Coff-Brew-Nology by Jen Stone Licensed Quality Grader
T
he Oxford Dictionary defines technology as “using scientific knowledge for practical purposes… to create ease, solve problems, enhance, and expand possibilities.”
Many companies utilize a reputable scientific formula for brewing a perfect cup of coffee driven by the need to create ease for coffee drinkers, solve problems like time and human error, and enhance and expand our potential coffee drinking experiences. Let’s review a few that stand out.
in an AeroPress. And you can in the Ascent Touch from Concordia Beverage Systems. Plus, with the addition of a little technology, you can grind and brew your perfect tasting Kenya AA in about 30 seconds. Yes, really. Concordia has mastered the art of automating the process of grinding fresh coffee and accelerating the brewing process with a low-pressure mechanism. Their patented ALPS – Accelerated Low-Pressure System, has finally given roasters and coffee providers worldwide the ability to provide, on-demand, a great, fresh cup of coffee! No wasted coffee, no giant urns to tote around. It’s a revolutionary use of technology. Roasters can control the pressure, grind particle size, water temperature, gram throw, even pre-infusion to their desired parameters and to the SCA Golden Cup Standard. Here is a 60-second review. Furthermore, the engineers at Concordia Beverage Systems were the first to automate the process of extracting a perfect espresso along with densely texturized milk at the touch of a button, in 1989! The patented XpressTouch 6 system is best in class and does everything but roll its eyes at you when you ask for whipped cream. It holds six of your favorite brand of syrup flavors and will make the perfect cappuccino, flat white, or iced mocha.
Elemental Beverage Company’s own elixirs and their collab sampler with Dayglow, both available at www.ElementalBeverage.co.
Elemental Beverage Company Elemental founder, Dave Dussault, had a desire for cold coffee and found the problem of chilling or icing great-tasting, high-quality hot coffee bitter and unsatisfactory. He also found the traditional cold brew coffee process eliminated desired aromatics and flavor notes readily apparent in hot coffee. Utilizing his engineering background, he created a practical way to convert a perfect hot cup into a chilled coffee quickly and maintain the desired flavors. Hence, the Elemental Snapchiller. With the help of simple thermodynamics, this Snapchiller can take a piping hot beverage and chill it on demand, which in turn is packaged in a 12 oz., ready-to-drink can. With a nod towards a potential retail machine, Elemental has met the demand of craft roasters who want to provide their auction lot, single-origin coffees in the cold format, including coffees from George Howell, Dayglow, and many others. Dussault spoke to the accessibility and approachable costs of snap chilling, and the innovation has saved or helped more than one roaster during the stress of Covid-19. Hear from the founder at the Coffee Explorer Podcast and a Tasting Review.
The AscentTouch on-demand coffee brewer and XpressTouch 6 superautomatic espresso machine. www.ConcordiaCoffee.com
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Concordia Beverage Systems We all know that an intense espresso is brewed at 9 bars of pressure, right? Well, what if you could reduce the pressure and control the extraction so that you could bring out the flavors of a great Kenya AA for drip? You can,
Technivorm has stayed true to its roots and innovated to stay relevant with new colors and styles. www. Technivorm.com Technivorm The veteran of this roundup is from 1968. With over 10 million units sold, the Technivorm Moccamaster was created by a Dutch industrial designer, Gerard Clement Smit. To this day, the principles of water temperature, pressure, and agitation are the fundamental elements automated by the Moccamaster. I find it ironic that in the past ten years, we, the specialty coffee industry, have deconstructed the typical home drip brewer and created separate successful verticals for kettles, filters, vessels, and scales, each using technology in its own way. Yet the automation and simplicity of Technivorm reconnects all those elements, plus it is committed to product longevity, recyclability, ease of maintenance, and energy efficiency. All three of these innovative companies were founded by engineers who had a problem to solve and relied upon the science of brewing. They continue to successfully combine practical science with the art of excellent specialty coffee to create the desired result – a great cup of coffee.
Fall 2020
Jennifer Stone, Licensed Q Grader, Coffee Specialist
Jen Stone