An array of espresso brewers and grinders designed by working espresso professionals. Photograph courtesy of Howard Bryman.
For all the various lovely and intelligent items of apparatus that exist for brewing espresso, it’s outstanding simply how few of them are designed by “espresso individuals” — individuals whose main occupation is inside the espresso trade.
Houseware corporations and different producers will generally seek the advice of with specialty espresso execs when creating merchandise for the quality-oriented viewers. And naturally, electrical and mechanical engineers are maybe finest suited to the duty of designing machines with transferring elements and complicated electronics. It’s additionally true that operating a espresso enterprise leaves little time and power for extra initiatives past the sourcing, roasting and promoting of espresso.
So, whereas it might not be stunning, it’s nonetheless slightly ironic that the catalog of espresso gear made by roasters or baristas is remarkably small. However it does exist, and for the Espresso Evaluation Present Information this vacation purchasing season, we’re shining a lightweight on this admirable area of interest.
Each entry on this yr’s record of things to think about as a present (or as a deal with for oneself) this vacation purchasing season is a novel piece of apparatus designed fully by skilled espresso individuals — passionate trade execs whose main occupation is espresso, and whose main goal in creating these merchandise is to assist specialty espresso customers get one of the best expertise attainable from their coffees.
For every merchandise, we share the tales and/or bona fides of its designer, the coffee-related drawback it was designed to resolve, and what it’s about each that brings us pleasure.
There are not any affiliate hyperlinks right here. Espresso Evaluation takes no fee on any gross sales that will outcome from this record. We goal purely to enlighten and enchantment to seekers of high-quality espresso gear, in addition to to point out help for the trade professionals whose ardour retains the espresso world transferring ahead.
Glad purchasing and completely satisfied holidays to all!
The April Brewer ($29 – $39)
A flat-bottom pour-over brewer that rewards a practiced approach.
Comandante C40 Guide Grinder ($325 – $360)
One of many highest-quality and most tasty handbook espresso grinders available on the market.
Etkin 2-Cup Espresso Dripper ($45)
Similar to the beautiful Etkin 8-Cup, however for whenever you solely need a cup or two.
Native Design Expedition Brewer ($49)
The slimmest, lightest-imaginable brewer for refueling within the backcountry.
The Cupping Brewer ($40)
Scales up the normal cupping brew for one thing extra savorable and shareable.
Simplify the Brewer ($21)
A handbook pour-over brewer optimized for a single central pour; no fuss, no muss.
NextLevel Pulsar ($65)
A zero-bypass brewer with a circulate management valve that’s as simple or as geeky as you need it to be.
VacOne Air Brewer ($149.95)
With a effective mesh display and powerful vacuum pump to pressure brews shortly, this immersion brewer opens a world of prospects.
Varia VS3 Grinder ($299.90)
Statuesque, compact and meticulously thought-out electrical espresso grinder for which a wide range of completely different burr units can be found.
The Full Evaluations
The April Brewer
($29 – $39)
www.aprilcoffeeroasters.com/collections/april-brewers
WHO MADE IT:
Patrik Rolf actually wrote the e-book on reworking from a non-public espresso nerd right into a famend espresso skilled. (His memoir, From Nerd To Professional – A Espresso Journey, is printed on paper constituted of recycled espresso cups.)
Rolf based a roasting firm known as April Espresso in Copenhagen in 2016, though he had competed in professional-level espresso competitions earlier than he’d ever labored in espresso.
WHY THEY MADE IT:
As a competitor and as a roaster, Rolf discovered that reaching consistency from one handbook brew to the subsequent was more difficult than it wanted to be. With the best software, nice cups might be simple to repeat, whether or not for competitors judges, for purchasers or for oneself.
In 2019, Rolf gained the silver medal within the World Brewers Cup competitors utilizing the brewer of his personal unique design — the April Brewer.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
The important thing options Rolf baked into the April Brewer are its massive single drain gap, its exterior peripheral vents, and its pronounced inside backside ridges that stop the paper of a Kalita-style basket filter from adhering to the bottom and sealing it off whereas brewing.
