I was thinking about the variety of coffee-making apparati that we've had along the way and thought I'd post a few pics. When we were mainly backpacking and tent camping, we carried one of those all-plastic, lightweight model french presses and it worked great. I can't find the exact one we had, but I found what I would buy today if I wanted to replace it. This Ami-Matin unbreakable BPA-free french press by Bonjour. They come in 3 cup and 8 cup sizes (and several colors!) (find them on amazon.com)
When we got our first Airstream (2005 22' CCD International) we were so in love with the shiny round aluminum. I remembered my dad telling me about a really cool Italian stovetop espresso maker made in Italy in the 50s that also had an attached milk foaming wand. It was called the Atomic, and after several weeks of research (and careful ebay watching) I found us a good one.
These are not cheap…but I just told myself we were buying sculpture that also happened to make a fine cappuccino. The originals in good condition are a little harder to find than when we bought ours 6 years ago. It looks like there are high quality reproductions being made by La Sorrentina (with either red/black or green Bakelite handles and knobs). They are also not cheap, but they're pretty!
When we moved into our new 2010 27'FB International, we thought it might be nice to have the same kind of espresso maker we now had at home, only smaller. Enter the Nespresso Essenza in stardust gold.
This little guy is fabulous. It's low enough power (even at the peak heating moments) that we can make espresso when we're boondocking and on solar power. How luxurious! We still have the Atomic, but we never use it. I'm thinking we should clean it up and actually make it kitchen sculpture at home so we can still admire it.
