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Out of the BoxClassic SP-200
I admit, I didn’t have high expectations for the Staresso Classic, SP-200 espresso maker when the company agreed to send me a test unit. It retails for around $55 (after various coupons applied) and I had a bad experience with a similar device – the Wacaco Nanopresso – a few years ago.
When the package arrived, there was a pleasant amount of surprise when unboxing. The Staresso had some heft and feel to it. The grip on the brewing chamber body felt good with a tactile silicone diamond pattern. It had an incorporated shot glass that was actually made out of a thick glass! Even the action on the pump was slick: locked into place, a quarter turn pops it out with a nice fluid motion. Pressing wasn’t all that hard to get your shot results.
Staresso could be on to something here.
The Staresso Classic SP-200 ships in a cardboard box that unfortunately has a lot of styrofoam and difficult-to-recycle materials inside. They could have easily wrapped it in thick cardboard and it would be just as safe. On the plus side, the brewer itself is wrapped in a 07 CPE biodegradable bag.
Inside the box is the brewer, all assembled, along with a cleaning brush and tool, and two o-rings that there’s absolutely no instructions for (I assume they are replacements for the pump’s piston where it mates with the bottom of the reservoir). There is a small scoop that also doubles as a tamper.
There is also a nespresso adapter included in the box, which is quite nice considering other portable espresso makers charge you extra for this sort of thing.
There is a full manual that could use better writing, and a fold out pamphlet that could use even better writing. There’s also some confusion – the manual says you can use the piston pump to froth milk directly; the fold out pamphlet says buy another product from Staresso to do this. Don’t do this with the Staresso Classic’s pump. Please.
The overall construction of the brewer is good. Steel and metal where it counts, glass for the receptacle, and a nice textured grip. The device is essentially two parts: the business end where the brewing takes place, and the glass receptacle end.
Looking at the glass portion of the brewer, a thick 120ml squared off shot glass sites in a thick plastic cage that has a rubberized base. Fit and finish is nice and tight. A mounting collar screws onto the top of the glass portion, allowing you to connect the brewing portion of the device.
The brewing portion of the device is made up of the pump and cap, water reservoir, “portafilter” and filter basket. The main body is encased in a diamond patterned silicone sleeve that is easy to grip and insulates some of the interior water temperatures.
Up top is the cap and pump assembly. The pump is well designed, and when not in use, locks down into a compact position in the cap with a quarter turn. The pump handle is made out of metal, as is the main pump assembly under the cap. The pump action is very fluid and feels well made.
The main water reservoir is steel and has marks at the 60 and 80ml levels for your brewing water. Along with the silicone outer sleeve, it insulates and maintains (somewhat) the brewing water temperature’s heat. At the bottom of the reservoir is a hole directly down to a dispersion screen at the bottom of the reservoir. This hole is plugged when the top cap and piston is screwed on; all brewing water passes through the piston pump to the dispersion screen below when in operation.
The dispersion screen for the device is located underneath the water reservoir, and can be removed for a deep cleaning of the device. It’s a standard dispersion screen design, about the size of a quarter.
The device’s “portafilter” attaches to the reservoir chamber by screwing it into place. Made of a thick, textured and knurled plastic, it is easy to screw on or off. This portafilter is also what marries into the lower receptacle and its mating collar, when you are brewing a shot.
The filter basket is made out of metal, and can hold 8g of ground coffee (it can be pushed to 9g+, more on that below). The Staresso also ships with a nespresso capsule adapter that fits right inside this filter basket. We did not test the device with nespresso capsules.
The filter basket’s actual filter is made up of plastic and rubber. I won’t lie, i don’t like the design. It is also a “pressurized” basket with a spring loaded, single hole exit spout, that supposedly can be unscrewed somewhat to make it less (or more) pressurized. This is here both for nespresso capsule use (which require it) or because a lot of people use this device with preground coffee, which only does well visually with pressurized baskets.
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Using theClassic SP-200
I went into using this device with low expectations, based on experience with the Handpresso and Nanopresso, but I was game to give the Staresso Classic a fair shot.
After a thorough cleaning, I gave everything a solid pre-heat soak with boiling water. 8g of coffee was ground in a Timemore Chestnut C3s Pro hand grinder with a “7” setting, the same I use for the Cafelat Robot. Coffee dosed, tamped with the included tiny scoop, and I assembled everything in order to make the shot of espresso.
It took 9 pumps to build up pressure. The 10th pump delivered a rather violent squirt of crema. Another 7 or 8 rather resistant pumps to dose out roughly 40ml (visual) of espresso. It looked like espresso, but the crema was fairly blond.
First taste: something was quite off. The shot was very gritty. Like, really gritty. The filter design had let way too much ground coffee pass into the cup. The shot was also very thin, lacking body or flavour. Time to recalibrate and re-think this.
All the Main Parts
All the main bits of the Staresso Classic. From left to right: portafilter, pump cap, reservoir and dispersion screen tube, rubber filter and pressurized spout, shot glass, mating collar (behind glass), filter holder, and glass cage.
Using the Staresso Classic
It was quickly evident that there were limitations around the 8g max dose, and the plastic/rubber filter parts of the machine’s filter basket. Could I work around those limitations?
First thing was to adjust the grind: I went from 7 to 9 on the Timemore, which is a big jump in espresso grinding talk. The next thing I did was to see if I could eek out 1 more gram of coffee in the Staresso. Turns out it is possible, but the filter basket is pretty much maxed out.
