Caffeine-dishly Smart Idea…

…or is in-car DIY espresso just another driver distraction?

DIY espresso in the car: If you’re falling asleep behind the wheel, or just Jonesing for your tenth caffeine hit of the morning … you might never have to endure another bad roadhouse espresso coffee again. This plug-in 12-volt espresso maker takes coffee on the go to a whole new level.

A Danish innovator has develoed the portable in-car espresso-making Handpresso Auto Mobile, which went on sale in France in February, and is now available in 25 countries. It’s $149. All you do is fill with water and plug it into the car’s 12-volt (ciggie lighter) outlet. Wait two minutes, and pour out an allegedly perfect espresso.

This 12-volt espresso maker is more sophisticated than you might imagine, too, with 16 atmospheres of pressure inside, and the coffee infused through a filter pack.

The Handpresso 12V espresso maker is an adaptation of the late Henrik Neilson’s first Handpresso device (the ‘Handpresso Wild’), which was conceived because Mr Neilson, a coffee junkie who travelled extensively, and got fed up with having to tolerate bad espresso far too frequently.

Handpresso’s distributors are keen to point out – obviously – that you should pull over and stop before percolating a brew. How many drivers do you think might fail to heed this advice?

More information? www.handpresso.com