Posts Tagged ‘Coffee Brewer’
Posted on March 25, 2008 - by deCadmus
Coffee Tech: Remaking the Vac Pot
Oh… shiny! Don’t let the modern lines fool you… it’s not a new brew technology but a new take on the classic vac pot, from designer Lina Fischer. I have wine bottle-stoppers that look the like brewing end of this thing… wonder if that’s where the inspiration came from?
[via Gizmodo]
Posted on March 20, 2008 - by deCadmus
Starbucks’ Shiny New Shamrock
Listen… Hear that?
. . . . . .
That’s the sound of thousands of coffee retailers gasping for air, reeling from a sucker-punch. These are folks who’d aspired to get themselves a Clover… the commercial, cup-at-a-time coffee brewer that’s been described as the signal development to usher in the age of brewed coffee, the way to change how we think about brewed coffee, and — most earnestly — as a major point of differentiation between independent coffee shops and the behemoth that is Starbucks. 
These are folks who’ve just found out that Starbucks has decided to acquire the company that makes the Clover brewer. That’s right… Goliath just bought David’s slingshot.
And that odd tap-tappity-tap noise you hear? That’s the sound of every single coffee retailer who has a Clover on order speed-dialing Seattle to see if they’ll still get theirs.
But honestly, how could Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz resist? After all, it was Howard who issued the much-leaked clarion call that railed against the commoditization of the “Starbucks experience.” Howard wanted romance; Howard wanted theatre; Howard wanted the smell of ground coffee to once again permeate Starbucks stores. And most recently, Howard showed us all he wanted a consistent experience, by shuttering every single retail Starbucks for a day to retrain its barista staff. The Clover brewer delivers all that — and most importantly — it delivers a really, really great cup of brewed coffee.
Provided, that is, that you start with really great coffee beans. So far, the couple hundred Clover brewers in the market today can be found at boutique (call ‘em Third Wave if you insist) coffee retailers that offer only the best of the best — Cup of Excellence auction lots, micro-lots of beans from extraordinary growers — and who roast their coffee with the same extraordinary care as they source it. Starbucks has been no slouch in sourcing some pretty good beans, themselves… but when it comes to the roaster, can they lighten up?
Starbucks could no more likely change its signature roast style than a leopard shed its spots. They could, however, extend their line with a new crop of lighter-roasted fare… beans that remain true to the character of their origins. And that — at least as much as Starbucks’ acquisition of Clover — could prove a real blow to indy coffee shops.
Posted on March 7, 2008 - by deCadmus
The Bodum Bistro… Not So Hot.
Some months ago I expressed my deep covet of the very attractive Bodum Bistro manual drip brewer. What, after all, is not to like? It takes a page from the classic Chemex pour-over coffee brewer, offers a nod to the Eva Cafe Solo, and ups the ante by leveraging the twin-walled, heat-resistant borosilicate glass that’s proven extremely 
successful in Bodum’s revamped glassware line.
Turns out, the Bistro’s not so hot. Literally.
The Bistro’s dual-walled construction would *is* a marked improvement over the Chemex, but its thermal qualities pale when compared to most any stainless thermos. And that other advance — the Bistro’s gold-plated permanent filter — while more eco-friendly than the Chemex’s fussy, folded, paper filters — don’t hold a candle to, say, SwissGold permanent filters.
In the end, the Bodum Bistro is more style than substance. It *is* pretty. And it’s well made. (Which is not to say that it isn’t extremely fragile!) I appreciate that Bodum dares to take risks, and to keep pushing the envelope of brew tech. Not every product will enjoy the success of say, the electric Santos, but surely some will. This Bistro, however, just doesn’t add up.
Meanwhile, if you’d like to try one of these for yourself — they do look elegant on the table after all — Amazon has them at fire sale prices, probably until they’re all gone.
Posted on October 31, 2007 - by deCadmus
Keurig vs. Tassimo: A Single-Cup Showdown Update
Autumn has blown into our neck of the woods with a mighty draft of whirling leaves, the aroma of wood smoke wafting from neighbors’ hearths, and — hey, this is new — a raft of folks banging on an increasingly-dated review of single-serve coffee machines here on Bloggle. I guess there’s nothing quite like a cold spell to put folks in touch with their inner caffeine junkie… or maybe folks are already looking ahead to their holiday gift lists.
