Campfire Compact Espresso Maker

[3toes]

Was wondering if anyone had used one of these and what they thought of it?

Sorry cannot figure out how to attach the picture.

Campfire Compact Espresso Maker - Primus (http://www.kellyscamping.com.au/p/campfire-compact-espresso-maker/5119514)

Campfire Compact Espresso Maker
Heading into the great outdoors and need a coffee to get you started in the mornings?

Campfire brings you a fast and portable espresso maker that means you can now enjoy fresh coffee anywhere, anytime.

Built from hard anodised aluminium with silicone finishes to protect your fingers from heat, this espresso maker is equally at home in your hiking pack or as part of your camping kit.

Start your next adventure with the extra kick of a campfire compact espresso maker.

Features:
Hard anodised aluminium construction
silocone finnishes for grip and heat protection
Makes approximatly 350ml of coffee in minutes
compact design

Includes:
1x espresso maker
2x espresso cups
1x carry bag

Specifications:
11cm x 11cm
420g

[jc109]

I've never tried that one so hope this isn't unwelcome. This is what I use and I can't fault it.

http://m.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/art/50163221/

Cheap and sturdy and makes enough to go around. Anything similar (avoid the aluminium versions) would be great, and yours seems like it would do the trick.

[slug_burner]

The primus one

http://www.kellyscamping.com.au/assets/full/5119514.jpg

the Ikea one

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/01/1585.jpg

I have made do with a plunger.

[jc109]

The plunger was my default until one very cold morning on the Nullarbor when a gust blew it off the table and the glass shattered. Just as the water was boiling and prior to my first coffee. Never again, I swore.

[sandman]

The plunger was my default until one very cold morning on the Nullarbor when a gust blew it off the table and the glass shattered. Just as the water was boiling and prior to my first coffee. Never again. I swore.

fixed.

[jc109]

To say I swore would be quite an understatement, but yes, you've obviously got the idea.

[Blknight.aus]

I use the mukka express...

[Lightwater]

I use an AeroPress with Able Fine stainless steel filter & Kyocera ceramic hand coffee grinder, the narrow model. The Porlex hand grinder would be the next one I would buy because it is a bit narrower still & will have less static being metal. If the grinder is too wide it is hard to hold.

Use top quality beans $17 per 250 grams & do NOT use boiling water. This setup beats a bought coffee every time on taste & price.

[solmanic]

Those first two are NOT espresso makers. They are more like percolators. That is to say the coffee is extracted through boiling forcing water through the grounds rather than high pressure like a proper espresso machine.

I use a Mypressi-twist. This device uses a standard CO2 or NO2 gas cartridge to force hot water through the group head at around the same pressure as a normal machine. The coffee is, believe it or not, indistinguishable from that extracted using a bench top machine.

[Sirocco]

Those first two are NOT espresso makers. They are more like percolators. That is to say the coffee is extracted through boiling forcing water through the grounds rather than high pressure like a proper espresso machine.

I use a Mypressi-twist. This device uses a standard CO2 or NO2 gas cartridge to force hot water through the group head at around the same pressure as a normal machine. The coffee is, believe it or not, indistinguishable from that extracted using a bench top machine.


Not strictly correct. The Ikea one is a percolator, The above (Primus) is akin to the traditional Moka potwhich the Italians use, using pressure (steam) to make a very clean coffee.These are great for camp coffee and the grounds stay in the little cylindricalpot (like an espresso machine) and you use less coffee grounds to make yourcoffee.

If you like your coffee with substance, the French Press (orplunger) are probably the best. If you want it clean, moka pot.

Both very simple devices that suit overland travel. Few partsand no plastics to break. Get a metal press if you can (Snow Peak make a nicetitanium one)

I also echo the above sentiments about a manual grinder andwhole beans. We use an old Zassenhaus.



G

[solmanic]

True, but steam pressurised espresso is still a long way off 15bar machine pressure.

Here is a link to a review of the Pressi...
Mypressi TWIST - Second Look - Reviews • Home-Barista.com (http://www.home-barista.com/reviews/mypressi-twist-second-look-t12595.html)

I have found ours to be a bit temperamental at times. It tends to be very sensitive to getting just the right amount of tamping of the grounds. Too much compaction and nothing happens. You also have to be super careful when cleaning it that none of the gazillion rubber seals falls out. Then again, Land Rover owners should be used to a bit of technical idiosyncracy.

