****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Works as claimed, excellent espresso-style coffee, easy to use.The instruction booklet has instructions in what seems like 20 different languages so the enclosed manual is quite bulky, but there's only 4 pages of small English - funny English - instructions. It seems intimidating at first as there appear to be lots of parts that have to put taken off, turned around, pushed in, screwed in... but after you read the directions and do it once, it really is quite obvious and you really won't need the instructions again. The website allows you to download the manual for both the unit and the barista kit which you ought to do and keep it on your phone for reference, unless you are using this thing everyday...The unit is "designed in California" and made in China and apparently, so were the instructions as they are a little "off" but nothing that you can't work through.After reading the instructions and understanding the operation, I made a great cup of coffee first time in about 60 seconds. My wife and I both thought the coffee was excellent with good crema. (And we are comparing it to our $750 Gaggia Espresso machine.)The pump was easy to operate and didn't require much effort. One tip: check which end is up carefully before starting to pump! You could be pumping a long time with nothing happening! (Learned the hard way here...) Once the Nanapresso is oriented properly (!) it doesn't take too long or too much effort to start getting the coffee flowing.It is not heavy and is quite compact and perfect for traveling, which is why we bought it. I am tired of trying to guess what kind of espresso machine they might have at our hotels (they often give precise information reliably) or finding the hotel considers 2 small espresso pods which make just one tiny cup of coffee each "enough" for my wife and I - or worse, 2 sacks of lousy "instant" coffee. OMG! But every Hoel has at least a hot water maker and cups (to make tea from those lousy 2 bags of tea they leave) and that's all you need with this. You don't have to worry about bringing or finding some place that sells whatever "pod" you need. You can buy a bag of good coffee in espresso grind almost any place in the world at a Starbucks, local coffee shop or grocery store and keep that and this Nanopress with you during you trip for excellent coffee every morning (or morning, noon and night, depending on your dependency issues...)In conclusion, this is small enough, and light enough, even with the extension tube and carrying case, to throw in your travel backpack/carry on without taking up too much room, and will allow you to have decent - great - coffee in your hotel room. For people who are used to drinking - and demand - good coffee, this is a lifesaver!Also, while I didn't have any problems with this, I did contact customer service (Hong Kong based) about a few "suggestions" as mentioned in this review and they were very prompt in responding.I will include a review of the "Barista kit" and the Carrying case here as well:"BARISTA KIT": I think it is worth it, although you get a little bit more than you would really need. You get THREE "filter baskets" (2x 16g and 1x 8g) which allows you to "preload" the coffee to make them one after the other. Frankly, that leaves you with FOUR baskets if you include the one that already came with the Nanopress, which at that point, is unnecessary. They could have left out the extra 8oz IMHO, reducing cost a little bit. The included tamper is nice and much easier to use than the coffee scoop included with the Nanopresso.For traveling, you can easily fit both large coffee filters into the unit, as well as the tamper. You can't fit the brush or the coffee scoop in, however.IMHO, the "Barista Kit" is worth buying as it allows you to make more coffee quickly. It also allows more variation in the strength of the coffee, since you have the larger coffee baskets and you can put a little less coffee in the water tank if you prefer a a stronger brew if you like but still have plenty of brew in your cup! (With the smaller water tank, your adjustment options are more limited.) (We found filling up the water tank to capacity produced a slightly weaker brew than we prefer, so the option to use a little less water but still have plenty of coffee was preferred.)There had been some comments in a review or two about "oh, my coffee isn't as hot when I use the larger water tank..." What?? Really?? "Cooled down coffee?" How long does it take you to pump a few extra pumps for a larger cup? Are you using lukewarm tap water and then waiting a half an hour before drinking??? I found no such issue with "cooler coffee." And if you're using just-boiled water, you better be careful that it does sit a bit so you don't burn yourself. No, no issue with "cooler coffee."Finally, "Wacaco Nanopresso Case, Protective Case for Nanopresso". This I don't rate so highly. It is a very tight fit for the Nanopress, regardless of whether you have the basic unit or the "Barista kit extension tube." Both units will fit length-wise into the case, but the height (diameter) of the unit (which doesn't change) makes it a very tight fit. While there is an outdent to accommodate the unit's pump handle bulge, you can't fit anything else in the container, such as the very small but very necessary filter brush. As long as there already is a bulge in the case, there really should be a small compartment to put that kind of accessory in. In that, I'll ding it 1 star. What are you going to do with the brush, besides loose it? Better yet, instead of a compartment, just making the case as little as an inch longer would accommodate the brush and maybe another accessory or two, and certainly wouldn't increase the size much at all.
