Oh My, Mypressi!

November 11, 2009

by espressoparts

When we set out to do staff driven product reviews, we realized that this was territory that few have navigated when it comes to Espresso brewing equipment. Excited consumers will often run to the nearest web forum touting the virtues of the best coffee brewing device they have ever owned, even if it has only been 24 hours. Then there is the issue with internet reviews on coffee devices that while stated to be unbiased are typically very biased and often paid for. Who do you believe?

Products are made or broken on the Internet, we know as we have been on the receiving side of pour quality uneducated in-depth reviews. Simply stated, it is easy to get excited about something new, especially when it is very cool.

Epressoparts, is here to take the mystery out of reviews. It is simple, if the product fails, it will not be listed on Espressoparts.com. Best new products are only best new products if they perform, and are of value to the specialty coffee industry. Peanut butter packets, and chocolate covered cookies will not be included.

The first time, we saw the Mypressi hand held espresso machine, we were skeptical. I mean honestly how many times have we been presented with the next big thing in coffee only to find out that it was a product fail.

Usually these types of products are developed by engineers and product designers that have little or no clue how, to brew quality coffee. I suspect if all your trying to do is produce a caffeine injected hot beverage, while away from home, some of these devices will suffice.

After visiting the Mypressi Twist booth at SCAA conference this year, we knew we wanted to see the production version, as the shot pulled at the booth were, well, amazing. This considering it was a hand held espresso brewing device.

The Mypressi Twist arrived in our labs as a pre-production version, complete with “Use at your own risk” instructions that outlined some of the changes to be expected in the production version.

First notable item is the smart job they did with the packaging. A nice color sleeve that slips over the shipping carton, adds to the shelf appeal of the product. Inside the shipping carton the parts are laid out in an organized fashion, where everything has a place and there is a place for everything. Good stuff.

Now let’s get to the coffee shall we. The instructions are complete and very well written. The color images are a nice touch and if you are a visual person like myself, you will be happy to photos. As for me, impatience is king, so I short cut straight to the “Quick User” Guide.

The Mypressi comes very complete and ready to use.

It is often the case when you purchase a device like this, that you must go and buy some additional widget, or batteries to make it work. This is not the case with the Mypressi Twist, as the designers have thought of most everything and included it in the box.

So it was fantastic that when we got to the part of the instructions where we were directed to install the N2O cartridge, that four of them were included in the box.

After installing the N2O cartidge it was time to load the filter with coffee.

There are three coffee filter baskets to consider. The basket that came installed is a double 16 gram straight walled standard basket. The addition of a double pressurized portafilter basket, is for those who prefer to pre-grind their coffee, and adds to the ease of creama development. The third basket is for those no nonsense users who would prefer to skip the whole grinding thing and use ESE Pods. Now considering we are Espressoparts, and we prefer to make coffee the old fashioned way, we stuck with using the traditional basket.

Now, the next step was to determine grind quality. We chose to use a Mazzer Robur, as it was only 20 ft. from our test area, and was already set for 14 grams on a delta timer. Once the coffee was ground and settled, we utilized the very inexpensive plastic tamp that comes with the device. The tamper actually fits the filter basket very nicely.

With the basket loaded with coffee, we loaded the water reservoir with 208 degree water from a Zojirushi Water kettle. This device is perfect for use with the Mypressi, when using it at home. With the reservoir loaded it was time to grab a pre-heated Demitasse cup, and pull the trigger.

What happened next was simply crazy. The coffee started to ooze out of the filter handle into the demitasse, just like a full blown commercial espresso machine! Yikes, this was expected sort of, as we had seen the device in action at the SCAA show in April of 2009, but now we were in control. The resulting shot of espresso was a bit pale, but it was a solid shot that tasted good.

Ok, so with the results of the first shot out of the way, and the device properly heated up, we loaded the filter once again, and pulled the trigger. The second shot again oozed from the device, but this time was darker in color, and even had tiger flecking!

Now, to our benefit, we have some very talented palates working at Espressoparts, and the roastery next door, Olympia Coffee. It just so happened that Michael Elvin and Oliver Stormshak, were near by, so I asked them to taste the shots pulled from the Mypressi Twist. The coffee we used was a coffee we are all familiar with, so we were fairly calibrated and ready for this taste test.

By all accounts, we were pleasantly surprised with the shots produced on the Mypressi. Smooth, Rich tasting shots, with a nice round mouth feel, and a ton of Creama.

We suggest that the use of CO2 chargers to push the coffee through the basket is the reason the coffee has so much body and Creama. Creama is made up of emulsified coffee oils and CO2, so it only makes sense that driving the pressure with N2O will deliver these types of result.

Utilizing properly heated water will also improve the results, and should be considered when used at home. When out on the road or camping, bring your water to a boil and then let it rest for a few minutes before using and this will result in a great tasting shot.

When we were done playing with the device, we simply cleaned up the device with soap and water. It comes apart in a very intuitive way, that allows for complete cleaning. Very simple and very nice.

So this is our Quick Shot Review, for this device. Look for updates over the next few days from various staff members, as they run the Mypressi through it’s paces.

We like it so, it will be available for pre-order via this link.

We expect to start shipping as soon as December 1st 2009.

Check out this video from Mypressi on Youtube.com