But as I said, the result is as good as a benchtop machine, and in the middle of nowhere that is a bizarre but welcome thing.

[Sirocco]

True, but steam pressurised espresso is still a long way off 15bar machine pressure.


Well yes, that is obvious, but I would rather take a simple moka pot than co2 cylinders and temperamental operation out on the road, surely you have a back-up?!

you must drive a Disco or a Freelander to enjoy it that much :D

G

[slug_burner]

Well yes, that is obvious, but I would rather take a simple moka pot than co2 cylinders and temperamental operation out on the road, surely you have a back-up?!

you must drive a Disco or a Freelander to enjoy it that much :D

G

Sounds like a Range Rover. CO2 cylinders, now that is serious appreciation of the coffee making method.

Solmanic,

How many coffees can you make on a cylinder? Can you clean the machine while a cylinder is still in use? I'll have a read of the review to find out more.

Had a read of the review and the Mypressi TWISTis on ebay for ~$190.

[solmanic]

Well yes, that is obvious, but I would rather take a simple moka pot than co2 cylinders and temperamental operation out on the road, surely you have a back-up?!

you must drive a Disco or a Freelander to enjoy it that much :D

Ha! I nearly spilled my latte. Actually I now drive a G-Wagen, so you are most astute. Having said that, when you are a true coffee tragic you will go to any extreme to ensure you have a quality brew. My backup is to drive X00km to the nearest shop.

One gas cartridge generally does either 8 single shots (two at a time) or 4 doubles. You can clean everything in between shots because the cartridge is sealed up inside the handle. The water reservoir lid even has little notches around the edge so you can keep track of how many shots you have pulled.

[Meherio]

We use the Mukka express as well, I love the tinkering with the water, grinds and milk before brewing it up. It's the theatre of it all then producing a cappuccino in the middle of nowhere. It also comes out of the camping kit for the misses of a morning at home. I've mastered the coffee machine at work before the bar staff arrive.

[solmanic]

Agree. The coffee making ritual is a very Zen moment in the day.

[isuzurover]

A mate has a 2-cup espresso maker on his boat and I have always been meaning to buy one. Full stainless steel with a pressure guage, knob for the espresso and even a separate steamer.

Similar to this:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/01/1383.jpg

http://store.vouner.com/images.php?asin=B003QVFHAS&s=500

[flagg]

That looks tops Ben, just needs a decent 12v/hand grinder and you'd be done.

[davidsonsm]

A mate has a 2-cup espresso maker on his boat and I have always been meaning to buy one. Full stainless steel with a pressure guage, knob for the espresso and even a separate steamer.

Similar to this:
http://store.vouner.com/images.php?asin=B003QVFHAS&s=500

http://store.vouner.com/images.php?asin=B003QVFHAS&s=500

Do you know the make of the exoresso maker in the picture you show.

[Leroy_Riding]

At work I use a french press and Illy pre-ground beans, cheap enough and fast enough (being a long black drinking makes life easier too :P ) Ive tried the french press while camping a few times but find the glass a little too fragile, I did manage to find some stainless beaker type french press's but settled on a moka pot or whatever you call it, the Italian stove top espresso maker, again I use Illy pre ground beans (at work i don't want to make too much noise, and camping its not worth grinding while int he bush!) put it over some coals or on the gas cooker and nice espresso pretty fast. my choice for camping form now on, but the french press will always be my choice for work [at home its french press or nespresso machine] (best of all they can be had for around $10 so if they get a bit scorched int he fire who cares)

Leroy

[Samblers]

Great read!

I have a rule that I don’t make my own coffee. I’m a self-confessed metro café lurker (addict?) who drinks too much and sometimes makes vast inexplicable detours, much to the annoyance of the wife and lodgers, to achieve my daily fix from a suitably hipster joint. Yes, sad I know… but everyone gotta have a vice.

The wife got me an AeroPress plus Porlex hand grinder for Christmas, mainly for use as a camping set-up. Wow! No longer do I need to rely on the corrugated cardboard cups of milky grey misery that is the ‘take it or leave’ it choice of regional WA!

