Staresso Manual Coffee maker

Drinking a nice cup of coffee has become part of my daily routine. For the times when I am not able to use my Delonghi bean-to-cup coffee machine to make my coffee, I needed to get a portable coffee maker which could make great coffee with ground coffee and which does not cost too much. Hence when I found the Staresso Manual coffee maker for £29.99 on, I had to buy this to try.

The Staresso manual coffee maker comes securely packed in a cardboard box which should protect it from damage during transit. It comes with the accessories all stowed inside the coffee maker. It can be used to make French plus (stronger coffee), espresso or even cold brew coffee, something which I’ve never heard of.

Staresso Manual Coffee Maker
Makes French plus coffee (strong), cold brew and espresso
Compact Staresso coffee maker

It comes with clear instructions which give tips on how to get the most out of the machine, both for making the coffee and also for frothing milk.

Instruction manual

The receptable to the left is the water storage compartment, whereas the right is the double-walled drinking cup. The fully assembled coffee maker is placed on top of the drinking cup so it is held in a stable position for making the coffee. The metal coffee filter and the black plastic milk frother are at the top of the picture. These are used for making the coffee and frothy milk respectively.

The two receptacles and the metal coffee filter and milk frother

The manual air pump fits on the top of the water chamber to pressurise the chamber which then forces the hot water through the tamped coffee grounds. The holder of the coffee filter or the milk frother are to the left of the air pump assembly. The air pump piston can be locked in place to make it shorter and easier for transportation or storage.

Various parts included – two extra rubber rings for the air pump

The coffee scoop also serves as a coffee tamping device to compact down the coffee grounds. With the ground coffee I had available, even with fairly strong tamping I was still only able to get about 8 g of ground coffee into the coffee filter (unlike the 10 g quoted by the instructions).

Coffee scoop also usable to tamp down the coffee grounds
Maximum level for coffee grounds

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