Instant coffee at camp does the job, but nobody looks forward to it. The Wacaco Minipresso GR is a small, hand-pumped espresso maker that takes ground coffee and needs no power, so you can have something closer to a real coffee wherever you’ve parked.
Featured inBest Camping Coffee Maker of 2026
We paid $70 for ours and have been using it on recent weekend trips. It lives in the car: we keep it in our Titan drawers with some ground coffee, so it’s always there when we want it.
What You’re Getting
A hand-operated espresso maker for ground coffee, with a built-in cup, a scoop and a storage pouch. You add the coffee and hot water; the pressure comes from pumping the piston by hand.
The good
- Compact: it stays in the car
- Robust: nothing electric to break
- Feels really solid
- Good storage pouch included
- Better than instant coffee
- No power or cartridges needed
The not-so-good
- Hand pump makes it a bit cumbersome
- Uses fresh water to clean up
- The coffee isn’t fantastic
Quick Specs
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Brand | Wacaco |
| Model | Minipresso GR |
| Weight | 379 g |
| Size | 17.5 × 7 × 6 cm |
| Coffee | Ground coffee |
| Operation | Hand pumpNo power needed |
| Water tank | 70 ml |
| Makes | Up to 50 ml of espresso |
| Included | CupScoopStorage pouch |
Size, build and storage
The Minipresso is easy and compact: about the size of a small drink bottle. That’s why ours never leaves the car. It sits in the drawers in its pouch with a bag of ground coffee, and takes up next to no room.
It feels really solid in the hand. Because it works with a hand pump, there’s no battery, motor or heating element inside, which makes it very robust. It’s the sort of thing that can rattle around in a drawer for months without anything going wrong. The storage pouch that comes with it is a good one, and keeps the parts together and the dust out.
Making a coffee
You need hot water first, so the kettle goes on the stove. Then it’s four steps: fill the filter basket with ground coffee using the scoop, pour the hot water into the tank, screw everything together, then unlock the piston and pump.
The hand pump is what makes it a bit more cumbersome than other ways of making camp coffee. You pump with one hand while holding the machine over the cup with the other, and each fill makes one shot. For two people, that means doing it twice.
How the coffee tastes
It’s not fantastic, but it’s definitely better than drinking instant coffee. You get a short, strong shot with a layer of crema on top, made from the ground coffee you like. Don’t expect what comes out of a café machine.
Cleaning up
Be aware that you will use a bit of your fresh water supply to clean it after each coffee. The used grounds need knocking out, and the filter basket, the outlet and the cup need a rinse. On a weekend trip that’s no problem; if you’re counting litres on a longer trip, it’s worth factoring in.
Conclusion: Wacaco Minipresso GR
The Wacaco Minipresso GR is a compact, very robust little espresso maker that feels really solid and comes with a good storage pouch. It lives in our drawers with some ground coffee, and the coffee it makes isn’t fantastic but is definitely better than instant. The hand pump makes it a bit cumbersome, and cleaning it uses some of your fresh water. I paid $70 for it. For coffee lovers who want a step up from instant on weekend trips, it’s a good buy.
A compact 379 g hand-pumped espresso maker for ground coffee that feels really solid and lives in the car in its pouch.
The coffee isn’t fantastic but beats instant. Pumping is a bit cumbersome and cleaning uses some fresh water.
- Coffee lovers
- 4WD tourers
- Weekend trips
Yes, if you want better coffee than instant without carrying much. $70 buys a very robust little machine with a cup, a scoop and a pouch. If you want café-quality espresso at camp, this isn’t it.