I also bought myself a stainless steel frothing jug plus $10 battery milk frother.

It’s a cheap set-up ($150) that produces seriously credible coffee.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/01/285.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/01/286.jpg

[Judo]

I'm interested to know more about the "$10 battery milk frother"?

[Samblers]

miniature egg whisk basically... looks like stainless steel pen

[davidsonsm]

I've just got the porlex. Was thinking of using a drill to drive it rather than the handle. Is that the height of laziness?

[Samblers]

No, i've considered same... but dont carry a drill and kind of think that the bean-grinding is sort of a zen moment in the coffee-making process, with only the determined rewarded

I'm glad its not just me faffing around like this by the way!

[davidsonsm]

Tossing up whether to get the modern version of the atomic or the bellman. Both do milk frothing.

I currently use an allessi stove top. Works pretty well (not expresso - more turkish). Keen to try it with fresh ground beans.

[Hoges]

Serious question: How do you manage on days of total fire ban... not a joke. I carry a variety of "heating things" in a compact wooden box... Firstly there's a small tin folding "stove" for use with hex tablets which I souvenired :angel::wasntme: from the school cadet corps (1961); a 'dragonfly' pressure pump hiking stove; a Borde "bomb" stove (1968 purchase) which is a stainless steel tube you fill with petrol or shellite attached to a coil and needle valve; a Kelly kettle and a Woolworths special $15 dual burner stove which uses disposable propane cans which come in $4 packs for 4 and seem to last a long time.... and a 100w immersion heater (1974) with a std 'cigar' type plug which goes into the auxiliary power socket... purchased 40 yrs ago for warming baby's bottle on a long trip ....choices, choices...

I was dying for a brew on a recent trip to Sydney and was prepared to pull over into one of those well developed rest stops ...but I'd passed a sign which advised high fire danger and so I thought better of it. Later on it seemed that the risk with a stove was minimal... but you never know whom you might upset so I desisted...

Can anyone advise what's acceptable and what's not?

[Will Wallace]

Has anyone bothered looking at the Handspresso?

Look it up. Great idea.

Will.

[davidsonsm]

Has anyone bothered looking at the Handspresso?

Look it up. Great idea.

Will.

There's a 12v version of the handpresso too.

[davidsonsm]

Serious question: How do you manage on days of total fire ban... not a joke. I carry a variety of "heating things" in a compact wooden box... Firstly there's a small tin folding "stove" for use with hex tablets which I souvenired :angel::wasntme: from the school cadet corps (1961); a 'dragonfly' pressure pump hiking stove; a Borde "bomb" stove (1968 purchase) which is a stainless steel tube you fill with petrol or shellite attached to a coil and needle valve; a Kelly kettle and a Woolworths special $15 dual burner stove which uses disposable propane cans which come in $4 packs for 4 and seem to last a long time.... and a 100w immersion heater (1974) with a std 'cigar' type plug which goes into the auxiliary power socket... purchased 40 yrs ago for warming baby's bottle on a long trip ....choices, choices...

I was dying for a brew on a recent trip to Sydney and was prepared to pull over into one of those well developed rest stops ...but I'd passed a sign which advised high fire danger and so I thought better of it. Later on it seemed that the risk with a stove was minimal... but you never know whom you might upset so I desisted...

Can anyone advise what's acceptable and what's not?

Yeah. Total fire ban days you'd have to have an electric heater. Othrrwise you're pretty stuffed aren't you.

[Will Wallace]

The Handspresso has a great picnic kit too.

Will

[Samblers]

I'd always thought total fire ban meant no solid fuel fires?

[steve_a]

How topical, I was back reading some IET journals when they featured a product called a 'presso' which is a manual expresso machine.
Looked it up and found it is a presso/rok, ROK Espresso Maker | Espresso Unplugged Australia (http://espressounplugged.com.au/rok)

which looks a very interesting bit of kit for home and away, you just need a standard kettle and you have nice looking expresso.

[gusthedog]

Yeah. Total fire ban days you'd have to have an electric heater. Othrrwise you're pretty stuffed aren't you.

