Prototypes Archives

Handpresso in operation

I love coffee, I am a coffee nazi, for many years I searched for the ideal coffee beans, I have tried so many different types of coffee before settling on a favourite brand (Afro Java from coffee.com.au ). I also have a conical grinder which is essential and have been known to travel from one side of the harbour to the other to buy the right beans.

I also love solo hardware hackers that build prototypes of useful machines in the hope of getting them to market.

So if you are similarly afflicted and you drive a lot and lament the rubbish coffee you get from most cafe’s, you will love this new product release.

The Handpresso AUTO provides fresh hot espresso in your car at 16 Bar which is as good or better than many $1000 espresso machines. Only a few months ago I was asking why don’t cars come with coffee machines? Lots of people look at you strangely and say, why would you want that? Well if you have to ask the Handpresso is probably wasted on you.

The Handpresso AUTO plugs into your cigarette lighter and uses coffee pods/sachets (which I am not a big fan of) however these are not rubbish, they are a standardised type called ESE. A number of top coffee roasters including Illy and Lavazza provide compatible pods both of which are very good and good coffee is better than no coffee and at least you can get it fresh and when you want it when you are sitting in traffic.

There is also a premium car kit available with cute little cups and a place to store everything.

Handpress Auto Premium Car Kit

Handpresso-Wild-Hybrid

What I do like is the Handpresso Wild. It is a great innovation in that it accepts pods as well as ground coffee, which makes it twice as useful as you can use ground coffee when you are in full supply of the right beans and kick back to pods if you run short, this is very handy.

I can see why having ground coffee in the car doesn’t seem like a good idea, but I would be willing to give it a go.

At 150 euro these are not cheap, however it’s at the lower end of the range for an espresso machine so it’s probably not really that expensive and if you spend more than 1/2 hour per day in your car, it seems like a good idea, safety concerns not withstanding (yes I know friends don’t let friends make coffee and drive)

Originally the founder Henrick Nielsen experimented with the prototype for 2 years before launching the Handspresso Wild in 2008.

The product went through an amazing set of prototypes which I have included for my product hacker readers.