Portable espresso machine — capsules or ground coffee, heats the water

Real coffee somewhere other than at home

Service station coffee costs two euros and is drunk lukewarm. This machine fits in the glovebox, recharges from a USB-C socket and makes an espresso wherever the car is parked: at a rest area, in front of a building site, beside a lake. It needs neither a cigarette lighter socket nor an inverter.

Capsules or ground coffee, as you prefer

Two filter holders are supplied: one for capsules — small and large alike — the other for about 8 g of ground coffee. It is the only way to keep your own coffee while travelling rather than depending on one brand of capsule.

It heats the water, or not

Two presses of the button start the heating and then the extraction: you fill the stainless steel reservoir with cold water and the machine takes care of the rest. A long press extracts straight away, for water already hot from a kettle or a flask — it is quicker and uses far less battery.

What it does — and what it does not do

The manufacturer states 20 bars of pressure, a piston pump and a 60 to 70 ml reservoir: this is an espresso, one cup at a time. Allow one or two extractions per charge when the machine heats the water itself — it is the heating that uses the power, not the extraction — and around twenty, the manufacturer's figure, with water already hot. It does not froth milk, does not fill a 300 ml mug and does not replace a counter machine.

Worth knowing

• 72 W, USB-C charging, usable while charging.
• Comes apart into a few parts for rinsing — to be done after every coffee, hot water and grounds do not keep.
• Supplied with USB-C cable, measuring spoon and instructions.
• Free shipping within mainland France, with no minimum order.
• 14 days to change your mind, returns accepted with no reason required.