When you feel that morning brain-lag coming on and you need caffeine, you need it right now – not when the barista finishes texting, not when Greg from accounting brews a new pot of the office swill. The Minipresso from Wacaco is a hand-powered espresso machine you can use right at your desk for fresh, hot coffee goodness. Unlike other desktop coffee makers, this one actually produces high-quality espresso in small quantities.

The process of making an espresso looks a bit fussy in the video, particularly the parts when you have to tamp the grounds and then pump the button a hundred times. But compared to buying, cleaning and maintaining a full-size traditional espresso machine, this is a breeze to handle. If you don’t like the idea of messing with the grounds, the Minipresso can also be fitted with an adapter to accept Caffitaly pods.

The Minipresso even includes its own cup, so other than the grounds and hot water you have to provide, it’s a self-contained espresso maker. Cleanup couldn’t be easier: rinsing the parts in water and drying out the water chamber are the extent of the cleaning process. It’s not just for office slaves, either. The Minipresso can accompany you hiking, camping, or on road trips – provided you always have a supply of espresso grounds and hot water available.

The post Hand-Powered Espresso Maker for a Portable Jolt of Java first appeared on Gajitz.

There is no shortage of devices out there meant to help you enjoy a good old cup of coffee anywhere and anytime. But Hey Joe, developed by a duo of Atlanta-based entrepreneurs, is a little different. It doesn’t just hold your hot coffee for you or simply keep it warm; it lets you brew your mug whenever and wherever you please with nearly no waste.

Hey Joe consists of two reservoirs with a coffee pod in between. The top reservoir holds up to 14 ounces of water. When you’re getting ready to go to work, class, hiking, or wherever your day is taking you, you fill up the water chamber and pop in a proprietary Hey Joe coffee pod. A detachable, USB-rechargeable battery pack is installed at the bottom to provide the mug with power.

Later, when you’re ready to brew, you just have to push the button. One push brews the coffee at 140 degrees F; two pushes bumps the temperature up to 155 degrees F, and three pushes will get you a cold-brewed cuppa. All told, you’ll only wait a maximum of about three minutes for your fresh coffee. If your java gets cold and you want to warm it up, another push of the button will activate the internal heat plate which will heat your coffee up for you back to the perfect temperature.

One of the inventors’ goals was to cut down on waste generated by taking coffee on the go. To that end, their proprietary coffee pods are wrapped in biodegradable packaging that contains flower seeds. After you tear open one of the envelopes containing a coffee pod you can plant the wrapper and grow some lovely flowers. You can also use your own coffee sans pod in the Hey Joe, but the inventors don’t recommend it as it tends to cause a bit of a mess.

The project soared past its crowdfunding goal on Kickstarter, where pledges of $49 got you a Hey Joe system and an additional $20 could score you 40 coffee pods included with the mug. As of the time of publication they are still accepting pre-orders at $49, so if you’ve ever been out away from home and didn’t want to spend $6 for a cup of tasty joe, this is the time to jump on the chance to revolutionize the way you drink coffee.

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Product developers are always thinking of a new way to get caffeine into your bloodstream. The amount found in coffee became boring, so next was ‘energy’ drinks with the caffeine equivalent to three cups of coffee. This was a lot to stomach (including the massive amounts of sugar), so next came energy ‘shots.’ From there it got a bit out of hand – talks of caffeinated food were thrown around, and inhalable caffeine  became the pinnacle…until now.

Sprayable Energy is the first caffeinated topical application. A colorless, odorless liquid, the spray is pure caffeine and is delivered by combining it with tyrosine, “a naturally produced amino acid.” After making the jump from the small spray bottle, the caffeine seeps through your skin to give you the boost you need.

Purported benefits include zero calories, money saved by no longer having to buy $4 energy drinks, no coffee-stained teeth, and no ‘coffee breath.’ Each container holds around 160 sprays. Ben Yu and Deven Soni, the team behind the innovation, took their idea to Indiegogo to raise funds and shot past their monetary goal in no time.

The post Zero-Calorie Caffeine Spray Wants to Get Under Your Skin first appeared on Gajitz.