The preheating I did had ok results, but it was made better by filling and emptying the reservoir chamber with boiling water 2 times after the coffee ws ground, and everything was assembled. Boiling water is then poured into the reservoir up to the 80ml marker, and the cap and pump lid was screwed on.
The other change I did was to not use all the reservoir water in my shot pull. It meant a messier cleanup, but I set a target to brew about 25-30ml (visual) of espresso, and try tasting that.
So… 9 pumps. 10th starts a bit of violent squirt of crema to the glass cup. 8 more pumps to get to just past the 30ml marker line on the Staresso’s shot glass. This time, the crema looked a lot better. The pump was a tad easier to use (the coarser grind). When I unscrewed the cup from the main brewing body, I could actually smell some decent aroma this time. Now for a sip.
Still some grit and “texture” to the shot, but a lot less than my first attempts. The shot was a lot more balanced and better heat as well. No where near the quality that comes out of a Cafelat Robot, or any Flair lever espresso machine. It was on the thin side, and I couldn’t taste many of the flavour nuances I know and love from the Peoples’ Daily blend from Social.
But it was espresso. I measured the TDS and extraction yield. The latter was at 16.9%, not far off the 20% range I usually get on a well tuned electric machine. I went back into my notes to look at the two times I measured the Nanopresso, and both times it was under 14%. There is potential here.
All in all, I brewed about 40 shots with the Staresso Classic. I found going to 10 on the Timemore grinder reduced the grit even more, but a weaker overall shot. 9 seemed to produce the best results, but with some grit. I also took to making americanos with the device: adding 60ml of boiling water to the glass beaker, and brewing another 25-30ml of espresso right into that. It didn’t taste horrible.
The Ups and Downs of the Staresso Classic
The pump system on the Staresso Classic is much nicer than that on the Wacaco Nanopresso, with a better feel in use, and better quality of materials. The use of metal in the Staresso is not only an upscale addition, but aids with keeping things hot as long as you preheat it well enough. The materials used are very good quality and even have a hint of ‘premium’ feel to them.
I also like the fact that almost everything about the device can be broken down, disassembled for an easy clean.
Though I did not test with nespresso, it is worth pointing out this is a capable nespresso brewer and probably will brew just as good, if not better, than Nestle’s royalty-receiving third party nespresso machines you plug in. For many, that’s a nice perk: pack a few nespresso capsules, this device, and a hot water heater and you have no muss, no fuss, no mess “espresso” out in the wild. And unlike the Wacaco Nanopresso, you don’t have to pay extra for the capsule compatibility with the Staresso Classic.
Now for the downsides. There’s three main problems with the Staresso Classic: usability; coffee dose; and that filter basket design.
On usability, banging out shot after shot is a messy affair. The coffee puck from the filter is always wet and with remaining water on top, and trying to dump it out often results in coffee grounds all over the place.
The dose is not good. Even pushing to 9g doesn’t provide a lot of improvement. 8g is just too small an amount for what people expect from espresso these days. The bare minimum should be 10-12g for a single, and 14g for a starting double. I don’t know if the design of this device can upscale to that volume of coffee used; after all, it is a hand pumped device.
Third… the filter basket. I feel Staresso could have done way better here. The rubber and plastic filter material is a big turn off. It also lets too much grit pass into the cup. It’s awkward to use, awkward to dump, and the pressurized side of it is just so meh.
I’d like to see the filter area redesigned to a) incorporate a wider diameter filter basket, and b) one that is just a normal filter basket design: steel, filter hole pattern in the steel bottom, and one that can hold at least 12g of coffee.
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ConclusionExpedition Brewer
The next time I take a mountain bike backroads daytrip, will I pack the Staresso Classic along with a Jetboil and a Timemore C3ESP Pro grinder, just so I can sit on a cliff ledge, overlooking some valley below, drinking a freshly made espresso?
Probably not. I mean, it does make espresso. With a lot of tuning, it makes okay espresso. But I don’t know if the effort is worth it.
And I say that as someone who has a very romanticized, idyllic dream of being an outdoor adventurer who is often seen sitting on a cliff edge, overlooking a valley, while savoring an espresso made in the great outdoors. Maybe if I was into nespresso… no, that will never happen.
We haven’t talked about price yet. At $55 average price, you’re getting a lot with this brewer. Good construction, quality materials, lots of metal for good heat up, and an easy to use pump system. A lot of our rating points derive from the quality of build and materials, and the very economical price.
You are getting a defacto capsule brewer that can brew a shot of nespresso coffee just as well as your average nespresso machine can, but this one you can toss into your suitcase and use with a plain kettle at your destination. Pack it with a hand grinder, and you can get fresh ground shots that are going to taste better than your nespresso capsule coffee, albeit with more cleanup and fuss.
Usability is a challenge. The dose is also a challenge. And the filter basket needs a redo. But at the end of the day, this $55 device does produce drinkable single shots of espresso, and there’s room to experiment and tweak. It’s also good enough that it will replace the Handpresso currently sitting in one of the custom siphon travel Pelican cases I made a while back.
Overall, we rate this product as average, and give it a slight recommendation if you really want on-the-go espresso from fresh ground coffee. It’s better than both the Handpresso and Wacaco Nanopresso. Just don’t expect Cafelat Robot quality shots from it. Do expect a lot more cleanup and fuss.
One Response
I thought I was the only one who had one of these. Nice post and great site.