Coffee Machine Brands

Portable and easy to use espresso machines are all the rage, and the MyPressi Twist is the latest in this growing category of single serve coffee and espresso. The folks behind MyPressi Twist lent us one for just over a week to try and use for this review. It’s very much like the Handpresso, except it uses N02 cartridges instead of a built in pump. We’ve been big users of our Handpresso over the past year, and having seen the MyPressi was hoping for an improvement over the Handpresso or perhaps something different that it would offer. What did we find?

The MyPressi is on the left and the Handpresso is on the right.
The MyPressi is much heavier and larger.

What we found compared to the Handpresso is a much more complicated device that essentially does the same job. There are 5x the amount of parts and things to make the same shot of espresso and the Handpresso is much lighter and more environmentally friendly requiring only a little muscle to pump it versus using NO2 cartridges in the MyPressi Twist – but more on that later.

How the MyPressi Twist Works

How does the MyPressi Twist work? To operate the mypressi TWIST, simply insert a cartridge into the pressure chamber, fill the basket with fresh ground coffee or a coffee pod, and fill the upper compartment with hot water. With a simple pull of the trigger the TWIST produces one or two shots of espresso perfection ready to be enjoyed alone, or as the base for any coffee beverage. The TWIST has an easy-to-clean design that is also dishwasher safe, ensuring even after months of use that there are no left over oils to oxidize or spoil subsequent shots.

All the parts – but the brew head needs to be
dissembled to pull a shot each time.

That’s how it works, but is it easy to use and setup? No. We found the the parts you had to fit together to be like some kind of crazy espresso maker puzzle. The MyPressi Twist head unit contains a ton of part from the ESE pod holder, to the base, to the top you put water in – to sealing the chamber – just endless puzzles, and when you’re dealing with hot water – not fun.

Just some of the parts that make up the brew head. You
need to redo this sandwich making process of brew head and
espresso pod each time.

You may think us crazy, but the Handpresso only has one thing to take off and on – the part that holds the espresso pod or grounds. It much simpler with you pouring in the water, putting the pod in the holder and screwing it into place. The MyPressi is similiar but then there’s also the N02 cartridge, and the weight.

After finally getting it put together we pull a shot.

The MyPressi Twist is 2x the weight and heft of the Handpresso making it really heaving to hold in your hand to support the large brew chamber.

How good is the Espresso from the MyPressi Twist

Honestly once you figure out the crazy puzzle of getting it together, filling it, and then pouring a shot, the espresso produced is quite good. Is it better or easier than the Handpresso – alas no. They are on par with each other, with a slight edge on the Handpresso for just being 5x easier to use and repeat the process.

The result is a very nice shot of espresso.

We tried a variety of ESE pods from Starbucks to Illy – the results were all good. But yes – we are beating a dead horse here – using the MyPressi is just not as fun or easy as the Handpresso – and the mess with water and filling was also quite noticeable over using the Handpresso for the same number of shots. Also because the process takes longer to turn over, the brew temp of the espresso shots varied much wider than the HandPresso.

Conclusions

You’re going to have to spend $149 or so for the MyPressi Twist, and you’ll only pay $88 or so for the Handpresso. You won’t have to buy refills of N02 cartridges for the HandPresso, but you don’t have to pump the MyPressi as it uses the N02 cartridges to produce the pressure needed to pull a shot of single serve espresso. It’s a trade off, but the Handpresso is so much lighter and easier to use, we’d rather pump a shot any day over having the bulk and mess of the MyPressi Twist and it’s complicated brew head puzzle.

At MyPressi and MyPressi Twist

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