Awesome Stuff: Coffee, The Other Kickstarter

Innovation

from the morning-routine dept

For this week’s awesome stuff we start your Saturday out the right way: with some coffee. Or, more accurately, some new crowdfunded coffee makers, divided into three categories.

Keep It Simple!

My main objection to the pod-style coffee makers that have exploded in popularity, before the DRM or the price or anything like that, is the unnecessary complexity. It irks me to see the brewing of a simple cup of coffee require a barcode reader when there really are only two ingredients and one simple step to perform. That’s why I’m glad to see the growing trend of simple “pour-over brewers” that are just a stand, a funnel, and a splash of good product design.

For the individual, there’s the bamboo POUR brewer or the more portable Coffee Gourmet (with a built-in filter). If one cup at a time isn’t enough, there’s the double-sized Pour Lab, which lives up to its name with a cool chemistry-set look. For the commercial coffee brewer, there’s the Poursteady station with five cups and some automated assistance.

Keep It Cold!

If you live where I do, this isn’t the best time of year to be talking about iced coffee. But, if you’re going to drink your coffee cold, you should brew it right, not just chill and dilute some near-sludge you cooked up earlier. The Fridge Barista seems like an excellent solution to the challenge of cold-brew coffee: it sits in your fridge where it brews, filters and stores the coffee all by itself, so all you need to do is open the tap. For those who want the best of both worlds, there’s the Brewover — much like the pour-over brewers above, but with a glass funnel and a drip control valve to allow brewing at any temperature.

Make It Smart!

Yes, I started out praising simplicity in coffee makers — but I’m all for innovation when it actually brings improvements. Those who really want the automation, ease and technological precision of a push-button brewer can at least avoid locking themselves into the K-Cup regime with the Arist, a smartphone-controlled smart brewer that grinds, weighs and brews the coffee while giving you fine control over each setting at each step. There’s another, similar offering — the BRUVELO — that’s worth checking out too.

Filed Under: awesome stuff, coffee, crowdfunding