Whatever the reason, an update to the single-serve marketplace is long overdue. So, let’s get to it…
The Tassimo Lineup
Designed and distributed by Braun1 , manufactured by Saeco, and with its coffee supply produced exclusively by Kraft and its army of licensed brands, when the Tassimo launched two years ago it painted itself as the smartest single serve coffee brewer yet.
Certainly the Tassimo’s got brains. Like the Keurig brewers, this brewer relies on a micro-processor to manage brew volume and temperature. More, the Tassimo automatically adjusts brew volume, temperature — and even some aspects of how its pump drives the brew cycle — to match the parameters of beverage you wish to brew. How? Well… it reads, of course. But we’ll get back to that.
Offered in two models –the TA 1400
The Keurig Team
Now in its third generation of home brewers, the always-evolving Keurig line currently includes the “Elite” B40
The B40 and B60 are built on the second-generation “B50″ platform, and both feature a similar, generally symmetrical shape. The B70 is the first example of Keurig’s latest brew technology, and is a bit of a departure, too, in its overall design. It has a somewhat more aggressive stance — perhaps a bit of attitude. More, it has an updated brewing system that extracts more coffee flavor and aroma from each brew cycle than the B40 and B60 models.
Keurig’s approach is at once more focused and singular than Tassimo’s. A Keurig brewer makes coffee — brewed coffee — and it does it well. Its microprocessor is wired only with the fundamentals of coffee brewing — time, temperature, turbulence and water-to-coffee ratio — and it’s tuned to deliver consistent results. You push a button, you get coffee. That’s it.
Consequently, there’s no brewing espresso with a Keurig. No cappuccino, and no latte, either. That’s not to say that other drinks aren’t available… you can get a decent cup of hot chocolate in a K-Cup, and quite good tea. But these are products that have been tuned to the specific brew parameters of the Keurig brewer, and not the other way around.
Notes and Links
- Kraft has recently entered into an agreement with Bosch to manufacture its brewers (seeing as how Gillette/Braun was purchased by its rival, P&G.) Bosch manufactured and distributed brewers are scheduled to be in market in Spring ‘08. ↩
Posted on July 29, 2007 - by deCadmus
Rocketing to the Top of My Wish List
Following in the footsteps of its eSantos brewer line, Bodum has, I suspect, a new instant classic on their hands. Their new manual drip Bistro model takes a page from the classic Chemex pour-over coffee brewer, and offers a nod to the Eva Cafe Solo. And then Bodum ups the ante by leveraging the twin-walled, heat-resistant borosilicate glass that’s proven extremely successful in their revamped glassware line.
There’s two notable improvements over the Chemex here. The first — and long the Achilles’ heel of the Chemex — heat retention. The Bistro’s dual-walled construction solves that issue, and looks spectacular, too. Second, the Bistro forgoes the Chemex’s fussy, folded, paper filters — which were always a challenge to align just right — and uses a gold-plated stainless permanent filter, instead… and in so doing makes this an appropriately green design.
Other design bits: a silicone and rubber grab handle at the neck of the brewer, likewise a lid to further retain heat when the glass filter assembly is set aside. I appreciate the fact that the whole kit can be chucked in the dishwasher. And did I mention the, “Hey, my coffee is hovering above the table!” effect? Tres cool.
It remains to be seen whether the Bodum gold filter functions as well as, say, those made by SwissGold, but I’m hoping for the best.
Posted on December 1, 2005 - by deCadmus
Best of 2005: Coffee Brewers
So maybe that whole Cyber Monday thing was just a gimmick to get you online, but the bald facts remain: the holidays are upon us, the shopping season is short this year, and you’ve got coffee hounds on your list that have high hopes (and high expectations) for what they’ll find under the Christmas tree this year. (I’ll save the Holiday tree / Saturnalia / Feast of Lights / Winter Solstice debates for other folk… at Bloggle it’s Christmas. So there.)
Every year I get lots of emails (for a given value of lots) packed with questions from harried shoppers — Which brewer should I buy? Which coffee? Got any ideas for stocking stuffers? — and every year I answer as honestly and completely as I can, ’cause you never know, they might be buying something for me. (Hasn’t happened yet.)
And thus, the Best of Coffee 2005 is born. This is a compendium of coffee products I’ve tried this year, and liked. Everything on this list has seen a fair amount of hands-on scrutiny, some have seen lengthy reviews, and all have my personal thumbs-up.
