All-In-One Set For Brewing Coffee On The Go

$189

by Nick Stiverson

I’m a sucker for portable coffee gear, to the extent that I have to exercise every bit of restraint I possess when I see a new travel brewer hit the market. And yet, I own a lot of them. When I first saw the Pakt Coffee Kit pop up on a crowd-sourcing platform a couple of years ago I was stoked, but I hesitated when I saw the almost $200 price tag; fortunately their campaign reached its goal without me. A friend of mine backed the campaign though, and he kindly offered to let me borrow his to test it out even before he had the opportunity to do so himself.

At first look, many people think the Pakt kit in my kitchen is a Bluetooth speaker, and the resemblance to a certain speaker brand is hard to deny. The soft but rigid case houses an electric kettle, a collapsible pourover cone, a travel mug, a container for grounds/beans, a measuring scoop, and a reusable mesh filter. The way everything packs together is really ingenious and satisfying.

The three main pieces are wrapped in a soft silicon cover that is really nice to touch, and sleek in appearance. All exposed bits are brushed steel, making it attractive and easy to clean. The base of the cone brewer, the kettle and mug lids, power base, and measuring scoop are all BPA-free plastic. The mesh filter is an extremely tightly-woven metal; I personally don’t find this piece to be very useful, but I’ll get to that later.

The Electric kettle is the star here, and possibly the most cleverly-designed element in the kit. The spout comes out from the bottom of the kettle and travels up the side to the top, where it has a rolled lip to help achieve the slow, gentle pours that are necessary for delicious pourovers. The heating element is quick and powerful, heating up to 205°F – – the kettle’s maximum temp – – in just under 4 minutes. For most coffees this is hotter than you’ll need, but for some very light roast coffees I like to brew between 207-210°F to achieve maximum extraction. It’s rare that I brew this hot though, so this is definitely an acceptable range

Pakt doesn’t include a grinder, instead opting for an airtight container for ground coffee. Even in a travel scenario with limited space, pre-ground coffee is something I avoid, so I would probably carry whole beans in it and toss a manual grinder like a Timemore Chestnut in my luggage. I did figure out a way to fit a Porlex Mini into the kit by leaving out the bean container, but the trade-off means you’d have to carry a separate bag of beans. I’d rather carry a better grinder anyway, so I would leave the bean container in.

Brewing is simple and enjoyable with Pakt. With just one quick motion, the collapsible cone dripper is assembled and ready for action.

The dripper itself is similar to a V60, which means it can seamlessly work with any brand of #2 cone filters, or you can use the included mesh filter. My preference is to leave the mesh filter at home and toss in a few paper filters, as there is ample room and even a pocket to do just this.

While the mesh filter produces a decent brew with minimal (but some) sediment, the material is stiff and unmalleable and sits a bit wonky in the brewer. You then have to rinse it really well and let it dry before packing it back up, which makes the process a bit more cumbersome, especially in a travel scenario. I prefer a cleaner cup of coffee anyway so the paper filters were an obvious choice for me.

Packing the kit back up can be a bit tricky, but once you figure out the correct order (the kettle lid fits into the bottom of the collapsed cone dripper; put these pieces on AFTER the kettle and base are snuggled into their spot in the case), then you’ll be a Pakt pro. Weighing in at just under four pounds, with dimensions of 12 inches by 5 inches, the Pakt Kit isn’t small by any means, and can take up quite a bit of space in your luggage. However, the pros far outweigh the cons if your morning coffee ritual is as important to you as mine is to me. Overall the Pakt Coffee Kit is a really ingenious setup, and one that I look forward to taking on many an adventure.