On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 02:01:24 -0800, izibiz wrote:

Hi,
I was just wondering about the large response about the drip coffee
topic and if there are any Espresso lovers out there.

As we own a catamaran we always cook underway, hobby of my wife, she
cooks, I eat, yeah, I am a little overweight.

But we are Espresso lovers, what I am looking for is something like a
Baby Gaggia, but in a plastic housing, approx 19bar pressure, no
automatic, no Nespresso (they do not carry my favourite Arabica beans).

Anyone any idea for a small and lightweight, if possible front only
operated (watercontainer) espresso maker?

Well, there's the bike-pump-operated Handpresso:

http://www.handpresso.fr/products/wild-EN.html

Seriously, if you're looking for small, some of the stovetop ones from
Italy work very well indeed. Not the hex shaped ones, but the ones where
the coffee comes out of a thin tube spout into a cup. They've evolved
over the years so that despite their simple design, the pressure,
temperature, etc., is exactly right and they produce perfect shots of
espresso -- better than most of the small electric machines.

And yes, I'm a coffee snob.

Matt O.