All three of those options encourage a quick downward circulate, which shifts extra affect onto the opposite selections made by the barista such because the grind measurement and coffee-to-water ratio. As a baseline, Rolf suggests an easy two-pour approach that he thinks strikes a really perfect baseline steadiness between ease and precision to constantly coax one of the best from the coffees he roasts. Straightforward and intuitive to duplicate brew after brew, we discover ourselves gravitating again to that approach with most coffees, and loving the articulate, well-defined cups that outcome.
Obtainable in plastic, glass or ceramic, the April Brewer rewards a exact approach, making it a enjoyable and constant software within the palms of anybody with a scale, a gooseneck kettle, a top quality grinder and a discerning palate.
Comandante C40 Guide Grinder
($325 – $360)
WHO MADE IT:
Father-and-son roasters Bernd and Raphael Braune of the German espresso firm Supremo Espresso. From their residence base outdoors of Munich, the Braunes have continued to supply and roast top-tier coffees at Supremo whereas increasing into the grinder enterprise, which at this level has eclipsed Supremo each by way of income and international attain. The C40 has lately been joined by the larger-capacity C60 and the ultraportable C25 Trailmaster.
WHY THEY MADE IT:
It was just a few years after the 2004 founding of their quality-obsessed firm Supremo Espresso that Bernd and Raphael Braune began to really feel their quest to supply, roast and ship the best possible coffees was being scuttled at each ends of the provision chain by lackluster grinders. Poorly performing grinders have been too usually a disservice to the right analysis of the stellar high quality inexperienced coffees they cupped on the farms of artistic and hardworking producers. The Braunes have been additionally involved that low-quality grinders of their clients’ properties have been pulling the rug out from beneath all their efforts to supply and roast par excellence.
They wanted a superb grinder they may pack with them on sourcing journeys, and so they wanted that very same professional-level piece of apparatus to be accessible to their clients. By 2013, manufacturing of the primary technology of Comandante handbook grinders had begun, and within the decade since then their designs have continued to evolve and enhance. Now in its fourth (product) technology, the Comandante C40 MK4 Nitro Blade options the identical house-engineered conical burr set constituted of martensitic metal launched with the Mk3 mannequin in 2016, but within the lightest package deal up to now.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
Many all through the trade take into account the Comandante C40 to have set the gold customary for efficiency and construct high quality in a handbook espresso grinder, and we will see why. It seems to be nice, it’s a pleasure to make use of, and it places out an exceptionally uniform grind that’s very best for pour-over and AeroPress. It performs admirably within the espresso vary as effectively.
Its mild weight is certainly a boon to its use on the highway, however we additionally merely love the ergonomics and heat of its handmade picket knob and the textured, durably powder-coated physique. The beans crunch with a pleasing tenor and its winsome amber glass catch jar is price the additional weight and potential (however unlikely) breakability.
One can also’t assist however really feel like a member of the Comandante household when contemplating not solely the heartwarming father-son backstory, however the courteous diploma of consideration to element. The wide selection of accessible colours and hand-turned picket choices welcome all personalities. Anxious concerning the glass? The C40 additionally ships with a lighter and extra sturdy plastic various. Is the physique not grippy sufficient? For these prepared to just accept the affect on aesthetics, it features a rubber ring that slides onto the physique for higher grip.
Etkin 2-Cup Espresso Dripper
($45)
WHO MADE IT:
The Etkin Brewer was invented by Michael Butterworth, an Approved SCA Coach and guide primarily based in Istanbul, Turkey, who can be co-founder of specialty espresso weblog The Espresso Compass.
WHY THEY MADE IT:
With the unique 8-cup Etkin Brewer, Butterworth sought to supply an alternative choice to the conical filter format upon which most multi-serving handbook brewers are primarily based by designing a flat-bottom brewer large enough to serve everybody on the desk. Lately, Etkin rolled out a smaller two-cup model that enables Etkin lovers to get pleasure from the identical consumer expertise and beautiful cups even when residence alone.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
We sang the praises of the unique 8-cup Etkin Brewer in a earlier reward information on Espresso Evaluation. Whereas the eight-cup capability stays a marquee characteristic of the unique, different creature comforts corresponding to its hefty and exquisite white porcelain construct, clean inside partitions and heat-hoarding dual-wall development additionally contribute drastically to its pleasure and efficacy. All of those options switch completely to the smaller model.
