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Lately I have developed a taste for espresso during the day, when I'm at work. There are several problems:

  • There is no espresso machine at work.
  • There is no stove at work, so a stovetop moka pot is not an option.
  • There's no time to leave the office to get a coffee.
  • There is no chance of putting an espresso machine in the office (not even Nespresso): I would be the only user.

I've thought of two solutions, neither of which is very appealing:

  • 40-60 mL of really strong instant coffee: ugh.
  • Aeropress coffee: a lot of setup and fiddling for something that doesn't really scratch the itch.

I do have an Aeropress, so that'll be the solution if necessary, but does anyone have a better idea?

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3 Answers 3

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I don't want to provide any specific product links here since they may change in the future and I also don't want to advertise specific stores.

However there are some options I can think of. There are electric Moka pots that have the stove already built into them. Bialetti is the go to brand for Moka pots. I'm certain that they will fit in your office, even on your desk if need be. Alternatively you can get a small electric stove for the Moka pot you already have. It will also fit on your desk.

Another option would be portable espresso makers. Handpresso Wild Hybrid and Wacaco are the only ones I know of. I've heard good things about the Handpresso, but can't attest to them since I haven't tried one yet. They work with pressure, which the Moka pots don't do, so they should come closer to Espresso from a machine.

However I personally would stick with the AeroPress. In my opinion it makes by far better, more complex coffee than the other options.There are also some tweaks, like using two filter papers, using a metal filter, very fine grind size, tamping the coffee, high coffee to water ratio and tweaks/constructions to apply more pressure, that make a more espresso like drink. Note however that the AeroPress is not built to withstand several bars of pressure and constructions like the one in the video are neither practical, nor safe. The other tweaks mentioned however can safely increase pressure to a point where you get pretty neat, espresso like results.

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I take espresso into work and add hot water, to make an americano which is MUCH better than instant.

I also 2nd Aeropress its a nice cup of coffee though not quite espresso .

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take from home. use double walled glass container. keeps hot for hours.

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  • Dear @user6936 the question asks for espresso. Isolated glass containers may not be right for espresso.
    – MTSan
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 1:11
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    I suppose an ordinary sized thermos flask might not be because of the volume of room-temperature air caught in there at the same time, but you can get smaller, single-cup sized ones too and I imagine that would work fairly well, with the caveat that you can only really have one.
    – Nick Udell
    Commented Sep 7, 2018 at 13:39

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