10 Best Portable Coffee Makers UK (2021)

You will have heard about the Aeropress. It was one of the very first proper portable machines on the market which made coffee that was actually worth drinking.

So, step up the Aeropress Go. The only annoying thing about the original is that it wasn’t an all-in-one – you needed to take a separate cup with you to drink out of. But the Go is the full whammy, with a sleeve which can be doubled up as a cup.

It can be washed in the top shelf of the dishwasher when finished with, and when not in use, the case will keep it safe. The use of air pressure makes great coffee, and it can be used for work trips, camping or even as your full-time morning coffee maker.

Lightweight and simple to use, this is the perfect companion for any trips or travelling, but the coffee it produces tastes so good that there’s nothing to stop you using it at home too.

It simply uses gentle air pressure to produce a smooth, consistent brew in under 30 seconds. Unlike pour on/drip coffee makers which may miss some of the flavours by only concentrating on extracting the central grounds, the extraction from the AeroPress is uniform. There is no over-brewing or overheating to damage the taste, either.

Just put a paper filter into the little holder, put this in the chamber and pop your grounds in. Place over a cup or mug, and add hot water to the chamber. Then press down, and the water will go through the coffee grounds and into your cup. Easy, pretty foolproof and no mess created.

Because of the quickness, there is no bitterness caused by it sitting for too long. You don’t have to wait for it to warm up as you pour already heated water into the chamber, and it diffuses as you push so you don’t have to sit and wait for it to mix by itself.

It does use paper filters, which may put some people off due to the fact they aren’t reusable, and you throw them away. But there are some compatible metal filters out there if you want something a bit more permanent you can care for and reuse.

It takes a bit of experimentation to get just right too. The recommended coffee use is one spoonful, but if you prefer something with a bit more kick, then two may be better. Finer ground coffee is also recommended, but you may prefer the taste of coarser. The good news is, it is open to your choice.

Bodum is a name synonymous with coffee, thanks to their expertise and wide range of products such as vacuum coffee makers, travel flasks and cafetières.

This travel French Press combines the latter two products into one handy on-the-go coffee maker. Pop the coffee in, add boiling water and let it brew before using the filter to separate the liquid from the grounds. The non-stick rubber base and silicone band around the press makes it easy to set down and hold without burning yourself/risking it slipping, and it feels really comfortable to grip as a bonus too.

We really liked that the vacuum aspect of this maker kept the coffee warm for around an hour, which is something a lot of other portable makers struggle with a bit due to lightweight materials. There is a stopper at the close which you can make use of in between sips, which retains the heat but also prevents large spillages when it is in your bag, or you’re dashing for the train.

Drinking or pouring from a travel flask is also something we understand to be a bit hit-and-miss from past experience. You either seem to get a dribble at a time, or it comes out so fast you’re faced with a mouthful of burning coffee. Just turn the lid of this one, and you can adjust the flow speed and force to suit.

If you add milk, this can go into the drinking slot (the shape of which stops it spilling), or pre-plunge. Cleaning is straightforward – a rinse will keep it clean, and deeper washes can be done by hand with a bit of dish soap to keep it looking new and prevent product build-up.

All in all, a super handy bit of kit for all those coffee lovers who don’t have enough time for a sit-down in the morning before they head out for the day.

Able to brew a cup of coffee in just four minutes with almost no fuss or mess, the Brew It Stick is an all-in-one portable maker which uses ground coffee, able to buy almost anywhere.

Just fill the basket with 15g of the coffee, pop the stick in the mug you are going to drink out of and pour in the hot water through the stick. When the mug is full, stop pouring and then steep the coffee to determine the strength. Four minutes is the recommended time, but we know that everyone loves coffee their own way so it gives you that flexibility.

The basket has been designed to give your coffee the ultimate water to coffee contact ratio. When it is brewed, the heat resistant plastic stick is easy to remove, and it comes with a little stand so you can avoid trailing drips all over your work desk until you get a chance to wash it.

As a bonus, you can also use it with tea leaves, so it could be a great gadget to take camping if you love both coffee and tea but don’t want to take everything but the kitchen sink with you.

The Wacaco Minipresso has long been a firm favourite for anyone who loves to have coffee on the go, and it has now been given a modern upgrade.

The Nanopresso is an upgraded version of the original Minipresso, needing 15% less force to pump and being smaller and lighter yet higher capacity.

The original version of this model was used solely with coffee grounds, and the pre-heated water would mix with the grounds with a few presses of the piston on the side of the tube. This version can work with a dedicated NS adaptor (available to purchase separately), which can house Nespresso coffee pods so you have the choice of both or have a back up if you run out of one.

It is one of the smallest, lightest and toughest best portable coffee makers on the market, so great for anyone who might be burdened if they were to carry around a large mug or cafetière to do their coffee mixing.

The coffee it makes tastes great, too. With a possible 18 bars of pressure, it is delivered at a coffee-shop-standard level, without the fancy steam and unnecessary waiting times.

You don’t have to be going travelling to make use of this machine. It has so many fans who purely use it at home, as it helps them avoid bulky coffee machines in tiny kitchens or adding money to electricity bills. We agreed that we’d certainly be happy having our daily morning brews served up by the Nanopresso.

Described as the world’s first all-in-one pour-over coffeemaker which provides expert bean-to-cup brewing for coffee lovers. That is a lot to take in, so to put it simply, it can grind your beans, then make your coffee without the need for any extra items.