Plus, the Sibarist paper filters we beneficial for the eight-cup mannequin are even higher suited to the 2-Cup, with no “artistic folding” required; the prefold traces on the Sibarist Quick Flat are suitable with the Etkin 2-Cup, leading to a chic, fast-flowing zero-bypass platform.
The Expedition Brewer
($49)
WHO MADE IT:
Brian Franklin was an athlete and private coach previous to his first experimentation with roasting espresso at residence within the late Nineties. He based the skilled roasting firm DoubleShot Espresso in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2004, and has had an adventurous profession in specialty espresso ever since (adventures he has documented in an upcoming e-book known as The Espresso Purist, slated to begin transport this December.)
At the moment, DoubleShot’s operations embrace not solely a roastery and cafe, but in addition a lately planted espresso farm in Nicaragua known as Dos Manzanas. The enterprise expanded once more earlier this yr when Franklin and different DoubleShot staff members rolled out a line of brewing gear and instruments beneath the model title Native Design.
WHY THEY MADE IT:
The Expedition Brewer is a really flat, very mild brewing package for backpackers and vacationers. Franklin tinkered with the design for over 12 years, aiming for simplicity and portability in addition to a product that’s simple to fabricate, sturdy over time and exquisite to behold.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
The package includes a good-looking duck canvas pouch that shops a picket help ring and a skinny sliver of laminated copper that, when unfold out and balanced on a mug or journey tumbler, helps a conical paper filter. The pouch may also retailer a number of further paper filters in addition to an American Weigh Pocket Scale, all of that are additionally on the market on the Native Design web site.
In our expertise, this package does every thing it must do. It holds a filter whereas brewing. It packs flatter and weighs lower than a pair of socks. It has the rugged attractiveness of a brewer Indiana Jones would possibly’ve used. And it’s made in Oklahoma by a passionate crew of deeply entrenched espresso individuals with many a narrative to inform.
The Cupping Brewer
($40)
WHO MADE IT:
Josh Taves, a specialty espresso professional since 2006, is the previous director of the Rocky Mountain Craft Espresso Alliance and former head of enterprise growth at Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Stovetop Roasters. Taves initially launched the Cupping Brewer in 2015 and immediately runs his personal skilled gear distribution service and consulting enterprise known as Dialed Espresso Companies.
WHY THEY MADE IT:
Cupping is the method utilized by espresso professionals to judge the flavour and high quality of espresso. Inexperienced espresso patrons cup coffees as a way to make buying choices; roasters cup whereas creating roast profiles and for high quality management functions. The process includes mixing floor espresso with sizzling water in slightly bowl for a exact immersion brew in accordance with strict protocols for consistency. The cupper then coats their palate with vigorous slurps from a spoon repeatedly over time because the bowl cools.
Taves, in the middle of his duties as a specialty espresso skilled, usually finds his sips on the cupping desk to be the tastiest he will get from a selected espresso — higher than every other brewing technique. He needs he might have extra of that brew to savor and share with others. The Cupping Brewer is his resolution.
Bigger than a regular cupping bowl, the Cupping Brewer is a good-looking glass piece made particularly to scale up a cupping-style brew and pour it into one or two common mugs for a extra acquainted and longer-lasting enjoyment.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
Whereas pleasure is the primary objective, the Cupping Brewer may also be used for analytical functions. It’s notably helpful for residence roasters who’re all in favour of a extra standardized tasting course of however are reluctant to have interaction with conventional cupping because of the restricted portions they’ll roast at one time. The Cupping Brewer presents a pro-style tasting platform in addition to a satisfying brew — one which does effectively at highlighting sweetness whereas clarifying the distinct notes an incredible espresso can yield.
Simplify the Brewer
($21)
WHO MADE IT:
Ryo John Ito, founder and head roaster of Japanese roasting firm Bathtub Espresso.
WHY THEY MADE IT:
Ito needed extra individuals to really feel snug with handbook espresso brewing. He needed to simplify the brewing course of, and figured a single pour straight down the center could be about so simple as it will get. But this tends to not work very effectively on most brewers, as so many are designed with staggered pours, spiral patterns and different methods in thoughts. To help his simplified technique, he wanted to simplify a brewer.
