso, but cheap, durable, no moving parts, no lubricant

This. It is a neat product, but nothing beats a mocka boiler. Lightweight, tested, well never break. I see not reason to buy this product other than me being a nerd and loving tech, but when i go on a hike i will bring a mocka boilder

Oh, they do break… I've had one explode in a newly renovated kitchen. Bent the metal vent hood above it to a frightening degree, missed my head by a foot or two and sprayed mocha onto the white walls and into every nook and cranny.

Not fun.

My moka pot is currently brewing. I'm now situated around the corner from it, shielded by a large cabinet. I've never heard of an exploding moka pot, but with all that pressure, I can understand. I'll be checking the valve after it's done!

bet you didn't need any caffeine afterwards though!

I have no idea about the quality of this specific product, but moka =/= espresso; the type of coffee that you do is different, and normally you have specific blend and type of grind for the two (if you go in a dedicated coffee shop)

Disclaimer: I am Italian, and even though I generally don't drink coffee, I've seen/heard enough moka vs espresso arguments (up to the fanboy level ;))

Have been using the Moka pot exclusively for the last 4-5yrs. Love it!

The one use case where the Moka pot fails is when you don't have access to a hot-plate/stove/fire. But in urban environments (my office) I do have access to a hot water dispenser though. So something like this would be an interesting choice for me.

and quite light (they're almost always made of aluminium) which is a plus when packing for a trek.

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