No actually. In Victoria you can't light a fire or use a solid or liquid fuel stove on TFBs. You can still use gas cookers though. ALWAYS have a plentiful supply of water and a fire extinguisher on hand though.


From CFA

On Total Fire Ban Days

Barbecues that are fixed appliances:

fired by gas or electricity, being permanently fixed structures built of stone, metal, concrete or another non-flammable materialdesigned exclusively for meal preparation


or that use only gas or electricity, are designed and commercially manufactured exclusively for meal preparation(including portable barbecues), and when alight are placed in a stable position, provided that:
the area within a distance of 3 metres from the outer perimeter of the barbecue is clear of flammable material
you have either a hose connected to a water supply or a vessel with at least 10 litres of water for immediate use
an adult is there at all times when the fire is alight who has the capacity and means to extinguish the fire
the fire is completely extinguished before the adult leaves.

Campfires, fires for warmth or personal comfort are banned during Total Fire Ban Days. Solid and liquid fuel barbecues and ovens are also banned during Total Fire Ban Days.


See also information during the Fire Danger Period
- See more at: Can I Can't I - what you can and can't do during Fire Danger Periods and Total Fire Bans, CFA - Country Fire Authority (http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/can/#sthash.w3yoDUfa.dpuf)



So yes, you can use a gas stove on a TFB - But only if it's not home made. How funny :D

[Judo]

^ I think the point is if you're camping you're screwed. If you're within 3m of your house, you will be using the home espresso machine, not the BBQ to make coffee. :p

[gusthedog]

^ I think the point is if you're camping you're screwed. If you're within 3m of your house, you will be using the home espresso machine, not the BBQ to make coffee. :p

Gas stoves are meant for cooking food so camping gas stoves are fine under the CFAs definition. I work in fire planning - trust me on this one. As long as there is nothing flammable within 3 metres, you have 10 litres of water, it is being used by an adult and you put it out when you're done you are fine to use your gas camping stove on a TFB (in Victoria anyways :p)

[Judo]

Gas stoves are meant for cooking food so camping gas stoves are fine under the CFAs definition. I work in fire planning - trust me on this one. As long as there is nothing flammable within 3 metres, you have 10 litres of water, it is being used by an adult and you put it out when you're done you are fine to use your gas camping stove on a TFB (in Victoria anyways :p)
The copy paste didn't do it justice. Just went and read the CFA site. Looks like you're right. A gas cooker is OK on a day of TFB! Looks like I have been wrong for quite some time.... Thanks for the info!

Camping coffee is back on TFB days. :D

[gusthedog]

The copy paste didn't do it justice. Just went and read the CFA site. Looks like you're right. A gas cooker is OK on a day of TFB! Looks like I have been wrong for quite some time.... Thanks for the info!

Camping coffee is back on TFB days. :D

Yeah sorry, the cut and paste didn't look the goods :D

[The ho har's]

Some of you sure like your coffee:)

When camping I use a stainless steel plunger. If I drop it doesn't break :D

Oh and I love my 1 coffee per day in the morning, though I couldn't justify the cost of some of the suggestions here:angel:

Mrs hh:angel:

[gavinwibrow]

No, i've considered same... but dont carry a drill and kind of think that the bean-grinding is sort of a zen moment in the coffee-making process, with only the determined rewarded

I'm glad its not just me faffing around like this by the way!
My coffee tragic mate says you only ever hand grind. With auto grinding there is a chance of heating the beans too much and affecting the flavour!! He also says no water above 95 degrees (celcius of course).

I just enjoy an occassional moderately good cup, so can't really comment.

[fraser130]

I use the mukka express...

+1

Nothing like a cappuccino whilst camping eh?
:D

Fraser

[Lightwater]

I've just got the porlex. Was thinking of using a drill to drive it rather than the handle. Is that the height of laziness?

The first week or so I thought it was a bit hard to hand grind but after a few weeks it didn't bother me any more. I only do 1 cup a day & occasionally a second cup. Maybe if I was doing 3 to 4 cups a day then I would think about electric but it would have to be a good grinder which doesn't retain the ground beans.

I once bought a batch of very expensive single roast beans. They were tough to grind & I was a bit concerned about the stress on the hand grinder.

[flagg]

Fwiw a good eleccy grinder won't heat the Beans.

