Tested: Espressgo

Now that the coffee capsule machine has changed the way many of us time-poor caffeine junkies enjoy reasonable quality coffee at home – and at
powered caravan sites – it comes like a cold turkey blast to be capsule deprived.

This condition can easily be experienced when camping beyond reach of a power point, or simply travelling in remote areas.

Fortunately, those coffee-savvy Italians at Lavazza have come to our rescue with a portable 12-volt coffee capsule machine called the Espressgo that manages to force hot water at 16 bar through the same pre-ground capsules used by my 15 bar, 230-volt Lavazza A Modo Mia benchtop machine at home.

It’s a miracle really, given that the big brother mains-power version consumes 1050 Watts to squeeze a great ‘piccolo nero’ out of a capsule packed and sealed with pre-ground coffee.

You would need a pure Sine Wave Power Inverter of greater than that 1000-Watt power management in your caravan to extract that sort of power from your deep cycle battery and an inverter of that size will probably set you back a minimum of $250 upwards.

Yet the Espressgo uses the same technology, produces a short black of similar quality from exactly the same Lavazza capsules and is totally portable for a RRP of $199 – pretty close to the price of a regular capsule machine.

The second pleasant surprise was when I unpacked the Espressgo from its stylish black and red travel bag and instead of the lightweight high-tech thermos it looks like, I found a stylish, well made and reassuringly weighty (880 grams) device standing 250mm (10 inches) tall.

The quality is obvious, from the design of its buttons and temperature dial to the way the 12-volt power cord with its cigarette lighter connection winds in a coil around the machine for neat and easy storage.

But the biggest surprise was reading the spec panel and seeing that its power consumption is just 140 Watts, making it easy and practical to use through a car’s standard cigarette lighter/power socket, or in a caravan or camper on an unpowered site.

The lid doubles as a portafilter and capsule holder. Unscrew it, fill the reservoir with 50ml of cold water from the white measuring cup (that can double as a coffee cup), place an inverted capsule on top of the reservoir and screw the lid back on.

You then plug it into the power socket, press the power button beneath the temperature dial and it starts to rumble as the pump pressurises.

This initially disconcerting noise only last for about a minute, but need to wait at least another minute in relative silence until the temperature dial starts to creep above ‘8’, when you’ll hear the water boiling to extract the coffee.

Finally the machine gives three distinctive ‘beeps’ to tell you that it’s ready.

Lavazza say that the process should take around two minutes, but in practice it take nearly double that from go to whoa, depending on the strength of the battery it’s drawing on. The Italians were never that strong on punctuality and they live coffee ‘in the moment’ not by the clock!

At this stage you unplug it, invert it above your cup and press the button with the coffee cup pictograph and rejoice as the caramel brown ooze trickles out, finishing the process with a perfect foam, or ‘crema’. It’s also at the perfect temperature to enjoy straight away.

Lavazza's A Modo Mio capsule range includes 10 blends of increasing roast intensity and employing either pure Arabica, or Arabica-Robusta blends. There’s also a Decafinated coffee capsule and another with a hint of chocolate for those who like faux coffee.

Now the downside. The Espressgo makes just one cup of ‘espresso’ at a time and by the time you’ve re-loaded and brewed again, your first cup may be too cold to enjoy as Luigi Lavazza intended.

However my wife doesn’t like strong coffee, so it works perfectly for me!

If you like your coffee milky, it may also not be for you. Sure you can create a caffe macchiato by adding a ‘stain;’ of milk (if you want it frothed you’ll need to be inventive with a pot and a gas jet), but the Espressgo is primarily designed for serious one-shot coffee drinkers on the go.

It’s also being marketed as something to take in your car, but there should be an express warning against solo use on the go!

A passenger could operate it with the vehicle in motion at the risk of a scalding, but I think I’ll wait for the hands-free version before I try the hands-free driver mode!
?