OutIn Portable Espresso Maker Review
Both my husband and I enjoy coffee in the mornings, but we tend to skip it on vacations since you either have to take your chances with the coffee maker in the room or get dressed to go downstairs to the breakfast bar. After the viral video of the woman washing her underwear in the hotel room coffee maker, that’s a no-thank-you. I would also rather spoon out my own eyeballs than get dressed and go down to the lobby for a cup of coffee that is so bad I won’t end up finishing anyway. Imagine my excitement when we saw a YouTube video about the OutIn portable espresso maker! I will not lie to you and tell you it’s a budget-friendly purchase, but for us, the benefits made it worth the money. This setup is small enough to fit in my husband’s luggage for any trip we take by plane or car.
What We Purchased
We purchased both the espresso maker and the grinder, however; if you plan to use ground coffee instead of coffee beans then you will not need the grinder. My husband then 3D printed the ring you see over the mug to hold the machine while it brews. Without that adapter you would need to hold the espresso maker over the cup or purchase the official OutIn brand stand.
There is also a plethora of accessories you can buy for your coffee maker setup to make things even easier. If you have a 3D printer, you can also print some of the accessories like we did. Our set didn’t come with a carry case so that is something we are still looking for. If you choose to purchase a set without a carry case, you will definitely want something to carry all of the pieces in so nothing gets lost. Check out the OutIn website or Amazon to see all of the possible accessories. Since Christmas isn’t far away, keep this coffee maker in mind as a gift idea for any campers or travelers in your life!
Our Initial Thoughts
This is exactly what we wanted and are extremely happy with our purchase so far. Granted, we have only used it in our home, but we will be taking it on our road trip later this year so I will update this article with any additional thoughts after that experience. For ease of use I will probably be using coffee grounds and let my husband use the grinder for his coffee beans so we will report back on both options and if it makes a difference in practice. After filming the video above and seeing the steps involved in using the portable espresso maker and the product it makes, I have a few thoughts;
It seems complicated - I am hoping to mitigate this by using Nespresso pods (they can be found in grocery stores or on Amazon and are compatible with this device) instead of needing to grind coffee beans (I’m not as bougie as my husband about coffee) but there still appears to be a lot of steps to making the espresso. I am also hoping after using it a couple times I will feel differently about that - check back later to see if that’s true.
Espresso versus Coffee - Since this machine makes espresso, more hot water needs to be added in order to transform it into coffee. After expressing this to my husband, he said we could microwave extra water to add to the espresso. When I pointed out that not every hotel room has a microwave and that you would always have to have a microwave-safe cup with you, we decided to run a few more tests. Instead of using the microwave you may or may not have in your hotel room (or not at all if you’re camping) you can run another batch of water through the Mino without the coffee grounds. We wanted to know what that would do to the battery life and if you could use the device while it’s charging, which leads perfectly into my next thought.
Battery Life - While this is less of a concern for us staying in hotels, we wanted to know what the battery life would be like for someone using it in other capacities. OutIn says the device can make six espressos with room temperature water on one battery charge. We were only able to get three brews with room temperature water on a full charge. This means you could could brew one cup of coffee (or two espressos) with one battery charge. You can use the device while it’s plugged in for charging, but please note that charging will pause while the device is being used. After running the battery down to zero, it took about 2.5 hours to fully charge the device again. Not completely satisfactory, but shouldn’t be an issue for us as I will be making my coffee hours before my husband will make his. Plenty of time to charge the device in between brews. Our results do show that this device would be extremely limiting for someone attempting to use it in an environment without quick access to electricity for charging.
Our Thoughts After a Road Trip
Check back later this year to see how we liked using the OutIn portable espresso maker and grinder on our road trip.
Is it Worth it?
My initial answer is yes, but I reserve the right to change this answer after seeing how it meets our needs on our road trip later this year. If everything works as it’s supposed to and it gets easier for me to use then I think it’s worth every penny. Let me know if you’ve used the OutIn portable espresso maker or a similar product and what your thoughts were in the comments below. Don’t forget to check back later to see our final thoughts after using this product on a trip.
Until Next Time,
Happy Brewing