[Dockstrada]

Here's my setup,makes a damned good coffee too .

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/02/433.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/02/434.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/02/435.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/02/436.jpg

[The ho har's]

Here's my setup,makes a damned good coffee too .


What brand is it??

Mrs hh:angel:

[Dockstrada]

What brand is it??

Mrs hh:angel:


Bought it in Italy on my last visit cant remember , though I remember it wasn't made in Italy but in Malaysia.

[Simon]

That looks like a Bellman. If it is, the CX25 has no pressure gauge, the CX25P has one

[Hoges]

Struth! all this discussion of the finer things in life ....and not a Range Rover to be seen!:eek::wasntme::twisted: Damn! Just look at those photos! my taste buds are positively drooling... Why isn't the Mod doing his/her job and censoring this subliminal suggestiveness ...it's an attack on our addictive senses I tell you!:p

[Samblers]

Oh and I love my 1 coffee per day in the morning, though I couldn't justify the cost of some of the suggestions here:angel:
:

AeroPress $60
Porlex hand Grinder $similar

You can buy kits with them both for $120ish and you'll get some decent beans with hipster sprinkles on too.

[solmanic]

Struth! all this discussion of the finer things in life ....and not a Range Rover to be seen!:eek::wasntme::twisted: Damn! Just look at those photos! my taste buds are positively drooling... Why isn't the Mod doing his/her job and censoring this subliminal suggestiveness ...it's an attack on our addictive senses I tell you!:p

Damn good thread this. I especially like the part about the coffee.

[Leroy_Riding]

I am saddened by all this talk about coffee and and how you all need to prepare it in such special ways with hand grinders, then you go an ruin all your hard work by adding milk! YUCK!!!

black coffee any day of the week.

I do have to agree though about water temperature though, to many times have i got a long black from a cafe and been burnt, a taste that is accentuated without the addition of milk.

As far as camping goes, the old Italian mokka pot works wonders, while you cant get the same pressure as you can from a table top machine its the cheapest and easiest way to enjoy a good coffee in the bush.

I would be interested if anyone has managed to find a decent table to machine with lower power draw that I could run on an inverter without killing my batteries for a morning coffee though. . . I may be persuaded to build one into the Camper then ;0

Leroy

[TeamFA]

G'day Leroy!

Do you currently have a mokka pot for coffee? We're wondering about all of these options for making coffee, and would like it portable for camping (ie. not requing 240v).

Perhaps we could pop over for a mokka cuppa test?

Cheers!
Michael and Anneleis.


I am saddened by all this talk about coffee and and how you all need to prepare it in such special ways with hand grinders, then you go an ruin all your hard work by adding milk! YUCK!!!

black coffee any day of the week.

I do have to agree though about water temperature though, to many times have i got a long black from a cafe and been burnt, a taste that is accentuated without the addition of milk.

As far as camping goes, the old Italian mokka pot works wonders, while you cant get the same pressure as you can from a table top machine its the cheapest and easiest way to enjoy a good coffee in the bush.

I would be interested if anyone has managed to find a decent table to machine with lower power draw that I could run on an inverter without killing my batteries for a morning coffee though. . . I may be persuaded to build one into the Camper then ;0

Leroy

[Leroy_Riding]

I do have one yes, its nothing fantastic though, $5 on special at Trade Secret Morayfield, they still had some last time I was there. has me thinking, they are so cheap we could probably have AULRO custom ones made ;) haha

We shoudl organise some time yes, I am not sure when I would be free though, we can work something out though.

Leroy.


G'day Leroy!

Do you currently have a mokka pot for coffee? We're wondering about all of these options for making coffee, and would like it portable for camping (ie. not requing 240v).

Perhaps we could pop over for a mokka cuppa test?

Cheers!
Michael and Anneleis.

[bullets]

Had one of the Otto's and loved it. However someone else must have loved one too - as mine got swiped in a caravan park one trip!!
Will probably get another one - very similar to the old Atomic's my grandmother had.

The Little Guy Home Barista Kit Espresso System (http://www.lovethelittleguy.com)

Cheers

[Leroy_Riding]

that look the Goods Bullets, wonder if they make one without the silly milk frothier though.

Leroy