For a long time, espresso and all the joys that it brings, has been just out of reach for the average home-brewer. That is until Wacaco came along with the Nanopresso and changed all that. 

We've put together a simple guide on how to use the Wacaco Nanapresso, but there are hundreds of brew guides for the Nanopresso out there, so we thought it would be a nice idea to explore some of the espresso-based drinks that become an option when you have a Nanopresso.

What you need

• Wacaco Nanopresso
• Grinder
• 8g good quality fresh coffee (16g for the Barista Kit)
• Boiling water

Optional Extras

• Wacaco Barista Kit
• Scale

Brew Guide

Step 1: Preheat

When brewing with the Nanopresso, it is extremely important that you preheat the brewer. If you don't preheat your Nanopresso, the brewer will absorb most of the heat from the water, and by the time the water gets to the coffee, it will be too cold for a decent extraction. To preheat the Nanopresso, just fill the chamber with water, put it all together and pump it through the brewer once.

Step 2: Grind

Grind 8g of fresh, good quality coffee (Grind 16g if you are using the Barista Kit). You want to grind this relatively fine, somewhere between how you would grind for Aeropress and how you would grind for espresso. If your grinder doesn't go fine enough for espresso, grinding it on the finest setting should be just about right, if it does go fine enough for espresso, you want to move it a few clicks coarser.

Step 3: Dose and tamp

Insert your coffee into the basket and compress the ground coffee by tamping it. If you have purchased the Barista Kit, you will have a handy little tamper for this. If you just have the regular Nanopresso, the scoop is designed to fit neatly into the basket and works perfectly as a tamper.

Step 4: Add water

Fill the water tank with boiling water. Since heat will be lost as you pump the water through the Nanopresso, you don't want to use water off the boil. Instead, you want to use water that is at a rolling boil. By the time the water reaches the coffee, it should be at an optimum temperature for brewing espresso.

Step 5: Pump

Assemble the Nanopresso and start pressing the pump slowly (about 1 pump per second) until the liquid starts to pour from the spout. When pulling your espresso shot, you don't want to pull all the water through the coffee. For the regular Nanopresso, you want to make about 15g of espresso and with the Barista Kit, about 30g of espresso.

Step 6: Enjoy

And there you have it.  A quick, easy and well-extracted espresso shot.

Check out Wacacos video brew guide below.

Now, let's talk about all the things you can do now that you have espresso at home!

Interesting Espresso Ideas

While espresso on its own is a delicious drink to savour, the experience can be quite a short one. If you want to sit and savour a longer drink, here are some of our favourite espresso drink ideas.

The Usual Suspects

Before we get into some of the more out-there ideas, let's point out the usual suspects and get them out of the way. The Nanopresso is a fantastic option for making all the espresso-based drinks you might be used to. Americanos, cappuccinos, lattes and flat whites can all be made from the comfort of your own home with a Nanopresso. If you want to make milk-based drinks, why not check out our Bialetti milk frother.

Espresso Tonic

The espresso tonic truly is a drink that is greater than the sum of its parts. It's one of my all-time favourite drinks for a hot summer's day, plus, it's incredibly simple to make! 

Ingredients:

• Double shot of espresso
• Tonic water
• Lemon zest
• Ice

How to:

1. Add ice and tonic water to a glass
2. Pour double espresso over the iced tonic water
3. Squeeze the oils from the lemon zest into the glass and rub the rind on the rim of the glass
4. Garnish with a twist of lemon zest
5. Enjoy!

Espresso Old Fashioned

Coffee cocktails have been real crowd pleasers for as long as coffee and cocktails have existed! This caffeinated twist on a classic cocktail is no exception!

Ingredients:

• Double shot of espresso
• Double shot (50ml) of Irish Whiskey
• 2 x teaspoons dark demerara sugar
• Dash of Angostura bitters
• Ice
• Orange peel

How to:

1. In a cocktail shaker, add your hot espresso, sugar and 5 shakes of Angostura bitters. Stir vigorously to dissolve the sugar. Adding the sugar to the hot espresso, before you add ice, will help it dissolve easier.
2. Add ice and whisky
3. Stir until the shaker has frosted and the volume of the liquid has doubled from melted ice
4. Strain over ice
5. Squeeze the oils from the zest of an orange into a lighter flame over the surface of the drink (optional)
6. Garnish with a twist of orange peel.
7. Enjoy!

Affogato

Coffee and ice cream - what could possibly go wrong with this grown-up twist on a childhood favourite. While we will concede that it technically isn't a drink, It truly is too delicious to ignore.

Ingredients:

• A scoop of your favourite ice cream
• A double espresso of your favourite coffee

How to:

1. Put the ice cream in a bowl
2. Pour the espresso over the ice cream
3. Garnish with toasted nuts of your choosing
4. Enjoy!

Any other ideas?

And there you have it! There's actually quite a lot that you can do with a Nanopresso. Have you found any other drink ideas that you enjoy? Feel free to share them in the comments section below!