If most people are downtown in their SUV, we might as well test this espresso machine for outdoor baristas from Wacaco indoors.

A hiking holiday is not on the agenda, but the daily espresso is.

If the Picopresso makes a good espresso, it would be cheaper than entry-level portafilter machines at a price of 150 euros.

You can also store it in the kitchen drawer and take it with you anywhere in your bag.

Marco Dettweiler

Editor in Business.

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The highlight of such espresso machines is that they work without electricity.

The idea is that coffee lovers don't have to go without their espresso on hikes or bike rides.

All you need for your favorite drink is hot water, ground coffee and a product like Picopresso.

There are similar concepts from other manufacturers, Wacaco itself also has other models on offer.

Picopresso is the "most professional portable espresso machine".

In the office kitchen, which is supplied with electricity, a cheap grinder from Tchibo grinds the beans and the kettle heats the water.

On the hike, a Comandante hand mill would be our favorite.

There is enough equipment for hot water, with a gas cooker about eighty milliliters are quickly heated.

Indoor use has one advantage: a household scale weighs the 16 to 18 grams of beans for one purchase.

For on the way you should weigh out small packets of beans.

Or you can do without the full variety of aromas and paint the coffee before the trip.

At first there is helplessness.

When we disassemble the Picopresso piece by piece, there are eleven individual parts on the worktop.

Nothing would work without the somewhat small instructions.

What to do with the sieve?

Does the lid come with a hole on top or underneath?

And what is this ring good for?

So we stoically followed the 23 explanatory pictures.

Not all of them are immediately understandable.

Guessing helps, as does the comparison with a portafilter machine.

It starts like with a cafetiere or a portafilter machine.

The sieve is filled with the ground coffee and pressed down with the enclosed tamper.

What is now available with other espresso machines, you first assemble it.

The outlet below the sieve is a lid with a hole in the middle.

On top of the pressed flour comes the shower, which also has a silicone lid.

The substructure is turned.

Through this part, the machine has to press the hot water that is filled in at the top with a lot of pressure so that the espresso ends up in the cup.

This part is taken over by the steam that is created by the boiling water in a cafetiere.

A portafilter machine uses the help of an electric pump.

Picopresso also has a pump.

It works like a mini bicycle pump.

It is best to hold the case with the left and right hand, both thumbs resting on the socket.

Water march!

Now pump!

Eight jabs and ten seconds wait.

Until then, nothing happens over the cup.

Pump again!

After three or four hits, the trickle appears, which looks as beautiful as with the portafilter machine.

The espresso runs leisurely.

With the right rhythm, it even runs without a break, i.e. not in intervals, but with a continuous flow rate.

As usual, you should stick to the brewing ratio of 1:2.

Since the sieve contains seventeen grams of ground beans, we stop at about 34 milliliters.

Compared to the portafilter machine, the flour has a little longer contact with the hot water.

After the prescribed pause, the Picopresso needed another nine seconds of pumping before the first drops came, which can be interpreted as a pre-infusion.

After more than 30 seconds, the extraction ended.

We didn't expect such a convincing result.

The espresso from the Picopresso is in no way inferior to that from a simple portafilter machine.

A nice crema covers the black liquid, which has a pleasant drinking temperature.

It tastes full-bodied and balanced.

Tests with different beans showed that the machine takes the acidity out of lightly roasted beans a little, which we like.

The longer contact time of the flour with the water speaks for this effect: the proportion of fruity aromas released early decreases.

Picopresso takes away the bitter, sometimes tarry taste of dark, i.e. Italian roasted beans, which makes such roasts drinkable.

We have no explanation for that.

Actually, the bitter flavors should be emphasized because of the longer contact time.

The trip with the Picopresso in the backpack is still to come.

But it is already foreseeable that - depending on the degree of tiredness and the environment - an espresso could become a complex action.

Grinding beans, unpacking the stove, heating water, disassembling, assembling, disassembling and reassembling the Picopresso, to rinsing the individual parts requires a lot of patience when backpacking.

A campsite with a table is more suitable.

But why not inside rather than outside?

The Picopresso could become our trusted budget espresso machine for the office.