Zyliss Smart Café

[sbooder]

Hi all,
doing a very short tour from where I live in France (just below Versailles) to Sandwich in UK (my home town) and back, in July. I am gathering utensils for food & drink at the moment and am trying to lighten from last tour. Has anyone taken one of these: Zyliss Smart Café on a tour? and if so how did it perform please? Link below.

Many thanks.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zyliss-Cafetiere-Hot-Mug-Grey/dp/B00COEXKJI/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_201_bs_lp_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=472W073PFNW2XSY0Z176

[buryman]

An excellent piece of kit. It's my "coffee machine" at home.

[sbooder]

Thanks buryman. I like the idea of proper coffee while on the road. I take it, it will work with loose tea too?

[SussexMan]

Yes. I'd endorse them as well. Have one at home and one at work. Never tried them with tea but can't see why not.

[foxyrider]

If you are trying to lighten things why are you adding this? Sorry doesn't compute

[Bez]

I've not used mine on the bike but I've used one for probably 20 years at home and camping and wouldn't be without one.

If you are trying to lighten things why are you adding this? Sorry doesn't compute

You don't know the starting weight

If you want decent coffee and you have a small stove then this is the easiest and probably lightest way to go about it. A few years back I did a couple of long nocturnal rides with a miniature mocha pot, using a tiny stove with the gas canister stashed inside a Myti mug. Then I discovered chocolate-covered coffee beans and decided they were easier to carry and didn't involve brewing up in a layby in freezing drizzle

[sbooder]

Good question. Mainly by replacing existing cup, which is heavier than the Smart Cafe, and I can have proper coffee with no extra paraphernalia.

[sbooder]

I should add I use a Kelly kettle, so no need for the cup to be metal.

[meic]

Another option (though not for tea as it stews) is to learn to drink your coffee unfiltered, just sip carefully and spit out the bits that get through. A quarter of a billion Indonesians consider this the normal way to have drinks.

[sbooder]

Another option (though not for tea as it stews) is to learn to drink your coffee unfiltered, just sip carefully and spit out the bits that get through. A quarter of a billion Indonesians consider this the normal way to have drinks.

That's fine, but I prefer not to.

[thirdcrank]

Some years ago, Lakeland sold these or something very similar and somebody bought my wife and me one each on the "just what you need" theory.

Not much point at home where we have several cafetières in different sizes so we tried them at work. Nothing wrong with them but they don't fit in with group drink making so they were soon off to the charity shop.

The idea - a virtually unbreakable cafetière which you can drink from - is sound, but a bit of a solution looking for a problem. You may have hit on the problem they can solve: comfortable camping or travel more generally.

Apart from that, I'd say that Zyliss quality is good. Parts of their range often turn up a TKmaxx although not necessarily the item you want. Always worth a look there first if you have a branch handy, but beware you don't end up with something equally useful like a pizza cutter or herb chopper.

Edited for an embarrassing lapse of grammar

[Bez]

Yeah, if several of you always have coffee at once then a normal cafetiere makes more sense. If (like me) you're the only coffee drinker in the house, however, these are easier and quicker than having a separate cafetiere.

[sbooder]

Thanks for the feedback all!

[northernrebel]

We took one of these on our last couple of tours, handy if you're making a couple of cups and easy to clean afterwards as you just pull out the entire filter paper with the grounds still in it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Melitta-Coffee ... ilter+cone

I have taken a 2 cup mocha maker before, but found it tricky on the stove top due to its small diameter. I have an aeropress I use at work that I still haven't decided whether to take away with us this year. Makes nice coffee, but I've never used it in the wild.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Coffee-Tea-E ... B000GXZ2GS

[sbooder]

My coffee mug arrived yesterday and I have used it for every coffee and I like it. The bonus is, I have a Christmas cracker mini cheese grater and a separating knife with spoon and fork built in and it all fits inside with the lid keeping it all secure and saving that tiny bit of space.