The ceramic burr grinder will turn your beans into grounds, then the lid of the unit acts as a pouring kettle with a dedicated spout. You just need to boil the water separately. There are bean level markers for 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 grams, so you don’t need to take any weights or try and guess the amounts. The water can drip through the grounds using the dedicated stainless steel filter dripper, so there’s no need for paper or cloth filters. The coffee is presented in the insulated tumbler, and it all fits together again to act as a carry mug which you can safely carry around with you.

It weighs just 470g on its own, so isn’t going to be a pain to carry around. It makes such good coffee that you can even use it at home, if you want something which makes the freshest coffee possible yet takes up barely any space.

The Cafflano Klassic was launched through a KickStarter campaign, and it is easy to see why it has so many backers. It is also easy to see why it has won various awards, such as Best Domestic Coffee Equipment (SCAE World of Coffee) and Most Innovative Product (New York Coffee Festival & Autumn Fair). You could say it is a little costly versus the other travel mugs we have on here, but it makes the most decent coffee by far and there will be many people reading this who can’t put a price on decent coffee, even when they are away from home.

With a double layered extraction filter, brewing stops as soon as the screen is pressed down, which will please anybody with previous experience of press coffee makers who don’t like the fact it continues to brew once pressed.

While the microfilters work to give you a great brew, Espro has also included a pack of paper filters if you want a more mellow taste, or a slower drip. These are perfect for finer grinds, as they can trap more, but also for a weaker taste as they’ll trap more oils.

The coffee will stay warm for a good while thanks to the stainless steel; we thought it was still perfectly drinkable after 3 hours. It is probably very unlikely you’ll last that long without needing a caffeine fix, though.

Cleaning it all is pretty straightforward – the filter is removable, and it can all be washed by hand. The only thing we would say is that the filter compacts the used coffee grounds right to the bottom of the flask to trap them, so if they are left for a while to dry this can be quite hard to remove. We would recommend cleaning it straight away if possible.

You may be thinking it is a lot of money compared to some of the others we have featured, for seemingly no difference in quality. But there was no sediment creeping through to the coffee, it feels sturdy which should last quite a few years if you take good care of it, and it genuinely doesn’t leak. We couldn’t get it to leak even just a little bit once everything was tightly in place. Obviously, it’s impossible to guarantee this won’t happen to you, but we would say there is little chance.

So it may be expensive, but you can’t deny you’re not getting what you are paying for.

With the function of a cafetière but in a handy transportable mug, the Zyliss Hot Mug is the perfect little coffee accompaniment for camping trips and picnics.

Just put in the ground coffee, pour on hot water and allow to infuse for a couple of minutes. Then, press down the mesh filter to separate the coffee from the sediment, and it is ready to drink. The lid will keep it warmer for longer, as well as allowing you to be on-the-go while you drink it.

It isn’t just coffee it can make, with any hot drink being possible. Whether it’s a warming cup of tea or a hot chocolate around the campfire, the easy function and storage make it possible.

When you get home, cleaning it all is as easy as popping it in the dishwasher, so you can get on with all the other things that come with having been away.

In theory, it should separate the coffee from the grounds, but a bit always got through when we tried it. It seems to come through a hole at the side of the plunger, which we guess is to relieve pressure when you push but seems a bit if a design flaw.

The filter also doesn’t stop the brewing process once it is pressed, like with some other models. This makes a bitter taste the longer you leave it.

It is available in grey, blue and red so that you can get one for all the family and everyone has their own to drink out of. It is plastic, and the handle doesn’t have the best grip, so this isn’t one for taking on your commute to work. But packing it along with your stuff for a day out at the beach or going on a camping trip is a great idea for no-hassle hot drinks.

A travel mug which uses a mesh filter as a pour over brewer as opposed to a French Press style operation, this Coffee Gator model is a popular choice for anyone after a portable option which will keep the contents warm.

Vacuum layered and made from military-grade 304 stainless steel, heat is trapped for longer than average. That is the same material they use to manufacture hip replacements and spacecraft, just in case you’re wondering about its efficiency.

There is also copper in between the vacuumed walls, so heat has virtually no way of escaping. The metal filter is also a much cleaner, eco-friendly alternative to paper filters which can’t be reused or cleaned. It also has a little handle on, making it easy to put on and take off without burning your hands or touching any leftover residue.

The pour on method also makes it slightly easier to cater your cup to your exact tastes, using the pouring method and allowing it to drip rather than forcing pressure upon it.

Of course, you don’t need to use the filter. It will keep any drinks warm (or cold) without needing to make them, so in a sense, it is a bit of a 2-in-1 product.

Just with any ‘pour over’ system, it suffers from its complications. Take time to choose the right coffee, get the right temperature and wait for the right amount of time to let it brew. You also have to take the filter out of the cup to drink, which seems unproblematic but you’ll need to keep it somewhere safe and possibly give it a rinse before putting it away – prepare yourself before you board the train.

None of these things would put us off buying such a product though. For the amount of time it keeps the drink hot and how comfortable it is to carry, we will take the slight annoyances.

In as little as 30 seconds, you can have a fresh coffee pouring into your travel mug – with basically no effort at all.

Just rinse a paper filter with a bit of water, pop in place then secure the handle on to the chamber. Place over the mug and insert the coffee grounds, before pouring over the water. It will brew for about two minutes before you twist and pour.

All you need to do for a longer coffee is add more water, but apart from that, everything is ever so easy. The purchase comes with 100 filter discs, and they are available to buy if you ever run out. It is dishwasher safe if you want to wait until you get home, but you can also wash by hand with a non-abrasive sponge.