STARESSO Portable Espresso Coffee Maker - Handheld Manual Coffee Machine for Travel, Camping, Car & Outdoor Use | Perfect Gift for Coffee Lovers | Specialty Coffee Brewing Anywhere

This espresso maker is pretty complicated to take apart/put together, and it took me a few tries to get it put back together correctly. However, it makes some good espresso and the action is very smooth. The build quality is solid, and the espresso maker has a nice simplistic aesthetic.The Staresso manual espresso maker is a really neat from an industrial design perspective. The built quality is really good and everything functions smoothly. The touch materials are a satisfying combination of rubber and plastic. Everything threads together well and firmly. The instructions are pretty clear on assembly and it goes together logically. The marks on the inner chamber are accurate enough and take a lot of guessing out of ratios.I used the Staresso manual grinder at 4.The coffee to water ratio recommended in the manual is 18-22g to 120-180ml.Preheated the main chamber and used a 54mm tamper.It took a few tries to get a drinkable cup. I recommend getting a decent bag of coffee and taking some time to get it dialed in. Most of the shots I got were just ok. The crema was present and it tasted like coffee. However, most of the shots were not ideal so I am still practicing. The manual says pump every 2 seconds. Any faster and it is very under extracted and borderline undrinkable. It makes good shots for coffee drinks but probably not shots as well as any competent shop. This makes it really great for camping or traveling to get a fix on the go.Clean up is straight forward and pretty easy. Not as easy to clean as an Aeropress, but not bad.Other than the frustration of trying to dial a shot it, it has some nice features like a standard 54mm basket for tampers and a compact, foldable design.For pre-heating, it would be nice if there was a way to shut off the water flow. When preheating, the water would just flow through and it would be advantageous if the flow could stop. The dial on the bottom did not seem to halt the flow of water fully.Overall, the Staresso is a fairly unique and interesting way to make coffee but with a fairly steep learning curve. If you want to try espresso, and not go all-in on a high end machine, the Mirage is a way to go.Very portable and easy to use. Especially if you are a coffee fanatic or someone who must have his / her coffee in the morning at a camp site or away from coffee shop.Just remember that what you put in is what you will get out. Another word, if you put certain coffee or unclean water, that's what you will get.Clean it well before each use and make sure to clean it well after.We lose power semi-regularly, and when I saw this I thought "wouldn't being able to make my coffee when the power is out be nice?" Not having owned an espresso maker not powered by 110VAC before, I was pleasantly surprised by the experience.Now, to be fair there are a number of parts, and after use you should completely disassemble, clean, dry, and reassemble. Fortunately, I enjoy a good puzzle and taking it to bits and reassembling it is almost fun, so I don't think most people will have any problems. Even if you do, there's a diagram in the instructions (but don't read those - that's cheating!).If you're like me and have a half a jumbo mug of espresso, possibly with some frothed milk, you'll want to brew two servings one after another (cleaning just the espresso cup and spigot assembly between the first and second batch seems sufficient to me, with a full breakdown and cleaning after the second batch).Construction seems solid, with that nearly-indestructible plastic used for the non-metallic screw-tight components (They only say it's 'food grade' and BPA free, but I could swear I've seen this plastic in automotive applications). Stand wobbles slightly due to the rubber feet under the fold-out metal frame - This might be an issue if it required significant force to pump the espresso, but it does not.Pump action is SUPER smooth and requires much less force than I had feared. First batch I ran through back-washed a smidge of coffee-infused water into the upper chamber, but no later ones did and I'm nearly certain it was from over-rapid pumping the first brewing. Later batches I went a little slower and there was no trace of coffee in the upper reservoir. Go smooth and even and slow, and you'll get the optimal results.But the most important bit is the quality of the espresso, right? Well, here's the BEST news: It's great. Personally, I went consistently with full load of ground coffee properly tamped down and a full helping of hot water (stop just at or just below the steel lip in the upper reservoir or you'll lose a trickle of hot water when you insert the pump and screw tight), and it was just perfect.I found my flavored coffees had a distinctly concentrated taste (excluding the coffee; the amount of flavoring generally is set to align with drip\press coffee). So if you're making flavored coffee, either cut with some French roast\Italian roast ground to reduce the not-coffee flavor, or turn it into a latte.5/5, functionally perfect, beautifully engineered, produces great results. Would do again, would recommend to any coffee lover, PARTICULARLY those looking for use during power outages, while vacationing, or camping. If you aren't one of those people, but know one, get it as a gift. I'm EXTREMELY happy with it.This espresso machine does a great job and it’s super compact. I wish they had incorporated a way to attach the coffee grounds measuring cup so that everything could be together in one unit. I highly suggest you take great care to examine all the individual parts and make sure you know how they go back together because the directions are not awesome. It took me a while to get it back together after I cleaned it but you’ll know for sure when it’s right because it only goes back together one way.Do you love a fancy coffee? Are you cheap? Has inflation hit the price of your fancy coffees? Well this is your answer; whether you buy pre-ground espresso or find your own this will enhance your at home fancy coffee making experience. Also it is portable, you don’t have to plug it in, charge it, or replace batteries, it only needs hot water and you to pump it. The espresso comes out creamy and foaming like it should and tastes great! This is easy to set up, use, and clean; my only complaint is I wish it had a carrying case included. I would highly recommend this and I would give it 4.5 starsI ordered this just to have it for camping. So cool espresso maker, sturdy material and easy to use fun thing and big bounce for good coffee in camp