The result’s the clear Tritan plastic system known as Simplify the Brewer. Boosted by funds raised with a Kickstarter marketing campaign in 2019, Simplify the Brewer is a single clear piece into which Ito really put a deceptively great amount of thought. Structurally, the Simplify takes a few of the ideas of the April Brewer to their logical conclusion: An excellent larger 40-millimeter backside gap, even much less contact between the paper and the system, and even larger airflow between the cup and the brewer to permit strain and vapor to freely escape.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
The Simplify circulate is quick sufficient that Ito suggests pouring 230 milliliters of sizzling water proper down the center of 15 grams of finely floor espresso all of sudden over the course of about 30 seconds. A grind dialed in for the brew to empty inside a complete of 60 to 90 seconds will supposedly end in a fast and engaging cup.
In our expertise, that is true, and useless easy. When time is tight and we want a no brainer brew, the Simplify is the gadget we seize. Its featherweight sturdiness makes it nice for journey, and notably when paired with a Melodrip accent, any previous kettle will do — no gooseneck required.
The NextLevel Pulsar
($65)
WHO MADE IT:
In a story of true web espresso geekery come to life, the NextLevel brewer is the invention of two geographically distant roasters who met in a web based discussion board and bonded via dialogue of a weblog publish by a coffee-loving astrophysicist.
It was 2019 when Richard Unruh, the founding father of roasting firm Free Area Espresso in Galva, Kansas, met Darren Schmidt, who on the time was roasting and promoting espresso in Kentucky beneath the corporate title Again Porch Espresso. The article they’d each learn was a deep dive by scientist and writer Jonathan Gagné that zeroed in on the espresso brewing phenomenon often called “bypass,” which refers to water that circumvents the mattress of floor espresso as a substitute of flowing via it.
WHY THEY MADE IT:
Water that doesn’t circulate via espresso doesn’t contribute to the extraction; if it winds up within the cup, it’s simply watering down the cup. The unaccounted absence of that water within the brew mattress barely throws off the meant coffee-to-water ratio and will end in a internet under-extraction, whereas a channel of over-extracted grounds might be left behind within the path water takes because it flees. Both means, the guts of the issue with bypass is that it’s usually uncontrolled. When precision is a objective, something that occurs accidentally is dangerous.
Schmidt and Unruh put their minds collectively to design a brewer that makes it merely unattainable for bypass to happen. That is the NextLevel LVL-10 Brewer, a “zero-bypass” brewer whose flat, round filter traces the underside of an in any other case impermeable Tritan cylinder. Not like typical brewers with paper filters that stand up alongside the partitions, liquid within the LVL-10 has nowhere to circulate however straight down via the espresso. On the prime is a showerhead lid that disperses any untrained pour of sizzling water from any sort of kettle into a fair array of exact droplets for a constant and thorough saturation of the espresso mattress.
The speed at which water flows via the espresso mattress in an LVL-10 is dictated fully by the grind, the dose and the pour. But as a percolation brewer, the one factor past the LVL-10’s management is the power to cease the water fully. Schmidt and Unruh, geeks to the top, needed to have the ability to play with phases of full immersion, in addition to the power to extract extra from coarser grinds that drain quick. This time, in direct collaboration with Gagné himself, the staff created the NextLevel Pulsar: an LVL-10 brewer with a circulate management valve on the backside for the consumer to open and shut as they please.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
In our opinion, the Pulsar is definitely one of the versatile handbook brewers available on the market. It’s as helpful for a slapdash steep-and-release brew as it’s for a studied recipe executed with lab-grade surgical precision, only for kicks. It’s additionally large enough for multi-cup brews, sturdy and straightforward sufficient to make use of whereas touring, and works effectively for an in a single day chilly brew.
The VacOne Air Brewer
($149.95)
WHO MADE IT:
The VacOne is the results of a collaboration between Colombian engineer and product designer Eduardo Umaña and Luis Fernando Vélez, head of the Colombian espresso roasting firm Amor Perfecto. Lately, Umaña bought the rights to his design to a Minnesota-based kitchen equipment producer, permitting him to focus fully on Origin Roasted, an organization that ships roasted coffees to U.S. clients from roasteries working at or close to the Central and South American farms the place coffees are grown.