The List
Best Auto-drip Coffee Brewer
Long-time readers of these pages know that I’ve been a fan of the Bunn line of home auto-drip coffee brewers since way back. 
So it will likely turn their heads that my choice isn’t a Bunn, but the Zojirushi Fresh Brew.
Sure… the Bunn’s always-on system and reservoir is still about as easy and convenient to use as ever (and one remains on the kitchen counter even now… herself uses it for the first pot of the day, every day) but all else being equal, the Zojirushi makes a better cup of coffee. Especially when the Zoji is paired with a SwissGold permanent cone filter.
Best Coffee Press
I’ve got not one pick, but two, for this classical (and classy) method of brewing coffee. For its spiffy refinement to the process of brewing with a cafetiere, I pick the Bonjour Maximus coffee press. A turn of the Bonjour’s knob closes the business end of its plunger, separating coffee grounds from brewed coffee, thereby eliminating most of the danger of bitter, over-extracted coffee. Nice.
While Bonjour may have refined the process, Frieling has refined the brewer itself… 
the Frieling 6-Cup French Press is something of a work of art. Its mirror-polished stainless finish has the heft and feel of old-world hotel silver; its brewing mechanism is exceptionally sturdy and smooth in operation, and its dual-wall construction brews and keeps your coffee hot, but not so long as to confuse you into thinking this is a thermos. (Remember, too much heat for too long in a press leads you down the path to overextracted coffee.) The Frieling press is a pleasure to use.
Best Vacuum Pot
No contention here… the Bodum Electric Santos is the hands-down winner in the category. The only question is, what size? Oh, and what color?!
The eSantos’ electronics really do make it easier
to use than a more traditional glass vacuum pot, and its durable polycarbonate construction is much safer to use that a glass pot. The nylon filter captures nearly all the coffee fines, leaving you with a clean, flavorful cup. Like all vacuum pots, there’s the mess factor to consider — it’s not as easy to clean as, say, a drip-brewer with a paper filter — but for cup quality, it’s really, really difficult to top a vacuum brewer.
Next time: Grinders and Gear…
More:
Posted on August 2, 2004 - by deCadmus
Bodum eSantos: A Lovely Mess
A recent conversation in the kitchen of chez Cadmus…
“It’s cool!”
“It’s a mess.”
“It’s caffeinated performance art!”
“You’re cleaning it.”
“It’s good coffee, though…”
“Well… yes. But it’s a mess.”
We are of two minds — my wife and I — over the relative merits of the Bodum Santos electric vacuum coffee pot. I see an evocative design that’s equal parts mad-scientist chemistry set and Frank Gehry angular assemblage. Herself sees… a mess.
Granted, the eSantos doesn’t have the drop-dead convenience of one of those push-button pod machines. And it’s not the grinding, measuring and filling thing… we’re more than used to that. It’s the post-brew mess that herself frowns at.
Like a great many vacuum pots, the eSantos has a permanent filter. [Okay... semi permanent. Bodum recommends replacing it every so often.] This filter is a very fine mesh screen; it allows dissolved coffee solids and oils through, making for an exceptionally flavorful cup with lots of body, and it does so without choking on coffee finings, a problem that I nearly always experienced with my Vintage Cory glass vacuum pot and its permanent glass filter rod.
The net effect is — of course — a mess. No denying it. There’s no paper filter to toss in the trash bin [or compost heap, if you're of the composty ilk]. Instead, after the brewer has cooled it’s necessary to rinse the coffee grounds out of the brew globe, and then to wash it. Yes, wash it. By hand, no less. Matter of fact, if you’ve brewed especially fresh coffee that wasn’t roasted to death [and you are, aren't you?] you’ll find a lovely, oily frothy mess left behind.
Want convenience? Get one of those push-button things. But if you want really great coffee it’s hard to beat a vacuum pot. Bodum’s update on the classic vac is about as good as it gets.
-
Hello.
Bloggle is the online playground of Doug Cadmus, a usability guy, writer, photographer and sometime dramatist who moved to Vermont for the coffee. When not writing, reading or walking his old, blind golden retriever, he roasts coffee in his garage and is the Web Guy for Green Mountain Coffee in Waterbury, VT. Flickr Photos
