The Outin Nano transportable coffee maker. Photograph through Howard Bryman.
Within the aggressive marketplace of transportable coffee brewers, the Outin Nano, a lighthouse-shaped tool with a integrated pump and onboard warmth, goals to be a beacon of each comfort and consistency.
Maximum units designed for brewing coffee at the cross are manually pumped and can not warmth water. In smaller hand held codecs, particularly, this has a tendency to imply a herky-jerky drift as brew drive drops between guide compressions. The wish to warmth water externally additional sinks the possibility of a couple of particular sips within the wild to an enterprise simply too bulky and probably wasteful to be value it.
With its skill now not simplest to deliver a small and exact quantity of water as much as a constant and brew-worthy temperature but additionally to routinely ship that water at prime, even drive thru a mattress of finely flooring espresso (or a tablet) on the unmarried press of 1 button and in a package deal that matches in a backpack water bottle sleeve, the Nano blazes a brand new path.
Coffee mise en position: The Outin Nano setup. Photograph through Howard Bryman.
In the meantime, at house, any coffee device value its salt hardly ever prices not up to a number of hundred greenbacks. Outin sells the Nano for $149.99 and the essential Basket Plus accent for $39.90 — a compelling base line for some degree of access to coffee regardless of the place one intends to brew it.
A Rising Startup
An unbiased startup based in 2021, Outin’s undertaking is to make contemporary coffee more uncomplicated to revel in within the nice outside.
Lately headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Outin introduced the Nano in January 2023 and has fine-tuned it over a number of iterations since then. A complete group devoted to the Nano’s endured construction and toughen now rounds out the ranks at Outin, which has additionally introduced in dozens of baristas and occasional pros for comments and concepts.
Outin representatives also are appearing up in individual with cubicles at business displays, together with the 2024 SCA Expo in Chicago this previous April. In June, on the Global of Espresso match in Copenhagen, Denmark, Outin was once a sponsor of the Global Latte Artwork Championship. Obviously, the corporate is making each effort now not simplest to attraction to the backpacker set but additionally to construct a emblem and merchandise that earn the distinction of strong point espresso aficionados and pros.
The Nano Revel in
The appreciably robust and water-resistant plastic fuselage of the Nano instilled self belief from the instant I unboxed it and gave it an preliminary rinse. Brewing with grounds slightly than pills brings a few the Nano’s incorporated further fine details into play which might be moderately fiddly in the beginning, and may well be complicated for newcomers, however because the workflow grows acquainted, it’s truly lovely easy.
Outin equipped the Basket Plus accent for my assessments, and for the extra skilled or formidable coffee lover, it is a must-have. The Plus bumps capability as much as a most of 18 grams of flooring espresso, and as an erstwhile person of conventional coffee apparatus, I will be able to scarcely see myself falling in love with the rest that holds much less.
The metal basket at the proper is the “Basket Plus” a must have accent, when put next with the inventory basket at the left. Photograph through Howard Bryman.
On the base of the metal Plus basket spreads a conventional array of clear out holes, and then, like a spouted portafilter, some other layer of metal directs the movement thru a unmarried broad hollow towards the cup. The standard of coffee and crema are in large part dependent at the bean, dose and grind, even supposing Outin asserts that the slight resistance of this constrained go out drift supplies some further balance to the brewing drive.
Every other profitable accent (offered one at a time for $49.90) is the Nano Twin Stand, a good-looking, light-weight walnut holder that transforms the Nano from backcountry brew baton to an exquisite desk bound brew station. In particular in my crowded espresso nook the place house is proscribed, I revel in its glance and capability — it doubles as a pour-over station, conserving a pour-over brewer over a mug for drip espresso brewing.
The Nano brewer itself carried out flawlessly, and but the Nano isn’t essentially for everybody. Its settings can’t be adjusted, nor can a person know precisely what drive or temperature it’s making use of or when. Dialing in a espresso on a black field just like the Nano is because of this extra concerning the Nano than the espresso.
The Outin Nano transportable coffee maker plays exceptionally nicely for its worth class. Photograph through Howard Bryman.
The usual process (with the Basket Plus) will probably be acquainted to any individual who’s ready coffee sooner than. A gram scale is useful for dosing consistency and precision, and a excellent grinder could also be crucial for buying the most efficient effects.
I weigh out 18 grams of complete beans, grind finely and cargo the grounds into the basket during the incorporated dosing funnel. I stir with a WDT (Weiss Distribution Methodology) instrument to lightly distribute the grounds and get a divorce any clumps, faucet the basket at the counter to settle the fluffed-up grounds, press it with the tamper, seal the basket with its cap, thread it onto the Nano, pour some water within the best and press the button.
Outin additionally sells additional baskets, so the choice is there to take care of most of these steps prematurely and lift a couple of further prepped-and-ready baskets for brewing at the cross.
Cleanup is modest because the espresso is totally remoted inside the basket, so the frame of the Nano wishes just a slight rinse after every brew. One can use the ground of the incorporated plastic cup for knocking the spent espresso puck unfastened from the basket, making it simple to toss right into a compost bin, and all of the different brewing items rinse blank in seconds. The Nano’s equipment, in the meantime, don’t completely break out some kvetching. The stand, which isn’t required for brewing however is a pleasing choice, is probably refined; a substitute shipped promptly through Outin has held up effectively, however the first one I examined broke throughout commonplace use. (The corporate says it’s creating a sturdier model.)
The Basket Plus’s incorporated single-wire WDT instrument is slightly anemic; it really works, however multi-needle equipment paintings a lot better. The steel funnel and self-leveling tamper incorporated with the Plus are considerate and well-made necessities, however for the reason that tamper is a fixed-depth tool, the dose and grind stay the one variables affecting puck density. And the multilayer development of the clear out basket has a tendency to carry a tiny little bit of water after rinsing, which leads one to wonder if it’s ever totally blank or dry.
An Total Winner
Those minor quibbles apart, when paired with a becoming espresso, grind and dose, the Nano undeniably cranks out high quality coffee pictures.
For newbies and for tablet lovers, the Nano is a slam dunk. The elemental equipment is amusing, sturdy, simple to be told and as packable as a flashlight. The Basket Plus can later supply an academic platform to delve deeper into the craft and yield much more pleasing effects.
Execs
● Transportable and handy
● Additionally suitable for house use
● In a position to generating excellent coffee
● Reasonably priced
● Self-heating
● Suitable with standard-size Nespresso pills along with flooring espresso
Cons
● Settings can’t be adjusted
● Calls for the Basket Plus for highest revel in
● Minor quibbles with extras and add-ons
