the ROK Presso

The ROK espresso maker is one that MacGyver would surely have wanted. You fill it with ground coffee and hot water, then make the brew pushing down the two levers simultaneously with your hands. Plain, efficient and beautiful. No electricity needed, the brewing process is completely mechanical and man-powered (meaning you). Made of high tensile strength aluminum, so it is hard to break too. The only real downside is that it does not come with a boiler, but most city-dwellers easily gain access to a functional kettle.

At first sight one may doubt that this small unit is capable of building up enough pressure. Still, due to its cleverly constructed cylinder and piston you can conveniently exert the right amount of force to supply the needed pressure. Make sure that the coffee is ground very fine and you tampered it down well enough into the portafilter. Some users also suggest overfilling the water reservoir to gain more pressure (after the extraction of the espresso the extra water should remain in the machine, it sole function is to help to build up more pressure inside). Be very careful, since you may brake the instrument and harm yourself if apply this trick the wrong way and over-pressure it. Just drain the left-over water into another cup afterwards.

In the end, you do need to experiment to see what the optimal combination is, but this device is capable of producing a great espresso with delicious crema. Make sure you look at the available instructional videos, people tend to prefer them over the booklet.

The unit builds on the heritage of the long-extinct Italian Diana machines’ design, but ROK espresso maker’s immediate predecessor – Presto – was launched around ten years ago. There were two main complaints about it: the arms were feeble and sometimes broke plus the entire unit was a bit unstable. With almost over a decade of manufacturing experience, these imperfections are now issues of the past. The arms have been fortified and the new unit does not move around much thanks to its rubber feet.

dimensions: (hwd) 12.2 x 8 x 10.5 ” · net weight: 7 pounds

This video walks you through making a latte with ROK. Ragtime piano music.

The ROK espresso maker comes with 10 year warranty, a frother and a tamper-spoon in a tin box. If squeezing creamy espresso using bare hands sounds tempting to you, go for this British machinery.