WHY THEY MADE IT:
Finely floor espresso can yield a full and complicated extraction in a short time. However in Umaña’s opinion, the prevailing strategies of brewing with finely floor espresso extract an excessive amount of and are simply too inconvenient. Crema generated by way of espresso, moka and Turkish strategies usually imparts bitterness, regardless of its magnificence. All these strategies may also be finicky to carry out if not expensive to equip.
In collaboration with Vélez, Umaña created the VacOne to supply a versatile platform for quick brews utilizing finely floor espresso that additionally mitigates the bitterness of crema. The consumer provides sizzling (or chilly) water to floor espresso within the prime half for what is basically an immersion brew, then presses one button to activate a powerful vacuum drive that quickly attracts the liquid down from under. Crema that will type on the floor of the slurry stays on the floor of the grounds after draining, and a effective mesh display on the base of the brewer filters out the grounds.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
Whereas its genesis targeted on a effective grind, grounds of nearly any measurement might be brewed in any variety of cycles within the VacOne, leading to a variety of attainable cup kinds. This makes it a easy and versatile each day driver shareable by individuals of differing preferences and talent ranges. We’ve had nice outcomes with simple full-cup immersion brews in addition to with concentrated chilly brew.
Its flexibility additionally broadly opens a door to artistic experimentation. For instance, the VacOne can be utilized to carry out a collection of fast immersions/agitations/filtrations that mimic the strategy of a cutting-edge new skilled espresso system known as the Floor Management that’s presently making waves on the industrial specialty espresso scene.
Varia Brewing VS3 Grinder
($299.90)
https://www.variabrewing.com/collections/varia-vs3
WHO MADE IT:
Previous to launching Varia Brewing, founder Ramsey Gyde roasted espresso professionally in Wellington, New Zealand, and was at one level a gross sales affiliate for 25-year-old Australian specialty espresso firm Toby’s Property. Toby’s Property founder Toby Smith can be a co-founder of Varia Brewing. Robin Lin, who based the corporate Final Espresso Roaster in Shanghai in 2013 and presently roasts and sells espresso beneath the model AOKKA, is a accomplice in Varia Brewing.
WHY THEY MADE IT:
Gyde and firm are captivated with taking traditional strategies and upgrading them with higher supplies, enhanced options and significant design tweaks. Within the discipline of electrical residence espresso grinders, they noticed many flimsy poor performers taking on an excessive amount of counter area with their less-than-sexy matches and finishes. The VS3 addresses all of those considerations with highly effective efficiency, head-turning attractiveness, a surprisingly small measurement and strong development.
Varia additionally makes 4 completely different burr units customers can swap into the VS3 for various brew strategies and different advantages. Having lately launched the mannequin’s second technology, the VS3 is now constructed to tighter tolerances, with increased precision alignment and an upgraded motor and stainless-steel gearbox, amongst different refined enhancements.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
The gestalt of the VS3’s options punches effectively above this tiny grinder’s weight by way of the standard of its grind and the sheer pleasure of utilizing it. The intentionally gradual RPM at which its 38-millimeter conical burrs spin encourages a extra evenly sized output, generates much less mess- and retention-inducing static electrical energy, and retains the grounds cool and flavorful. Whereas downright petite in comparison with different countertop electrical espresso grinders for residence use, the VS3’s all-metal development nonetheless offers it a heft and a presence whereas minimizing vibration and instilling confidence in its longevity.
Its appreciably stiff adjustment collar has but to allow us to down whereas making tiny tweaks within the dialing-in course of for pour-over or espresso, and we additionally merely can’t recover from what a sexy little monolith it’s, saving valuable inches in our crowded espresso nook with a minimalistic profile that seduces like practical sculpture.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – HOWARD BRYMAN
Howard Bryman is a Portland, Oregon-based freelance journalist and photographer who focuses on the specialty espresso trade, which he has both labored in or written about for the previous 10+ years. He’s the affiliate editor of Roast Journal’s Each day Espresso Information web site, and an occasional contributor to the print journal as effectively. With expertise as a barista, supervisor, roaster’s apprentice, origin vacationer and gear tinkerer, Bryman’s fascination with specialty espresso’s instruments, developments and challenges is matched solely by his enthusiasm for the beverage itself.
